Authors: Kellie McAllen
“You mean, like, Superman?
Flying, reading minds, turning invisible…that kind of thing?” Jessica asked.
What kind of weird project did school assign these days?
She wondered.
“Sure, things like that, or…other supernatural talents,” Rider suggested, leaving the door open for speculation.
Jessica laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle.
“I don’t watch a whole lot of superhero movies, honey, and I sure as heck haven’t ever met Superman.
I’d just be happy to meet a regular man who was a decent human being,” she smirked, her voice holding a hint of sorrow.
The boy shuffled the pages in his notebook awkwardly, as if her answer was not what he was expecting.
Finally, the girl named Rachel piped up with a question.
“What do you believe about the soul, Miss Reynolds?
Do you think humans have one?
What do you think happens when we die?”
Jessica was taken aback as she contemplated the question.
“I don’t really know about all that, kid.
Are you sure you’re not trying to sell me religion?
I’ve got too much trouble in this life to be worried about the next one.”
“No, Ma’am, we’re just doing some research, I promise.
We’ll get out of your hair now.
Thank you so much for you time,” Rider replied with a disappointed smile as he struggled to lift himself off the sunken cushions.
Once he was up he held out his hands to help the girls then headed for the door.
“Have a good day, Miss Reynolds,” he offered, holding the door open for the others.
“You too, kids.
Good luck with your project.
I wouldn’t bother calling on the old man in the yellow house next door.
He’s not too friendly,” Jessica offered, feeling a little disappointment at their departure.
She didn’t get much company, especially not cute kids who hadn’t had the life sucked out of them yet like most of the customers at the bar where she worked.
As the teens made their way down the driveway, a shiny BMW pulled in.
The man in the car stared curiously at them as they passed, but he was quickly distracted by the sight of Jessica in the doorway.
His on again-off again lover never failed to take his breath away with her beauty.
Caught up in his arrival, Jessica didn’t notice when the teenagers got into their car and drove away instead of canvassing the rest of the neighborhood.
“Michael!” Jessica marveled as the tall, well-built man got out of the car and approached her.
His clothing was understated but expensive, with lines that hugged his masculine form in all the right ways.
His dark, curly hair was combed back on top but left to curl just a little in the back.
It was highlighted with a few strands of silver that weren’t there the last time she saw him.
“Jessie,” he murmured, gazing hungrily at her and taking her into his arms.
“You look lovelier than ever.”
He pulled away from their embrace to admire her.
“I missed you so much, darling.
I know I’m no good for you, but I just can’t stay away from you,” Michael admitted longingly.
“What do you mean, Michael?
There’s no one better for me. There never has been.”
“I know, Jessie, but there should have been.
You shouldn’t keep waiting for me.
You should find someone better than me, someone who deserves you.
Every time I give in to myself and come to you, I expect to see that you’ve found someone else.”
His hands traced the lines of her back through the silky curtain of her hair.
“Why do you always look so happy to see me?”
His face was soft with love but stern at the same time.
“I can’t help it, Michael.
There’s only you,” she replied with a happy smile.
He responded by taking her mouth with his and kissing her till they both were left gasping for air.
chapter twenty
Jessica was watching a sappy movie on TV and drowning her sorrows in a bowl of ice cream when the doorbell rang the next Saturday afternoon.
She definitely wasn’t expecting any company — Michael had been there the week before and it would probably be months or even years before she saw him again.
She had a few girlfriends, girls who worked at the club with her, but they didn’t hang out too often when they were off the clock.
Never had one of them shown up unexpectedly at her door.
Last week’s visitors were the first she had had in years.
On the off chance it was Girl Scouts selling cookies she decided to at least take a peek.
Her eyes widened in surprise when she opened the door to a handsome teenage boy with dark red hair and nicely defined muscles.
The nervous look on his face made her instantly suspicious, but she decided to hear him out.
“Hello,” she said, keeping the door open just enough to show her face.
The boy wiped his face anxiously with his hands then shoved them in his pockets.
Rocking back and forth on his feet, he opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came out.
“Can I help you with something?” Jessica prodded, curious as to what had this practically full-grown man so flustered.
“Ma’am, are you Jessica Reynolds?” he finally blurted.
“Yes,” she answered slowly, eyeing him suspiciously.
“I’m sorry, I know this is really weird, but my name is Zach Pasquetti, and I think we might be…related,” Zach explained, running his fingers through his hair.
“Oo-kaaay,” Jessica responded skeptically.
“How so?”
“Um, would it be okay if I came in so we could talk?” Zach asked, shuffling his feet.
Jessica decided to play it safe, even though the cowering boy in front of her did not appear to pose a threat.
“How about if we sit on the porch?” she suggested, emerging from behind the door.
She realized belatedly that there were no chairs to sit in, so instead she took a seat on the top step.
The boy nodded and joined her, sitting as far away as the narrow stairs would allow.
