A Bride Worth Billions (27 page)

The girl sitting right next to me, whose name I didn’t even know, suddenly nudged me on the shoulder. I looked away from my Anatomy textbook and turned at her with a questioning look. We’d been quietly reading beside each other for nearly an hour.

She glanced pointedly at the other side of the library. I turned my head at that direction and saw Rachelle looking at us with a hurt expression. Almost automatically, I stood up from my seat a little harshly that the chair made a screeching sound against the floor. The librarian glanced towards my direction and pointed a finger towards the door, indicating that I should better leave.

I wouldn’t even have noticed the librarian telling me to leave if it wasn’t for Rachelle who just passed by her and was walking out of the library herself. I quickly grabbed my bag and was about to walk away when the R girl grabbed me by the hand.

“Don’t forget you don’t belong here anymore.” She whispered as she looked me seriously in the eyes before letting go of my hand.

My mind was too preoccupied of Rachelle that I didn’t even have the time to ask her what the hell she was talking about. I walked out of the library fast, hoping to explain to Rachelle though I knew I didn’t have to as we had already broken up.

When I was out of the library, I saw Rachelle at the other end of the hallway and was about to enter the ladies room. I called her name loudly but she didn’t look at my direction though I knew she heard me as the hallway was almost empty. She entered the ladies room because she thought I’d never dare follow her inside.

I walked at a normal pace and when I was just in front of the door, I knocked and called out. “Rachelle, please come out.” When I heard no response and it seemed like no other girls were inside, I knocked again. “I swear I’ll open this door and come in.”

No response.

I grabbed the door handle and twist it, slightly pushing it open. As I had guessed, no other girls were in there except for Rachelle who was sitting on the floor by the corner. Her head and arms were on her knees, her long blonde hair falling freely around her.

“Stupid.” She murmured. “This is a ladies room. You’re not allowed in here.” She said through her muffled voice.

I came towards her and sat on the floor just a foot away. “Well, obviously.”

“Why can’t you be just a guy who doesn’t give any special attention to anyone but his girl?” She asked with her head still bowed so I still couldn’t see her face.

“Rach, I was just sitting next to that girl. I don’t even know her name for God’s sake. Do you already call that giving someone special attention?” I asked. “And why I can’t just be that guy you’re talking about? What guy, huh? That kind of guy you always read about in those pocketbooks?”

“I— I don’t know.” She stuttered. We fell silent for a few minutes before she decided to break it. “I still want you as my boyfriend.”

“You’re the one who broke up with me.” I reminded her.

She looked up and I saw her tear-stricken face. “You’re putting the blame on me again.” She whined as she pouted her lips but the mood had already changed and we started laughing at ourselves.

“Don’t laugh at me!” She said as she was laughing as well. She tried to playfully hit me on the shoulder like she always does but her hand passed my shoulder without touching me when it should have.

“I swear I hit you but –“ She was also confused at the moment as I was.

“I didn’t feel anything.”

She put a hand up and slowly tried to bring it on my shoulder but it just passed like I was only made of vapor. We both looked at each other with wide eyes.

“I— wha—“ I stuttered. “This can’t be.” I said as I remembered that the petite R girl from Chemistry exam earlier even got to grab my hand when we were in the library just a few moments ago. Remembering that, her words came back flashing in my mind:

Don’t forget you don’t belong here anymore.

“What’s happening, Ash?” Rachel asked as she got me out of my reverie but unfortunately, I didn’t have an answer for that. “Ash?”

I shook my head. “I got to ask that girl from earlier.” I said and I immediately noticed her grim expression. “She probably knows what’s happening. I think she can help me.”

I wanted to kiss her before leaving but I couldn’t. I just settled in giving her a quick smile that I hoped was reassuring.

I came back to the library but I couldn’t find her anywhere. After around half an hour of turning my head left to right and walking around inside looking for her, with the librarian who kept on giving me irritated pointed looks, I decided to head out.

I finally saw her walking towards another building which belonged to the College of Arts. I wanted to shout then and call her name only to be reminded that I didn’t know what that was. I settled to running as fast as I could until I was just a few feet away.

“Hey!” I called and she immediately turned towards me.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re here to ask me.” She said, clearly knowing why I was after her. “I’ve warned you but you didn’t listen. You don’t belong here anymore.”

“What exactly did you mean by that?” I asked irritated. “Do you know what’s happening to me? Why can’t Rachelle touch me?!”

She shook her head and I could see on her expression that she even wanted to roll her eyes on me. “It’s not just Rachelle. Nobody can touch you.”

