Between Two Worlds

         

Hatfield          8

         Listen, dead people never stop talking. I learned this the day Zach made himself known to me. When he continued to talk to me throughout the day for weeks, I barely got him to shut up. I don't really blame him, though. He was just as confused and scared as I was. He just wanted to find out why he was where he was and how he got there. He came to me in a dream. I'd been having dreams like that for about a few weeks or so before he made himself known, but that dream had really stuck out to me. It eventually made me realize, what I was truly capable of.
         "Veronica?" I heard a voice in the distance. I wasn't sure where I was, but I had been coming to this same place for a few weeks now. The same dull, dark, foggy, place. There were a few people, but it was almost like they were lost. No one spoke, and they all just walked with and emotionless expression. There weren't any buildings anywhere in this place, just fog. Very thick fog, that enabled you to see more than three feet in front of you. It smelled muggy, like the smell that came after it rained. "Veronica!" the voice spoke again, a little louder this time. It sounded like a young boy's voice, he had an Australian accent, so he must've been from Australia. I walked in the direction the voice was coming from, and eventually saw a boy standing there with a look of worry. He was the only person who didn't have an emotionless expression.
         "Who are you?" I spoke, once I was closer to the boy. He was rather tall, maybe 5'9? He had dark hair and his lip was pierced, I also noticed a few tattoos on his arms.
          "I'm Zach. Are you the Veronica they told me to find?" he spoke. They told him to find me. Who is they, and why am I here?
          "Who told you to come find me? Why were you told to come find me?" I questioned.
          "So, you are Veronica. Can you help me find out why I'm here?" Zach questioned? What is here? Why does he need me to tell him why he's here, I don't even know why I'm here?
          "Where is here?" I questioned. Soon realizing that sounded rather confusing.
          "Limbo. Its where lost souls go when they die." He explained. Limbo? Souls? Okay, this is a dream, I can wake up, this isn't real. I just have to wake up and this will all be gone, and I won't have to listen to this crazy talk anymore.
          I opened my eyes to see that I was back in my room, on my bed, where I'd obviously fallen asleep. I let out a sigh of relief and sat up. My room was completely different from the place I was just in. My walls were dark blue, plastered with all my sketches.
          "Did you draw this?" I turned my head to see the boy from my dream standing in the corner of my room holding my sketches. "This is me, where'd you get this?" He questioned.
          I scrambled out of my bed and rushed over to him. How is he in my room? How did he get here, am I still dreaming? I yanked my sketch book from his cold, pale hands and sat it on my desk. "Who are you and how did you get in my room?" I questioned. I was scared, I had just been dreaming about this boy, and I wake up to find him snooping through my sketches.
          "You know who I am, Veronica. We were just talking." He laughed. He sat down in my desk chair and through his arms behind his head, propping his feet on my desk.
          "That was a dream." I sighed. I must still be dreaming. I must be. "And I'm still dreaming." I clarified. He started laughing again, causing me to get even angrier. "What's so funny?" I groaned, pushing his feet off my desk.
          "If that was a dream, I wouldn't be here right now." He reasoned, adjusting himself better in the chair. "You're the seer. You can go in between worlds and talk to ghosts." He explained. He grabbed a pen off my desk and started playing with it. "And you're going to help me."
          "I thought ghosts couldn't touch anything." I said. I stood up and took the pen from him. Are ghosts always this annoying? "I thought whatever they're trying to pick up just goes through them." I finished.
          "That's a myth, Veronica. Ghosts function like normal people. They're just dead and can't be seen." He explained.
          After Zach had come to me, begging for my help, I decided I had to find out exactly what it was. A seer. What was a seer and what was the do's and don'ts? I had done research on top of research. Read books on top of books. And with that research, I learned the rules of being a seer. One, is the most obvious rule; don't fall in love. Crazy, I know. But, as Zach had said, ghosts function as humans, and it's probably very possible. Two, don't ask personal questions. If they want you to know, they'll tell you. Otherwise, avoid those questions. And three, if you tell the ghost to leave, they must listen to you. This was all still very new to me. I found myself jumping from reality and the ghost world more than I wanted. And Zach wasn't making it any easier.
          "You have to help me, Ronnie!" Zach insisted. He grabbed my arm tightly. "I don't want to end up in limbo like those other lost ghosts." He sat down, pulling me with him, continuing to beg for my help.
