Inseparable Strangers (12 page)

My
laptop came alive as I changed into a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. I’d
fixed myself a cup of coffee and was now settled at my desk. The first thing I
did was Google the name Aaron Nichols. It seemed his name was a popular one.
Lists, on top of lists of info popped up. Deciding to do it the easiest way, I
started with the top article and worked my way down.

After
the first page, I found nothing. Without knowing his full name, it was hard to
narrow down anything in particular. If only he’d had a form of identification,
my sleuthing would’ve been made easier. After finding him that night, I
should’ve gone back to the greenway and searched for any traces of evidence.

Suddenly,
the idea hit me — call the cops and ask if a missing persons report had been
turned in for him. He still suffered from short-term memory loss, so it was
possible he had family and didn’t remember. There could be a search rescue
going on right now. I could be harboring a missing persons in my house. Damn,
why didn’t I ever watch the news? It then dawned on me that if he’d been
reported missing, then it would’ve shown up in my Google search. And definitely
one to pop up on the first page. 

The
sound of a door closing interrupted me. Aaron must’ve been back. How he got
back, I really didn’t care, but he owed me a lot of answers.

He
stood behind me, never giving me the opportunity to seek him out. “I know
you’re upset, please let me explain,” he said, holding his hands palms up in a
surrendering gesture.

“You’re
damn right I’m upset. Upset doesn’t even cover the anger I feel right now. What
happened back there? You knew something and didn’t tell me.” My face must’ve
flashed twenty different shades of red because I could feel the heat seeping
out of my pores. “Who and what are you, and don’t you dare lie to me,” I said
seething. “After everything I’ve done for you, the least you can do is be
honest.” My upper lip curled, and I tried to regulate my breathing. I needed to
control my temper before I lost my mind completely. 

Aaron
took a step toward me, hesitated, then took a step back. “I’m going to be
honest with you, but you’ve got to understand first, there was a reason I didn’t
share what I know with you.”

I
sat quiet; patiently waiting for him to tell his story before I jumped up and
punched him in the throat.

He
exhaled deeply before continuing. “First, you have to understand that I didn’t
know exactly what was happening when I came to after you found me. Everything
was still a blur, and not only has your world been flipped upside down, mine
has too.”

Okay,
maybe I wasn’t going to wait for him to finish. Waiting for him to get to the
meat of the story was like watching a sloth move a foot up a tree. “Can we
speed this up?” I interrupted rudely.

“Look,
if you don’t want to hear my explanation, I can leave and never come back. It
doesn’t really matter to me either way. I’m trying to fix this but you’re
making it difficult by acting like an unreasonable ass about it.”

Ballsy.
I had to give him props.

Connecting
my thumb and forefinger, I slid them across my thinned lips, made a twisting
motion at the end, then tossed the imaginary key over my shoulder.

He
paced back and forth as he picked up where he left off. “When you rescued me,
that wasn’t the first time those guys had attacked me. I’m still trying to
recover all my memory to remember why they were ever after me. You see, several
years ago, five guys, powered with insurmountable strength chased me down to
the exact spot where you found me, and beat me to death,” he paused, watching
me with a blank expression. He was no longer pacing to and fro like a caged
lion.

 I
patiently waited for him to continue with his story. “I’m not interrupting. You
can continue.”

“Did
you just hear what I said?”

“Yes.”
Duh, did he think I was in lala land or something?

“No,
I mean, did you
really
hear what I just said?” he paused, watching me
carefully for a response. “Think about it.”

I
thought back to his words and tossed them around in my mind, looking for a
clue. Finally it hit me like a punch to my heart. My breathing hitched and cold
chills broke out all over my skin.
…beat me to death.
It couldn’t be.
No. It wasn’t possible. My hands shook uncontrollably. Every nerve in my body
buzzed as fear seeped in.

“Are
yo—,” my mouth was suddenly dry and my throat started to contract, “are you
saying you’re…dead?” I could barely get the last word out. It got stuck
somewhere around my uvula thingy.

