Elizabeth Basque - Medium Mysteries 01 - Echo Park (18 page)

“
I don’t know where Carla’s gone,” Julie remarked.

I just nodded. I didn’t know where that little ghost had gone either, but I was reveling in the peace I felt.

It was kind of nice to just be among the living. Julie and I had had a hell of a week, and if things didn’t settle down around here, I was going to dub my apartment the CGC: Center for Ghost Control. I smiled at the thought and sipped my rum and coffee.

“
Carla and I have been talking a lot,” Julie said, her voice a little nervous.

“
Oh? What about?” I asked, although I had a hunch.

“
I told her I didn’t want her to, you know, stick around just for me. She said she would, but somehow, it just doesn’t seem right.”

I nodded again. In my opinion, spirits are meant to go Home, whatever that meant for them. I couldn’t imagine Carla hanging around forever. Not even for Julie. And from my experience, the opportunities to leave became fewer, the longer that a spirit stayed in this corporeal world. I would hate for Carla to lose her chance.

As if summoned, I suddenly saw Carla’s shimmering outline appear next to Julie. It was far too bright for Julie to see the girl, but she felt Carla touch her hand, and sat up straight.

So much for a quiet morning, I thought to myself, although her smile always made me smile, too. Then, as if to confirm that I’d had enough peace for one morning, I heard a thump inside.

Julie was used to Mack by now and she didn’t jump. I sighed, though, and got up. “Come on inside,” I said to Julie. “By the way, Carla’s tugging on your hand, I think she’s got something important to tell you.”

Inside, I righted the chair for the hundredth time and Mack sat down, levitating just above it. Michael was next to him. I pulled my drapes closed for Julie’s sake, and went to the kitchen for a refill.

Mack followed me. “Can I buy a thing for twenty bucks on eBay?”

“
Are you freaking kidding me? What could a ghost possibly need on eBay?”

“
It’s impahtant. I just had to click a couple times. I’ve watched you do it.”

“
Wait. You
already
bought it?”

“
Yah. It’s coming pretty quick. I checked the tracking number.”

“
Geez, Mack. Next time, ask
first
.”

“
It was twenty bucks for something impahtant, Pauline.”

“
Fine.
Fine.
We have guests, you know. Come on.”

We went back into the living room. I walked. Mack glided.

Julie could see Michael and Mack, and as soon as Carla touched the remote—which they had obviously done—her shimmering outline filled out.

I sat in my usual corner of the couch, tucking my feet under me, and looked at the three of them. “What’s up?”

“I think they
went
,” Michael said simply.

“
You mean Snake and JJ?”

Michael nodded. Mack’s smile was almost imperceptible but I caught it, and it told me he was happy for the boy. I was beginning to doubt that Mack didn’t have a heart, after all.

“Yeah,” Michael continued. “We went there this morning, to both of their places. They were gone, and everything else was, too. No drugs, nothing. They beat it.”

“
That doesn’t necessarily mean they went to see Julie’s friend,” I said, and I regretted the negative comment as soon as it came out of my mouth.

Mack flashed me a mean glare. But Michael wasn’t discouraged. “Well, I hope they went.”

“I can find out,” Julie offered. “Let me just make a call.” With that she stepped outside again, cell phone in hand.

This made Michael a little nervous. “Oh, God, I hope they went,” he said, now rising into the middle of the living room. “I tried, right? I tried to set some things right. What if it didn’t work? I mean, I don’t know what else to do.”

I tried to soothe him. “Don’t worry, Michael. We’ll know soon enough. And, either way, it’s my job to help souls go Home. I’ll be here for you, no matter what.”

Mack nodded in agreement. Carla had wafted out to eavesdrop on Julie’s conversation.

I spoke to him encouragingly, assuring him he had done his best. I wished I could give him a drink to settle him down, then checked that line of thinking. Not everyone was like me, nor did I ever need to make them think so.

Soon, Julie opened the sliding glass door, Carla floating in after her. Both were smiling.

Julie looked at Michael. “You got them to go for help,” she said.

Michael’s jaw dropped, and he held still. “Really?”

“Yes!” Carla blurted out. “They will have some therapy, too, like rehab, but Julie’s friend talked with them, and he’s agreed to help them.”

Michael, in spite of his vile-looking appearance with the vomit and his bluish face, laughed. I’d not seen him look so happy since I’d met the young man.
Ghost
, I meant.

“
Thank God,” he said, relieved. “I wonder whether it will work? What do you think, Pauline?”

I was about to answer, to say that the stairway to Heaven appears at mysterious times, but I didn’t have the chance.

Everyone could see a bright light, a tunnel almost, appearing right in the middle of my living room.

Chapter Thirty-one

Julie could see it, too, and her jaw dropped. The brightness continued to expand until it encompassed the whole far wall.

The light was indescribably magnificent. I’d seen it many times before, and it was almost always the same, but not quite. This time, I could see a little ways up the stairs, and there were leafy trees and brilliant flowers lining the golden steps.

I caught my breath as a glowing figure descended the steps, smiling at Michael, and I knew this was
it
for him.

The illumination from the opening shone into my apartment, but mostly on Michael. He took it in, as if he were inhaling it. I could see a new glow on his face, as if he were coming alive again.

The glowing figure held out her hand to him, and Michael’s lips drew up into the sweetest smile I’d ever seen.

I found myself weeping tears of joy for him.

