The rain ran down my face, calming me with its coolness.I stood next to the lake where it softly pattered onto the once still surface, making little ripples everywhere.
I was at my parents' cabin with him alone for what seemed like the first time.It had rained all the way up here, and I was a little nervous that we wouldn’t be able to swim, but the radio forecast said that the sun would be out tomorrow.
"Sasha lovely…"I turned to see him at my side, "What are you doing out here in the rain?You'll catch a cold."
"I'm fine," I smiled and glanced back at the water.
His cool arm rested on my shoulders as he watched with me. I pulled my wet bronze hair out from underneath his arm. He turned my face so that we were eye to eye.He smiled that crooked smile that always sent my heart frantically beating.
"I love you," he said and pressed his lips softly to mine.
Kissing in the rain was the most romantic thing that we had done.I was a sap for those dumb romance movies on TV.
"I'm sorry, darling…" he suddenly said and looked so sad that I could have cried.
"For wh-" I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence.Something smashed into the back of my head, and everything went black.
I opened my eyes, and was standing beside the lake at my parents' cabin again.I felt water dripping into my eyes, but when I brushed it away with my hand, it was if I hadn’t.I couldn’t understand what was happening.
I felt as if I had been run over by a bulldozer.I couldn’t remember a time when I had felt worse.I glanced at the house, but there were no lights on inside as there had been when I had last looked back.
Where was he?What was I going to do now?I walked toward the house, and reached it much faster than I had thought possible.I looked in the window to see if I could see anyone.There was no furniture in the whole place, and dust covered the floors.White sheets were draped over a few huge things in the corners of the rooms, but nothing else.
I heard cars pulling up the gravel driveway to the house.It was two cars that I had never seen before.A girl about my age drove the red Ferrari, and a woman who could have been her mother drove a black SUV.They parked in the driveway and went into the house.A few minutes later, another car drove up, and parked next to the two cars.It was my mother's car, I was sure of it, but the woman inside seemed too sullen to be her.My mother had been a cheerful person with a bubbly personality that I loved.I couldn’t see any of that in this woman's face.
"Mom!" I called across the lawn and was at her side in an instant.She didn’t react, or even look at me.It was if I hadn’t spoken."Listen, mom.I'm sorry that I stole the keys to the cabin.I just wanted a weekend up here, and I knew you wouldn’t let me."She still didn’t notice me.I followed her into the house.Why wouldn’t she look at me?She must have been really mad at me.
I shut up and followed her through the creaky door and into what was the living room.
"Hi, Pam."The strange woman and her daughter were standing in the room.She smiled at my mother."This house is so perfect."
"I'm glad you like it." my mother forced a smile.
"We'll take it."The woman said and handed my mother a check."Are you okay?" she asked.I had no clue who this woman was, or why she talked to my mother so informally.
"I'm fine."My mother sighed and glanced around the room.Her eyes didn’t even pause on me."Today it's just been difficult."
The girl beside her mother smiled at my mom, and her eyes flickered over to catch mine for half a second before she looked away.
"Wait a second."I stared at her."You can see me."
The girl ignored me, but I knew she was faking it.I was positive by now, that neither my mother, nor the other woman could hear or see me.To prove it to myself, I stood right by my mother's ear and screamed as loud as I could.
The girl jumped, but my mother didn’t seem fazed at all.The light bulb above us shattered into millions of pieces.
"Oh my!" the woman covered her head and stepped out of the way.
"That's odd."My mother mumbled, and looked up at the socket."Well, good luck in your new cabin, Grace."She shook my mother's hand and they walked out of the room together.
"Brianna, are you coming?" the other woman looked back.
"In a second."She glanced past me, then right at me again.Okay, now I was positive she could see me.The two women walked out of the room quietly chatting to one another.
"What's going on here?"I asked, facing the girl.She shuddered and glanced away from me."What's wrong?"
"What's happening to you?"She asked, taking another peek at me.
"Yeah," I placed my hands on my hips."I know exactly what's happening.It's national 'Let's ignore Sasha' day!"I threw my hands into the air, splattering little drops of black water onto the dusty floor."Do you think I'd be here if I knew what was going on?"
"Sorry," she shook her head."I've never seen something like this before."
"Like what?" I asked.
"You should see for yourself."She walked over and pulled a sheet off an oval shape it was a mirror.I stood in front of it, but couldn’t see anything.
"There's no reflection."I covered my mouth with my hands."Am I a vampire?"
"I don’t think so." She frowned and stepped in front of the glass, its smooth surface reflected her image."Let me tell you, it's not pretty." She glanced back at me, "You look like you've been swimming in mud, your hair and clothes are wet and dirty, and your eyes are completely black."
