Ascension

Slowly, the rumblings and whispers began. I really couldn't blame them. If I had been a cursing woman, I would have said a few choice words too. 

Harry's emotions wavered from confusion, to frustration, to horror and he was not one to be easily shocked. Death was no stranger to Harry. He had been a police detective for more than 15 years, and before that a soldier in the Gulf Wars. Still, he was visibly shaken by what he saw. 

He grabbed my out-stretched arm and grunted as he tried to pull me up the embankment. "Get out of there." 

I jerked my arm away. "I can't, Harry. She's here," I said. "Angelina. She's over there." 

Finally, I built up the nerve to turn on my flashlight and look in her general direction. Sure enough, her lithe body rested, face-up atop two others. The moonlight reflected blue-ish white off her light colored gown. The dark tips of her hair floated like seaweed upon the rippling water. 

I glanced back at Harry. The look on his face was less than pleased. I could only imagine the legal and logistical nightmare being orchestrated inside his head. He would have to make sure every "T" was crossed and every "I" was dotted because I had just put he and his department in a rather sticky situation. Warrants? Who needs 'em? 

"Jade, you know I can't allow you to move her body. Now get out of the water." His tone was that of a father trying to placate his child. When in reality, he wanted to yell for me to get my "A double S" out of the water. " Please," he gently added. 

He was right. I couldn't move her. That was someone else's job. The crime lab would be called and there would be an investigation especially if the Institute for Ascension was involved, and it was. It would be a rather odd coincidence for a hundred bodies to be dumped on their property and they not know anything about it. And I for one do not believe in coincidences. 

"What was that noise?" I heard a female officer to my left say. "Did you hear something?" she asked the person next to her. 

"Maybe," the man beside her answered. 

We all stopped. No talking. No shuffling. Only seven people staring into the shadowy night, listening. 

"Help me. Someone. Please." The faint cry of a man's voice came from somewhere in the darkness. 

"There it is again," the officer said, as she sprinted off in the direction of the disembodied voice. 

I wanted to call out to the officer, to tell her not to go. That she was only hearing the carry-over from a spirit that hadn't realized he had passed on. In retrospect, I should have, but I didn't have the heart, nor did I think she would believe me. 

You see, what most people don't know, or would even believe, is that all of us hear spirits on a daily basis. We simply don't realize it. We dismiss the sounds as ambient noise from a passing car or bleed-over from someone's MP3 player. But in truth, those little noises you can't quite place are noises from the other side, bumping their way back into this world. 

My eyes met Harry's and I shook my head. No words need be spoken between us. We had worked together long enough for him to know what I was thinking. There was only one person here who could help, and that someone was me. Once again Harry offered his hand to me and this time, I accepted. 

My shoes were filled with slush and I found it difficult to keep up with those who jogged around the edge of the water. Luckily for me, Harry was at my side every step of the way. I could see the muscles work along his jaw-line as he bit back the urge to reprimand me. I shouldn't have run so far ahead of him and the others, but I didn't want to lose my feelings of Angelina.