It was his turn to speak, so Jessica waited patiently while he fidgeted, trying to get comfortable on the hard cement.
The boy peeked at her from down-turned eyes before finally raising his head to make eye contact.
“Ma’am, there’s just no easy way to ask this so I guess I’ll just say it.
You had two abortions like, 17 years ago, right?”
Jessica’s jaw dropped open and she stared at Zach, uncomprehending, for at least a half a minute.
“How did you know that?” she finally whispered, her face still a mask of shock.
“I’ve never told anyone that.”
“Ma’am, I know this is going to sound crazy, but please just hear me out.
I don’t think your babies actually died.
I mean, their bodies did, but their souls are still alive.
Their souls found homes in other people’s bodies.”
What the boy was saying sounded absolutely insane; only his unexplainable knowledge of her secret abortions kept Jessica from dismissing him immediately.
She had no idea how to respond, though, so she just stared at him, waiting for something he said to make sense.
The boy had imagined lots of different responses to his revelation, but this stoicism was not one of them.
He expected her to think he was crazy and throw him out on his ear or know exactly what he was talking about and embrace him like a long lost son.
When she did neither, he was at a loss for what to do next.
He decided he might as well finish the story.
“My mother was in the clinic for a check-up the day you had your first abortion.
She was pregnant with me.
I believe the soul of your aborted child entered my body that day and has been living inside me for 17 years.
His name is Cody and he’s been eager to meet you.”
Jessica finally broke her silence with a strangled gasp.
“What…Who….How….?”
She had no idea how to respond to this information.
Finally she settled on her most pressing question.
“How can you possibly know this?” She whispered, her golden eyes clouded over with incomprehension.
“I thought I was crazy for a long time, but then I met this girl and found out she had a…companion, too.
Her mother was at the clinic the same day you had your second abortion.
We thought maybe you would be able to explain it to us, but it doesn’t seem like you know what I’m talking about.”
“I’ve never told anyone about my abortions — no one.
How did you know?” Jessica asked, still trying to understand how this strange boy found his way to her.
Zach dropped his head again, embarrassed.
“I’m sorry we invaded your privacy, but we had to know!
My friends — they snuck into the clinic to look at the old records.
It led them to you.
You actually met them last week.
They came here pretending to be asking questions for a school project.”
Jessica’s eyes popped open in recognition.
“Yes!
Those kids!
The questions they asked were so strange.”
“Rachel, the blonde girl, is the one who’s like me.
Her companion’s name is Rider.”
“But, the boy who was with her was named Rider, I thought,” Jessica wrinkled her brow in confusion.
“Yeah, it’s…kinda complicated,” Zach responded, wrinkling his nose.
“Rider managed to jump bodies a few months ago, so now he’s in a body that used to belong to a boy named Cameron, but he died, so now it’s just Rider.”
Jessica shook her head in a daze.
“This makes no sense.
How can any of this be possible?”
“I have no idea.” Zach shrugged.
“I was really hoping you knew the answers.
Like, you had some special powers or something.
You’ve never experienced anything like this before?”
“Uh, no.
My life has been totally ordinary up until this very moment.
I’m really having trouble wrapping my head around all this,” Jessica exclaimed, tossing her long dark hair behind her shoulder in frustration.
“You’re telling me that the soul of my son lives inside your body?
You realize how insane that sounds?”
“I know, it’s…unbelievable.
But you have to believe me!
This isn’t some scam trying to get something from you.
All we want is some information.
Cody and I, well, life together hasn’t always been easy.
We deserve to know the truth, to understand why we are the way we are.”
Jessica’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the boy in front of her.
He looked like any other teenager wearing faded jeans and a Purdue tee shirt, but his young face was twisted into a vortex of emotion too deep for his years.
She saw pain and fear, anticipation and hope all playing across his innocent face.
As she stared, his eyes took on a vacant look and his expression changed to that of someone listening intently to a conversation, but no one was talking.
He nodded slightly before refocusing his eyes on Jessica’s.
“Did you just…talk to him?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Zach dropped his head like a guilty child caught by his mother.
He stared up at her, trying to decide what she was thinking, but her expression was blank.
“So, can he hear me, see me?” Jessica asked, gradually suspending her disbelief.
She didn’t know why she believed this outrageous story told by this enigmatic boy, but somehow she did.
“Yeah, totally,” Zach explained.
“He has his own thoughts and feelings, just like a normal person.
He can even control my body if he tries hard enough.”
“And the other boy, Rider?”
“Yeah, his story is amazing.
All these years he was with Rachel, and then she almost died in an accident and she thought he died too, but instead he just jumped to another body.
They’re totally in love with each other.
It’s pretty awesome.
Rider has become a really good friend to me.”
“I don’t understand why I believe you, but I think I do,” Jessica admitted, staring deeply into Zach’s eyes, looking for truth.
“But, I’m nobody special.
I can’t jump bodies, for heaven’s sake!
How is it possible that my, my…. children can?”