Limbo

I Don't Even Have The Words

ASHLEY:

I charge up the porch steps ahead of the guys, and punch in my code for the front door. "Any luck so far?" I ask, as I walk into the living room and see Charlie rifling through the newspaper clippings again.

"No, I still haven't hit on anything different," he replies. "And we haven't found any sign of that book she mentioned, either."

For the last three days, since we had our "meeting" with Rachel, we've been trying to check on the ideas that she had concerning why she seems to be trapped here, working through all of the possible angles that we can think of. Charlie and Susan have been practically ransacking the house looking for her father's journal, or whatever the hell she called it, or anything that might give a clue to where her body is. We're spending most days in the studio, but whenever one of us has some free time, we're usually checking the internet for anything that might mention her father, or his group, and we actually did come up with some info on that today.

"Have you seen any sign of Rachel today?" I inquire. "We found some things she needs to hear."

"She was helping me clean out the cabinets a little while ago, and she wrote something about going up to her room," Susan calls out from the kitchen.

I know from some of the conversations we've had over the last few days that this would mean that she's in my room, so I dash up the stairs and swing open the door. I don't see her at first, so I call out, "Hey, Rachel, are you up here?"

From behind me, I hear her reply, "Yeah, I'm in here!" Looking around, I see her coming out of Andy's room into the hall. "Andy left the window open, and I wasn't sure you guys would get back before it starts to rain, so I came in here to close it."

"Yeah, from the way it looks out there I'd guess that we probably just beat it. But if you don't mind coming down, we have a couple of things to discuss with you."

She looks at me sort of curiously, but starts down the stairs, and I follow along behind her, and as I do, I can't stop myself from admiring the sight in front of me. I haven't said anything about it to the guys, because I'm pretty sure it would sound kind of twisted if I announced that I was attracted to a ghost. Probably even to her, but except for the fact that she's basically insubstantial, nothing really seems to be any different than the day I first met her. And when there's a beautiful girl in front of me in a second-skin tank top and a pair of Daisy Dukes, I can't help but notice, even if it does make me seem like a perv.

But we've also talked quite a bit in the last few days, sitting up in my room after everybody else is asleep, and I've found out that there is definitely more to her than just a pretty face and a fantastic body. She's actually quite articulate, was apparently pretty creative when she was alive, and is still very thoughtful and compassionate, even now. I honestly think that if I'd gotten the chance to actually get to know her when she was alive, we could have become good friends, whether anything else happened or not, because she's exactly the type of person I like to have around me.

We get back to the living room, and everyone else is sitting down waiting for us, with a notebook already opened on the coffee table. She grabs the pen lying next to it, and writes, "Okay, I'm here. What do you wanna talk about?"

Bob looks at the paper, and answers, "Since it was CC and Ash who found the information, it's only fair to let them tell you about it. So the floor is yours, guys."

I motion to let CC know that he can go first, and he says, "Well, I have to admit that I'm not entirely sure how I actually pulled it off, but I somehow managed to get into some sort of Department of Corrections website today, and I found out that there are currently fourteen members of your dad's group in jail on various charges related to what happened to you and the others. The charges range anywhere from accessory after the fact up to first degree murder, and they've been sentenced to anywhere from three years to life without parole. And apparently, out of the ones that were left, two of them testified and ended up in witness protection, a couple of others are dead, and the rest have basically vanished into thin air, including your dad and that Wade guy. A lot of people seem to think that they skipped out across the border, but I'm guessing that they're wrong."