Life After Death

Chapter 9

Moonbeams highlighted the stark gray tombstones that surrounded me.

Meredith Louisa Gray
Sister
Daughter
Best friend
Rest in peace, forever, Merriweather.

A sad smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. 'Merriweather' was the name my dad called me when I was little. I thought he had forgotten about it.

I reached out and my fingertips grazed the letters. I could barely feel it.

Everyone had left.

I was alone.

There was the sound of footsteps nearing me and I remembered what Roman had told me about the soul eating ghosts that escape Hell. Fear pricked the back of my neck.

Shit.

"Merriweather?" It was Roman. I let out a breath of relief.

I stood up. "Yeah," I said, "it was some nickname my dad came up for me when I was two and would pretend to be the weather lady from channel nine." I laughed at the memory.

Roman let out a throaty chuckle. "Cute," he mumbled. "We should go."

I nodded, giving my tombstone one last look and began to walk alongside him. The moon was just a sliver in the sky, a crescent that hung in the dark sky. The stars twinkled overhead, directing us to a dirt path.

I felt a load lifted from my shoulders as we exited the cemetery.

We walked under the warm glow of the streetlights. I swore that I saw a flash of movement in the shadows.

"Where are we going?" I asked in a shaky voice. The shadows – and I had never been one to be afraid of the dark – irked me. Left me feeling on edge, and afraid that soon something would jump up and devour me.

"To your wake," Roman replied.

"My wake?"

He nodded in response. "You need closure – so that's what you'll get."

I didn't respond. I let it all seep in – I was dead. I was dead? I still couldn't grasp that my life had ended. It didn't feel true, but it had to be, right? I had seen my own tombstone. I had seen people crying over my grave. So why was there still this gaping hole in my chest? Why did I still feel lost and forlorn and empty inside? Shouldn't I be feeling like Jack had – free and happy?

I kicked at the loose stones in the road, surprised that it had actually moved, I kicked another, and then, another. I didn't know that I could touch anything in the material realm.

I giggled and saw a rock on the side of the road. Running up to hit, I gave it one good kick and it went tumbling down the dirt side walk. Roman laughed, his dark eyes filled with something I couldn't quite place.
I kicked the rock toward him, at first, Roman just looked at it then up at me. A broad smile stretched across his face and he kicked it to me. We passed the rock to one another, like that for a long while.

"I used to play soccer," Roman said, blurting out.

We stopped playing standing on the side of the busy road. Cars zoomed past us. I stared at Roman. He never spoke about himself. He seemed to be just as surprised as I was and shook his head, causing gold messy waves of hair to fall in his eyes. He raked his fingers through his hair.

"You played soccer?" I asked, incredulously.

I always just thought that Roman hadn't been a person before. This just changed my entire perspective on him.