Chapter 34
A mixture of relief and joy washed over Brian’s face. “Yes,” he whispered. “It’s true.
Look – behind me.”
With a puzzled frown, Bianca’s gaze flickered from Brian’s face to
a spot beyond where he was standing at the foot of her bed… and that’s when she
was it. “It” was an eerie sort of
goldish light… not light like from a lamp or the sun, but… a different sort of
light. It hovered above the floor a few
feet behind Brian, and it seemed to have a shape, sort of tallish and
narrowish. She knew at once, by
instinct, that this light was not an “it” at all… it was AJ.
Bianca blinked in amazement, trying to find her voice. It seemed to be locked in her throat, unable
to come out. Finally, swallowing hard,
she stared into the Gold Light and asked in a hoarse whisper, “AJ? Is… is that you?”
Slowly, the Light floated towards her, stopping right beside her
bed. Her heart thudded swiftly in her
chest, but not out of fright or nervousness.
She did not fear the Light in the least; in fact, the closer she was to
it, the calmer and more content she felt.
“AJ,” she said, her voice stronger now, more sure. A trembly, fluttery feeling came over her,
and with one hand, she reached out to the Light, terrified it would suddenly
vanish, as if it had only been an illusion, a mirage.
Her hand passed right through the light, and for a moment, she had
the feeling of being in one of those 3D theaters they had at theme parks and
reaching out to touch some three-dimensional object that was not really
there. But unlike that, she knew the
Light, although not solid, was really there.
It was really AJ.
“C-can you talk to me?” she asked, her voice shaking despite
herself. “I want to talk to you.” Her voice suddenly sounded like that of a
little girl’s, wistful and longing.
And suddenly, she heard him.
His voice echoed in her brain as if it were coming from inside her. “I’m here, Bean,” he said.
Without warning, Bianca burst into tears. “AJ!” she sobbed out loud. “It is you, AJ, it really is
you!”
From the foot of the bed, Brian smiled. “It’s about time,” he said quietly, more to
himself than to anyone else. Then he
backed slowly out of the room. Neither
Bianca or AJ really noticed he had gone.
“I love you, Bianca,” came
AJ’s voice again.
“I love you, too!” Bianca cried out. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, she wondered
vaguely what the hospital staff would think if they heard her. They would think she was talking to herself;
they would think she was not only suicidal, but completely insane.
From within her, AJ laughed.
The sound was thrilling and enthralling to her; oh, how she had missed
his laugh. “You don’t have to say
things out loud if you don’t want to,”
he said. “You can just think
them, and I’ll hear them.”
“You can hear my thoughts?” Bianca
asked, thinking the words rather than saying them.
“Some of them,” replied AJ.
Before she could say – or think – anything else, he went on seriously, “Bianca…
the drugs… what were you doing?”
On the outside, Bianca’s eyes widened in shock. On the inside, she said, “How did you know
about that?”
“Brian. So you really did
take them then?”
“No! No, I didn’t!” Bianca cried.
“I have no idea how they got in my bloodstream… if it’s really true.”
“So you didn’t try to… to kill yourself?”
“No, of course not!”
AJ sagged in relief. He
should have known she wouldn’t do such a thing – actually, he did know
that, deep down… but he had just had to ask.
“Thank God,” he said. “But… about this accident… what happened,
Bean? How did you lose control of the
car like that?”
Bianca bit her lip.
“That’s just it – I don’t remember!
I don’t even remember driving on that road! All I remember is leaving the store and then
waking up here.” She had no recollection of the other car
following her, chasing her, forcing her off the road and into the
guardrail. It was as if the event had
been blocked from her mind.
AJ wondered – carefully, so that she could not read his thoughts
back – if maybe Bianca had taken the drugs herself at some point. There was a whole period of time she could
not remember – hell, anything could have happened then. But then again, where would she have gotten
the drugs? And why would she have taken
them? Because she was upset, he
told himself. But there was no reason
for her to be upset now – now that she knew he was there – so he decided not to
worry about it anymore. He would watch
her more carefully now, stay by her side, so that nothing could hurt her again…
not even herself.
***
“… Yes, indeed, Phil, it seems the Smiley Face Killer has killed
again. I’m here at Winnopega Lake on the
outskirts of Orlando, Florida, where the body of the serial killer’s sixth
victim, twenty-two-year-old Vanessa Burton, was recovered early this
morning. Burton is the second victim to
be found in this area. You might
remember the remains of the killer’s fourth victim, Becky Cooper, was also
found near the lake…”
Bianca shut off the evening news with the click of her remote,
disgusted with hearing about the Smiley Face Killer. When are they going to catch this psycho? she
wondered. It really didn’t matter to
her as much now though, for the Smiley Face Killer hadn’t killed AJ after
all. Someone else had… but who? It was a question that continued to plague
her, especially since AJ told her he hadn’t seen his murderer’s face.
It was the following evening, a Friday night. Bianca had been discharged from the hospital
that morning and had been sent home with a bruised and aching chest and
stomach, but nothing worse than that. She
figured she had come out of the crash lucky.
She only wished she knew what had happened… the whole period between
leaving work and waking up in the hospital was still a blur to her.
“Why can’t I remember?” she muttered out loud, running her hands
through her hair in frustration. “Was it
the supposed drugs?”
“Must be,” said a voice in
her head. AJ’s voice. Breaking into a smile, she turned and found
him – his light – sitting beside her on the couch.
“AJ!” she cried internally.
“You might want to start getting ready,” said AJ.
“Aren’t we supposed to meet the group at 6:00?”
“We? You’re going too?”
“Sure, why not? Only you
and Rok will know I’m there, but there sure ain’t much else to do. Especially with Lindy gone.”
Bianca heard a hint of sadness in his voice. He had explained to her about Lindy during
their long mental conversation the day before.
He sounded lonely to her, and she couldn’t blame him. She felt guilty for not believing his messages,
for not believing in his existence earlier.
But that was past them now. Now
they were together again… sort of. It
was not the same as it had been; it never would be. But it was better than nothing. Bianca was happy now, for the first time in
almost two months. But her happiness
would not last long. In fact, very soon,
her happiness would turn to terror.
***
