Taking Risks (20 page)

             
“I’m ready to forgive, but not forget. Don’t make a fool out of me again, or I’ll be keeping your nuts a souvenir.”

             
Almost immediately I received a message back that said, “
Agreed : )”
and with that, I bundled myself up in blankets and drifted off to sleep.

             
When I woke up the next morning my head was pounding and Gray was gone again. When I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror I saw that I looked more worn out than I had the night before, if that was even possible. I threw on a zip up hoodie and some jeans that seemed to be a little looser than what they were the last time I had worn them. I wanted to look cute for Risk, but my body wasn’t going to allow me to put the effort into it. I hobbled downstairs to see Mom, dressed in work clothes, and Gray and Risk sitting at the kitchen table. When Risk saw me his eyes glittered and I couldn’t help but beam back at him. Gray shot me a wink and then whispered something to Risk as my mom walked over to me.

             
“Good morning honey. I have to run so I can catch my plane, but I’ll be back by prom night, I promise. I love you.”

             
I gave her a kiss on the cheek and she grabbed her suitcase and was out the door again. I was glad to see her go, but only because I needed to speak to Gray and Risk about the newest development in our Joey case. I hadn’t had a chance to tell them my new information yet, since my situation with Risk, and fact that Gray was apparently always out having boy time with him now, but I couldn’t put it off any longer. I sat down at the table and gathered up some breakfast that Mom had made before she left.

             
“You look like shit, Spud.” Gray said and my eyes darted to Risk who was giggling at my nickname. Sharing Gray was something that was going to take some getting used to. I never thought that anyone else would ever have to hear that stupid nickname.

             
“Um, about that…” I said, “I have to tell you guys something that I learned about Joey.” That immediately got their full attention. “His dad, Dale, told me where I could look for his spirit and I found him right where he said I would, at his mother’s grave. He’s looking for her spirit, and I have no reason to think that he knows for sure that she hasn’t crossed over, but given the way that she died, I would say that she’s probably still lingering here somewhere. We need to find her.”

             
Gray cleared his throat and said, “What makes you think that finding her spirit will help our situation?”

             
“Because for just a second, Joey thought that I was his mother’s spirit when I was approaching him in the graveyard, and in that second, he wasn’t scary and angry. He was just the boy that I found wandering around the old town square. She’s what he’s so torn up about. He saw his mother kill herself. Anyone would be screwed up after that.”

             
Gray nodded and Risk looked a little overwhelmed. He swallowed a lump in his throat and said, “I’ve seen some…ghosts around town. I didn’t realize there were so many around us all the time. Before I could see them, I only felt it every once in a while, but now I’m constantly running into them.”

             
“No Risk, that’s part of the problem. Joey is somehow keeping everyone from crossing over and finding peace. He’s taking the energy that he’s getting from me and using it to seal people’s souls here. There aren’t normally that many around us. Normally, around here, they just hang out at the old town square and most of them stay clear of the living.” I said and Risk nodded as he processed the information.

             
“Where could we even start to look for his mother’s spirit?” Gray asked.

             
I looked down at my fingers as I answered. “We’re going to have to ask Dale where his wife killed herself.”

             
The school day passed in a flash and afterward Gray and I decided to get to work on our Joey situation while Risk went to visit his mother at the county jail. When he and I entered the institution where Dale Harper was a resident we skipped reception altogether and went straight to Dale’s room without being questioned. Apparently we were the only ones to have ever visited him, and he had given the last nurse that had objected to my being there a tongue lashing, so I think everyone else knew my face and decided just to think of me as real family, which is actually what I told them that I was the first time we came to visit him.

             
When we entered his room, we found him sitting in his usual rocking chair, but instead of looking out of the window, he was looking at the picture of his family. I watched him for a few short moments before knocking on the door frame and making myself known. He smiled at me and my heart ached at the thought of bringing up all of his painful memories. I cleared my throat to make sure that I could speak and he smiled widely at me.

             
“Well hello there dear. How’s the search going?”

             
I smiled and said, “It was great Mr. Harper. You led me straight to him, which is why I’ve come today. I have a new question for you, but it may be difficult for you to discuss.”

             
Dale nodded at me and said, “This doesn’t seem to be very pleasant business, and I’m sorry that you have to do it. I’ve actually wanted to see you too.” I gave him a questioning look and he continued, “I had a dream after you left and I saw my baby boy. He looked just as he did the day that he died…except for his eyes were glowing red. He shouted at me and told me that he didn’t like you poking around in his business. He was so angry at me for talking to you.” I winced because I felt awful about what I was putting this man through. I apologized, but Dale brushed me off and said, “Ah, don’t you even worry about that. He wasn’t allowed to try and push me around when he was alive and I’ll be damned if I let him do it now. I know what’s best for my boy, and you’re it dear. I just thought I should tell you about it. So tell me…what is it you need from me?”

