Somewhere In-Between ~ An Adventure in the Afterlife

CHAPTER 33 - SLEEP TIGHT

That night, Max told Lizzie he would help watch over her, as he had been doing almost every night since the accident.

As Lizzie wrote in her journal, Max paced the room, thinking about the boy in the graveyard.

"This might sound like a really stupid question, considering you were buried today." Lizzie said. "But are you okay?"

Max huffed. "Peachy."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, returning attention to her journal. "Okay, I'll just get back to my writing here. Hmm... Let's see..." She moved her pen across the page. "Max is acting really weird tonight. Perhaps the ectoplasm is riding up his butt crack, creating severe irritation."

"Don't write that! Hey!" Max stomped over.

Lizzie chuckled. "Then just tell me, Max. What's going on?"

Max started pacing again. "Well, for one thing, Perry can see me now."

Lizzie's eyes widened. "Whoa! What? How?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because she died for one moment in the hospital. Maybe that did something. Or maybe she's like you, and was just born with it. I have no clue."

"So what's the other thing?" Lizzie prodded.

"Huh?"

"You said, 'for one thing.' So, what's the other thing?"

"Well, it's pretty heavy."

"Try me. In the past few days I've killed off a demon, protected a schoolmate and a toddler from spiritual warfare, and hugged my dead father. Whatever you want to talk about, I think I can handle it, Max."

"Okay." Max sat on the end of her bed. "In the graveyard I saw the guy who killed me."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. And I guess he talked to Perry somehow while she was unconscious in the hospital. She said he's sorry."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. I mean, I really don't know what to do. It was easier when I didn't know anything about the person in the other car. Now I find out that person is somewhere around here too. What the heck do I do about that? Do I confront him? Do I tell him off?"

"Max, he apologized to your sister."

"So what? She's not dead! I am! I'm the one that died! He should apologize to me, Liz! To me!"

Lizzie remembered what her therapist told her. It was one of the few things that stuck. "Max, go ahead and feel angry tonight. And then tomorrow, at the rise of the sun and a new day, let that anger go."

"Let it go? Seriously, Liz?"

"Just because you have the right to feel angry, it doesn't mean it's okay to stay angry, Max. Staying angry makes you sick."

"Ha! Sick? Hmm. I'm dead already, Liz. I can't get sick!"

"Are you completely stupid, Max? Don't you remember Mary at school, and what happened to her in the bathroom?"

Max paused. How could he forget? He couldn't get that oozing, pulsing blackness out of his memory. He wished he could forget.

"She was under attack, remember? She might have killed herself if we didn't help her. I've been thinking a lot about that day. Those demons are working to weaken us, Max. They want us to feel sadness and hatred. That's how they get people... even dead people, Max."

Max bowed his head, frowning. "So you're telling me to just get over it?"

"I'd never say that, Max. Look at me. My dad died. I was a wreck. I was still a wreck when you met me. Heck, I don't know if I'll ever get over it."

"So how do I let that anger go?"

Lizzie looked down at the journal in her lap. "I don't know, Max." She looked back up at him again, with a little smile. "But we'll figure it out, okay? The important thing is that you're not alone, Max." She smiled a little wider, and reached her hand out to him. "And neither am I anymore."

Max smiled back and reached for her hand. Before he could try to touch her fingers, there was a knock on the door. Max stood, startled.

"Lizzie! Done with your journal time?" Mother called through the door.

"Yeah, Mom!" Lizzie closed her journal for the night and laid it next to her lamp on the bed table, beside her neglected MP3 player and earplugs.

Her mother entered and sat on the side of her bed to say goodnight. "How was your day, sweetie?"

Well, Mom, let's see... I saw Dad today.

"You were able to get a ride from school to get to that boy's funeral this afternoon, right?"

"Yeah, thanks for the permission slip, mom."

"Of course." She stroked Lizzie's hair. "Are you doing okay?"

"I know it sounds strange, but yes. I'm actually doing great, Mom." Lizzie smiled.

Her mother was relieved. "I'm so glad." She kissed her daughter on her forehead. "Funerals really help to bring closure."

"On many levels." Lizzie grinned.

Her mom said a final goodnight and turned off the light, closing the door behind her.

"Goodnight Max," Lizzie whispered.

"Goodnight, Liz." Max smiled, leaning in his usual spot against the wall.

The moonlight shone through Lizzie's window. The curtains were open and the blinds up. Max stood and walked over, gazing at the quiet graveyard. A light mist covered the grounds. It looked like Halloween out there. The tent from the burial service was taken down, and the casket was lowered and covered with a fresh mound of earth.

Will I ever get used to this? He thought. This whole "being dead" thing still felt weird. But then, it hadn't even been a whole week since he died. He laughed at himself. Well, at least I have eternity to get used to it.

He glanced down and saw the skinny vase placed on Lizzie's desk, housing the red rose. He smiled, thinking how nice it was for her to keep it. He walked back to his spot against the wall and slid down on the floor to rest his energy.

A house spider crawled along the wall of Lizzie's room, and stopped as it approached the darkest corner. The spider turned around, instinctively avoiding the dark energy lurking there. The tall, dark figure stood, camouflaged, waiting for the right moment to strike again.