Devil in the Details

TWENTY-TWO: A New Deal - Pt. 2

Lana jerked her face towards me, her jaw dropped in shock. "What?"

"Jessa!" Billy said, suddenly scrambling to his feet, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"If Billy is returned to Earth," I said, looking straight into Lana's eyes, "the war will be called off."

"No it won't," Lana insisted. "They'll say I'm still holding a human against their will—"

"It's not against my will," I said. "I'm the one who asked for a ticket to the Underworld. I'm the one who came down here of my own free will. And I'm the one proposing this new deal."

"Jessa," Billy said, "you can't do this! What about your family?"

"Unlike you, I got the chance to say my goodbyes," I said, my eyes tearing. "And besides, if I stay, they'll all be safe. Everyone on Earth will be safe."

"Then it doesn't matter if you stay," Lana said, with a touch of sadness in her voice. "You're not staying down here because of me... you're doing this to save your friends and family.

I took a few steps forward and held Lana's hands. "It's true that I'm partially doing this to save my friends and family. But I'm also doing this for you, Lana. Despite everything, you're my friend. And I've never thought you were unredeemable. I want you to get better. And maybe... maybe me being down here with you will prove to everyone up there that you can change. And maybe I'll become a better person in the process too." I gave her a small smile.

She started to cry. "You'll never see your friends and family again though... And after enough time, you'll turn into a... into a..."

"I don't think I will," I said stubbornly. "You said that's a curse from God? I have a feeling He'll look down at me and have mercy. And if not, you at least get me for a couple hundred years. Not too bad of a deal if you ask me." Holding back tears, and ignoring Billy, I held out my hand. "So Lana, do we have a deal?"

Lana stared at my hand for a while. I watched her fingers twitch, her arm stretch outward... and then, after a moment's hesitation, she pushed my hand away. "I can't."

My heart sank. "Lana..."

But then, looking between the two of us, Lana said, in a voice that was nearly a whisper, "You're both free. Go."

Billy's jaw dropped in shock, and I took an actual step back. "What?"

"You heard me," she said, closing her eyes to try to hold back the flow of tears. "You're free. Now go, before I change my mind."

"Lana," I said, so startled that I was convinced she didn't quite understand, "if you don't take my offer and you let us both go, you'll still be alone."

She started crying now, her chest heaving with sobs. "I know," she said, holding back a hiccup. "And I was so incredibly touched by your offer, Jessa. But I can't have you give up your life—your soul, your eternity—for me. You don't belong here. You belong on Earth, with your friends and family. And when your life is over, you deserve the chance to end up in Heaven... not down here with me."

"But you—"

She interrupted me by holding a hand to the air, and suddenly the mirrors and staircases and doorways all vanished, and we were back in the lobby of her building.

"I'll figure things out," she said, wiping at her tears. "Just please, Jessa. Please leave. I can't... I can't stay this strong for long. Leave before I change my mind."

I swallowed, but realizing that Lana was serious, I nodded my head in agreement. "Okay," I said, then grabbed her into a tight squeeze. "Thank you Lana. Thank you so much."

I felt her hands wrap me in the tightest and warmest of squeezes. "No," she whispered in my ear. "Thank you. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Then, without warning, she let go. "Go," she said, turning her back to me, unable to look me in the eye.

Billy seemed to have no qualms about walking towards the door, but I suddenly remembered James and said, "Hold on one sec." I rushed over to the front desk, where the burly secretary was trying his best to not watch his boss break down into sobs. "Can I have my bear back now?"

He nodded and passed me the teddy bear, but not before Lana glanced back at us. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the stuffed animal.

"Hold on," she said, wiping away a tear. "How did you get that?"

"Uh..." I said, surprised by her sudden interest. "Back on Earth... in the Christmas store on Main Street."

She shook her head impatiently. "No, not where. How did you get it?"

"I just walked into the store with James—"

"James?" she said, jaw dropping. "Like, my James? Angel James? He's on Earth?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He's the one who told me about the possible war and everything." I held up the stuffed animal. "He actually has sort of been with me this whole trip to the Underworld, communicating with me through the bear."

Lana's eyes widened. "It works?"

"Uhh... yeah..."

I looked back at Billy, who shrugged with confusion, and then at Lana, who was staring at the bear intently.

"Can I..." Lana's voice was nearly shaking. "Can I talk to him? It's... it's been so long and I... I just..." She trailed off, unable to form a complete sentence.

"I mean, sure. As long as he wants to," I said. Then, looking down at the bear in my hands, I said, "James, it's me, Jessa. You don't have to play dead. It's okay. I'm okay. And... Lana wants to talk to you."

And yet there was no response.

"Why isn't he saying anything?" she asked. "Does that mean he doesn't want to talk to me?" The dejection in her voice was as clear as a bell.

"Could be," I said, though he seemed strangely still, more so than when he had been playing dead before. "But I... I actually don't think he's on the other end now. He must be busy with something."

"Where do you think he went?" Lana asked, her eyes wide with worry. "Back up to..." She gestured sharply towards the frescoed ceiling.

"He wouldn't have just left me," I said. I had known James for only a few hours, but I was certain he wouldn't have just left me to die in the Underworld. "He's been sitting on a picnic bench watching my..."

I trailed off, horror settling into my stomach.

I looked down at my throbbing shoulder, the one Lana had struck.

I swallowed. "It might not be working because... I might be dead already."

Lana took a step towards me and sized me up, her eyes running up and down my body. She even gave me a quick sniff. "No," she said after a moment. "You're still alive. But just barely. We need to get you both back to Earth. Now."

"But the river is so far away," I said. "How will we get there before...?" I trailed off, imagining myself in an ambulance. Had my parents been called yet? Or was I still on that picnic bench at the edge of Gilman Pond with James slapping my face, trying to get me to wake up?

Lana shook her head. "Don't worry about that. I have a shortcut." She leaned over to the desk attendant. "Bring my car around front. ASAP. We're heading to Earth."