Into the Light

179

"Your heart is fine. Even better now, than before, I'm guessing?" I looked at Anna again and smiled at her. "My heart is the happiest it's ever been," I replied, making her blush again. "Yes, I can see that," he mused. "Well boys, this is where my train ends. If you don't mind, could you please go to the living room, where my body is. There's a red leather book on the bookshelf. Under it is a symbol drawn into the wood. Could you get a knife and draw a line through it. This will allow the witches to come collect my body and perform the necessary rituals." Sam nodded at him. "So, we aren't going to see you again?" I asked, feeling pretty sad about it. "I'm sorry you died, Ash. Isn't there a way for you to come back, as well?" He shook his head. "No, I used my only appeal on Anna. But, I'm perfectly okay with that, and I'd do it again! I've chosen to stay here, in my home, with Barbie and my other friends. I've always felt more comfortable with the dead than the living anyway. Besides, now Barbie and I can truly be together. I love her and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than by her side for all eternity. You can understand that, I'm sure," he said, looking at with a knowing smile. I smiled back and looked down at Anna tucked under my arm. "Yeah, I can definitely understand that," I replied. "Okay, we'll go take care of that symbol. Thank you, Ash. For everything. We will never forget you." "You'd better not!" he exclaimed. "I fully expect you boys to come back at least once a month for Barbie's cooking." We laughed and agreed to his terms. "Thank you for showing me what friends truly are. I had forgotten. I'll see you around," he said, then faded from our sight. We stood there in silence for a few moments, with Sam and Kat in each others arms, and me holding onto Anna for dear life. "Um, Colby," she replied, in a strained tone. "Yeah, what is it? Are you okay?" I asked. "Yeah, I just need you to loosen your grip a little," she said, squirming under my arm. "Sorry," I laughed and relaxed my arm. "I guess I'm just making sure that you stay by my side. I don't want to lose you again." She smiled and leaned up on her tiptoes to press her lips to mine, for a quick kiss. "You won't. I'm not going anywhere," she whispered. "Okay, so what do we do now?" Sam asked. "We go downstairs and fix that symbol Ash was telling us about," I replied. "Yeah, but what after that?" he asked. "I mean, is it really over? After everything we've witnessed, we just go back to our normal lives?" "Sam," I replied, as I turned to leave the room. "Our lives have never been normal." "Hey, wait!" Katrina called out. I turned back to see what she wanted. "You forgot this. I'm guessing you may want to keep it now," she replied. She held out the Teddy Ruxpin to me, with a smile. "Oh my God! Is that a Teddy Ruxpin? When did you get that? Ugh, I used to love the one I had," Anna exclaimed. I took the bear and tucked it under my free arm. "I know," I replied, hugging her to my side. "You told me." "Is it for me?" she asked, then bit her lip hesitantly. "I mean, I don't mean to presume, but I'm the only one here who even knows what it is. Does it have a story tape in it? Can I hear it?" Her words were running together in her excitement over the bear. "Just wait until we get home and I'll let you hear it," I replied, with a smile. She stuck her bottom lip out and crossed her arms. "You butthead," she retorted. We all laughed, including Anna, who couldn't hold her composure. "Come on, let's go do what Ash asked. I'm sure the witches are waiting," Sam said. We filed out of the room and down the hall, to the living room. Ash's body was still lying there, with his arms crossed over his chest. "This is just...weird," I breathed, staring at the shell that used to be Ash. "I mean, we just talked to him, yet he's lying here dead. Fucking weird, dude." Sam nodded in agreement. "Okay, let's find this symbol," I said. Sam and I walked over to the bookshelf, and started looking for the red leather bound book. "I think this is it," he said, pulling a dusty red covered book from the line. "Yeah, here's the symbol! Do we have anything to cut it with?" "I can go to the kitchen really quick," Anna offered, raising her hand like she was in school. "I'll go with you," Kat replied. It only took them a few minutes, then they were back with Kat holding a large kitchen knife. I held my hand out for it, then leaned over and looked at the symbol. "There's two different symbols here," I said, pointing at them with the knife. The first one was in plain view, but the other was hidden towards the back of the shelf. "Oh shit, I didn't even see that one," Sam exclaimed. "So, which one do we cut?" I asked. Sam shrugged. "I don't know. Let's just do both of them, to be safe." I nodded, then scraped the blade through the one in the back. It was a simple one, just a straight line with two X's drawn over it. I scraped a large X through it, hoping that would suffice. The next symbol was one that I recognized. A pentagram with a circle around it. "I thought this was a bad symbol to use," I mused, staring at it, with the blade poised over it. "That's a misconception," Anna said quietly, from right beside me. I jerked in surprise. "When did you get here?" I asked. She grinned and shrugged. "The pentagram is a symbol of protection, both physically and mentally. It represents all 4 elements; water, earth, air, and fire. Then the fifth point represents the spirit. It's only a "bad" symbol, when it's flipped upside down, usually used by satanists. Just like the upside down cross," she explained, as she ran her fingertips over the 5 points. "How do you know that?" Sam asked, in amazement. "Ash told me. When we were practicing. He said that I needed to know the basics, if I was to understand my powers," she replied. "Wow," I responded. "You're amazing, you know that?" She giggled and shook her head. "No, I just listen."