Into the Light

177

I nodded at him, and Sam lifted his hand. "I'm sorry, Ash," I said, quietly. He waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't be. I'm happy. Look, I don't know how long I'll be able to hold this form, so let me talk. First, don't be upset for me. I'm happy. Second, you did an amazing job! You beat Lilith! So, over here on the other side, I've been advocating for you. The witches want to reward you. Just thought I would give you a heads up." "Wait, what?" I asked, thoroughly confused. "Ash, what do you mean reward?" He was already fading from view, with a sly smile on his face. Sam and I looked at each other and he shrugged. "We don't want a reward," I said, facing Barbie, who was still standing in the same spot as before. "Doesn't matter. You're going to get this reward and I promise that you do want it. Just go see for yourself. I think it's in the piano room," she replied, then faded from view as well. "Fucking ghosts," I grumbled. "Should we go check it?" Sam asked, hesitantly. I knew why. Anna was in the piano room. "We have to go in there anyway," I replied, with a resigned sigh. "Should we bury Ash first?" Kat asked, staring at his body. I shook my head. "Better to do them at the same time. Shit," I exclaimed. "We forgot to ask about the key to the damn shed. Hey, Barbie?" I got no reply. Sam and Kat also called out to her, but got nothing. "Well, then I'll go buy a fucking shovel," I exclaimed, angrily. I didn't care about some stupid reward. I just wanted to know where the damn key was at so that I could bury my dead girlfriend. Sam looked at me in silence, for just a moment, before he nodded. "Okay. We can go do that, but can we check out whatever Ash was wanting us to see first? It might be important." I groaned loudly and heard the sound echo through the glass home. "Whatever, Sam," I grumbled and held my arm out, stretching towards the hallway. "Let's just get this over with." I followed him and Katrina, who was being unusually quiet, out of the room and down the hallway, towards the room where Anna lay. The closer we got, the more my tightened, making me feel as if I couldn't breathe. By the time we made it to the correct door, I already knew that I wasn't going in there. "You ready?," Sam asked. I shook my head. "No," I gasped out. "Not going. I'll wait here." Kat looked at me, sympathetically, but didn't say anything. "You're sure?" Sam asked, with his hand on the door knob. I nodded. "Yeah, just go ahead. I'll be here." "Okay then," he replied. I stepped back down the hallway a couple of paces so that I couldn't see inside the room when he opened the door. They disappeared into the room a few moments later, and closed the door behind them. I waited and listened. What kind of reward did Ash think would be sufficient enough in this situation? Money? We had money. Anything else that I could think of, we could buy ourselves. I mused over every option I could think of, but nothing came close to replacing what was taken from us. "Oh my God!" I heard Kat exclaim. I darted back over to the door and put my hand on the knob, thinking they may in trouble. I listened another moment and heard both Sam and Kat laugh. They sounded so happy. I relaxed my hand on the knob and waited. With them sounding so elated, my curiosity was getting the best of me. I wanted to know what was in the room, but I also didn't want to see Anna's cold body either. I fell back, when the knob was snatched out of my hand, and fell on my ass. "OW!" I exclaimed, looking up at Sam. He was standing in the doorway with a large grin on his face. "Come on," he said, holding his hand out to help me up. "You've gotta see this." I took his hand and let him help me stand, then shook my head. "No, I don't want to go in there, until I have too," I replied, keeping eyes averted from the scene behind him. "You have too," he replied, pulling on my arm. "I swear, you'll love this." I pulled my arm away from him and shook my head angrily. What didn't he understand about me not wanting to go in this damn room? "No, Sam. I'm not going in there. I don't want to see her like that, until I have too. Just tell me what it is," I demanded. This time, he shook his head. "No, brother. You have to see this with your own eyes. How about this?" he replied. "How about I make it to where you don't see her in that way? Then, will you come in?" I thought about it for a minute. "Only if you put her somewhere that I can't see at all. I don't want to see a sheet lying over her body or something like that. If you can find a place where it will seem like she was never in there, then I'll come," he responded. "No problem," he said, still grinning at me. "Why are you so damn happy?" I grumbled. "Because I'm happy. I promise you will be too," he said, turning back to go inside the room. "Come on then," he said, waving his hand towards the fat chair that sat in front of the couch. The empty couch. He had already moved her. God, I really appreciated how well he knew me sometimes. I took a seat on the chair then looked at Sam, who sat on the couch. "Okay, what's this amazing thing?" I asked. "And where's Katrina?" "She's over there," he said, pointing towards a door that I was sure was a closet. I looked back and met his gaze, in confusion. "She's in the closet?" I asked. He just grinned. "Are you ready?" he asked. The anticipation and the game he was playing with it, was driving me absolutely crazy. "YES," I exclaimed. "Okay, close your eyes," he replied. "Oh, come on," I said, rolling my eyes. "Are you serious?" He nodded. "It'll be better this way," he replied, still carrying that stupid grin. I sighed and closed my eyes, as he said. "Okay, keep em closed, he replied. His voice sounded a little further away now. "Is he ready?" Kat whispered. "I'm ready!" I exclaimed. "I'm right here, you dumbasses. I can hear you."