He looked startled at my approach and was even more shocked when I started up a conversation with him.
“Go ahead, Vigil, talk,” I said a little too sharply.
“E-excuse me?”
“You obviously want to talk to me. You have been trying to contact me in my dreams for a long time now. If you wanted to do something to hurt me, you would probably have done it by now, so I gather you won’t, or perhaps you can’t. So. Talk. I’m all ears,” I stated.
“I-I do wish to talk with you,” he said, a little uncertain.
“Yes, Captain Obvious,” I retorted sarcastically.
He frowned, not understanding me.
I was starting to notice Vigil didn’t grasp sarcasm very well. I needed to be more straightforward when I was talking to him. “I mean, yes, I know that. Go on,” I corrected myself, and waited for him to continue.
He eyed me suspiciously, a little fearfully, as if I was about to strike him again. I was also starting to notice I could read him more easily now. The first times we had met, I could barely detect a smidgen of emotion coming from him. But with each encounter, he seemed to be letting more show.
“I want you to know that it is not my intention to hurt anyone. As I’ve told you, I am just trying to make things right. Is that such a bad thing?” he stated calmly.
I tried to follow his line of reasoning. “Your job is to send Tristan back to being a ghost, or worse. Who says that is the right thing to do?” I questioned.
“I do.” he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It is my job to know this.”
“And if you’re wrong? What if he belongs here, with me. With the living, I mean,” I said, correcting myself just in time.
“I am never wrong.”
“What if you are this time?”
“I am not. This is what I need to do.”
I sighed, frustrated. “Is there anything I can do to make you change your mind?” I asked. It was worth to try. “I can help you, you know, with your job? You said it’s your job to fix things, to put things back in their right places. I gather you must have to deal with a lot of problems, a lot of … unexpected things,” I said.
From what I could observe, Vigil was a sucker for rules, a control-freak. And dealing with unexpected events all over the universe must require being adaptable. Something he lacked big time. I continued my proposal. “I could help you with that; I could be your ‘human adviser’ for unpredictable matters. I could help you understand.”
“Human beings are a very chaotic life form,” he pondered.
“Yes, we are. And you know what they say: you need to think like a thief to catch a thief. With my help, you could be the best at what you do. I will help you, if you let Tristan go,” I said.
That was my only hope. He must have chosen a male appearance for a reason; he identified with maleness more. And there was one thing a lot of men craved – power.
He seemed to be deep in thought for a second, but then he shook his head. “I am sorry. I cannot. I have to fix it. I must find … Tristan,” he said stoically.
Crap. He was a stubborn thing! So, perhaps he wasn’t motivated by power. “Then, can I talk with your supervisor?” I asked, thinking of my mom. Whenever she had received bad customer service, she would throw out that line.
“What?” he spat out, a little disconcerted.
See? Unexpected. Take that, Mr. Unbendable! He was so not ready to deal with humans! “Your boss, the guy who makes up all this stupid rules you follow so dearly. The one you report to. Management,” I explained.
“There are many like myself out there: my ‘colleagues’, as you might call them, and a few higher than us,” he said with a disgruntled sniff.
Ah. Touched a nerve there, have we? He didn’t like having to answer to someone. Maybe it was all about power after all. “Can I talk to one of them, please? If I convince them to let Tristan out of this, you’ll have to obey, right?”
He seemed reluctant to answer now.
“Come on, Vigil. Play fair. I have the right to talk to your boss. I bet there’s even a rule saying so,” I risked.
He pursed his lips, which meant I was right on the money with that one! Mental high five for me! “You have already talked to a higher power. I have witnessed you twice now,” he said.
“I have? When? Who?” I asked in surprise. The only strange, unearthly being I remembered talking to was him. Then Goth Girl drifted into my head for a split of a second. Sky. “You mean Sky?” I ventured.
“Sky?” he mused, with a sneer. “You and your strange, silly human habit of naming us. Most of your kind call her Death.”
