Stepping into the Sky: Jump When Ready, Book 3 (16 page)

Rose got up and crossed the room. As she reached for the
doorknob, Henry whispered into her ear and she froze. Rose stood there for a
few moments, as if lost in thought, her hand resting on the doorknob. Then she
shook her head, as if to clear her mind. She opened the door.

Henry turned to Nikki, his eyes locking on hers.

Nikki nodded. “She heard you, definitely. But Joseph told
her he’d call at ten so she doesn’t know why she’d go over there. Try again.
Remember, his parents are out of town. Tell her how much he’d love it if she
surprised him.”

Henry caught up to Rose as she reached the top of the
stairs. Again, she stopped, listening as Henry whispered. As she had last time,
Rose thought for a moment, then tromped down the staircase.

Again, Henry’s eyes met Nikki’s, looking for
confirmation.

“It’s working,” Nikki said. “She’s thinking about going
over there.”

They followed as Rose descended the stairs. She reached
the landing, checked her watch, then walked briskly down the hall. She crossed
through the kitchen and opened the French doors leading out to the patio.
Olivia looked up from where she sat reading the newspaper outside.

“I’m going to Joseph’s,” Rose said. “I’ll be back in a
few hours.”

Olivia lowered her newspaper. “Are you sure?” She
gestured at the food set out on the table. “These scones are lovely. Wouldn’t
you rather have something to eat first?”

Rose smiled at her grandmother. “I’ll get something
later, okay?”

It seemed strange to Nikki, looking at this real version
of Olivia. She couldn’t help wait for an attempt at manipulation, part of her
expecting Olivia to try remaining in control of Rose’s thoughts and actions.

Instead, Olivia smiled back at Rose. “Enjoy your morning,
dear,” she said. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

Rose drove across town and it wasn’t long before she
parked in Joseph’s driveway. At the door, she reached for the doorbell, then
changed her mind and quietly entered the house. She stopped in the hallway,
taking a moment to look at the framed photos lining the walls. It broke Nikki’s
heart as she read Rose’s thoughts, herself knowing that what Rose imagined—her
dream of being part of a family again—would not be coming true. Part of her
wanted to stop Rose from climbing the stairs, to protect her from what she was
about to learn. But Nikki reminded herself that they’d brought Rose to this
very moment deliberately. The only chance they had at preventing her lingering
torture in the future was to make her past yet more agonizing.

Rose looked away from the photos toward the living room.
She peered down the hall, listening. When she detected no sound or movement,
she softly climbed the stairs. She reached the landing and again stood
listening. For one moment, Nikki wondered if she’d timed things wrong. Like Rose,
she also heard nothing as a few seconds ticked by.

Then softly spoken words traveled from a bedroom down the
hall. A girl’s voice, sensuous and enticing. “Do you mean that? You’d really do
that for me?”

Rose stiffened at the sound of the girl’s voice. For
Nikki, Rose’s emotions flared visibly. She saw an orange flash of painful
recognition. Rose went numb, as if she’d been slapped in the face.

Joseph chuckled. “Well, I’m not saying I’d actually do it
myself. I mean, there are people you can hire for that sort of thing.”

Only a few seconds of silence followed before Linda
whispered, “How long do you think we’d have to wait to get married? I mean,
after Rose is…gone.”

Rose’s hands started to shake uncontrollably. She balled
the hem of her skirt into her fists.

“I don’t know, maybe a year,” Joseph said. “That seems
about right. Don’t you think?”

Linda’s voice came back a seductive purr. “For you, I
could wait a year,” she said. “As long as we get to keep doing this…”

Rose’s knees nearly buckled. She reached out to support
herself against the wall.

Joseph’s amusement carried down the hall. “Seriously?
Already?”

Linda giggled. She lowered her voice this time to an
inaudible whisper.

Joseph sighed, then laughed. “God, you’re
unbelievable
!”

“Now,” Henry said. “Jump us out of here again.”