"Do I scare you?"I asked quietly.
"No," she swallowed, but I knew it was a lie."What did you say you're name was?" she glanced back at me and shivered.
"Sasha Greenfeld."I glanced down at the dust-covered floor.
"Sasha?"She asked with awe in her voice."That was your mother?"She pointed toward the door.
"Yeah."
"Sasha, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but…you're dead."
Pain ripped through my chest, and I wrapped my arms around myself.I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to be in the cabin anymore.
I risked opening my eyes again, but I wasn’t in the cabin, but a very familiar room.My boyfriend was sitting cross-legged on his bed.I smiled, and flung myself toward him, ready for him to tell me this was all a bad dream.I mysteriously found myself on his other side.
"Aron?"I whispered, but he didn’t turn.His face was red, and tears ran down his face."ARON!"I yelled, but he still didn’t turn.The ceiling lamp flickered.He glanced up at it and back down at his hands.
So it was true.I was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it.The only girl who knew I who I was a ghost had just bought my family's cabin.I had to find her again, so she could help me…but not just yet.I missed Aron.I missed his arms around me, and his lips on mine.
I reached out a hand and gently touched his cheek.He shivered and pulled a blanket around himself.I stretched out beside him and laid my head in his lap.
"Aron," I whispered and his head jerked up.
"Sasha?" he looked around as if I was standing beside him.
"Aron?" I said again, but he didn’t look down or even seem to hear me.What was going on?
"I'm acting crazy."He muttered and stood, his legs going right through me.
He knelt beside his bed and pulled out a shoebox.He placed it on the bed and pulled the top off not far from my face.I shifted up onto my elbow so I could see what he pulled out.
It was a newspaper.He spread it out on the bed, and I was behind him.He softly ran a hand over the picture.It was of me.The headline read:'Local Teenage Girl, Sasha Greenfeld, Commits Suicide'.I took a step back.Suicide?
He reached back into the box and pulled out my gold locket that he had given me for my sixteenth birthday.He squeezed it in his palm and bowed his head, the tears flowing down his cheeks.I leaned down next to his ear and kissed the skin beside it.
"I am here, Aron."I whispered and he touched his cheek where my lips had. I closed my eyes again.
"Brianna."I said, and she jumped a foot in the air.
"You're back."We were in a different room now.I assumed it was her bedroom."And you're looking better."She commented, looking me up and down.
"What do you mean?" I asked, glancing down to see my grey t-shirt and jeans.
"You look like your picture…red hair, green eyes.You're really pretty."She grinned."Do you feel better?"
"Marginally."I rubbed my head."I need your help."
"How?" she asked, sitting on her bed.I sat beside her.
"I committed suicide."I whispered.
"I'm sorry."Brianna glanced down at her hands.
"Brianna?"I looked at her.
"Call me Bri."
"All right, Bri," I smiled, "I want to find out why I killed myself.I wasn’t a sad kid.I never remember ever having a thought about taking my own life."
"That's what your mother said."She muttered.
"How do you know my mother?"I asked, curious.
"She came to see a counselor after you died, and met my mother."She explained."I can tell she misses you."
"I miss her too."I sighed."I just don’t know why I killed myself."
"Do you remember it?"
"No," I confessed.That part of my brain was empty."I remember being at my parents' cabin, but not who with."
"Let's go to the library and look through the papers."She suggested, grabbing a purse from beside the bed."Maybe it'll jog your memory, too."
"All right."I followed her out to her Ferrari and in a matter of minutes we were walking in the front doors of the library.Bri had help finding all of the newspapers about me while I glanced around the quiet place.A librarian looked up at me.
"Shhh…" she pressed a finger to her lips and looked back down.A man walked up to the counter she was at, but she didn’t acknowledge him.
"Can I help you?" a brown-haired woman walked right through the old lady.She was a ghost like me.
"Sasha."Bri whispered, and I followed her over to a study table where she laid the papers out in front of her.We poured over the papers, but it didn’t tell me anything that I hadn’t already figured out.
I had thrown myself into the lake and drowned.Those were the simple facts, but I still didn’t remember anything about that day.
"So I guess we wait until you can remember." She sighed and glanced at me.
"Yeah," I glanced away.
"Hey, baby."Someone behind us said, and I turned.The voice was so familiar.Memories flashed across my mind.
"Hi, Chad."She grinned.
The boy was tall, and blond.He wrapped his arms around Bri, and she smiled up at him.I was horrified.I remembered those arms around me.
"Cedric."
"What?"Bri frowned at me.
"I said, when are we going out again?"She wasn’t looking at him anymore.She was staring at the shock on my face.