Aaron
nodded slowly, eyes wide like he was waiting.

There’s
a fucking dead man in my house.
The words played on
repeat in my brain. The contents of my breakfast were quickly making a returned
trip back up my esophagus. I jetted in a mad dash for the nearest bathroom.
Flashes of that night came to mind as I heaved into the toilet. More flashbacks
flickered through my mind like an old flip book.

Like
I had so many times before, I felt Aaron standing behind me. His presence was
ghostly. How ironic.

“Lennox,
I’m sorry. Please understand,” he said, placing a comforting hand on my
shoulder.

“What’s
there to understand? I’m alive. You’re dead. For some crazy reason I can hear
you, see you, and
touch
you. Can you explain that to me? Because I sure
can’t wrap my head around it. If people hear about this, they’ll send me to the
fucking insane asylum, because apparently I’m a fucking freak!” I shrieked. My
head began beating to the drum of my heartbeat. And the ache only intensified
with every purge.

As
my head was hovered over the toilet again, I felt Aaron gather my hair from my
neck and face, then hold it away from my regurgitated breakfast. I closed my
eyes at his subtle gesture. It was calming. “I’m truly sorry, Lennox,” he
apologized with a soothing voice. “I wasn’t planning on staying here this long.
If only I’d left sooner…,” he trailed off. “I never meant for this to happen.
Once I know you’re okay, I’ll leave and you can pretend all of this never happened,”
he said, handing me a hand towel.

Feeling
as if my stomach had finally settled, I wiped the sweat from my face then
immediately rinsed the horrible ordeal from my mouth. I walked out to the
living room and wedge myself into the corner of the couch. My body shivered,
and Aaron draped an afghan blanket over me. “The problem isn’t you, well, it
is, but the problem is… I can see ghosts. That’s not normal, Aaron. I’m not a
medium. Shit like this only happens in Hollywood. If you weren’t standing
before me right now, I’d call bullshit on your story.”

“If
it makes you feel any better,” he paused, “I think you saved my life.
Literally.” It looked like he wanted to smile, but his mouth was too sullen to
move.

“How?”
I asked, perplexed.

“Remember
when I said the first time I’d been attacked was several years ago?”

I
nodded, not really remembering anything he said other than he was dead.

“Well,
I was brutally attacked and left for dead. No one found me until it was too
late.” A gasp fled from my mouth. “For the last several years, I’ve been stuck
between worlds. I’ve traveled all over this country trying to figure out how to
pass over. On the anniversary date of my death, no matter where I am, I always
come back to the exact place, reliving the beating all over again. Only
difference is this time, you saved me. After the day of my death ends, I’m
right back to where I started. When you saved me, you were able to see me, talk
to me,
touch
me. Nobody has been able to do that. So, the next day when
I awoke and found myself here, I knew something changed. My dead life wasn’t
playing on repeat anymore.” Invading my personal space, he sat down on the edge
of the couch by my feet.

Cocking
my head, I asked, “So, what does all of this mean?”

“That
I don’t know yet. I’ve been trying to figure it out. Every day my body changes.
My wounds healed quickly, but it was strange how I even had them in the first
place. This time, after the twenty-four hours from my actual death, all my
injuries disappeared.”

Puzzlement
etched above my eyes. “What? What exactly are you trying to figure out?”

He
drew in a deep breath and it had me wondering if he even needed to breathe. Was
it something he did out of habit to look human or was it a part of this absurd
new person he was becoming. “I’m going to be revealing some shocking
information to you, so please, whatever you do, hear me out before you act on
your emotions.”

“You
mean there’s more? Being dead isn’t enough?”

He
shook his head and laughed, but it wasn’t one filled with humor. It was those
kind you give when you’re so nervous you’re afraid your tongue will tie up in a
knot and your lips will twist into a figure eight.