Nikki agreed entirely. Rose had already lived what
followed—she didn’t need to endure it again. She grabbed hold of Rose’s wrist
and reached for Henry’s hand. She closed her eyes and envisioned the tunnel
that would take them back. A moment later, Nikki felt the shift telling her
she’d returned them to the present.

Rose pulled away from her grasp and Nikki feared, that
when she opened her eyes, she’d see Rose had returned to the state she’d been
in before. But Rose stood just a few feet away, staring back at her—truly
seeing her, Nikki felt sure. She saw both of them, Nikki could tell. At least
that much had changed. The blank stare Rose had directed at them before had
been replaced with awareness, if not recognition.

“Who are you?” Rose said, her voice a trembling whisper.
Tears streamed down her face.

Nikki wished Rose could see her and Henry as she had
before, in the dream. As people she knew and trusted. But the dream was gone
and it had to remain that way.

“I’m Nikki,” she said. “This is Henry. We came to help
you.”

“Do I know you from somewhere? I feel like I know you
from somewhere.” Rose looked around the darkened hall. “Where are we?”

Nikki stepped toward her. “We’re in your house. But
things have changed. It’s not…really your house anymore.”

Rose glanced back and forth between them. “For how long?”

“A long time,” Nikki said, “but it’s okay. That’s why
we’re here. To get you to come with us.”

“Where?”

Henry stepped forward too. “There’s nothing to be afraid
of. It’s not like you thought. Everything is good there.”

Rose shook her head. “I don’t understand. What are you
saying?”

“It’s where people go,” Nikki said. “After their last
life is over.”

Rose stepped toward them, closing the gap, her eyes
searching theirs. “Did you die?”

Nikki smiled. “Only who I used to be. I’m someone else
now. But it’s fine. It’s okay.”

“I’m dead too,” Rose said. “Aren’t I? Did they kill me?
Is that what happened?”

“That never happened,” Henry said.

Nikki glanced at him, her heart beating faster.

“I killed them, didn’t I?” Rose said, her voice rising in
pitch. “Did I kill them?”

“It was an accident,” Nikki said. “Please believe me. It
was just an
accident
.”

Rose gasped for breath as she started to cry again. “How
did I die? What happened to me?”

Suddenly, Nikki felt it. The slithering, the pulsing. An
icy chill rippled up her spine. Her heartbeat ratcheted up, hammering inside
her chest. It felt like the air got sucked out of the room. They weren’t alone
anymore. The darkness had found them.

“Please tell me,” Rose said. “How did I die?”

Nikki’s eyes widened as a shadow behind Rose shifted into
human form. Olivia appeared standing next to her. Not the real Olivia, Nikki
knew.

“You ended your own life,” Olivia said, her voice soft
and pitying. “That’s what happened. I’m so sorry, dear.”

Another shadow shifted and Joseph stepped forward. “After
you killed me. You shouldn’t have done that, Rose.”

Another shadow formed into Linda. “And me. You murdered
me too. I was your friend but that didn’t stop you.”

Nikki locked her gaze on Rose’s eyes. “Don’t listen to
them. They’re lying.”

“They aren’t who you think they are,” Henry said. “Listen
to Nikki. She’s telling the truth.”

“The truth?” Joseph turned to Rose. “The truth is that
these two are ghosts. They’re locked in hell for their sins. They want you to
go with them.”

“It’s true,” Olivia said. “They’re dead and their souls
have been forsaken.”

“What did they tell you?” Linda said. “Did they show you
something that never happened? I bet they did.”

Olivia held her hand out to Rose. “Everything will be
okay. I can take you home. You’ll never have to leave again. Come with me.”

Nikki pleaded with her eyes. “Please don’t listen to
them!”

“They’re lying,” Henry said. “We can take you with us.
You said you knew who we were. Please, think back. You trusted us for a
reason.”

Rose twirled in a circle, her eyes pinned wide with
terror and confusion.

Upstairs, Nikki heard the children cry out again.
Footsteps travelled down the hall. She glared at Olivia, then at Joseph and Linda.
She reached out and grasped Rose’s hand. “Keep your eyes on mine. Rose, please.
Keep your eyes on mine. Remember me, from your dream, that place where you kept
waiting. Remember Henry too. We came to you there. Do you remember?”