"I know how I died, and it wasn’t suicide."She stood, and he looked confused.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I have to go." She said and gathered the articles together.She dropped them back off at the front desk and hurried out to her car.I followed silently until she shut her door."What was that about?"
"Is that your boyfriend?"I asked, ignoring her question.
"Yes," she was still confused."We've been dating for a year, ever since he moved here."
"Break up with him."
"What?"
"Break up with him."I repeated."He killed me."Her mouth dropped onto the floor."I remember that I was cheating on my boyfriend with him, and we were kissing in the rain.He knocked me out and must have thrown me in the lake."
"I-I…" she was silent.
"We have to tell someone before he kills you too."I was worried for her life now.Maybe that’s why I was still here.
"He's not going to kill me."She started the car."You must be thinking of someone else.Chad would never do that to me."
"Okay, first of all, his name's Cedric, and second of all, why would he kill me?"I crossed my arms.
"He didn’t kill you."She gripped the steering wheel tight."You're still confused."
"I'm not," I grumbled and frowned.
"Who should we talk to next?" she ignored the conversation we had just had."Your mom or boyfriend?"
"You're going to drive to the city to talk to my parents?" I asked.
"Another thing, your parents divorced soon after you died." She glared at a red light.I folded my knees up to hug them against my chest.I remembered my parents being so much in love.
"Let's go see my boyfriend.I think he knows I'm still here."I suggested.I helped her to find the house, and she knocked on the door.
"Can I help you?" Aron's mother answered the door.
"I'm looking for Aron Fanson." She smiled.
"ARON!" his mother called, "THERE'S SOMEONE HERE WHO WANTS TO TALK TO YOU."
He walked out into the entryway and to the door.His face still bore the marks of his tears.
"I'm Brianna Riel."She shook hands with him."Can I talk to you about Sasha?"
"How do you know her?" he asked, shutting the door behind himself.
"I really don’t," she smiled, "I see her."
"What?" he sank onto his front step.
"She's still on earth, but I don’t know why."Bri sat on the step beside him."I'm the only one who can see her."
"I knew it." he suddenly smiled."I've been feeling like she's been with me all day."
"I have been," I wrapped my arms around him, and he glanced at me, just feeling my presence.
"She's here now, isn’t she?" he asked.
"Yes," Bri smiled."She's hugging you."
"Can she hear me?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Hey Sash." He grinned as tears started to flow down his face."I've missed you."
"Me too." I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"She misses you too."Bri dictated for me.
"Why did you kill yourself?" he suddenly stopped crying.
"I didn’t." I whispered.
"She says that she didn’t." Bri glanced at me.
"Tell him the story."I sighed.This was about to get hairy.
"Sasha was at her parents' cabin with Cedric—"
"Marshall?" he glanced at her.I nodded, burying my face into his shirt.
"Yes, she was cheating on you."He stood quickly.
"I love you," I said from the step.
"Wait, Aron.She regrets it now.She loves you."Bri called as he headed toward his front door."Just listen.Cedric knocked her out and tossed her in the lake."
"I'll kill him." He fumed."I'm going to fuckin' kill him."
"Please." Bri stood next to him.I was suddenly on his left."Please don’t.I love him."She took his hand."I should go." She dropped his hand and headed to her car."Here's my phone number and address if you ever want to talk."She handed him a quickly scribbled note.
"Tell him I want him to be happy."I glanced at Aron's furious face."Tell him to find love again."
Bri turned."She says be happy and find love again."She walked to her car and got in.
"Bye." I whispered and kissed Aron's cheek before following Bri back into her car.
"Why are you still here?"She frowned and didn’t look at me.
"I don’t want to see you hurt."I sat back on the seat.Her cell phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered."Yeah…sure…seven is fine…all right…bye."She clicked the phone shut."That was Chad."
"He's going to kill you." I whispered.
"Stop it." she pulled into her driveway as the sun set slowly behind the horizon."Can't you just leave me alone?"
"Nope." I smiled and laughed.She walked into her house and I sat at her kitchen table while she changed.She walked back out to where her mother was cooking something.
"Where are you off to?" she asked, glancing away from her food.
"To get herself killed."I folded my arms and smiled.
"I have a date with Chad in the park."She grinned, and frowned at me, then headed off to her car.
"Have fun!" her mom called out the door.
I followed her all the way to the park where Cedric was waiting for her on a bench.
"Hello, there," he stood and wrapped his arms around her."Let's walk."
"All right."She took his hand and they strolled along a moonlit path.It was so romantic it made me sick."Where did you used to live before you moved here?" she asked, glancing up at him.
"In the city." He smiled down at her."Why?"
"Just wondering.Did you know Sasha Greenfeld?" his face froze for a millisecond before he answered.
