A Little Bite of Magic Goes a Long Way (BxB)

3 ~ Matt

"You killed me," I said, staring down at my own upturned face.

A streak of sadness shot through me at the sight. I looked so young.

My face was pale and lightly freckled, my features ordinary but pleasantly balanced, my eyes an unremarkable grayish blue, and my hair a plain, sandy brown. My frame was thin and long, never good at gaining muscle, but trim and well-proportioned at least.

In death, I looked almost beautiful.

"You killed me," I said again, starting to cry ghostly tears. "And there was so much more I wanted to do..."

You have to say that, right?

"Do not weep," Pete said, laying a cold hand on my insubstantial shoulder. "You are dead, yes, but today is not your day to die. It is not your time."

"Really?" I sniffed. "Then why...?"

"Because, friend Matt, I wanted to speak to you, and this—" he raised a wispy brow at my lifeless form, "—this was the only way I could think to do so."

"What about writing in the steam on the bathroom mirror?" I asked. "Or in blood on the wall, or something?"

Pete smiled, and I couldn't help staring at his teeth. He must have had awful breath when he was alive, and I wondered if maybe that explained the weird smell I sometimes detected near the bottom of the stairs. It would probably be rude to ask, though.

"Perhaps for a simple message, such a method might work" he said. "But I have more to say, and to show, and I need you to see."

He stood tall and still, his hands clasped before him like a creepy, cliche undertaker.

O-Okay," I stammered. "I mean, I'm happy to talk to you, but..." I glanced again at my abandoned body.

Pete waved his hand. "Do not fret. In a moment, your Benjamin will find you, and revive your physical form. We have little time. I brought you over to this side because you have a gift, friend Matt, and I wish to help you discover it."

"A gift?" I asked, forgetting my tears in favor of curiosity. My sister claimed she could see people's auras, but I'd never experienced anything unusual myself until I moved here to be with Ben and met his friends. I was nothing special, but being surrounded by magic and wonder was gift enough for me.

"Indeed," Pete answered, nodding slowly. "I can see it within you, an inner star that shines with hidden light. With such a gift, I thought you would be able to see and speak with me from the very first; that you could not was a mystery I did not understand."

He paused and moved closer, so that we stood side by side, staring down at my body. I noticed that his suit was at least a half-century out of date, ratty and worn, though it looked like it had been quite nice at some point. Incongruously, a pair of old-fashioned bowling shoes showed beneath the hems of his trousers.

"I developed a theory," he went on, his Russian accent growing a little thicker as he mused. "Your gift is dormant—sleeping, locked within. It simply needs to be woken up, and a little trip through the Veil should be just the thing, I believe."

"The Veil?"

"What separates the world of the living from the unseen realms," he said. "There are many ways to cross it, but death is perhaps the most common."

He nodded at my (hopefully temporary) corpse.

"I tried many times to bring you here," he said. "But interacting with your side is difficult, and my efforts were...half-hearted. Only recently have I decided that there is no more time to waste. I have watched over this house and those who reside within it for many years, and I sense that a time is coming when you, and those who call you friend, will need such light as that which lies within your heart."