I stared at him with my jaw hanging open. “Come again?” I said in a choked voice.
“The creature you call ‘Sky’ is Death,” he replied.
I had not seen that one coming!
He rolled his eyes, annoyed at my slowness. He seemed to be absorbing a lot of human emotions at quite a fast speed. Curious. Maybe I was rubbing off on him. Emotions can be contagious? I shook my head, trying to dislodge the silly jumble of thoughts and focus on the most freaking important one. “Death?” I repeated. “As in The Grim Reaper? The Collector of Souls? The tall bony dude dressed all in black with the sickle thingy?” I expanded, just to be sure.
“Yes. Death has many … personas.”
“Get out of here!” I said, flabbergasted.
He flinched, slightly puzzled, and looked at me warily. I forgot he took things too literally.
“Sorry, what I meant to say was, I can’t believe this!” I explained.
That little glint of fear was back in his eyes. I almost felt sorry for him but then I remembered how scary he had been the first couple of times we’d met. I should always keep that in mind and not let myself be misled by his more human frailties.
“So, if I talk with Sky, I mean Death …” Boy, that was a weird sentence. “… and she agrees to let Tristan off the hook, you’ll have to obey?” I asked slowly.
“Yes,” he agreed, warily.
“Great! So, when can I see her again? I always find her in that desert place. Is she there now?”
“Yes. ‘She’ can often be found there. It’s the transition space between the world of the living and the dead.”
“Cool.” It sounded like some cosmic waiting room or what my mother might have called Limbo. “How do I get there?”
He turned to look at me again and his eyes were dark as the blackest night. “You have to die to get there.”
I looked at him in shock. “I h-have to die? But … but … I have been there, like, twice already!” I said, a little freaked out.
“Yes. And you have died both of those times, then. It’s the only way … for humans, that is,” he said with an all too human smirk.
“I don’t understand. I’m certainly not dead … right?” I asked, a little uncertain now, and pinched myself to see if I was real or not. I had met Sky in my dreams – could a person die in their dreams and not know?
He rolled his eyes again. “You are definitely not dead. But you must have been at those times you met ‘her’, even if only for a second. It’s a little tricky, but a few humans manage to do so once in a while,” he said thoughtfully.
“Wait. Are you saying I ‘died’ for a time, talked to ‘Death’ and then came back to the living, twice already?” I asked.
“Yes. I don’t recommend it, though,” he said quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s tricky, meeting with Death. You were lucky before. Sometimes the human body just gives up and you do not come back. A heavy price to pay.”
“Are you saying I can really die … if I try to do this again?” I asked shakily.
“Yes. That is a possibility.”
“Is there any other way?”
“No. There is no other way. To meet Death, a human being must die.”
“Okay. I’ll take my chances and talk to Sky, then. How do I get there?” I asked.
&
nbsp; “You have to find your way back there like you have done before. Just remember, the longer you stay in there, the riskier it gets for you – and the harder it will be for you to come back,” he warned.
“Oh. Okay. Thank you for talking to me, Vigil. I appreciate you telling me all this,” I said, and I don’t know why on earth I did what I did next, but before I could stop myself, I just leaned in and hugged him as a thank you gesture. As I let him go I felt a little awkward. Vigil seemed shocked beyond all reason. A little embarrassed, I stepped back, giving him some distance.
“Can I have your word you’ll stop hunting Tristan down until I talk to Sky?” I asked politely.
He was staring at the ground, with a disconcerted look on his face. “Tristan has a protective spell blocking me from finding him in the physical world,” he said almost to himself. “Or even through his dreams. I will wait until you meet Death. But if I don’t hear from you by the next New Year, your connection with him will cease to exist and you won’t be able to protect him any more … I’ll find him then. And fix this. It’s only a matter of time,” he proclaimed eerily.
I shuddered. There was nothing I could do to stop the New Year coming. But I knew what I had to do now. I needed to meet Sky and pray that I was clever enough to persuade her against taking Tristan from me. Ironically, Death was my only hope.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Break-Up
The next day I was woken by Seth’s alarm clock as usual.
