Soul Salvation

It didn’t take very long for the girls to get back to the manor. Luckily Rania’s parents were out, so she didn’t have to ask if it was all right that they came over. Quickly she scurried up the stairs, Sam and Mariah hot on her tail. She didn’t know if they’d be able to see Brian or not this time around, but that didn’t matter. What was important was that Brian find out how he died so the two of them could get to the bottom of things. After so long, and now she felt so close.

“Brian!” she called as she burst through her bedroom door. He was stood at her window, looking out as evening was cast upon the town. He looked up immediately, his eyes growing wide as he saw Rania was not alone.

“Holy shit,” Mariah breathed out, at the same time that Sam let out a little scream. Rania knew without asking that they could see him this time.

“You… you’re the ghost? You’re Brian?” Mariah once she was able to find her voice again.

“Yes,” Brian answered, looking briefly at the girl before he put his attention back to Rania. “Did you…?”

“Yes. It wasn’t much, but it explains a lot. The death report said that they found you at the bottom of the stairs. You suffered a traumatic head injury and massive blood loss. I wonder if you didn’t fall down them that day.”

Brian nodded slowly, and in a moment, he could feel his mind beginning to unwind once more, going back to that day…

--------

”Brian, no,” Michelle said, and there was a bitterness to her voice. Brian followed her around their bedroom as she tore clothing from hangers to pack into various suitcases. “I told you already, I’m leaving.”

“Please Michelle,” he pleaded, but she turned away from him. “Please, can we just talk about this? It doesn’t have to be this way. We can work things out…”

“We’ve already tried talking; it didn’t work. I mean, look at us even now!” she said, growing exasperated as she turned to face her husband. “What could have been a single event has once more turned into a fight.”

“I’m not really sure how you leaving me and taking my son with you is supposed to be a ‘single event’,” Brian shot back. “How do you expect me to be calm about something when you’re breaking my heart?”

“I’m sorry. But I really can’t stay. And I’m not going to try anymore, because I won’t put Kale through anymore fighting.”

“Maybe if we just tried counseling, like your mother suggested-“ Brian began, but Michelle put her hand up to stop him.

“It won’t work. We’re done here.”

With that, she took her packed bags and headed out of the room.

“Baby, please,” Brian called after her, following her every move. “Don’t… don’t take Kale from me. Just stay. We can work this all out, I promise.” He could feel his stomach doing flips inside him, his blood beginning to run cold with fear that he may lose the two most important things in his life.

Without bothering to drop the suitcase in hand, Michelle entered Kale’s room, where he was playing with his blocks on the floor.

“Come on, sweetie. Time to come with mommy,” she said, bending down to scoop him up. Holding him against her side, Kale not knowing well enough whether he should be laughing or crying, and his eyes wide and full of confusion. Michelle then carried him back into the hallway.

“You can’t do this. You can’t take him away,” Brian said, feeling his eyes burn with the oncoming tears. “Please just stay.”

“Brian, if I don’t leave, I’m going to go insane,” Michelle finally admitted.

“Then tell me what it is I’m doing and I’ll fix it!”

“There’s nothing to fix, Brian. This is just how things need to be. I need to get out of here.”

In one last-ditch attempt to pull Michelle and his son back into his life, Brian reached out to gently grab her arm. But Michelle was already descending the large staircase down into the grand entrance, and when she felt Brian’s grasp on her arm she quickly shook him off.

The motion was enough to throw Brian off balance as he followed her, and he felt his body pitch forward. He barely caught a glimpse of Michelle as she and Kale slipped out the door and out of his life.

The world spun as Brian tumbled down the steps, landing on the floor with a resounding smack. As he got back to his feet he could feel a pounding in his head, the world slightly spinning around him as he tried to hurry outside. He smiled with hope when he made it to the driveway and Michelle had only just strapped Kale into his car seat.

“Michelle, please!” he called after her, stepping closer and closer to the car. “I love you. I want to make this work. Please, just try…”

Michelle looked back up to the house, back up at Brian. He felt her gaze lock with his, and hoped that maybe his words had changed her mind. But she just turned and got in the car, driving out of Brian’s life for good.

Feeling his eyes well with tears Brian slowly turned back to the house, trudging inside his now empty home. The sight he saw before him made his blood run cold. But then Brian realized, it had been cold all along.

For there on the floor was his own body, blood pooling by his head as he lay in a tangled heap, his eyes open and glassy, viewing the rest of the world in darkness.

--------

“I thought she had seen me, looking right at me and denied my love for her,” Brian whispered, finishing his story. Glancing up he could easily see the sadness in Rania, Sam, and Maria’s eyes. “But I was already gone. And I think I know what I need to do…to move on,” Brian continued.

“What’s that?” Rania queried.

“Whether or not she feels that way, I need to somehow let Michelle know that… my death wasn’t her fault. I need to see her, to talk to her face to face to tie up loose ends,” Brian explained, and Rania slowly nodded her head.

“Tomorrow. We’ll go tomorrow.”