“Come, Michael,” she simply said. Her voice was musical, even harmonic, and Michael took a step forward.

He stopped for a moment and turned to us. “Thank you so much. I love all of you.
Truly
.”

There really wasn’t time for words. Cheeks wet with tears of joy now, I merely lifted my hand and waved. Michael smiled one more time, an angelic smile now, and went forward to take her hand.

I took a deep breath. He was swallowed by the light.
Gone.

Mack hovered behind me, as far away from the light as he could get. I could tell he was happy for Michael, but his face was grim, which bothered me more than a little. Why was he avoiding the light?

Julie had her arm around Carla. The light usually disappeared after a soul went through, but this time it stayed, and I knew that could only mean one thing.

I turned to Julie, but I didn’t need to tell her what it meant.

“I know,” Julie whispered, holding back a sob.

The appearance of the brightly lit stairway changed slightly. The trees beyond now looked like fruit trees filled with pomegranates and cherries, and the flowers were like yellow daisies, but much larger. There were also what looked like periwinkles, their deep lavender blue contrasting brilliantly with the daisy-like flowers.

Another figure, this one with an ageless beauty, descended gracefully down the stairway. She had piercing eyes that matched the periwinkles, and a smile so bright radiated from her—it was nearly always a female—that I almost shielded my eyes. But it was a gentle brilliance, and I could not bear to look away. I wanted to see everything.

Carla squeezed Julie, and then pulled away.

Julie let go physically and to the depths of her heart.

Carla smiled merrily, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. She didn’t. She was going Home. “Remember,” she said to Julie.

“I will,” Julie called after her, but Carla was skipping up the stairs now, taking the Greeter’s hand. They didn’t look back as they moved up into the stunning bounty of nature that awaited them.

Julie remained motionless until the last of the brilliant light was completely gone. I looked up to where Mack had been hovering, but I wasn’t surprised that he’d disappeared again. He couldn’t bear too much emotion. And he had not made one move toward the light.

When my apartment was back to normal again, I turned to Julie. I was afraid that she’d be a mess, but she wasn’t. She was happy.

Still I asked, “Are you okay?”

She sat heavily on my couch, searching for words. “I’m better than okay. That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

I sat, and patted her hand, perhaps as much for my own comfort as for hers. “It is always beautiful,” I reflected. “That is why I do my work.”

“So that you can see them go Home.”

“
Yes.” I paused, reliving the whole thing in my head. Then I smiled. “Michael is truly happy now.”

“
Oh, Pauline, I’m so glad you were able to help him.”

“
He really helped himself. I did my part as mediator, but he worked for it. You have no idea how many souls just give up.” I couldn’t help thinking about Mack, in particular.

Julie was still on cloud nine. “Carla…what a gift she was. No, what a gift she
is
.”

“
She is something, isn’t she? An old soul inside a little girl. She’ll always be with you.”

“
I know she will.
Oh!
I was going to tell you, before…all this happened, that Carla helped me to find my purpose in life.”

“
Tell me now, if you like.”

She did.

She also wrote me a check for a few hundred, probably all that she could afford. I didn’t want her to, but she said, “It isn’t much, but I want you to be able to keep doing what you do. Don’t ever stop.”

“
I wouldn’t know how.”

Chapter Thirty-two

Los Angeles does have some beautiful sunsets. Oranges, golds, reds, purples. Most places have decent sunsets, as a matter of fact, but there was something spectacular about watching the sun sink into the vast darkening maw of the Pacific Ocean.

I loved to watch the days end from my cracked patio. As the sun disappeared each night, the city lights took its place. Headlights and streetlights were turned on, and all of the restaurants and bars below my patio lit up with their own allure, their own twinkling light that seemed magical.

Here in Echo Park, people didn’t quit their day with the departing sun. Indeed, I could feel the mood change down in the city, even from my patio perch. The place lit up with life, with an energy that denounced the workday and embraced the night life. Scraps of live music drifted up here and there to entice me to seek out their origins. Dance to them, even.
Someday.

I briefly thought about taking Mack dancing with me and smiled at the ridiculous notion. Obviously, the two martinis were going to my head as I pictured Mack, with his salt-and-pepper hair, the crinkles in the corners of his wicked, bright eyes and his Boston accent. And that rare grin, gawd. He was the first person I talked to in the morning and the last person I talked to at night.
A ghost.
That’s who I had as the only constant with another being, dead or alive.

I sipped my martini, the second one of the evening, and told myself that I should go down there some evening, to the lights. Feel the vibe. Partake in shooting a round of pool, if I could still remember how to even rack ‘em, or just have a beer with another person. Laugh with others.
The living.

I thought about my recent encounter with Michael and Carla. I thought about how Mack had stepped up to the plate for them. I’d never known him to do that before. But then again, he might not have had the opportunity. Maybe it was the poker game I had hosted for him that had motivated him to help.

Whatever the reason, Mack had given a lot. He was usually a fairly solitary creature, like me. I hadn’t actually seen him for a couple of days, not since Michael and Carla had gone Home. He’d show up, I told myself.

Julie had given a lot, too.

I thought about Julie’s and Carla’s idea. Julie told me, after Carla had left, that they’d worked out a possible plan to still share this life together, only in a different way, in a different kind of relationship.

They had at first planned to connect somehow, enjoy good times, and support each other in not-so-good times. Most of all, their plan was to be best friends until the end. Obviously, it hadn’t worked out that way.