“Ha!” I put hands on my head and looked up at the sky above. I was so frustrated and there this girl answering in only a few sentences in a mysterious way. “Nobody can touch me.” I said as I contemplated the words.  I looked at her directly in the eyes. “You were able to touch me earlier. You poked me on the back during the exam. You grabbed my hand in the lib—“

“I know that.” She cut me off. “It’s not just you who doesn’t belong here but also me. You just can’t remember or your mind won’t let you remember.”

I stared at her for a few seconds. “Are you nuts?” I asked as that could be the only possible reason she was telling me something so impossible.

“This day has already passed, Ash. We’re just going back to this day as what we are now.” She said each word carefully. “We’re only ghosts now.”

“You’re totally nuts.” I said as I shook my head at her. This girl was insane and she was rubbing it on me. “I even took the exam today and Mr. Clayton, the students – they clearly saw me. Even the libraria—“

“Those were just your memories of this day.”

“Rachelle saw me.” I pointed out.

“But she couldn’t touch you.” She said confidently like she was making fun of me.

“Why?” I asked. That was what I really wanted to know.

“You didn’t run after her when she went out of the library.” She said.

“I ran after her. You saw me, didn’t you?”

“You ran after her now that you’re only a ghost. You didn’t run after her when you were still alive on this day.” She explained like all that she was saying was making sense.

“Why do you keep on saying ‘this day’?” I asked. “If we’re both ghosts then why are we on
this day
, huh?”

“This is the day you died.”

I felt suddenly dizzy like my whole world just spun 360 degrees in a second.

“The day I died?” I repeated. “None of this makes any sense.” I said and shook my head for the millionth time in the last hour.

“What will only makes sense to you are the things that you only wanted to believe.” She said. “Ash, what’s happening is just a replay of what transpired on the day you died. You can’t and won’t still accept the fact that you’re now dead so you wanted to go back on this day. “

“Why are you here, then?” I asked. “How did I die?”

“I’m here because you brought me here.” She answered. “And as for your second question, you already know the answer to that. You just have to remember it yourself so I’ll leave that up to you.”

I exhaled heavily. “Okay then what about when I was with Rachelle earlier? What exactly happened? “

“I already told you. You didn’t run after her but in this replay, you did. That wasn’t part of your memory so there was no memory of you and Rachelle inside the ladies room. That was a new one and so she couldn’t touch you and you wouldn’t feel it even if she tried. You did the thing with Rachelle differently today because subconsciously, you wanted to change that part of the day. You wanted a second chance.”

“Of course.” I answered. “I want a second chance with her. I still love her.”

“Maybe.” She said quietly.

“Why maybe?”

“Maybe you love her so you wanted a second chance with her or maybe it was because you wanted to permanently bury what happened on this day, change it so you’d never get to the part where you died.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “But the thing is, no matter how many times you relive this day, nothing’s going to change. You’re a ghost now. You’re dead. You’re no longer alive.” She reiterated each word with conviction.

“That can’t be.” I murmured.

“Your spirit is in denial and you’re bringing mine with you. Stop this madness or you’ll become like other restless spirits in the world of the living.” As she said those words, her voice became colder and with the last word, there was a sudden gush of the wind as she disappeared into thin air.

My knees felt weak all of a sudden that they gave up and the next thing I knew, I was already kneeling on the ground. The grass of the school ground felt so real, so alive beneath me that I still couldn’t believe it myself that I didn’t belong in this world anymore.

I couldn’t believe that I had been reliving this day the whole time.      

I was about to touch the ground, to feel it with my hands. I wanted to be alive again and to feel it. All of a sudden, I felt something warm in my hands like someone was holding it dearly. I didn’t understand the feeling but my wish of feeling alive again had been granted.  Rachelle’s voice and face appeared inside my head. She was crying and begging me to come back.

I slumped on the ground.

I was already dead and what I was seeing inside my head must be Rachelle crying when I died. 

Stop this madness. . .
The familiar voice echoed inside my head.

I wanted to give up and to find peace but there was no way of doing that with so many questions still left unanswered. I couldn’t even remember how I died and that girl, a fellow ghost, wouldn’t even tell me.

I didn’t even know who she was. Remembering what she said earlier about me bringing her here, I started to wonder if she was of any significance in my life. I shook my head.

Not life.

Death.

Maybe she was something significant in my death.

Rachelle

“He still won’t wake up.” I said quietly as I took hold of Ashton’s hand. “He’ll come back, right?”

I heard Arlene’s gentle steps nearing me and then felt her hugging me from behind. “There’s no need for him to come back, dear. He’s still with us.” She whispered in my ear. “He’s with us and he’s going nowhere.” I knew she was just trying to be strong for me and I felt guilty for that. I should be the one comforting her because if it hurt this much for me, what more to his own mother.

