Seeking Souls

7: Management

“So let’s say I believed you with all of this ‘seeing her soul’ crap,” I stood at the porch of my backyard, Madison standing in the middle of the yard, her hands behind her back. “How can you do it?” She bit her bottom lip, looking down at the grass than meeting my eyes again.

       “It runs in my family, kind of, my grandma used to call us Seekers, because we seek souls. In reality, the souls find us and ask for help. Kara is the first soul to get in contact with me.” I stepped down from the porch, walking closer to her. My mind was racing with so many questions and so much confusion. If what she said was true, Kara was stuck here, as a spirit, desperate for a way to the afterlife so she could rest.

       “How am I supposed to help her pass on? I don’t know what to do?” Madison looked off to her left, and I followed her stare yet again, hoping to see what she could see. Madison nodded a bit like Kara really did say something to her. The thought of it sent a shiver down my spine.

       “Remember,” Madison whispers and I looked back at her. Her eyes are still fixed on the empty spot where Kara was supposed to be. “Remember what exactly?” Waiting was making me anxious, I could feel my hands beginning to shake a bit. This needed to hurry up, right now. Madison finally turned to me, looking me over. “She said that what you said earlier today, about thinking about the memories you guys shared, might help her. She needs you to remember something specific so why don’t you tell me more memories?” I turned my head to the side.

       “That’s stupid.” I didn’t mean to say it, it just came out. “To help her pass on all I have to do is remember? Remember what?” I could feel the volume of my voice picking up. I looked over to the empty spot. “What am I supposed to remember Kara? Why don’t you tell me exactly what I need to remember for Christ sake?”

       “Train tracks.”  Madison whispered and my heart dropped. “She wants you to talk about the train tracks; she wants you to remember that.” I backed up, sitting down on my porch and running a nervous hand through my hair. “What happened there Desmond?” I closed my eyes; I didn’t want to remember that. “It’s to help her pass on; you want to help her right?”

       I shot a glare at Madison, nodding slowly after a moment. “I can’t just talk about that day you know? There were so many reasons that happened to us.” I bit my lip, trying to think clearly. “It started last year, that was when things started getting hectic in our relationship.”

One Year Ago

       “I started dating someone.” Kara cut in during our regular nightly phone call with one another. I was caught off guard when she said that, I wasn’t really expecting it, at all. “Did you hear me?”

       “Uh, yeah…” I shook my head, forcing out a laugh. “When did this happen?” It had left me speechless, and I wasn’t really sure why.

       “Uhm…about three weeks ago.” That hit me harder; she was quiet after she said that. “He didn’t want you finding out about us, I’m sorry Desmond.”

Present Day

       “So who was he?” Madison sat next to me, looking out at the empty backyard. I wasn’t too sure if she was talking to me, or Kara. “Chris?” She then looked over at me. “Isn’t that the guy you punched in the face the other day?” I nodded, coughing a bit, my chest feeling heavy.

       “I hate him.” I whispered. “The wedge he put between Kara and I was huge, it nearly broke our friendship apart.

One Year Ago

       It had been almost two weeks since Kara told me about her and Chris, she hadn’t said two words to me since then except for a casual “Hey.” In the hallways when we passed by, she would have Chris hanging onto her like some sort of insect. Chris would be glaring at me, but Kara, she would not even look at me. What was going on? Was he trying to force her not to be my friend anymore, was he jealous?

       After school on a Friday I decided to wait for Kara outside of the school, an hour had passed, nearly two hours. After a while someone ended up coming out, but it wasn’t Kara. “I want you to stop looking at her.” Chris spoke up to me, almost demanding me. I got up from the steps and looked up at him. Chris was a big dude, a football player, or was a football player. He broke an ankle and his dreams were now destroyed. “I know you two are best friends or whatever, but that is over now.”

       “Excuse me?” I turned my head to the side, walking up the steps until I was eye level with him. “Who the fuck are you to say who she can and cannot be friends with?”

       “My boyfriend.” Kara spoke up from the doors of the school, walking in between us. “Desmond I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends anymore.” I was speechless, my breath completely taken away as if she had just punched me in my lungs. Chris grabbed her hand pulled her down the stairs of the school, and for a moment I thought that would be the last time I would ever see her.

Present Day

       “Wow.” Madison stretched out, standing up and looking around the yard. “Kara is very quiet right now; I bet she feels bad about that day.”

       “I know.” I stood up, suddenly feeling light headed. “Whoa.” Madison reached out, grabbing my arm to hold me up. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “I must have gotten up too fast.” My throat began to ache and I began coughing again. I looked over at Madison who was looking at me with no such worry in her eyes.

       “You just need air, why don’t we go for a walk?” I nodded, adjusting my balance. Madison held onto my arm in case I needed to fall over again. “What?” I looked back at her; she turned her head to the side. Did Kara say something? “Kara wants to go to the lake, the place where she died.” My heart felt heavy when she said that, just thinking about that place made the tears want to rush back to me.

       “I don’t understand this.” I rubbed my forehead, trying to think clearly, my lungs felt so clogged up. “What is remembering and telling you about what happened that day going to do?”

       Madison smiled at me, linking her arms behind her back. “She wants you to tell her about that day, not me. She’s looking for something specific I guess, something that will ease her mind.” She finally reached out her hand to me, asking me to join her to the lake and continue talking about my memories. This may be helping Kara, but it’s slowly killing me.