Grim Love - A Novella (3 page)

The manner in which he carried himself told
her Lucius never did anything without being fully prepared for the
consequences. She, on the other hand, had just realized that there
were dire consequences for even the slightest infractions.

Hesitant to look at his face under the dark
cloak, Evangeline made it a point to concentrate on their journey.
She didn't know what to expect and couldn't be positive that what
she saw wasn't an illusion. The tall figure moving next to her made
no effort to usher her into the afterlife with ease. His movements
brisk and his voice low, Lucius sensed her fear and rather enjoyed
her discomfort. He had no intention of explaining until they'd
reached their destination. He thought the silence would do well to
encourage her to consider his proposition.

* * * *

Evangeline wondered if he knew she'd accepted
his offer because she feared how he’d react if she didn’t. She had
the feeling that he didn't understand the spirits he gathered. For
him, dying no longer had anything to do with emotion and loss. He'd
been given a job and that's what he did. The notion of considering
the reactions of the departed didn't fit into his mission.
Evangeline couldn't believe she'd been the only one that questioned
the experience and, now, her status in the afterlife.

As much time as she spent pining over
soulless bad boys, when she looked at Lucius, she didn't feel that
same admiration. She wondered what her reaction to him would have
been if she were still alive. Would he have been someone she'd find
attractive and alluring?

When they reached, what could only be
described as his office, he'd told her that she'd been chosen to do
a job like no other and that this new position would be both
difficult and rewarding if done well. Lucius said nothing to
explain further other than to say there were strict guidelines and
parameters to stay within and, if she chose to step outside of
those guidelines, there would be a heavy price to pay. She shivered
at the thought. Her knee-jerk reaction gave him pause and prompted
him to add that a phenomenon she may find appealing would be that
spirits clung to what they understood for a long time, including
having the sense that their heart still beat and offered the
illusion of skipping a beat or stopping under certain
circumstances. He warned that regardless of the situation and the
length of time, this strange phenomenon wouldn't be present for all
of eternity. It would fade in time.

Breathing a deep sigh, Evangeline stared out
at the sea, wondering what happened to the spirits of her friends.
They’d all gone down to the marina and stolen a boat, because they
could, because they were young, reckless, and didn’t believe it'd
be possible that anything bad would happen. They were wrong about
that. Everyone drowned due to an accident she couldn’t remember.
She hoped the memory would remain elusive forever. Knowing they'd
all died traumatic deaths caused enough pain. She didn't need to
know what caused the accident, fearing her own drunkenness and
feigned bravado would be to blame. Not having confirmation, would
forever haunt her, but she knew enough to hate herself for it.
Remembering herself drowning, she shuddered.

A ping took her by surprise. Someone would
soon die and she seemed to be the only one close enough to guide
the spirit to the world of the dead. Even though the last
unexpected death that happened around her had gone wrong, she
decided she would go because she didn’t want whoever died to end up
wandering like she had.

One step took her to the multistory garage
where it would happen. She waited, grateful for the chance to fix
things after the mistake she’d made. After what felt like hours, a
car barreled into the parking garage, weaving out of control.

People saw it happen. The walkway next to it
had been full of people strolling or biking along the man-made
pond. It didn’t take long for people to call 911 as they watched
the car speed through the garage, coming to a sudden halt as the
car hit a concrete column. Someone, much braver than Evangeline
would have been, used an extinguisher from their trunk to put out
the engine fire. Others rushed to the aid of the driver, trying to
keep him awake, fearing he'd suffered a blow to the head.

As Evangeline got closer, she could
understand why. There wasn't an airbag, so he’d hit his face hard
on the steering wheel. She bit her lip, studying him, wondering why
he’d driven at such a high rate of speed. Knowing she shouldn’t
care, didn’t help. It would be her downfall in the end, so she did
her best to push her interest away, leaning against the car as she
waited for something to happen. His spirit didn’t seem like it
wanted to leave his body any time soon.