             
I told Dale what happened when I found Joey at Roletta’s grave and because he made me feel so comfortable about my abilities, I made sure to tell him every detail. He listened intently as I finished my story and just before I was about to ask him where Roletta had killed herself he said, “Joey’s looking for his mother. Do you think she’s…like him?”

             
“I have no idea Mr. Harper, but I sincerely hope not. I hope she found the peace that she was looking for with her death, but often times that’s just not the case with suicides. She may be a regular lost spirit, one without the red eyes that can easily be crossed over, and if that’s the case than I think I can get her to convince Joey to go with her.” I hadn’t told the boys about my plan yet, so Gray gave me a dirty look after I hinted at one.

             
“I don’t have all of the kinks worked out, but I’m working on it. I need to find Roletta though, and I think she might be hanging around where she died. Can you tell me where that is?”

             
Dale didn’t hesitate to answer me and I got the feeling that he had been reliving the tragedy every day since it happened. “She was out in the woods somewhere. A place that she really took an interest in. I don’t suppose you know where the old town square is, do you?”

             
My jaw dropped when he said that and Dale looked at me with concern. I glanced Gray’s way and saw that he looked shocked too. “Mr. Harper, that’s where I met Joey. That’s where I meet most of the spirits that I help. If she’s there, I’ll to find her.” Gray and I had gotten what we came for and we needed to get home so that we could see if we could get close enough to the square to find Roletta. Dale gave us a picture of her so that we knew who we were looking for, but he cautioned us to be careful with it, because he didn’t have many.

             
When we arrived home, Risk was waiting on us in the driveway. He was leaned up against his rust bucket car and looking delicious as always. He had gotten a haircut so that it was still longer and messy on top, but the sides were cut close to his head. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t put my finger on who it was. I brushed off the thought, just thinking that it had to be some gorgeous movie star that he was resembling. I hopped out of my car to greet him and he picked me up by my ass and I wrapped my legs around his waist while he kissed me hard on the mouth. He set me down while I was trying to get my head back on straight when I heard Gray say, “Ew dude, she’s like my sister/daughter. Keep it PG when you’re around the parentals.” Risk and I started cracking up laughing and Gray rolled his eyes and pretended to be pissed. When our fit of laughter was done I told Risk everything that Dale had said and I showed him the picture of Roletta that I was borrowing.

             
On our walk back to the old town square I asked Risk about his visit with his mother. He looked down and started to fiddle with his hands before he replied.

             
“She had her hearing and they are thinking that they are going to sentence her to four years for assault, but nothing’s official yet.”

             
I didn’t want to ask any more questions and push the issue since I knew about this internal battle over me practically eliminating his parents from his life, so I just nodded at him. Risk grabbed my hand and squeezed it lightly as he gave me a reassuring smile. I couldn’t keep from imagining my fingers tangled in his hair. We hadn’t had sex since the night that he left me, and I was reluctant to hand my body over to him again, and he knew it. The thought that he had tossed me aside just a short while after he took my V-card still put my stomach in knots, but I had still had a taste of how amazing sex with Risk could be, and I was craving it.

             
Just before we made it to the old town square we lowered to a crouch so that we weren’t spotted and mauled by a pack of red eyed ghosts. When we reached a bush near the clearing of the square we peeked through the branches and I heard Risk gasp and then clamp his hand over his mouth. He wasn’t used to seeing the Lost Ones yet and it was scary enough just
knowing
about the angry ones. Just one of them alone was enough to terrify someone, but this was a swarm of them, and the energy was oozing with hate as they jerked their heads around as though they were looking for someone to slaughter. Some of them were like a flickering image and they all moved around slowly and restlessly. Some were normal enough looking except for the angry faces and red eyes, but some of them were bloody and gory. There was a woman close to the bush we were hiding behind that must have been in some kind of accident. Part of the back of her head was missing, showing bits of her brain, and there was a massive hole on her back that exposed about a foot of her spine. The whole scene reminded me of one of those old zombie movies.

             
The old town square wasn’t a big place. It was about the size of a regular city block and the only remains of it were two crumbled buildings, some laid bricks that used to serve as a road, and a dried up fountain with one intact stone bench beside it. It was completely surrounded by woods so not many people really knew about it. I had done some research on it before and found that the town was moved back in the 1800’s so that it would be closer to a water source.

