Dead!

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

My eyes snapped open. Jordan's hand was still around mine, and the two of us were standing in a large, nearly pitch black room. I couldn't see much, but I noticed five candles in the middle of the room. There were kids surrounding the candles - they appeared to be a few years younger than me. They were chanting something in Latin as they all sat around the table that the candles were resting on. I looked over to Jordan, who released my hand and began to slowly walk towards the girls. "I've been summoned," he whispered.

"Wait, what?" I said. "Jordan, where are we?"

Jordan was about to answer, but a girl suddenly shouted, "I hear something! I think we did it! We summoned a demon!" I knew her voice. It was a voice that I would recognize anywhere.

It was my little sister Heather.

I looked around again, and I was surprised that I hadn't immediately realized where I was. Even in the dark, I should have been able to recognize this. Apparently I had been in Heaven for so long that I couldn't even identify my own house anymore.

"You seem startled," Jordan observed. "Are you alright?"

"This is my house," I said. "And that's my sister!"

"You're right, Heather," another girl said. I recognized her as Heather's friend Amira. "I do hear something. Everyone, be quiet. Let's see if this worked."

"We have to show ourselves," Jordan whispered to me. He stepped towards the girls and motioned for me to follow him.

As I got closer, I was able to get a better look at the girls. Heather had grown an inch or two since I had last seen her, and she had gotten braces, but she otherwise looked the same as she did back in November. Did she ever think about me? I thought, but that seemed selfish. Heather had her own life. She didn't need to think about mine. Amira and two of Heather's other friends were there too, but I was mostly concerned with Heather. All I wanted was to talk to her again.

"Hello!" Jordan called out.

All four girls screamed. "Who...who are you?" Heather asked.

"Jordan," Jordan said. "Jordan Doe. You've brought me here from Hell."

"You don't look like a demon," one of the girls said.

"Yeah, I thought that you would be scarier," Amira added.

"I bet you're actually the boy next door trying to scare us," another girl said.

"Sorry," Jordan said, taking a cigarette out of his pocket. "I'm the demon that they sent."

"Ew, don't smoke," Heather said. "That's gross." I smiled, seeing that my sister was taking after me.

"Who's that girl behind you?" Amira asked.

"Let me get a better look," Heather said. She got out of her chair and came over towards me.

"Heather!" I exclaimed. "It's me. Ivy."

"Ivy?" Heather said. "Is that you?"

"Yes Heather, it's me," I said. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Ivy," Heather said. "How did you get here? Are you a demon too?"

"I honestly don't know, but I'm not a demon," I said.

"I was summoned, and took Ivy with me," Jordan explained.

"How do you know her?" Heather asked.

"She's my girlfriend," Jordan said as he put his arm around me.

"No I'm not," I argued.

"Sure you are," Jordan said.

"I'm confused," Heather said.

"He's not my boyfriend," I said. "Anyways, what have you been up to?"

"Not much," Heather said. "I got braces."

"I noticed," I said. "Your teeth aren't that bad. I don't know why you needed them."

"That's what I told the orthodontist, but she said that I needed to fix the space in between my two front teeth," Heather explained. "Braces are awful though. I can't eat popcorn!"

"I know," I said. "I had them in middle school too. Just be careful, and you'll have them off soon enough."

"Ivy, what's Heaven like?" Heather asked me.

"It's different than what you would expect," I said. "It has its perks, but life is better in so many ways. Heather, I don't want you obsessing over death. Just live your life, and when you reach old age, you'll find out what Heaven is like. Until then, just enjoy what you have, okay?"

"Okay Ivy," Heather said. By this point, all of Heather's friends were talking to Jordan and asking him questions. "Why did you have to die, Ivy?"

"Because I made a lot of stupid mistakes when I was alive," I said. "You won't have that problem. You were always better than I was."

"Did you meet God and Jesus?" Heather asked.

I wasn't quite sure how to answer that one. I didn't want Heather going around telling Mom and Dad that our religion wasn't real, but I wanted to tell her the truth. "No, but you know that they're there, just like you do here," I answered. "Now I have a question for you. Why were you and your friends trying to summon a demon? That's just a bad idea."

"We were just playing around," Heather said. "We didn't really think that it would work, and it's not like we were trying to resurrect dead authors to write our English paper or anything crazy like that."

"Alright, but don't play around with this sort of stuff again," I said. "It could get you in trouble. Next time, you might summon a demon that's a lot more dangerous than Jordan."

"Is he really a demon?" Heather asked.

"Yes, but he's not supposed to be in Hell," I said. "He's in there for jaywalking."

"Oh no!" Heather exclaimed. "I jaywalked last week! I'm going to Hell!"

"Hopefully they'll change that rule by the time you get there, Heather," I said. "Anyways, Jordan's not evil. He's just a little...misguided."

"You don't sound too sure about that," Heather observed.

I shrugged and said, "I know that he's a good guy on the inside. Anyways, don't do this again. Messing with the devil is always a bad idea."

"Okay," Heather said. "Ivy, are you going to stay? It would be really nice if you did. All of us miss you, and Chloe is just a mess. She needs you."

I hadn't even thought about Chloe for weeks, and hearing about her now just stung. I was letting my new friends replace my old ones, which was something that I promised would never happen. "I wish that I could stay," I told Heather. "I don't think I can though."

All of a sudden, Heather jumped up and gave me a hug. "I love you, Ivy," she said.

"I love you too, Heather." I felt that pulling sensation again, and I let go of Heather, knowing that if I held on, then she would be dragged off to wherever the afterlife was trying to take me.

Everything went black again, and I only hoped that my sister would take care of herself while I was gone.