Rose in the Water

The blond 6 foot 2 man opened his electric blue orbs. The distress and fear was obvious in his eyes. My gosh. Why are they always so annoying. Here I am standing over and smiling at him so he won't see what has happened all at once and freak out. I am being so nice right now and I get nothing in return. I'm in a bad mood.

“Wh-what's going on!? Who are you!? Were is Isabella!?” he yelled.

If I wasn't dead I'd be wishing for death right now. I've gone through this so many times! “You Mox Defuncto are so annoying,” I mumbled. I reached down and grabbed him by the random tie he had around his neck. And by random I mean random. Who wears a tie with jeans and a light blue button up shirt? Really?!

“Ah! Your gonna break my tie!” He yelled while I hauled him up. I just rolled my eyes.

I let go of his tie, now that he's up and took a step away from him, “Come one Mox Defuncto. Just because I have all day doesn't mean I want to use it. We've got a lot to talk about.” I started to walk away, “Oh and don't look around until I tell you to okay?”

I heard a gasp and then a thud from behind me. I groaned and turned around. “Why is it when I say don't look all you freaking idiots look!” I can see his eyes roaming around the scene. The over turned, broken Porsche, the compacted SUV, the ambulance, and the doppelganger on the floor.

“Wh-wh-, how-, what?” he whispered.

I sighed and put my hand over my face. “I tried to warn you. I knew you'd freak out, everyone does. But does anyone listen to me? NO! No, they do not! Lord, the children—children—listen and follow instructions better than the adults and teenagers!” I look down and see that he's just looking up at me with a very sad expression on his face.

“B-but I can't be dead,”he whispered, “I've gotten a promotion after three freaking years! I was going to ask Isabelle to marry me!" He was standing up by now, towering over me. "I got a new car, and new house! I finally paid off my loan! I CAN'T BE DEAD!”

Blow out my eardrum why don't you? "Do not yell at me. I am not the one who killed you nor am I the reason you are dead. I'm sorry I truly am because guess what I'm dead too." I managed to keep my voice leveled. I surprise myself.

He looked up at me with eyes I have seen a million times before. Those hopeless, devastated eyes. I'm not trying to sound mean but you get tired of seeing the same thing so many times. "Why?"

I am truly amazed that I managed not to roll my eyes. I turned to walk away from the scene just cause I had to endure this all the time didn't mean i had to stick around for him. He wants help then he has to stop being dumb. Sounds harsh? Well life is hard and death is no different. "Get up Mox Defuncto, I'm leaving with or without you."

I started walking away knowing very well that he'd follow. Sure enough I wasn't even five feet away when he started to yell for me.

"Hey! You! You aren't just gonna leave me here are you!?"

"I will if you don't get up and follow." I heard heavy breathing from behind me. See? They follow, no matter what condition they are in.

I kept walking and he just followed. I wonder- "Who are you anyways?" When the questioning would start.

"Heck should I know. If you figure it out then don't hesitate to let me know." I smiled. For some reason I always felt the need to say that instead of answering the actual question.

"What?" He whispered.

"I said that I don't know who I am. I have no memory of my living life. None."

"How can you not remember living! Your dead! Shouldn't you being alive be the thing you remember the most!" He yelled. Well, he must be used to ignoring people cause if we were alive then we would have about twenty-two pairs of eyes on us. Well one of the perks of being dead I guess; you can scream at the top of your lungs and no one gets mad.

"I remember living, stupid. I just don't remember what I did in my living life." I figured I should at least help him understand. "Ever heard of amnesia?"

"Amnesia?" He asked stupidly.

I sighed internally. "Yes amnesia is were some one loses parts of-"

"I know what amnesia is!" He yelled. Boy does this boy like yelling.

I closed my eyes. "Then why did you ask?" I opened my eyes half way and sighed. "You know what don't answer that, I really couldn't care less. Anyways, amnesia is very common with us. And I happen to have the worst, rarest, and nearly impossible kind. I have absolutely no memory of my living life."

By now we were at one of my favorite parks in this city. What we are ghost, we can walk through stuff and we don't have to wait for traffic cause we are already dead. "Hey what time is it, Mox Defuncto?" I asked while I went to sit down on the bench that was placed in the grass under a Blooming apple tree.