Tristan grunted by my side, untangling himself from me, and that’s when I realized I had spent the night in his bed … again. It was becoming quite the habit. I smiled at the fact and rubbed my eyes, trying to sweep the sleepiness away. Dreaming of Vigil always made me tired the next day; it was like he drained me of all my energy. Then I remembered our discussion … and what I had to do. I had to meet Death now if I wanted a chance to save Tristan. He wasn’t going to like hearing about my dream, but I had promised him there would be no more secrets between us. When I told him and Seth about our encounter, it was like I had punched Tristan in the stomach.
“No fucking way, Joey!” Man, he was really upset if he was cursing!
“Tris, listen. I have to do this,” I insisted.
“Absolutely not, Joey!” he exclaimed, exasperated. His eyes were full of fear and worry. Then he shook his head and sighed deeply, trying to cool his temper down a bit. Next time he spoke he wasn’t so loud. “Please, Joey. I can’t let you put yourself at risk for me. If something happens to you …” he said, and his voice broke down at the end. “Promise me you won’t do this?”
I needed to be strong now. For the both of us. I couldn’t let myself be swayed by his pleadings. I needed to do this. “I’m sorry, Tristan. I can’t promise you that. And I need your support on this. We can do this!” I said encouragingly, trying to convince him.
“No, Joe! It’s too dangerous. I … I forbid you!” he said, crossing his arms, angry and upset again.
I raised an amused eyebrow. Forbid me? Seriously? Didn’t he know me at all by now? “Okay, Tristan. I wasn’t actually asking your permission, you know? I’m just telling you what’s going to happen, because I promised you I wouldn’t keep any secrets from you again. So, either you help me do this, or I’ll do it by myself.” He stared at me in silence for a long time. I stared right back. I was wickedly good at the stare game. And I could beat him on the stubborn front by miles.
After a few minutes he rolled his eyes, breaking eye contact. “So … damn … stubborn,” I heard him grunt under his breath. “But can’t I go in your place and talk to her?” he suggested.
“I don’t think you can. You’ve never been to that desert place, have you?” I asked. “I’m not sure how I got there myself, but I think I can maybe dream my way back again, if I try hard enough,” I said hesitantly. That was for sure a huge “maybe”. “And somehow, instinctively, I’ve learned the trick to get back alive. And you haven’t.”
He sagged, hanging his head in defeat.
Seth sat beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “We’ll help you, Joe. Like you say, you’ve already done this twice and you’re okay. Let’s help her get prepared for this, right, Tristan?” he said, looking up.
“Yes. Fine,” Tristan said sharply, shaking his head, still upset.
We got dressed and headed together to class. I wasn’t paying much attention to anything during the lesson, immersed in thoughts about meeting Sky. Tristan was also in a thoughtful, distant mood too. After our first class was over, Tristan parted ways saying he needed to take care of things with Caroline.
I met up with Tiffany and got to tell her about everything that had happened. I knew Seth was going to tell her anyway, but I wanted her to know about it from me first. She looked a little scared, but tried to sound reassuring and positive for my sake, just like Seth had done.
I was really anxious to meet Tristan and talk to him again when lunch break came around. I wanted to know how his conversation with Caroline had gone. I hoped she hadn’t taken the break-up too hard. It wasn’t her fault for getting tangled up in this mess that Tristan and I had created. And I still felt a twinge of guilt for my part in it, but there wasn’t anything I could do to soften the blow now. The right thing for Tristan to do was to let her down, as gently as he could.
I didn’t need to wait long to hear news about their breakup, though. I got to hear it all straight from the source when, only halfway to the cafeteria, I got tackled by a hysterical Caroline.
“Joey! You have to help me, please!” she sobbed shamelessly. “Tristan just broke up with me! I-I don’t understand!” I shifted on my spot, at a loss to what to say. This was so awkward; how was I supposed to comfort her when I knew I was the one to blame for this?