Rose’s hand trembled in Nikki’s. “I don’t know what’s
real!”

“We are,” Nikki said.

“We were with you,” Henry said. “You showed us your
records. Do you remember that?”

Rose’s eyes met Henry’s and continued to widen.  “I
remember. You were older.”

“That’s right, I was older,” Henry said, “but it was me.
Rose, it was me. And Nikki too. We were with you.”

Rose looked to Nikki. “You showed me that morning again.
The part I didn’t know.”

Tears pricked at Nikki’s eyes. “I’m sorry. You had to
know.”

“He didn’t love me,” Rose said. “He never loved me.”

“I’m sorry, Rose,” Nikki said. “Neither of them loved you
and they should have. They lied to you. And what happened was an accident. It
was just an
accident
.”

“But I killed myself.”

“And you only have to forgive yourself. That’s all.”

Olivia grabbed hold of Rose’s other arm. “Listen to me.
They’re lying. You’ll go to hell if you trust them!”

“You will, Rose,” Joseph said. “That’s what happens to
people who do what you did.”

Suddenly, the hallway blasted full of light. Nikki jumped
back, wincing. She lost hold of Rose’s hand. A man and woman strode forward,
silhouettes at first, then coming into view. The woman appeared to be young,
maybe in her early thirties, slim with curly brown hair and freckles. The man
seemed a few years older, tall with thinning blonde hair. They ran to Rose and
the man pulled her away. He turned to block her from the demons still trying to
reel her in again. “Get away from my daughter!”

The woman flanked Rose as well, reaching out to grasp her
hand. “We know what you are. Leave her
alone
!”

The light continued to intensify and Nikki could barely
keep her eyes open against it. A moment later, Lysrus walked toward Rose. He
stood facing her, his eyes on her alone as if it was only the two of them. “I’m
not here to judge you,” he said. “Only to help. Do you understand?”

Rose nodded, keeping her eyes on his. “Yes, I think so.”

Lysrus didn’t bother turning toward the demons, who now
stepped back, becoming shadows again. Just their forms remained, their eyes
glowing green as they stared at Lysrus.

Lysrus held his hand out to Rose. “Those who have
impersonated people you once loved can no longer hurt you. Not if you don’t let
them. Please don’t be afraid.”

Rose glanced at her father, then her mother, as they
stood next to her. She reached out to take hold of Lysrus’s hand. “I’m not
afraid.”

“We’d like you to come with us. Will you do that?” Lysrus
said.

Tears continued to fall from Rose’s eyes, but now she
smiled. “Please take me with you. Can you do that?”

Lysrus smiled back at her. “I’ve been waiting a very long
time to do just that,” he said. “Now, it will be done.”

Lysrus turned to Nikki and Henry, his eyes offering an
assurance that Nikki didn’t understand, then he vanished in another burst of
blinding light taking Rose and her parents with him. Nikki waited for the hall
to darken again but, instead, the light continued to brighten, pulsating with
the colors she remembered from before when she and Henry had first met Lysrus
in that middle space provided between his level and theirs. When the glare
finally receded, only she and Henry stood in the hall and Nikki understood what
Lysrus had been trying to tell them. The space around them had been cleansed.
The strength of the dark entities only held when there was pain and sorrow to
feed on. In this house, that was no longer the case. Around her, the light
settled back to dusk and shadows. But it was just nighttime now and the shadows
were nothing other than shadows. Moonlight beamed through windows, casting its
glow against the floor. All of it natural now, Nikki realized. For the first
time in a very long time, things were as they should be and a sense of peace
rippled through her.

Only a few moments passed before Nikki heard a child
upstairs, the little girl. “She’s gone, Mommy,” she said. “I think she finally
went home.”

Testing a Theory

“What’s to keep
them from just finding someone else? I mean, we helped Rose but those... things
are still out there somewhere.” Even now, Henry wasn’t sure what to call the
entities that had taken on the forms needed to ensnare Rose. He’d almost used
the word “demons” again but, to him, the word just didn’t fit. He didn’t want
to give them credit for being something mythical. They were just parasites that
fed off of others’ pain. The spiritual equivalent of bullies, nothing more.