"Oh darling.There are several thousand people in the city.There's no way I'd know them all."He smiled down at her.
"Did you see the fear in his eyes?" I asked, trailing along behind them.She glared back at me, and he stopped.
"What did you want to know about her, for?" he asked, looking away from her.
"She committed suicide last year at her parents' lake house.My mother knows hers and we just bought the house from them."Bri and Cedric kept walking."I was researching its history it in the library."
"I see."He looked suspicious.
"Run," I whispered, but she just ignored me."YOU'RE SO STUPID!IF THIS WAS A HORROR FILM, I'D BE SCREAMING 'YOU'RE A FUCKIN' ASSHOLE FOR TRUSTING HIM!'"A streetlamp next to them shattered.Bri glared back at me, and I fumed.Why was she so naïve?
"Bri, darling."He stopped and dropped her hand, sliding it into his pocket."What do you know about her?"
"Tell him everything and you'll die." I stood right behind her.
"I know she didn’t commit suicide."She confessed, trying to prove to me that he wasn’t Cedric.
"IDIOT!" I screamed and another streetlight burst.He didn’t even glance at it.
"She was murdered." Bri smiled; proud of herself that she thought I was being stupid.
"Really?"He grinned maliciously and pulled a black gun from his jacket pocket."Did you know who killed her?"
"Oh my God."She started to back away.
"Not so fast, darling." He cocked the gun and pointed it at her head."Don’t take another step."
"TOLD YA SO!"I rolled my eyes.
"Shut up." Bri hissed, and he looked confused.
"Who are you talking to?" he asked.
"Sasha." She said, glancing at me.
"Sasha's dead.I made sure of that last year."He smiled as spindly clouds tossed themselves over the moon."And now you're going to be dead too."
I could feel Bri's fear radiating through the air, and Cedric seemed to feed from it.He stood straighter, aimed right toward her head, and seemed allover more confident.
I was scared out of my mind.There was nothing I could do to save her.I was invisible to Cedric, and that wasn’t going to change soon.
"Sasha?"I stopped and stared at Bri, but she hadn’t said anything.She pointed wordlessly to Cedric."But, you're dead."His hand shook.
"Cedric."I smiled and narrowed my eyes.He could, by some unimaginable force, see me."Put down the gun."
"There's no chance of that."He said, but his hand shook even more."I'm going to kill this girl."
"What's the point?" I asked, taking a step toward him."Why kill, when someday you'll die too.Then all of your victims will be ready to make your afterlife a living hell."Another street light burst, sending showers of sparks into the black air.There was only a little bit of light from a lamp directly behind him."It's time for your spree to end.How many were there before me? Two…three…four?"
"Sasha." Was all he could say.
"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough."I grinned and the last street lamp blasted into flame the exact time Cedric's gun sounded through the night.It was pitch black, and I could hear Bri crying somewhere behind me.
"Bri?"I called through the darkness, and she sobbed."Talk to me so I know you're okay."
"I'm h-here."Her voice shook.
"Talk about something unimportant until I get to you."I commanded.
"I got an A in algebra yesterday.I hate math, someday I'll fail and my parents will know I'm stupid." I felt myself pass through something, and the moonlight filtered through the thin clouds.Bri was lying at my feet, her hands clamped around her legs.
"Are you hurt?" I asked as she got to her feet.
"No," she hugged herself tightly."Thank you, Sasha."
"Let's get you home."I followed her back to her car.She snapped on the headlights and before us, a gruesome sight was spread out over the greass.
Cedric was sprawled on the ground, blood everywhere.The lamp had burned the back of his head because he had been to close to it.The gun lay in his hand, and there was a neat little bullet hole through his forehead.
"Suicide." I laughed."How ironic."
Bri drove the couple blocks back to her house, and stumbled in the door.
"Bri?" her mother called."There's someone here who wants to talk to you."I followed her into the living room where Aran was sitting on her couch.Her mom smiled, stood, and walked out of the room.
"Hi." He smiled, "I needed someone to talk to, and you're address was in my pocket."I was suddenly sitting beside him.She sat on his other side.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Bri asked.
"Sasha, if you don’t mind." He sighed, "Is she still here?"
"She’s sitting next to you." Bri nodded at me.
"Sash?" he smiled when I touched his cheek.
"Tell him that I want him to stop being so sad."She dictated again."I want him to love again, but to never forget me."
Tears started to run down his face when he heard the words Bri told him I said.
"She still loves you."Bri glanced at me, then at Aron again.
"Take care of him, Bri." I said.There was a blinding white light in front of me."I have to go now."I whispered."This is just like the movies.Tell my parents that I love them."I laughed and stood.I gently pressed my lips against Aron's before walking forward into heaven's light.
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