Hereafter

Broken

A clear path to my father opened up in the fog. I could see him plain as day, looking wonderingly, blindly, into the mist. I was supposed to walk along that path, take his arm, and usher him over the bridge to his eternal life.

“No,” I shouted. “No! I won’t do it. I can’t.” I turned around and ran, the fog engulfing me from all sides.

“Rory, no!” Tristan shouted.

I could practically feel him coming after me and turned on the speed.

“Don’t!” Joaquin yelled. It sounded like he was somewhere to my left, but it was impossible to tell. Still, I turned right and barreled ahead, tears streaming from my eyes, trailing across my face, and dripping onto my shoulders.

My father was going to die. He was going to die for real. That’s what this really was, wasn’t it? This moving on? He was going to leave, and I was going to be left here. Alone.

“Rory! Stop now!”

Something in Joaquin’s voice made me freeze. I gasped for breath, the ragged effort scratching my lungs.

“Don’t. Move,” Tristan instructed. “You’re right on the edge of the bluff.”

I gasped, my head going weightless. Suddenly I could feel it, the emptiness in front of me. My toe twitched, and a rock popped over the edge, clicking along the wall into the endless nothing. I had almost fallen. I could have been killed. Except…

“So what?” I cried, my voice cracking as I turned around. I couldn’t see them. There was nothing but fog. “I can’t die, right?” I shouted into the nothingness, my fingers curling at my sides. “Who cares if I fall?”

“No,” Tristan said, appearing in a swirl of mist, his hand outstretched. “You can’t die.”

“But you can break every bone in your body,” Joaquin added, stepping up next to Tristan. “And believe me, that hurts.”

I let Tristan close the gap between us and pull me away from the edge. Down below, the surf crashed louder.

“It’s okay, Rory,” Tristan assured me, holding me at arm’s length. “No one expects you to take him.”

“Of course not,” Joaquin added. “We made a pact.”

“It’s not that,” I said, sniffling as I shook my head. “I may not take him tonight, but I’ll have to eventually. I’m going to have to say good-bye to my father. I had to say good-bye to my mother, and next it’ll be my father, and then Darcy…” I felt as if my chest were splitting open. As if it would never be mended. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this, Tristan,” I gasped. “It’s not fair. It’s not…fair.”

“I know,” he said, pulling me to him and letting me cry all over his pristine blue shirt. “I know it’s not fair.”

“This is so intense,” Joaquin said. “We’ve never had a Lifer have to sit here and watch their family go, one by one.”

I let out a loud sob.

“Dude. Just stop talking,” Tristan said.

Joaquin blanched. “Sorry.”

Somewhere in the depths of the mist, a car door thunked shut, and an engine revved. A shiver went through me. No one should be driving in this mess, which made me wonder what sort of person would try, and for what reason.

“Listen, we’re not going to figure out what’s going on or how to fix it tonight, and no one is taking your dad,” Tristan said, releasing me. “So why don’t you just go home with your family? Spend some time with them tonight. That’s what you should be doing.”

“Yeah?” I asked, glancing back in what I thought was the direction of the house. “How do I get them to leave? Darcy hates me, and my dad is clearly on a date.”

“Tell your dad you’re gonna blow chunks,” Joaquin said. “He’ll go home with you.”

I shot him a disgusted look, but he just shrugged.

“And he’ll make Darcy come because he won’t want to leave her behind in this,” Tristan added.

“Great. Then she’ll really hate me,” I muttered. “She’ll think I’m lying just to ruin her night or something.”

“So stick your finger down your throat and puke if you have to,” Joaquin said. “That’ll get the job done.”

I laughed in disbelief, but they said nothing, and I knew then how urgent the situation was. This was no joke. It was time for me and my family to go home and spend some time together. We didn’t have any to spare.