The Great Beyond

You Found Me

"What the hell?!" Jace starts, and he begins rambling off about how crazy I was, "Are you out of your mind?!"

But panic and fear washed over me, and I leapt out of the car, heading toward the back of it, searching for any crimson stains on the road. But there weren't any. And the person wasn't there anymore either.

Only seconds ago a woman, much older than me, had been standing directly in front of Jace's car, staring straight at us. And now she was just gone. Jace's voice appears again, and I register that he's gotten out of the car, and is coming up behind me, running his fingers through his hair looking completely confused.

"I-I just don't understand." I stammer, turning back to face him. He keeps talking, shaking his head slightly.

"And then you just-whoosh-grab the steering wheel, and take control, and I don't get it, maybe you didn't take your medication today or something but-" but he doesn't have time to finish, as I cut him off, pressing my pointer finger against his lips, my eyes frantically searching the road again, and to the side of the road. I walked around to the front of the car, Jace in tow. Yet, there was nothing and nobody there.

"Want to tell me whats going on?" Jace asked, in a lighter tone.

"You didn't see her?" A shake of his head. "There was a woman. In the road. You were about to run her over, she was so close. You might've even hit her..." I trail off, Jace's stunned face enough to stop me. He hadn't seen the girl.

"Yeahhhh..." Jace smacks his lips together, and places his hands on my shoulder. "How much sleep did you get last night, Liv?"

He thought I was crazy.

"I'm not crazy," I mumble, shaking him off, "I know I saw someone, I just don't know where she went." Okay, so maybe I sounded a little crazy.

"Olive, lets just go to the party and maybe you'll forget about this and let go and have fun." Jace directs me back to the car, opening his door, and I crawl through.

"Maybe I'm just tired." I admit, biting down on the inside of my cheek.

I keep my eyes glued to the road the rest of the drive, shaking slightly. There HAD been a woman there, with a torn-up dress and frightened eyes. I wasn't just imagining her, was I?

- . - . - . - .

Once we're at the party, I excuse myself to the bathroom, and Jace takes off toward the kitchen, grabbing us some beers.

My legs still felt somewhat wobbly, and it was awkward climbing up the stairs leading to the washroom.

"Hey, can you tell me where the bathroom is?" I ask a group of guys sitting on a couch. They were staring off into the distance, their eyes bloodshot. They were definitely high. "Okay, so no." I turn back on my heel and start opening doors.

"Sorry," I apologize, re-shutting the first door I'd opened. A couple had been doing couple-y things before I'd barged in. I begin knocking on the doors before opening, and I receive a few complaints, but finally I make my way to the bathroom, turning on the light and shutting the door behind me.

I flip the faucet up, and water comes rushing out. I splash some on my face and then search around for a towel.

"Here you go." A voice says, and a towel finds it's way into my hand.

"Oh, thanks," I say, and I begin wiping my face before I realize the bathroom had been empty only moments before.

"No problem." The voice returns, and I slowly face the bathtub. A boy around my age with fire-red hair and light brown eyes waved, eyeing me curiously. He was sitting in the tub, bubbles surrounding him, and his hands were out on either side of the tub. "It's hard to spot you guys, sometimes. You know, the ones who can see."

"How'd you get in here?" I flip around, trying the doorknob, and it was locked, as I had thought. I turn back to face the boy, and he chuckles slightly.

"Wait, you don't know?" Amusement flashes across his face, and I scowl, setting the towel down. "I'm dead." He says calmly, as if he'd just stated his name. It was then that I realized his lips were blue.