The ambulance and fire engines arrived. Since
there could be a chance of spinal damage, they waited until the top
of the car had been chopped off before removing him. Evangeline
watched it all, more fascinated by this than anything else, even
though she would have been squirming if this happened in front of
her in real life. She hated blood and gore and there seemed to be a
lot here. Yet, in her position as reaper, all that proved easier to
deal with since she knew his spirit would move on to another
life.

Her parents had her remains cremated,
sprinkling the ashes over a lagoon she’d loved as a child. She’d
spent a lot of time there with her family. Until she died, she
didn’t realize how much she missed the lagoon. Observing this scene
reminded her of another part of her life that she missed.

Evangeline went with him in the ambulance.
She didn’t listen to what the paramedics were saying, but stared at
him instead, wishing she knew what he looked like before he'd come
close to mangling his face. Something told her, he would be
handsome behind the blood and gashes. Growling, she shook her head.
He’d also be dead and she knew that would happen soon. She had to
remind herself her concern should be with taking his spirit to the
world of the dead. Brushing a hand through her hair she waited,
knowing it had to happen soon, but when they arrived at the
hospital, they wheeled him into the emergency room.

“Jasper Muldoon, 26, BP 60/40 and dropping.
Crashed into a concrete pillar at the multistory garage next to the
marina. I’m not sure he’s going to pull through this time.”

“This time?” Evangeline spoke out loud even
though no one could hear her, studying Jasper even more than she
had before. “What sort of life have you led?”

“Another suicide attempt?”

“Maybe. He’s drunk, so there's a chance he
might have tried again. He totaled his car doing it.”

The doctor nodded. “If he wanted to be dead,
that wouldn’t bother him. Sometimes I wonder why he can’t manage to
kill himself when it’s obvious how much he wants to be dead. I'm
sure if there were some God up there, they’d put the poor guy out
of his misery, instead of bringing him back here so we can patch
him up and send him out to try again.”

“Isn’t there anything more we can do for
him?” The nurse's irritated tone pleased Evangeline - at least
someone thought to consider the poor guy who'd just gotten hurt.
“After two suicide attempts in what - like a few months? Isn't
there better treatment than us bandaging his scars and having him
put on a hold for evaluation? He’s depressed.” The doctor looked
into the nurse's eyes for a moment before returning his attention
to the patient that needed his assistance. He had no words.

Evangeline watched the precise movements the
entire team used to care for Jasper. Everyone had a role and,
despite the initial verbal sparring, they all played their parts.
Their job required them to try to save him, regardless of their
personal feelings about him.

She wondered if when she and her friends had
been dragged from the sea, did someone attempt to save their lives?
If so, did they do everything they could and not debate about why
they'd been in a stolen boat in the middle of the night in the
first place? Doctors took an oath to protect life even if that life
did belong to someone who might not deserve it.

Looking
at Jasper now, Evangeline thought, maybe Jasper could be one of
those people, but she didn’t know. As she studied him, she wished
she knew why he'd been trying to kill himself.
What sort of life led him to
this?

Chapter 3

Evangeline stayed with Jasper. He'd been
placed in the ICU, but as the doctors discussed, he'd been
stabilized. She couldn’t understand why she'd been called to escort
him. Lucius said that would only happen when death loomed and
Jasper, by all accounts, didn't appear to be dying. She sighed,
wishing she knew more, but until she dared asked questions of the
one person who could tell her, she would have to keep going with
the information she had.

She
nibbled on her bottom lip, looking at Jasper. His dark hair matted
to his head. Bandages were wrapped around his forehead and assorted
scrapes and wounds had been attended to – some left uncovered,
forcing her to see years of damage he'd done.
What will his final judgment
be?

Attempting suicide more than once proved
something had gone wrong. Everyone always had their reasons for
what they did. She wondered what his were. Were they enough that he
would be permitted straight through or would he have to visit the
spirit panel to learn his fate?