             
I pulled the picture of Roletta out of my pocket and let Gray and Risk get a good look at it before we watched through the branches of the bush, hoping to find Roletta Harper in the tangle of red eyes. We stayed still and quiet for over an hour before we all agreed that it was time to head back to the house. The sun light was fading fast and none of us wanted to be out there in the dark with the angry souls. Just as we were turning to leave, Gray whisper-shouted, “Look!” and Risk and I spun around, almost knocking each other over in the process. We saw Roletta had wandered to where she was only about ten feet in front of us.

             
She wasn’t covered in blood and gore at all. Her hair was done up and she was wearing a pretty blue sun dress. The only thing that seemed completely out of place was her damned crimson eyes. How was I ever going to make her listen to me any better than Joey when she was in the same situation herself? We sat watching her for another ten minutes or so before Gray motioned to us that it was getting dark and we needed to leave. When we were far enough away from the square we stood up from our crouching position to walk and started to whisper to one another. Risk kept asking questions and looked a little as if he had seen…well, a ghost. His face was pale and he was sweating. I grabbed his hand and explained that we were fine and that nothing had even seen us. I honestly couldn’t be sure that any of them (besides Joey) could harm us if they saw us anyway. I had had my encounters, but they only seemed to be pissed to see me and they would scream and vanish. I think Gray was more scared of them than I was.

             
After we got back home Risk had calmed down and was starting to throw ideas to us about our predicament. He said that if I was sure that they couldn’t hurt us, than we could walk into the hive like we were the queen bee and none of them would even notice. They wouldn’t know that we could see them, so they would ignore us and go back to drowning themselves in misery. I was definitely not brave enough for that, but it sparked an idea.

             
“Well Risk, you and I are alive and that seems to piss them off. If only we knew someone that was dead like them…” I smiled broadly at Gray and he began shaking his head in protest.

             
“Hell no Spud. Those things give me the creeps.”

             
“You’re a
ghost
Gray. You’re one of them! You can walk amongst them and blend in with the crowd! What’s the worst they could do to you? Kill you?”

             
“Ha ha Marlee.” Gray said dryly. “What if they
can
hurt me? We have no idea what they’re capable of!”

             
“That’s a big
if
and this is honestly the best option. Either
you
have to go into it, or
I’ll
have to. Which would you rather have, Gray?”

             
He gaped at me for a moment because he knew that he had been backed into a corner. He sighed dramatically and said, “Well you’re a klutz, so if you go into it you’ll definitely be killed even if it’s just from tripping over something and hitting your head. Guess I’ll have to be the hero…again.”

             
Risk laughed at our spat and I tried punching Gray, hoping that his arm had somehow become solid and he would feel the sting of my fist, but just like always my hand passed right through him and he gave me an uppity smirk that made me want to punch him even more. Risk laughed harder at seeing my expression so I decided that if I couldn’t punch Gray, than I would punch Risk and hopefully it would satisfy me. I punched him in his arm and came into contact with his rock hard bicep. He laughed at me, but rubbed the spot where I had hit him. After that, I felt triumphant and got my violent streak under control.

             
“Is she always like this?” Risk asked Gray while still chuckling at me.

             
Gray huffed and said back to him, “When she doesn’t get her way. Sometimes she goes all ninja on me, just hoping for flesh to appear so that she can extract her revenge. I think she needs a legit chill pill.” The boys howled with laughter together and I tried to not pout about being the odd man out in my own inner circle now. They seemed to have formed some kind of bro-mance in their time together and I was starting to feel like I was being ganged up on. I thought hard and decided that Remi and Jane were going to have to become more a part of my life so that I had girlfriends to gripe to.

             
Risk asked me if he could stay with me that night and I couldn’t contain my excitement. I was grinning from ear to ear. I shook my head at him in earnest and he sighed with relief as though he thought that I would refuse. Risk and I both already knew that we wouldn’t be being intimate for a while. My heart had built its own protection against him and I needed to find a way to let him in again before I could hand my body over to him. Gray excused himself from our company and said his goodnights to us. Risk and I cuddled up in bed together and I was giddy with the thought of falling asleep in his arms. I remember, just before I lost myself to my dreams, I heard Risk humming a song. I recognized the tune as “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue, a song that I had heard Gray singing many times. It was one of my favorites.

             
I woke up some time in the middle of the night to crashing sounds. I looked to my side for Risk, but I was alone in my bed. I saw my room was destroyed, just like it had been in my nightmares, and then I saw the culprit Joey, A.K.A. Little Dirty Boy, had seriously taken some anger out on my stuff. I’m not sure how he was moving it, or how he had gotten enough strength to actually break all of my stuff, but I could tell that he was beyond mad. I tried my best to stay perfectly still in hopes that he wouldn’t notice that I was awake.