“They will find someone else,” Lysrus said. “If not
today, then soon. It’s how they survive.”

Something else occurred to Henry. Something that,
strangely, hadn’t before. “Do they even die? Could you have killed them?”

Lysrus smiled. “Define death.”

Nikki and Martha both laughed.

“He got you there, Henry,” Nikki said.

Henry’s face grew warm. He was blushing, he knew. Still,
he couldn’t help smile. “You know what I mean.”

“You’re right. I do,” Lysrus said. “To answer your
questions—yes, they can be destroyed but not by my kind. Mentors can’t destroy
anything or anyone. We’ve evolved past it.”

Henry almost asked what Mentors might do if it was a
matter of self-defense. But, essentially, Lysrus had just told him. Mentors
didn’t kill or destroy. They couldn’t. So, the implication was clear—they would
choose their own destruction first.

Lysrus glanced from Henry to Nikki, then back to Henry
again. “For the time being, all that matters is what you two did for Rose. You
found a way for her to see the truth. Which, in turn, opened the door for me to
help her the rest of the way.”

“Is she going to stay with her parents?” Nikki said. “I
didn’t think people were grouped that way here. I mean, at least for us,
everyone is about the same age.”

Again, Lysrus smiled and Henry could see it coming.
Lysrus even gave Henry a quick wink before returning his attention to Nikki.
“How old are you, Nikki?”

Nikki opened her mouth to speak but changed her mind.

“He got you there,” Henry said.

“In the realm you’re currently experiencing, people are
grouped according to what best serves their well-being. How old someone is—or
appears to be, more accurately—is entirely up to them. Regardless, for the time
being, Rose will remain with her parents from her last life. Only they can
determine how long that will last.”

“But she’ll be happy again, right?” Nikki said. “She’ll
forgive herself now?”

“I’m sure she will,” Martha said. “Thanks to both of you.
That was very resourceful, by the way. I don’t know that it would have occurred
to me—the idea of letting Rose experience a different perspective of her own
past.”

Nikki had told Henry her suspicion that Martha had been
trying to nudge her in that very direction. The look on Martha’s face—as she
maintained eye contact with Nikki—confirmed the same for Henry. Had Martha
broken some sort of Rule? From what Henry knew of Martha’s past as a
poltergeist causing disturbances across the globe, it seemed entirely possible.

“Indeed.” Lysrus cast a glance at Martha suggesting he
suspected something similar. “As I mentioned when we first met, your
resourcefulness for helping people is what brought the two of you to my
attention originally. For now, I just wanted to thank you. You’ve been under
quite a bit of pressure so I don’t think it would be fair right now to add
more.”

“But?” Nikki said, her characteristic smirk returning.

Henry felt his smile broadening as he watched her. It was
so like Nikki to mess with people, to leave them just ever so slightly
uncomfortable.

It even worked on Lysrus, who shifted on his feet, then
shrugged. “Well, there’s something I’d like you to consider after you’ve had
time to rest.”

“Are you trying to recruit us?” Nikki said.

Lysrus lifted an eyebrow. “That’s not exactly the word I
would have chosen.”

“But it’s basically true,” Nikki said.

“I think she got you there, Lysrus,” Martha said.

