I sit back after Dylan kisses me, stunned. I feel as if I'm floating on air. "I'm glad you did that."
"Honestly, I wanted to do it earlier, but I wasn't sure how you'd react." He seems younger, almost fragile.
"Really? I just want to kiss you again." I move toward him.
What are you doing? Stop wasting time! Tell him I'm here!
Oh my God, Lindsay's back and she has the worst timing!
Tell him about me! Tell him I'm here! His sister's ghost relentlessly hounds me.
"All right, stop!" I involuntarily shout the words out loud at Lindsay, but Dylan thinks I'm yelling at him. He sits back, unsure what's happening, until I tell him his sister's here with us.
"Really?" He scoots away from me and starts looking around the room.
God, Lindsay is such a mood killer!
"So my sister's really dead?" He sounds crushed. My heart goes out to Dylan, but I know I have to keep my emotions in check because his sister's spirit is here too.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. She's the one who warned me Julia was in danger while we were at the lake."
I make sure to speak out loud as I communicate with Lindsay's Ghost so Dylan can hear me. "Thank you for warning us that Julia was in danger, but...Lindsay can you tell us what happened to you?"
My boyfriend Jared killed me and dumped my body in an alligator pond in Florida. There's nothing left of me. He's dead too. He died of an overdose a few months later.
I swallow as I look over at Dylan. I have to whitewash this story a bit. I don't want him to remember his sister this way.
"She says she in peace now and there's no more pain."
"Why is she here now?" I can see the grief he's struggling to hold in.
Tell Jiggy I knew he needed me to push him towards you. He always needed his big sister, but I was selfish when I ran away with that asshole Jared. I never said goodbye. Choked with emotion, I carefully explain all this to Dylan.
Lyndsay's voice is full of sadness relaying this, but then she speaks directly to me.
I'm sorry if I scared you with nightmares. I just wanted you to talk to my brother.
I look over at Dylan. "She called you Jiggy?"
Dylan laughs, "Yeah, she used to make me jello when I was a kid. With pieces of fruit in it."
He has a tear starting in the corner of his eye.
"Please tell her I just want her to be happy and I'll always love her. I know what a free spirit she was. I knew I was holding her back." His voice is thick with emotion.
"Shhh... Lindsay hears you." I feel an overwhelming sense of peaceful release as I hold him when he breaks down in tears. I guess his sister kind of took over raising him after his mother died when he was twelve. Dylan's so stoic I would never have guessed he has such a deep emotional vulnerability hidden inside of him. Lindsay's energy is a warm ball of glowing pink light now. I know she's about to leave for good, but she still has one last urgent message.
Tell Dylan something's not right in the Dresden Police Department. Tell him to be careful who he talks to.
In my minds eye, I see Lindsay's face smiling at me surrounded by a beautiful white light, growing stronger by the minute. And then in the blink of an eye, her glow fades. She's gone as if she stepped through an invisible door. I sit there in wonder. I can feel wherever she went was incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and serene. Radiantly pure. With the illumination gone, the room feels dark and heavy. I sigh, disappointed I can't follow her into that beautiful light. Quickly, I shake the disturbing thought out of my mind. Dylan's here in this world, and he needs me.
Thank you for reading!👻