He looked at me with the funniest confused expression that I have ever scene. I couldn't help but smile. "I don't know. I'm dead remember!"

That smile was still on my face, "well at least your accepting it, Mox Defuncto."

That expression was still on his face. "If by accepting it you mean that I've realized that there is not a God damned thing I can do about my life being completely over, than yeah- I'm totally accepting this." He got the cutest little angry look, that just made me want to chuckle, so I did.

"What are you laughing at! Just cause your okay with this doesn't mean that I am!" He yelled. Again with the yelling. "Who are you?! What are you trying to do?! And what the hell is with you and all this Mox Defunto stuff!"

I bent my head back really far to look up at him. I'm not small like most people believe girls to be. I'm five feet seven inches. But my height comes from my legs and I was sitting down and he was really tall. "Sit down looking up is hurting my neck." Lucky he sat down. Unlucky he sat down on the grass and now I had to look down. Complications. "That's better, I guess."

He looked up at me, his face still angry. "Answer my questions," he demanded through gritted teeth.

I chuckled again. "You have a temper don't you? Anyways, since you asked me so nicely, I will answer you questions." He grunted. Huh. Well isn't he nice. "So, as I said before my name is Umbra Custos, Which is Latin for Ghost Guardian. Which is a small definition of what I am. I help ghost like you, figure out what their unfinished business and move on, into Paradise. And it's not Mox Defunto, it's Mox Defuncto and it's Latin for just dead."

"What's Paradise?" He interrupted.

I raised one of my eyebrows. "Well, well, well. More questions." I sighed. "Paradise, is the other side, you know. Whatever lies beyond the light, cave, tunnel; whatever it is that you see. Depending on what you believe in Paradise can be anything."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Your talking about the light? And Heaven, right?"

My eyes closed and reopened. "Whatever it is that you see and believe in."

"What? Can't you tell me what it is?"

"No, because I can't see it. And I won't see it for a very long time."

"What does that mean? I don't understand!"

"Exactly what I said. I can't see the entrance to Paradise."

"Okay still doesn't make any sense to me, but moving on. What do you mean about your name being a definition of who you are?"

I sighed. I feel like a broken record because I repeat the same thing to each and every Mox Defuncto, I take care of. "I am a Guardian of ghosts, in a way. I am there when people die but don't move on." I held my hand up when he started to interrupt. "Hold all questions, protests, and or arguments until I finish what I have to say, please."

His face was like stone but he stayed quite. "Thank you. Anyways, when people die, their spirits, or souls, move on to Paradise. But those who have some kind of unfinished business stay here. The spirit rests for a while, this is were the process of people dying occurs. Most of the time the spirit goes off into Paradise. But there are times when the spirit stays here long after it should have moved on.
My job is to make sure that the spirit moves on. I have to help them with their 'unfinished business', so that they can cross over. Sounds simple? Some times it is but some times it's not each person is different. Unique. The death and unfinished business of the spirit will determine it's condition. Each spirit is different and requires different way to be handled. It's a bit like being a therapist. Understand?"

His face has relaxed during my little explanation. "Yeah, I think I do. Bu what I don't get is that- well there are still a lot of things that I don't get. One how do you know all this stuff? I mean by the way your dressed, you can't be that old. Right?"

I tied so hard to not let my annoyance show. "Yes, your correct I'm not that old. In fact I am quite young. You're probably older than me. I have only been dead for a month. When I died I became the new Guardian. The one before me explain to me what I have just explained to you. And then he told me that I would be taking his place, in guiding ghosts Paradise. He placed his hand on my forehead and all that I needed to know, I knew."

He got up and sat up on the bench next to me. "So he like, downloaded the information into you?"

I leaned back, closed my eyes and smiled. "Yeah it's a bit like that. Now shush. No more questions."

I heard him move, but with my eyes being closed I didn't know what position he moved into. "Why no more questions?" He asked.

The smile stayed on my face. "I said no more questions."

"You can't expect me to not ask. Now, why no questions right now?"

"I guess your right. To a point."

"Hey can I ask one more?"

"Sure why not?"

"What's with the cuts on your wrist?"

"I don't know I have amnesia remember."

He rolled his eyes. "Hey you never answered-"

"I said no more questions Mox Defuncto."

"Again why no questions right now?"

"Because the children are coming."