Lysrus turned to Martha. “They are challenging, aren’t
they?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Martha said.

~~~

A few minutes later, Henry and Nikki descended the stairs
together being careful not to be heard by the others. They’d catch them up on
things in the morning. Right now, they needed a little time to wind down. They
went outside and sat on the front steps of Halfway House, the two of them again
sharing the view of the stars.

“This is kind of getting to be our spot,” Henry said.

“After the kids are in bed, you mean,” Nikki said.

Henry smiled. “I’m sure they had a busy day while we were
at work.”

Nikki slid a bit closer, her shoulder touching his. “I
think I could have passed on that day at the office. But it’s good to know little
Simon is all tucked in and cozy.”

“And little Jamie.”

Nikki snorted. “Wee baby mohawk prongs stabbing at his
pillow.”

Henry burst out laughing.

“Shh, you’ll wake them up.”

Henry dropped his voice to a whisper. “Are they going to
bed earlier or are we just staying up later?”

“I think we’ve been keeping some psycho-crazy late
nights,” Nikki said. “It’s kind of hard to tell, especially when you hijack
somebody’s brain and zip from nighttime to morning, 1964, then back to
nighttime again. If I was wearing a watch, I’d guess it has to be like three in
the morning. But I haven’t owned a watch since 1972.”

“For the record, I never owned a watch.”

Nikki gasped. “No way! I had this super cool Minnie Mouse
watch. I loved that thing. I got it when I was ten.”

“Kind of hard to picture you wearing a Minnie Mouse
watch. Seems kind of sexist, by the way.”

“Whatever. Not back then. But you’re right. You probably
would have had a Mickey at some point. Most of the boys did.”

“See what I mean?”

Nikki nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. “You’re just
jealous you never had a watch.”

“Didn’t need one. I had a cell phone.”

“Okay, you suck.”

Henry laughed. “Oops, sorry. Probably shouldn’t wake
people up.”

“Well, it’s not like I don’t want to see them,” Nikki
said. “I think that was the weirdest part about all of it. And we went through
some seriously weird stuff.”

Henry looked up at the stars spread out above. “Yeah, I
know. But, I guess, at the end of the day, they helped make it happen. It was
their idea.”

Nikki looked up too. “You know, that’s true. Good job,
Jamie, Simon and Naomi.”

“They’re kind of special, aren’t they?”

“Very. You’re going to make me cry. Believe me, you don’t
want that to happen. My face crumples all up and snot runs out of my nose. You
seriously don’t want to see that.”

Henry slid over, closing the remaining gap between them.
He put his arm around her shoulders. “Hey, sorry,” he whispered. “What did I
say? I thought we were kidding around.”

Nikki sniffed and rubbed her eyes. She took a breath.
“Yeah, we were.”

“But now we’re not, right? Just being sure.”

Nikki laughed and wiped her eyes again. “It’s not you.
It’s me. I just had this weird thought yesterday. It kind of came out of
nowhere. I thought about the those guys and it was like they were already gone
or something. I thought about how much I was going to miss them.”

A few seconds passed and Henry didn’t say anything. He
couldn’t.

“Hey, what’s up?” Nikki said.

Henry stared up at those distant stars shining in the
sky. He blinked back tears.

“Are you okay?” Nikki said.

Henry shook his head.

Nikki turned to look at him. “Oh, my God. You’re crying.
I’ve never seen you cry. Does snot run out of your nose?”

Henry couldn’t remember if he’d ever laughed and cried at
the same time before. He felt pretty sure he hadn’t. Leave it to Nikki. “I’m
not crying.”

“You totally are.”

“Here’s the thing,” Henry said. “I had the same thought
too, about how much I was going to miss those guys. A few times and it didn’t
seem to make sense. I mean, it’s not like we made any decisions. I guess it’s
just from thinking about it. You know, jumping in again.”

Nikki rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

“What kind of sigh was that?” Henry said. “Just being
sure.”

“You said ‘we.’ Did you mean to say that?”

Henry hadn’t realized he’d said it, at least consciously.
At the same time, he’d meant it. Of that much, he felt sure. He nodded.

Nikki nudged him again. “A nod? That gets a nod?”

Henry grinned and nodded again.

“Wow, you’re one cool customer, Mr. Rat.”

“You’re finally getting to know me,” Henry said. “Good
thing, before it’s too late. Because you can never really tell what’s real,
right? Looks like I had you fooled the entire time.”

“So, like that thing that happened the other night when
we were at the house. You know, the house that wasn’t real in the place that
wasn’t real…”

“You mean, when we were sitting in front of the fire that
wasn’t real?”

“Yeah, that night,” Nikki said. “What about that thing
that happened? Do you think that was real?” She waited about two seconds, then
added, “If you nod, you’re going to die.”

“Should I ignore the obvious irony there?” Henry said.

“Please do.”

“I think that was real. I feel pretty sure about it.”
Henry turned to meet her gaze. “But, you know, we could test that theory.”

“I was thinking maybe we should,” Nikki said.

Nikki leaned in toward him and closed her eyes. Henry
closed his too, fully certain now that this dream remained theirs alone.