“In
all fairness, I knew you had a gift. I’ve known since the day your tire blew
out during that ugly storm. I had heard from the other spirits who have already
crossed over that some people have the ability to see the dead, but I never
believed them…until you,” he nodded to me. “Years. It’s took me years to find
you.”

It
creeped me out knowing he’d been spending years looking for me. And what
creeped me out more was he knew who I was that day in the rain. He tried
warming up to me. He was trying to get into my good graces by helping me. He’d
had an agenda. I brought him back to my house and nourished him because not
only had I feared him, I’d felt guilty too. He made me feel guilty. He did this
purposely, and I fell right into his trap.
What a fool I am.
I didn’t
know who to be pissed at more, him or myself. I wanted to kick him so damn bad.

“I
know it’s a lot to take in…,” he trailed off. “Are you mad?”

“Am
I mad? Am I fucking mad?” I asked, poking myself in the chest, and raising my
voice with each question. “Damn right I’m mad. I’m fucking livid,” I said
simmering. “You manipulated me. And for all I know, you’ve been fucking with my
brain all this time.” I was so furious, my vision turned red.

He
held his palms up as if to block me from attacking him. “It’s not like that,
Lennox. You have to understand where I’m coming from… what I’ve been through.
Finding you has been a godsend. You’re like my own personal angel.”

“I’m
nobody’s angel. I’m far from being an angel. I walk along the line of the devil
most days,” I gritted through clenched teeth. Jerking the blanket off of me, I
got up off the couch and threw it in his face. “Don’t confuse me. My mind
hasn’t functioned normal since you’ve been here and something tells me you’ve
had a hand in that too.”

“Do
you want me to leave?”

“Yes…no…I
don’t know what I want you to do, maybe you should pull your strings and have
me answer you accordingly,” I replied brazenly.

Aaron
remained calm, obviously avoiding my smart ass remarks and it only fueled my
anger.

“You
know what? This is too much. My head can’t take anymore,” I said with my hands
over my ears. “I don’t want to hear any more crazy talk today. I’m going to my
room and I don’t want to be bothered by you or anyone else the rest of the
day,” I hissed, as I walked upstairs.

My
emotions were being pulled in a million different directions. My life used to
be normal, and since Aaron arrived, it had been a mess, one event right after
another. How was I just seeing dead people? What changed in the universe to
bring me closer to those deceased? As all those questions flashed through my
mind, the most important person popped in unannounced — my mother.
Did she
have something to do with it? Was she trying to reconnect with me via Aaron?

Before
I turned the corner, I stopped dead in my tracks. I had to know. There could be
a benefit from caring for him after all. Turning around, I ran downstairs.

“Aaron,
have you seen my mother?” I asked desperately. I needed to know. What if I was
finally able to have her again? We could catch up on all the years we missed
being mother and daughter.

He
shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, Lennox but I wouldn’t even know her if I had
saw her. There are so many random people floating about on the other side. I
try to stay away from most. The only time I interacted with them was while I
was trying to figure out how to cross over. I haven’t even seen any of my own
deceased family.”

“What
if I showed you a picture? Do you think you could hunt for her then?” I didn’t
know it before but now it was all coming clear to me; he was placed here to
help me. God brought him to me so I could find my mother.

Without
saying a word, I rushed upstairs to my bedroom and grabbed the picture of her I
kept in the top drawer of my nightstand. Running back down, I shoved the
picture in his face. “Look at her. Does she look familiar?” Her hair was fiery
red with soft curls that ran just past her shoulders. In the picture, she
didn’t wear the pale porcelain skin most redheads had. Her skin was a light
shade of brown, blushed by the brightness of the sun. She was in our backyard
sitting on a patchwork quilt I still have to this day. I was under a year old,
crawling off the blanket onto the grass. The picture captured her in the midst
of laughing. She had an incredible smile. My father had always said when I was
happy he could see her beautiful features in me. It always warmed my heart
knowing she was still alive through me.