The guides, she knew, would talk to him about
the choices he’d made and the reasons he'd made them, trying to get
him to make better ones in the next life, if he were granted one.
That wouldn't be easy. Most people didn’t remember the lives they’d
led before. She had to wonder if the same would have been true for
her if she'd been granted another chance to walk the Earth. Would
she make the same mistakes again? Or, would she spend eternity
trapped in the soul of an ungrateful, angry girl who realized too
late how wonderful life had been for her.

Lucius warned Evangeline that another chance
at life wouldn't be better than the afterlife. The few granted
another opportunity found more trouble than they ever imagined.
Spending their new lives making up for all they thought they'd lost
only to be faced with the harsh reality that there are no real
second chances.

Realizing
that her hands were caressing unscathed parts of Jasper's muscled
body, Evangeline jumped back.
What am I doing? What's wrong with me?
Needing a distraction, she
chose to snoop around the hospital. She came across Jasper’s doctor
talking to two police officers. It wasn’t a surprise that the
police were there. Evangeline had caused her share of problems in
the past and knew the police always managed to discover when you'd
done something wrong.
They want to lock him up.
Taking the opportunity to be a fly on the
wall, Evangeline listened to their discussion.

“We’re going to have to arrest him.” The
first officer shook his head, his face devoid of emotion, so she
had no idea what he'd been thinking and she stayed to find out
more. “This is the third time he’s been caught drinking and driving
in the last 6 months. First time, he was so far over, he blew off
the charts when we got him back to the station. This time, he could
have killed someone. He’s getting worse. I'm sick of having to deal
with him and his bullshit.”

The doctor nodded. “I know what you mean.
Every time I see him, it pisses me off. I mean, granted, he's been
through a lot, but it's starting to feel like a revolving door. We
fix him. You lock him up for a little while. Then, he comes out and
does it all over again. It's a never-ending cycle.”

“Is he going to die this time?”

“Probably not. He's got some pretty nice
gashes and bruised his ribs and other injuries we need to monitor.
We're going to watch and see. That blow to the head – well, his
face – with that, you never know. So, we test. We watch. We wait.
He's gotten over one hurdle. Give it a couple of days. He should be
awake, so you’ll be able to talk to him. We'll watch for swelling.
I'm not making any promises, but maybe, this time, he’ll understand
that dying isn't the best choice he could make.” Taking a deep
breath, the doctor added, “ He's too young to decide he's had
enough of life.”

Evangeline couldn’t help feeling sorry for
Jasper. She didn’t want him to die, but she didn’t want to screw up
again. Sighing, she went back to Jasper's bedside. If he wasn’t
going to die, there's no point in waiting for it to happen. Maybe
Lucius would understand why he’d pulled through. She hoped he
wouldn't get angry with her for leaving her position when there
could still be a chance, no matter how small, that Jasper would
die.

This wasn't a position she'd wanted to find
herself in so soon after making that mistake with the older drunk.
She looked at Jasper, watching his chest rise and fall and debated
about whether or not to return to Lucius alone.

With no definitive answer, Evangeline leaned
against the wall behind her, trying to decide what her next step
should be. After a few moments, Jasper started to stir. She figured
the pain medication had worn off, leaving him feeling the full
brunt of his ordeal. Moving closer to assess his situation,
Evangeline had to brace herself as Jasper opened his eyes.

After a
moment of confusion, he sat himself up. “Hello, gorgeous.” Not
answering would be the safer option, so she kept her mouth shut as
she found herself staring at him. “You’re not a nurse, are you?” He
studied her, appearing much more lucid than she'd expected him to
be, and his swollen hazel eyes seemed to find her eyes. “Are you
here to drag me to hell? I'm not scared. I've been waiting a long
time for this?” Evangeline didn't know how to respond, stunned that
he could see her.
Is he dead,
she
thought as she looked at the monitors indicating that he was very
much alive.
He shouldn’t be talking to me.