~~~

Henry awoke to the sound of soft knocking on his door. He
knew who it was and smiled. Still, he kept his voice low just in case. “Did we
sleep in again?”

“It looks that way,” Nikki said.

Henry listened for sounds coming from downstairs but
somehow he knew. Even if the others didn’t realize it, things were changing. In
the past, they’d always waited until it was the five of them together. He
couldn’t help feel sad even as he smiled thinking about them.

“They’re not downstairs, are they?” Henry said.

A moment passed before Nikki answered and Henry suspected
she was sharing the same emotions. She spoke softly. “I don’t think so.”

Henry sat up in bed and ran his hand through his hair. It
fell around his face again and for some reason, only now after all this time,
did he think about what it might feel like to get a haircut again someday.
Would his hair be the same color or would it change like Curtis’s had when he’d
become Ian? What would his eyes look like in the future when he saw them in the
mirror? What color would they be and would he recognize them as being his own?

Still, upon opening the door and seeing Nikki, he somehow
knew he’d always recognize her eyes. Even if they changed color entirely, he’d
know her spirit resided behind those eyes. Something told him they’d find each
other again.

Nikki lifted an eyebrow. “They’re getting pretty outdoorsy,
our old friends. Don’t you think?”

Henry smiled. “Who would have thought? There I was
thinking we might spend eternity in the food court.”

“Or game room.”

“Or indoor pool.”

“Halfway House is a pretty sweet deal,” Nikki said.

“I’ll miss it.” Even as Henry said it, he wondered. Would
he remember having been here? At least on some level? Or would all of it, every
moment, vanish like a forgotten dream?

Nikki’s eyes met his and darted away. “Remember what I
said about snot,” she said. “We’re talking tons. Like getting slimed in
Ghostbusters.”

Henry laughed. “Sounds awesome. I have to see this.”

Nikki shook her head. “Not going to happen.”

“Do you think they’re outside with Becky again?”

Nikki nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking.”

Nikki walked toward the stairs and Henry followed. She
stopped at the top landing and sighed. “What about Service? I mean, should we
think about it?”

“We might be good at it.”

“Pretty sure we would be. We kind of already are.”

Henry knew that was the other option on the table. Technically,
remaining here and keeping things as they’d been all this time was also an
option but somehow that no longer seemed to be a choice. No one had said it.
There’d been no need to. Martha had always told them they’d know when they were
ready to move on and she’d been right. That time had come.

Even though they’d guessed correctly about finding the
others at the horse pen, Henry wasn’t the least bit ready for what they soon
encountered. Neither was Nikki, evidently, since she stopped dead in her
tracks.

She stared, her eyes wide. “You have to be freaking
kidding
me.”

Jamie sat in the saddle as Becky galloped in circles. He
saw them approaching and reined Becky in to make her stop. He grinned and
waved. “Hey, guys! How’s it going?”

Henry and Nikki crossed through the gate as Jamie rode up
and hopped off. Dust swirled into the air as he landed on the ground. He turned
to pat Becky’s neck. “Thanks, Becky. You rock.” He turned to face Henry and
Nikki again. “I guess she just wanted me to trust her.”

“See, she knew you were scared.” Naomi patted Becky’s
forehead and cooed at her. “
Jamie just didn’t know any better. Did he
,
Becky?
”

“Like I was scared,” Jamie said.

All eyes went to Jamie.

“So, the whole running away thing,” Nikki said. “Just
making sure Becky was getting enough exercise?”

“Part of the training process,” Jamie said. “First, you
get them to run after you. Then, just when they think they’re in charge, you
take control and hop on for a ride.”

Becky snorted and shook her mane.

“I think Becky just called you a dipshit,” Nikki said.