My Purgatory Hell

Chapter 9

"Some are born mad, some achieve madness, and some have madness thrust upon 'em."

― Emilie Autumn

Austin could see me? Signs lining his features claimed he did, and I couldn't help but let excitement filled me. "You can see me?" I asked him with hope laced in my voice. My brother must have heard the desperation in my voice, because he frowned in confusion.

"Yeah? What are you doing here?" His eyes furrowed together as his drunkenness tried to collect scattered pieces and put them together. I doubt he knew I had died, so he must have thought I was intruding on their guy night which seemed to include booze from the looks and smells of it.

Austin's friend looked back in our direction, but unlike Austin, he couldn't see us--me. He was likely staring at the wall behind me with an emotionless, but confused, look on his face. I glanced around to see Samantha was not in my line of sight. Where'd she go? Did his question freak her out? While my question freaking my spirit guide out was not possible, my attention was snapped back to Austin and his friend, because his friend asked who Austin was talking to.

"That's a stupid question. My sister is right behind you," Austin pointed out. The look my brother gave his friend was priceless; if I wasn't shocked at the realization my brother could see me, I would have laughed.

Austin's friend looked back in my direction, but, yet again, he couldn't see me. His hazel eyes passed over me once more, but they were still unseeing. His brows furrowed in confusion at my brother's proclamation. He likely thought my brother was certifiably crazy at this point, because he couldn't witness what my brother witnessed.

"No one is behind me, dude," his friend pointed out, sounding a little creeped out.

Wounded and more confused, Austin shut his mouth. He chalked the sight of me up to the affects of the alcohol he had ingested to create this weird hallucination. If he only knew....

The revelation that Austin could see me did have me intrigued. If my brother could see me now, would he be able to see me when he was sober? Was Austin seeing me just a fluke? I wanted to test this theory, but I knew--well felt-- that I had to get back to Samantha. Wherever she went.

I felt the familiar whirling and Austin and his friend disappeared. Samantha's twelve-year-old figure materialized in front of me. "What happened?" I asked. "Where'd you go?" I took in the sights around me in an attempt to pinpoint where I had materialized. Samantha and I were back outside Austin's friend's place.

Samantha shrugged. "It wasn't my place to visit your brother, and I decided to go for a walk." She gestured towards the left in the direction of houses similar to the one that was built on this property.

"So you don't know if he could see you too?" This was the most important thing on my mind. Did this newfound realization of Austin being able to see my spirit extend to Samantha's spirit as well? The confusion that spread along my spirit guide's features told me my answer before she even opened her mouth.

"What? Austin could see you?" Shock replaced the confusion on Samantha's face.

"Yeah, but he thought I was just raining on his parade." I became saddened at that thought and frowned. "I wanted to know if he could see you too."

"He's going to have a very hard time when he finds out you weren't actually there," Samantha mused. "I have a feeling he may be able to see you again, but I'm not sure to what extent. Everyone is different. So I hear, because this is all new to me. This is the first time that I've dealt with someone who could actually be seen by someone." Her facial expression showed I had piqued her interest, but I could tell she didn't want to get overly invested in this idea. Immediately after she had her little rant of thought, she became oddly quiet with a thoughtful expression etched on her face.