“He told me things weren’t working out for us, that I deserved someone better than him. But I don’t want another boyfriend! I want him! He’s the hottest, most popular guy in school! I don’t want to date some loser!” she whined, and stomped her feet in a tantrum.
“Ah, maybe it really is for the best, Caroline,” I tried to reason with her. “Maybe you’re better off with someone else. He doesn’t seem to appreciate you …” I said, trying to bite back any sarcastic comment, because I was trying to make her feel better, no matter how annoying she could be.
She snorted venomously. “Damn right. Do you know how many times Bradley Finn has begged me to be his girlfriend? But I turned him down because of Tristan! And now the boy has the audacity to dump me?” she growled viciously.
“You really should give Bradley a chance, then …” I tried to suggest, but she cut me off.
“You have to help me get him back, Joey! He’s your brother. You can talk to him, make him see he needs to be with me! I’ll do anything!” she begged me. “I’ll even stop complaining about him being so polite and shy! If all he wants is to hold hands, then it’s fine by me!”
“I’m sorry, Caroline. I don’t meddle in Tristan’s relationships,” I said as calmly as I could. “It’s his decision, we should respect what he wants. You should move on, look for someone better, like he said. I’m sorry, but I have to go.” She seemed completely baffled that I was refusing to obey her every wish.
“I’ll get him back, I don’t need you anyway.” And she stomped away in righteous fury.
I managed to walk a few feet through the hallway before Bradley stopped short in front of me, purposely blocking my path with a devious sneer on his bulky face.
I rolled my eyes and huffed, aggravated. I wasn’t in the mood for Bradley’s stupidity today. He, however, caught me eye-balling him and flashed me a wide, provocative grin.
“Hey, Joe Gray! Looking good!” he said with a wink. That was weird. Since Tristan’s arrival at the school, Bradley had stopped bullying me, because he didn’t want to upset his basketball star buddy. But what he was doing right now wasn’t bullying; this was different. Was this … flirting?
I shivered slightly at the thought. “Can’t say the same
to you, Brad. You look awful as always,” I snapped back. I hoped that would make him upset. Angry was certainly a better mode for him than flirtatious.
But to my most complete surprise, he just laughed out loud in a playful mood. “Oh! You’re so feisty! I like them feisty!” he said, still with that unsettling grin on his face.
“Do you like ‘them’ with a foot up your ass too?” I asked, annoyed.
He sniggered and pretended he didn’t hear my last snarky remark. “You totally made me change my mind about you at the dance, Gray. You looked like a total babe that night! And lately you have been nothing but eye-candy,” he said with a lascivious grin.
Oh, dear. Triple Yuck! “You know, Brad, I’ve just heard Caroline isn’t with Tristan any more,” I began. Maybe I could play matchmaker here and get both of them off my back. That would make my life so much easier.
“Really?” Bradley said, and then paused thoughtfully to weigh up his options. “I hadn’t heard that. Well, in that case, I’ll have to put you on hold for a while, Gray. You’re a babe, but Caroline is smoking hot! I think I’ll have another go at her, then!” he stated with a clever smirk.
“You do that. I’ll be waiting here, holding my breath, Bradley,” I said, but he didn’t seem to catch the sarcasm.
“All right, then, Gray. If things don’t go well with Caroline, you’re next in line!” He gave me a cheeky wink that made me feel slightly nauseated, and then he sauntered away. I practically ran to the cafeteria after that; I didn’t want to bump into anyone else in the hallway.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Date
The rest of the week passed by in a crazy haze. Tristan announced he was going to take me on a proper date and I decided to focus all my attention on that instead of dwelling on my impending meeting with Death … Sky. Tristan had been walking around with a smirk at the corner of his mouth during the whole week too. I could tell he had a wicked plan in motion, and I was dying to figure out what it was. I knew it had something to do with our date on Friday. I’d tried to fish for information whenever I got the chance, but Tristan just chuckled at my curiosity.