You're Not in This Alone

“He kissed you,” I told Grace as we walked up the stairs to go to the bathroom.

She giggled. “I know,” she replied.

Wrapping my arm around her shoulders I said, “Didn’t I tell you he loved you?”

“You were right,” she admitted. Just before she closed the bathroom door in my face, she added, “He told me so himself.”

I grinned and leaned against the wall outside the bathroom. I was so happy for Grace, I thought my heart was going to burst. When she came out of the bathroom, she hugged me and said, “Ebony, you’re the best friend ever. You’re like my older sister.”

“I love being like your older sister,” I assured her. “Now go back down to Jason. I’ll be there soon.” I gave her one last squeeze before letting her go downstairs.

I went to the bathroom and walked out of the bathroom. What I saw made me want to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth. I was frozen. Grace was lying on the ground. I still felt her presence, but it had faded. She was no longer alive.

I stumbled to her and fell to my knees. Before I thought it was possible, my beautiful dress was stained with tears.

My good friend – my little sister – was gone, and there was nothing I could do. Gerard hadn’t seen it. I hadn’t known it. I don’t remember much after that. I remembered strong arms lifting me off the floor. I writhed in their grasp, trying to return to Grace.

“Ebony,” Gerard’s voice sounded far away, and I heard no emotion in it. “Let her go.”

I felt my body give up, and he caught me from falling. I only felt Gerard near me, and no one else. All I saw was Grace’s face. Her glossy lips were still smiling. Her red hair had fallen in a heap, covering on of her eyes. Her other eye, her ghostly white pupil and black iris, still stared up towards the ceiling, like she was looking into heaven.

She’s felt death many times before, and now she’s felt her own.

“Sarah, don’t come up,” I heard Gerard whisper. “Send up Jason. Tell Skyler not to watch. Try not to listen.”

A few seconds later, a boy was shrieking. He screamed things that didn’t make sense. He blocked my view of Grace. I closed my eyes, unable to watch him. Gerard set me down on the ground to go to Jason. I tried to close my ears, too. Somehow I eventually managed to do it.

*******

I was confused when I woke up. I was in my bed. Gerard was holding my head in his lap. His breathing was heavy. His fingertips were touching my cheek.

When I whimpered, he put his hand over my lips. I opened my eyes. His suit was soaked in tears, but his face was dry. It didn’t take me long to realize they were my tears. His eyes were haunted and dark. He hadn’t slept a wink. He wouldn’t look at me.

“Sarah, Skyler, Nadia, and Ethan have gone to bed,” he said robotically. “It’s three in the morning. I don’t know if they’re sleeping. My guess is that Nadia and Ethan teleported to Sarah and Skyler’s room. I don’t know if they’ve slept.”

I reached out my senses. He was right. All four of them were together. I didn’t have the strength to tell him so.

“Faith and Tristan cleaned up the party before they went to their room,” Gerard explained. “Leo and Shelby are taking care of arrangements. Miranda moved the body to Jason’s room before she and Lance went to their room.”

“And Jason?” My voice was cracked and weak.

“He’s alone in his room with Grace,” Gerard stated.

All my tears were dried out. I closed my eyes; my mind was too exhausted to deal with what I knew I had to deal with. “Do we know how it happened?” I asked.

“Shelby was going to school to be a surgeon. From her limited knowledge, she thinks Grace died of natural causes,” he said gently.

“She was fourteen,” I replied, dumbfounded.

He didn’t have an answer for me. He lifted my head out of his lap and set it on the pillow. I felt him shift his weight so that he was lying next to me. His forehead touched mine.

We laid like that for almost an hour before I said, “We should go talk to Jason.”

“I don’t know,” Gerard started hesitantly. “If it was me, I would want to be alone.”

“He’s not you,” I cut sharply. “He’s a delicate fourteen year old boy who’s lost the only constant thing in his life. He’s lost the only thing, the only person he has. Not only that, but on the day he said he loved her.”

Gerard let out a troubled sigh.

“He’s not you,” I repeated. “He’s not strong, he doesn’t know death. Sure, he’s seen dead bodies. He’s heard Grace talk to the dead. His parents died when he was young. But Grace was the only person who meant the world to him. He needs someone to talk to.”

“If you think so,” he said.

“I heard him screaming,” I whispered, disturbed at the memory. “I don’t know how you made him stop, but it took a while.”

“Miranda made him stop,” Gerard replied. “Apparently, she can freeze vocal cords.”

“But not thoughts,” I countered. “Come on. He’s waiting.”

It was hard to pull myself off of the comfortable bed. Gerard wrapped his hand around mine. We walked down the dark street with just a flashlight to guide us. When we knocked on Jason’s door, his voice was cracking. “Come in.”