Finding Jade

CHAPTER 14

You saw Jade the other night?" Ms. Samson asks. We're back in her classroom. She's closed the door behind us.

I sit on top of one of the desks and let my knapsack slide off my shoulders onto the chair behind me. "Yeah," I reply. "How do you know?"

Ms. Samson comes and sits on top of the desk across from me. It's a nice gesture; it makes us seem equal. Not many teachers would do something like that.

"Raphael told me. I take it he was there with you?" she asks.

I nod. "He saved me from the creatures ... the demons or whatever. But I left Jade there.... Is she a lost soul?" As soon as I ask this question, tears blur my vision, and I quickly look down at my hands. I don't really know this lady, and certainly don't want to be crying in front of her.

"Raphael didn't save you, Jasmine," she says. "He can't save you. He can guide you and guard you to a degree, but you saved yourself down there. You just need to remember how."

I look up at her. "Believe me," I say, "I didn't save myself. The last thing I remember is that I was about to be some demon's dinner. Raphael definitely saved me." I can't help smiling at the sound of his name.

Ms. Samson frowns at me. "Raphael is supposed to be your guide right now until we can find out what is happening with Jade. But ..." She regards me carefully. "I am not sure it's a good idea."

"Why?" I ask. "He's helped me a lot with all of this." She regards me carefully. "You're a Seer. You mustn't let feelings develop for Raphael. He is your guide, your guardian. That's all."

My face goes hot. How does she know? Is she a Protector? Or am I so transparent with my feelings that I might as well have I heart Raphael scrawled across my forehead?

"We're just friends," I lie. "Sometimes he even gets on my nerves."

Ms. Samson watches me for a moment, the brown fingers of her right hand delicately tracing one of her beaded necklaces.

"Fine," she says. I know she doesn't believe me. "You likely won't be alone with him again, anyhow. Tonight you, Raphael, Cassandra, and Lily will make an attempt to return to the Place-in-Between to rescue your sister." 

My heart skips a beat. "Jade? But she's dead, isn't she?" 

"She can't be, or you wouldn't be so powerful. Mina's powers are almost non-existent because her sister is dead. No, the other half of your soul still lives."

"Then why is she in Limbo?" I ask.

Ms. Samson sighs. "From what Raphael said, it appears she might be trapped there. Did you have contact with your sister at any time whilst you were in the Place-in-Between?"

"Of course," I say. "I saw her on the staircase, right before ..." I trail off, remembering the sickening thud of bodies and pained screams as people tumbled down the station's stairs.

"I know that you saw her, but did you physically come in contact? Did you touch?"

I nod. "She grabbed my hand as she began to fall." I pause for a moment. "But I couldn't hold on. There were too many bodies." My bottom lip quivers as I think about Jade's face when we were separated from one another on the stairwell.

"I'm sorry to keep asking you about this," Ms. Samson says, her voice softening. "But her hand? Did it feel like flesh and blood? Was it warm?"

I'm confused. "Of course. But we were still pulled apart, and I lost her. That's when Raphael grabbed me and took me away."

Ms. Samson gets up and walks toward the front of the room, her walking stick clicking in unison with each footstep.

"The bodies you felt on the stairs were nothing more than energy, negative energy, emanating from the spirits that are stuck in the Place-in-Between. Whether they are afraid or angry, their denial of death keeps them trapped there. Of course, this energy can be very strong, especially when it is collective. The molecular composition of the lost souls and inorganic matter in the Place-in-Between is different than any state of matter on Earth. It's closest to plasma, but of a higher density. You can interact with them, but you will feel a difference."

Ms. Samson stops for a moment. I feel her hesitating. She's not sure if she should tell me everything. "But your sister Jade is there, in the Place-in-Between, in body, not just in spirit. And we really don't know how this happened. Regardless, the darker forces seem to be holding her hostage."

Then it hits me. Jade has spent all these years trapped in that horrible place, unable to return home. I think about the nights I've fallen asleep to the sound of Mom's quiet weeping in the bedroom next to mine. Jade's disappearance did such damage to Mom's health; the doctors al- ways suspected her lupus was triggered and worsened by the stress of my sister's abduction. But at least Mom and I had each other. What has Jade gone through?

"I know this is a lot to take in," Ms. Samson says, interrupting my thoughts. "And we have no idea how they are keeping her with them. But you must try to go back down tonight and bring her back. Jade needs to be here in the land of the living."

"I don't know how I got there, though," I say. Every cell in my body is screaming with fear, and I don't want to go back to face those creatures. But in my heart I know I have to. Jade needs me.

"We suspect travelling on the subway did it," Ms. Samson says. "The underground systems that extend under the great cities of the world have long been used as gateways by demons when they become strong enough to cross over. Before that, it was caves, crypts, and tunnels. Perhaps it is because these things are closer to the Underworld. You see, the Place-in- Between is but a layer in the fabric; there are places much darker and more dangerous. The way you can get there and back is to visualize where you want to be. All Seers can do this. That's why we're sending Lily and Cassandra with you. For extra support in case you are attacked, and because they've done well when their concentration and powers of visualization were tested in class."

Ms. Samson's eyes grow serious. "What you are about to do tonight is extremely risky, Jasmine. We must never lose twin Seers at the same time to demons, but we need to send Lily and Cassandra with you. Together, they are stronger as a pair. All of you are stronger when you are with your twin."

"What happens if twin Seers are killed at the same time?" I ask. She hasn't mentioned that Jade and I will also be together, though that is precisely what she's thinking. I can read this thought clearly in her mind.

"Demons can inhabit human bodies, if they become strong enough," Ms. Samson says. "But they need to take over one whole soul in order to do so. If both Seers are killed at the same time, they can drain the shared soul of its powers and inhabit the bodies."

I think about this for a moment. "You mean, like, evil Seers would be walking around? Demon Seers?" In my mind I'm imagining just what this might mean. A super demonic, mean girl? It's not pretty.

Ms. Samson slowly nods. "Yes, demon Seers with the power to read human minds, to dream prophetically, and most importantly, with the ability to destroy supernatural beings that belong to the forces of good, as well as those that belong to the darkness. I wish you luck and strength tonight, Jasmine. I have no idea what might await you in the Place-in-Between, but you mustn't let fear or other negative emotions rule your thoughts. Remember, that is what makes the dark forces strong."

Then Ms. Samson gets up, walks to her desk, and sits down in front of an enormous pile of marking. And, just like that, she becomes an ordinary teacher again. As she picks up her red pen to begin scrawling comments on students' work, I grab my knapsack and silently leave, hoping I will live to see her tomorrow.