          "Look, until a few days ago, I couldn't even talk to ghosts, how do you expect me to help?" I questioned, looking at my surroundings, hoping no one saw me talking to myself. He just continued to look at me with that same worried look he had when we met. After a moment, I sighed. "I don't know how to help you." I shoved my sketchbook in my bag and slung it on my shoulder. "I'm practically useless to you." I finished and turned to walk away.
          "I came to you because they said you could help me." He appeared in front of me. "You have to at least try."
          I looked at the sad and lost ghost boy in front of me. "Alright," I paused, sitting back down on the bench. "I will try to help you." I gave in. He smiled widely. "I said try!" I repeated.
          That's when the real fun had started. My older brother, Jack, was the lead detective working on Zach's case. And Zach had me going everywhere and drawing a lot to try and help solve his case. My brother grew suspicious. He was confused on how I knew all these things about the case and where to find the clues. It was almost like I was there. But, truthfully, I just had help from the victim.
          "Ronnie, we have to talk about this." Jack sighed. He took his glasses off and sat them on the coffee table. Zach stood quietly beside me, knowing that Jack wouldn't hear him anyway. "Where are you finding all of these leads on this case?" he questioned.
          I sat down across from him on the couch. I looked at Zach, who just shrugged. He didn't know what to tell me, I couldn't just tell my brother I've been talking to ghosts and they've given me the clues. "I just know, Jack, it's hard to explain." I said softly. He continued to question me. Saying things like there must be a better reason than that. I can't say I blame him, no one can see Zach, so it's almost like I was the one who murdered Zach in the first place. "That's the truth, Jack. It's complicated, but I promise I'm not doing anything illegal. I just know how to find the important stuff." I explained. I knew Jack was just worried that I was doing something illegal to find the leads that I have, I wasn't. Zach just continued to retrace his steps and I knew how to look for clues.
          "Promise you're not doing anything to get you into trouble?" Jack sighed. I nodded and smiled.
          "I promise."
          We were closer than ever to find out what happened to Zach, but we were running out of time. Like the seer, ghosts had rules too. And if we didn't find out what happened to Zach the day he died, then he was going to end up in limbo like the rest of the lost souls. And we didn't have a whole lot of time left, we needed to find out what happened to Zach.
          "Ronnie, we're running out of time." Zach paced the room quickly, not sure how to keep from freaking out. "I'm becoming a lost soul and I don't want to end up in limbo." He sounded scared.
          "I know, Zach. But you're not going to end up in limbo. We're so close." I assured him. I hadn't given up hope. I told Zach that I was going to help set him free, and I intend to do just that. "We just need to find out exactly what happened and how it happened." I continued. I stood up and grabbed my sketchbook, heading to the door. "Now let's go." I said, as I walked out.
          Eventually, I pieced together everything I found. Zach had been murdered, by someone he thought was his friend. It was someone close to him, they were in a lot of trouble and he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I used my sketchbook to draw the events in the order that they happened and took them to my brother, and the murderer was caught. Zach wasn't going to end up in limbo, I made sure of that. It was time for him to leave and move on.
          "See, I told you that you were going to be fine." I smiled. I shoved my sketchbook into my bag and looked at the dark-haired ghost boy.
          "I can't thank you enough, Ronnie." He smiled. He pulled me in for a hug and sounded like he was close to crying.
          "You don't have to thank me, Zach, you helped me too." I said after pulling away. I saw that he had started crying, so I wiped away one of his tears. "And now it's time for you to move on." I said softly. I didn't want to see him leave; he was the closest thing I've ever had to a true friend.
          "Will you be okay? Being the seer and all? I hear that can get a little crazy." He rambled.
          "I'll be fine, Zach. Quit stalling, it's time for you to go." I sighed. He started backing away, but his smile never fell. "Goodbye, Zach." I smiled.
          "Goodbye, Ronnie."
          And just like that, he was gone. He walked into the light and I never saw or heard from him again. I was 17 when I found out I was the seer. As years went by and more ghosts came to me for help, I learned the do's and don'ts and how to handle going in between the two worlds. My brother learned to quit questioning me and just be thankful for my help. Now, I'm able to go to limbo and the ghost world without even being asleep, which is a step up. My ability to see and talk to ghosts gets stronger as I get older. And it's made me into the person I am today. Without it, I'm not sure who or what I'd be. Because since helping Zach, I've helped countless ghosts. And every time they move on, I never feel more accomplished. Traveling between two worlds to help those who need it, is what I was meant to do.