I choked back a sob. “It’s been hours.”

It had been hours since he was operated. He suffered from a lot of blood loss and a few dislocated and broken bones. Just thinking about the five gunshot wounds he had received aside from his broken neck made me felt like I had received them myself.

Arlene’s cellphone vibrated on the table and she immediately went to get it. “Hello?” I heard her say. I looked at her as she kept on nodding on the phone and saying ‘yes’ and ‘okay’ every now and then. The bags under her eyes were already darkening and she looked like she aged five years in a matter of hours. I wasn’t surprise as I probably looked as stressed and tired as she was.

“Thank you. Bye.” She said and then the call ended. “That was the police.” She announced. “The suspects are already in their hands and they already started interrogating them.”

That might be a good news but there was no space in my heart to feel relieved and so was Arlene. Here we were in a hospital room with Ashton still lying unconscious on bed and we didn’t know if he was still going to wake up.

I turned at Arlene. “Is that all they said?”

She shook her head but stayed silent.

“What is it?” I asked.

“They said Ash was just in the wrong place at a wrong time.” She said in a low voice. “They were really just after the girl and they found Ash there after they killed her. One of the suspects said he probably witnessed everything so they killed him. They really thought he was already dead.”

“He’s not.” I murmured as I rest my head on Ashton’s bed while still holding his hand. “Stay with us, Ash.” I told him as I rubbed my hand against his cold hand and kissed it.

Ashton

I opened my eyes and realized I had fallen asleep on the school ground. I looked around and was confused that there was no students around anymore. I glanced at my watch and I realized that it was already past two o’clock in the afternoon. Most students were probably in their own classrooms by now. I was about to hurry up to go to my class but immediately felt down remembering that I was just replaying this day. I had to remind myself that this wasn’t real and that I wasn’t in the present living world.

“I’m dead. I’m dead.” I told myself. “I’m dead” I was chanting those words again and again and as I repeat each sentence, I felt colder and more lifeless.

“You’re dead.” A voice agreed.

“Why do you keep on appearing and disappearing?” I asked as I turned to the direction where the voice came from.

“I’m here the whole time – observing you.” She said.

“That’s creepy.” I pointed out. “Why can’t I do that? We’re both ghosts, right?” I asked though I wasn’t really interested in the answer. I was just trying to lighten this thing up for myself because I could feel like I was about to go crazy.

“Accept that you’re dead.” She said like it was a command. “Embrace death.”

“I’m not dead!” I shouted and with that, I felt a strong beat of my heart. “What is this?” I asked as I held my chest. “I’m alive.”

“That was just a memory.” She said. “You’re still in denial, I see.”

“I’m not in denial.” I argued. “I’m alive. I feel alive.” The more that I said and believe those words, the warmer I felt.

“Follow me.”

Feeling that all of my questions were finally going to be answered, I followed her without a second thought.

We walked out of the main gate of the university but what I saw was different from what I expected. Instead of the usual six-lane road and different cafés and bookstores, there were only two motels in front of us with a narrow passageway in between. I looked back but the familiar gates of our university weren’t there anymore. It was like we were magically transported to another place and also time for it suddenly got darker. I looked at my wristwatch for confirmation and how surprise I was that it showed that it was already 6:30 in the evening when it was just 2:00 pm the last time I checked.

I was about to ask her what we were doing her but she was no longer by my side anymore. I felt myself turned into vapor for a moment when three guys passed through me and into the passageway. I stared at them more carefully and realized that the one in between was a girl and she was being harshly dragged by the two men.

I was about to take a step forward but then I noticed someone at the other end. He looked paralyzed for a moment when he saw what was happening but then he started to move away to probably hide. I myself was also paralyzed not because of fear but because of complete shock for the guy I had just seen looked exactly me.

I turned my attention towards the two men but they didn’t seem to notice the other me as well. I ran towards them, to confront them and hopefully to stop whatever they were about to do but I just passed right through. I was only mere inches away and was now right in front of them. They didn’t pay me any attention and it was like I was non-existent.

The taller guy of the two harshly pushed the girl on the ground. The other one rolled her over so she was facing up. He ungently got her hair away from her face and I immediately recognized who the girl was.

“Enough!” She shouted and I thought she was talking to the guys who were hurting her. They suddenly disappeared and she stood upright like nothing had just happened. She looked neat again but we were still in the same place.

“What was that?” I asked.

“That was how we died.” She said.

“You didn’t show me all.” I whispered.

“Well I’m sorry if I didn’t want you to see how exactly they shot you at the back of your neck.” She said sarcastically. “You were even lucky that you died instantly.” Her words were bitter.

“So I’m really dead?”

She nodded. “Just like me.”