Soul Salvation

For the weeks following, against Brian’s please for change, Rania spent more and more of her time devoted to trying to help him. She spent hours in the library, and then hours at home on the internet. The most progress she had made was finding stories that explained that Brian’s body had been found dead in his home. No explanation, no cause of death, no following obituary. Rania couldn’t help but feel it was quite a strange situation. Then again she was trying to help a ghost achieve inner salvation, so not many things were really too strange to her anymore.

But slowly over time, as fall began to make its presence known, Rania began to give up. It was nearing the end of October, with Halloween looming nearer and nearer, and she’d found essentially no information. Or at least nothing she deemed helpful.



“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for Halloween? Making a costume or something?” Brian asked one late October day. He was perched atop Rania’s bed, as she was occupying the chair at her desk, searching once more on her laptop.

“Not really, no,” Rania said blatantly. “We don’t celebrate Halloween.”

“What!?” Brian asked incredulously, and if it weren’t for the fact that Rania knew she was the only one who could hear him, she’d have told him to keep it down. “What do you mean you don’t celebrate Halloween!? Everyone does!”

Rania snorted her laughter to keep it at bay. “Oh really?” she asked as she turned to face Brian, amused by the look on his face.

“Well, anyone who’s cool does,” he defended.

“My family never has. My parents never did, and as such, I never got to. I never really thought much of it,” Rania said with a shrug.

“That’s absurd,” Brian muttered. ‘You missed out on something great, I’ll say that much.”

“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way,” Rania chuckled as she turned back to her research.

“Will you please stop? For me? I’m begging you,” Brian pleaded. “Stop searching. I can wait until the summer – then you’ll have plenty of time on your hands to help me figure this out. And besides, I thought the internet didn’t have anymore stories on it.”

“Maybe I’m not looking for that,” Rania muttered as she wrote down the information she found.

“Then what?”

“I was looking for Michelle’s address. And I found it. I don’t know why I never thought to go ask her in the first place. I mean, she was there the day you died…”

Bran grew quiet on the bed, staring at Rania with eyes wide.

“Did…did you find it?” he asked quietly.

“Just now, yeah.”

“Are you going to go?” Brian then asked. Rania could see the longing in his eyes.

“Yes. Do… you want to go with me?” she asked, knowing already what Brian would say.

“Yes. When are you going?”

Glancing over at the clock, Rania made note of the fact that it was just past dinnertime.

“Tonight?”



About an hour later, Rania and Brian were stood outside a very nice looking home. Checking the address she had written down, Rania was sure that they were at the right place. It was white, with blue shutters, and in the incoming darkness of the evening, the lights glowing through the windows made the place look warm and inviting.

“You ready?” Rania asked, glancing over at Brian whose eyes were glued to the front door.

“Give me just… one second,” Brian sighed, and Rania nodded, letting him take his time. She knew what a big moment this was for him. He hadn’t seen his wife, now ex-wife, since the day he’d died seven years before. And now he was about to be face to face with her, only she wouldn’t even know it. And, if everything went as planned, he could possibly even see his son, if they were allowed inside.

“Okay,” Brian finally said, and Rania reached forward and rang the doorbell. It only took a matter of moments before the door swung open quickly. A boy with jet-black hair was stood there, gaping at Rania for a moment.

“Who’re you?” he asked.

“My name is Rania. I was wondering if your mother, Michelle, was home?” Rania asked politely.

“Mom!” the boy yelled harshly over his shoulder. Rania took that time to glance sideways at Brian. She could see the smile on his face and the tears in his eyes.

Moments later a woman with hair as equally as dark as the boy’s came to the door. Rania noticed she had a pretty face, and it made sense to her considering Brian was so handsome. Only the best for each other…

“Kale, go inside,” the woman said before looking at Rania again. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, Michelle. My name is Rania Lone, and I’m working on a local history assignment for school. I was actually really interested in, um, the death of your late husband, up at Haner Manor?” Rania began, and she saw Michelle’s brows furrow, almost like she looked disappointed. “I.. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, or anything. I was just wondering if you could help with some information. I’ve looked online and in newspapers but haven’t been able to find anything about it.”

Michelle stood there quiet at the door, biting her lip. Rania could see her glancing around, as if looking for another person there with her – like she could sense Brian’s presence. Rania was sure that Brian was trying so hard to become visible for her.

“If this is a bad time, I can come back later, or-“

“No,” Michelle interrupted her, holding the door open wider. “Come inside.”