Not Quite Dead

Chapter Twelve - Not Quite Reincarnated

Artemis

I woke up before my alarm for school the next morning.  I was so giddy, giddier than I was with Rachael, and it was all because of Dawn.  Rachael had left last night, and apparently, mom was a little upset that I didn't get to say goodbye to her.  I didn't really care as much as I should have. 

In school, I didn't really notice much.  My friends Darius and Darcy (they were dating) had gone to some fancy restaurant for a date yesterday.  Some teacher's wife died.  I had a perfect 5.0 GPA because of my AP classes.  Nothing totally new or impressive. 

The drive back home seemed shorter than it normally was.  I felt like I had to get home quick so I could finish up homework and then talk with Dawn again. 

Who knew that, out of seven billion people on this big planet, who knew that I'd be the one with a beautiful spirit as my Kindred Soul.  Who knew that I'd even have a Kindred Soul. 

I finished all my homework, saving biology for last so I could be in a good mood when I talked with Dawn.  I told my parents I would be out for a walk and come back at eight o'clock, and then I went to the lake area where Dawn and I talked. 

She was there, and, like yesterday, her glow seemed to be diminishing, replaced with the fleshy human color.  As a spirit, she didn't glow as bright anymore, but as her, she glowed brighter than any spirits' glows combined. 

"Hey," I said, sitting down next to her.  "That mind connection thing, that was really something, wasn't it?"  She nodded.  "Did you know you could do it?"  She shook her head.  "Just some kind of 'spur of the moment' thing?  Some kind of...Kindred Soul thing?"

Dawn just shrugged. 

"You never did tell me how old you were.  Do you think I could look it up?" I asked.  "What's your last name?"  She spelled it out in the air and on her hands.  "Davis," I said, dragging it out as she spelled it.  When Dawn nodded, I smiled.  "Well, c'mon.  I have a computer in my room."

I remembered when Dawn possessed my laptop and my phone.  It was kind of creepy, but when I looked back on it now, I laughed at it. 

I opened up my laptop and went to myancestry.com.  "Let's see how your family's been doing these past years."

In the search bar, I typed in "Dawn Davis."  Results came up quicker than I expected.  I clicked on the Davis Family Tree, and scrolled all the way up until I saw Dawn's name, not even bothering to look at the names at the bottom. 

"Hey, your middle name is Rosa, and you're...over three hundred years old?  Woah, Dawn," I said. 

As we scrolled down the list, we laughed (at least, I was pretty sure Dawn was laughing) at how old Dawn was, and at how many descendants she had.  Dawn went as far back as the 1700s, when the New World was being made into the United States.  Dang. 

We scrolled down some more until Dawn stopped smiling.

"What?" I asked. 

Then she possessed my computer again.  She scrolled and zoomed on one particular face. 

Rachael Davis Parker.  How did we not see this connection earlier?  How did I not see this connection earlier?  She and Dawn were identical.  Dawn was from around the 1700s, and Rachael was from the present.  How did I not see this until now? 

Rachael was a freaking reincarnation of Dawn.  Someway down her Dawn's family tree, a Davis married a Parker.  A few more generations passed, and then we had Rachael Davis Parker.  Dawn Rosa Davis.  If I had known Dawn's last name earlier, I could've made the connection easily. 

Dawn, still possessing my laptop, went to the search bar and typed in "Xander Bloom".  What kind of a name was that?  The guy looked like me, and---

Oh, crap.

She scrolled down pretty fast and it almost made my dizzy.  But finally she reached the name she was looking for. 

Me.  Artemis Aiden Alexander.  Apparently, one of my I-don't-know-how-many-greats-grandfather married this Bloom guy's I-don't-know-how-many-greats-granddaughter.  After a few more generations -- poof, there I was. 

"Rachael is a reincarnation of you, and I'm a reincarnation of this guy?" I blurted.  This was a lot to handle.  It wasn't that I didn't believe in reincarnation.  I just didn't think it would happen to me or anyone else I knew. 

As a genius and a man of science, I hated being wrong. 

"Did you like this guy or something when you were, you know, still alive?" I asked.  I hoped she wouldn't take offense to the question.  Dawn nodded.  If I hadn't been a reincarnation of this guy, I would have been very jealous.  Girls weren't the only ones who could get jealous. 

Dawn jumped out of my computer and floated by me.  I wished that she wasn't a spirit.  I wanted to just hug and squeeze her more than anything at that moment.  It was a lot to take in.  The girl I used to like was a reincarnation of my...Kindred Soul (I really needed to get used to saying that).  Dawn's Kindred Soul was a reincarnation of who she used to like way, way, way back in the day. 

"Guess we were closer to each other than we thought, huh, Dawn?" I said. 

She shrugged and smiled, as if to say What can ya' do? 

"What did you need to talk about, Arty?"  Seraphina sat in front of me on my bed, and I planned to have a very serious conversation.  I needed to get it out of my system.  I needed to tell someone about Dawn. 

"Sera," I started, "You know how I've been edgy since we moved here?"  I waited for her to nod and then I continued.  "What I'm about to tell you has a ninety-nine percent of not making any sense, whatsoever.  I'm serious, Seraphina.  What I'm about to say is very important, and it's even more important that you don't tell anyone.  Understand?"

"Artemis, I didn't tell anyone about Rachael.  What makes you think I'll squeal this time?" she asked in defense. 

"Point taken." I took a deep breath.  Little Sera was my little sister.  I could trust her more than anyone else in my family.  Sam was too flighty, Serena was more like my little sister-brother, and the boys were too young. 

Then I told her everything.  I started with the time when we first moved in, when I met Dawn, to finding out about the reincarnation things.  I didn't leave anything out.  Sera seemed pretty interested, like I was reading her the most interesting story ever.  It might as well have been. 

She sat back against my wall, contemplating everything I just told her. 

"You know, Arty, if you weren't my brother, I wouldn't believe you," she said.  "But your story seems to make sense.  I was almost tempted to not believe it though.  How come only you can see these...spirits?"

I shrugged.  "Who knows?  I just saw Dawn one day, and suddenly I'm seeing a crying teenage girl spirit, a cute little boy spirit, and a creepy old lady spirit.  I haven't seen a dark spirit yet.  I don't think Dawn would let me.  Those Dark spirits can get kind of crazy, she says."

"So why exactly are you telling me, Artemis?" she asked.  Her steely gray eyes studied my own, both of which were gifts from mom.  "Am I even allowed to know?"

I hadn't thought about that. 

"I honestly don't even know if I'm allowed to know.  I don't know if Dawn or Kyler could get in trouble because of me knowing," I said. 

"Do spirits have a police force?"

"Maybe.  Seraphina Alexander, I'm so glad I can call you my sister," I said, changing the subject as I pulled my little sister in for a hug.  "I'm so glad you don't think I'm completely crazy."

She smiled, and said, "I hope I can meet Dawn someday, you know, actually meet her, Arty."

I thought about Dawn's glow fading, her fleshy skin color replacing her glow, about her auburn-red hair brightening every time I see her. 

"You just might," I said.