Somewhere In-Between ~ An Adventure in the Afterlife

CHAPTER 18 - LEFTOVER LASAGNA

Mrs. Boggs decided not to talk to her daughter about her conversation with the nurse in the hallway. Frankly, she still didn't know what to make of the whole thing. She realized it truly wasn't possible for Lizzie to have known about the accident in the first place. How could she have known? She wracked her brain with ideas to imagine different ways it was possible, and nothing made sense.

"Mom," Lizzie finally said, to break the ice at the dinner table, "I'm sorry for dragging us to the hospital. It really wasn't fair for me to ask you to take us there and then chicken out like that at the last minute."

"That's okay, sweetheart --" she started to say, and then cut herself off. "Wait, what do mean 'us?'"

Lizzie looked up from her leftover lasagna. "What?"

"You said, 'take us to the hospital.'" She leaned forward. Something was up with Lizzie. She knew it, and she was no longer interested in ignoring the signs. Lizzie had been talking to herself in her room at night often -- even yelling -- and Lizzie had insisted she was just talking in her sleep. Sometimes she would simply tell her mom she was reading one of her books out loud. It calmed her, she said, telling her it was part of the therapy. Mrs. Boggs shoved her head in the sand about this long enough, she decided. Lizzie might have a serious problem. What if she was developing schizophrenia?

"Um, I dunno..." Lizzie stammered. I must be really tired, she thought. I don't normally slip up that easily. "... I guess I just meant..." She shook her head, deciding to give the cop out answer. "I'm just tired. It's been a long, weird day."

Mrs. Boggs really didn't like pushing her daughter. For a teenager, Lizzie was a good girl. She was a little quiet and reserved, but rarely talked back and did well at school. "Okay," she gave up. "After dinner, lets both hit the hay. After your violin practice, of course."

"Sure, mom," Lizzie ate the last few bites and brought her dirty dish and fork to the sink. "Want me to do the dishes tonight?"

"No worries, I'll take care of it. You go ahead and get your practice done."

Liz nodded and went upstairs, motioning to Max not to follow her.

When Mrs. Boggs left the table to do the dishes, Bob and Max took their places at the kitchen table.

"Now, before we go into the war zone," Bob leaned forward, elbows on the table. "I need to explain a couple things. First, never let a demon touch you. The darkness they carry is like a virus. These things aren't just evil – they carry evil. They can spread it to anyone – even us."

Max leaned back in the chair. "I'm not sure I'm okay with this after all."

"Don't be a wuss, kid. Okay, second thing: Until I say you're ready, don't you go trying this on your own. Your girl, Bertha, tells me she sees potential in you." Bob leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, tilting his head. "Personally, I don't see it, but I've learned not to question that old girl."

"Why are you even helping me?" Asked Max. "You obviously think I'm a waste of time. Why should I listen to you?" Max slouched back in his chair, folding his arms. "I've had kind of a rough couple of days, all right? Can't you go easy on me?"

Bob sighed. "Kid, I know this is tough. You haven't even had your funeral yet. It's a lot to take in. But you decided to stay here in this dimension. It was your choice, and you need to deal with it. Look on the bright side – at least now you can learn what's really going on around here. In this dimension you can see what these people can't see. Here, you can see the enemy and learn to fight them. And speaking of which..." Bob glanced up the stairs toward Lizzie's room. "... We'd better get started." Bob rose from his chair. "Follow me."