Chapter 4

I sat on my bed and stared up at a rather upset Sage. She stood at the edge of my bed with her hands on her hip and a stern and disappointed look on her face. The last time I felt like I was in this type of trouble, I was like eight, and I had disobeyed my mom and climbed on top of the island.

" You look so beautiful today," I said, trying to defuse the demon elf that was glaring at me.

" Why would you do that without someone here? What if you didn't get back in time, or you did, but your soul rejected your body?!" She yelled. I sighed, hating the fact she was right. I wasn't going to admit that, though, never.

" I had it under control." I lied and made my way to my bathroom. I stopped after glancing at my reflection; I turned towards my mirror and winced at the monstrosity staring back at me. I looked lifeless. My typically dark brown orbs had a sheer glaze over them; my golden melanated skin was now an ashy ghostly illustration of what was happening with my soul. Every time I leave my body, the first 24 hours are torture, my soul in constant turmoil, sometimes causing me to blackout or even transport back to the core, a.k.a " the land of the dead."

I sighed and made my way to the toilet. At least my face didn't look like it was drooping like the last time. That side effect actually sent me into a panic attack; my skin wasn't sagging like in the movies where it looks like the eyes are about to fall out the socket and the cheeks are touching the individual's chest. Nope, it wasn't nearly as dramatic as that, but it felt that way. My skin had loosened to the point where I could pull it about an inch from my face, wrinkles had appeared, and my face looked somewhat ill-shaped. I shivered at the flashback; I rubbed my hand over my face, touching my nose and my high cheekbones. Relief flooded me when they felt the same. After using the bathroom, I made my way back to my bedroom.

" Shouldn't you be at work?" I questioned Sage, who walked back into my room as soon as I sat on my bed.

" Just got off the phone with them, told them I'm coming in late." She said and walked over to my bed and sat beside me.

" You look a mess." She said before flopping down on my bed. She looked more stressed about the whole thing than I was. I guess I can't blame her. I've lived with this my entire life while she was introduced to it just a few years ago. I remember the night she realized I wasn't crazy. I had always said stuff that I couldn't explain, and it had her on edge. In fact, she called me out on it once, saying that I'm either psychic or I need to be in a mental institution. I'd always laugh and brush it off, telling her both are possibly true.

Then one night after hanging out, I had a weird feeling that something bad was going to happen. I brushed it off until another wave of that same energy had hit me, and it was coming from Sage. Remember when I said energies on this side of the spectrum tend to be diluted and hard to follow? Well, it was strong enough for me to link it to her. I still can't figure out if it was caused by the bond we have or my emotions that forced me to read the energy waves instead of letting the past repeat. I don't know what snapped in me, but I tried my best to keep her with me. I figured if I had her with me, I could protect her from whatever harm was coming her way, but if you should know anything about Sage, it's that she gets what she wants, and she wanted to go home. When I realized there was no stopping her, I sent Kal to check out her house and her house route. That's when I found out that if she went home, she'd get killed during a robbery.

With panic and fear consuming me and flashbacks from someone I had let down, I blurted out what I had discovered. Of course, she called me crazy and walked out, along with some hurtful words. I couldn't stop her from leaving; I don't know any other way to explain it other than she had a guardian angel that was working overtime. On her way home, one of her tires had deflated, and then she received a phone call from one of her neighbors saying that she was being robbed and the cops are on the way.

Sage came to my apartment that very night in tears; I didn't even pay attention to all the apologies she threw at me. All I was happy for was that she was alive, and that gnawing feeling in my heart was finally gone.

" I'll be fine," I said and smiled as she gave me a look of concern. She was beautiful, both inside and out. With her freckled skin and red hair, she was literally a goddess in my eyes.

" Stop staring at me, weirdo," she said and made her way to my bedroom door, " I know you love my freckles and all but take a picture; it'll last longer." She burst out with laughter when I threw a pillow at her, only slightly missing her head.

" I'm going to make you some chicken noodle soup. Get dressed." She said and exited my room, and I stared at the closed door with a big smile on my face. I don't know how I was this lucky to have two amazing friends, both able to relate to both sides of me, the living and the dead.

" Kal!" I yelled out loud, not having to worry if Sage would hear me.

" What, I'm busy," She announced as she appeared on my bed.

" Doing what, your dead!" I exclaimed with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and flipped me off. It took me a while before I was able to start making dead jokes with Kal. We always had dark humor, but it was a topic that hit too close to home for me. A few months after she had died, she joked about dying, and I flipped on her before breaking down completely. She comforted me and made me know that it was okay and that she was at peace, that she didn't blame me. The more I started to forgive myself, the more I could loosen up and make jokes about our situation. It took years, though, but we got there.

" Dead people have lives too." She said and rolled her eyes.

" Had lives." I corrected with a laugh; she groaned, falling back onto my bed dramatically before she started to giggle, my words finally impacting her.

" Seriously, what were you doing?" I questioned. She sighed and looked away; a big smirk appeared on my face.

" Are you still jealous of Sage?" I questioned with a laugh. She groaned and grabbed the remaining pillow on my bed and groaned. When Sage and I first started to get close, Kal became insecure about her position in my life. I was never good at making friends for obvious reasons, so when Kal saw me bonding with someone the way we bonded, she felt like I was moving on from her. She disappeared for weeks, and I tried contacting her. I even went to the core, trying to find her. When she finally did answer my constant contacting, I yelled at her so much. I wanted to smack her so badly, like who disappears. That's when she told me that she wasn't needed, that I didn't need her. I was so confused.

*FLASHBACK*

" What do you mean you're not needed anymore?" I questioned, my blood still boiling. The past few weeks have been hell on earth. I was not too fond of the fact that she wasn't with me. I felt lost and lonely.

" I mean what I said, you don't need me Amana, You have Sage now." She said and walked over to my single seat and plopped herself into it, folding her legs, so she had her chin rested on her knees. That's it the next time I'm at the core; I will punch her.

" Are you serious? You abandoned me because you were jealous?" I questioned incredulously.

" I wasn't jealous, and you just didn't make time for me!" She yelled, causing some of my furniture to shake and a vase to fly from the coffee table to the opposite wall. I looked at the now broken vase.

" How mature," I said and walked over to the kitchen to get a broom.

" Sorry, I didn't mean to do that; my emotions got a little overwhelming." She said as I cleaned up the broken pieces. I actually liked that vase. I paid good money for it too.

"You're getting me a new one. I don't care if you have to steal it," I said and walked away to discarded the once colorful masterpiece.

" I made time for you, Kal; it's just that now you didn't have all my time or my time away from work. Just admit it sharing that much was weird to you. " I said she looked away from me and stared out my floor-to-ceiling windows. She stared into the setting sun. I rolled my eyes and stood in her direct line of vision.

" Don't disassociate Kal," I said, snapping my fingers. She always did that. When confronted with facts she doesn't want to hear or like to hear, she zones out.

" She's always around; you guys work at the museum together, you eat lunches together, you sometimes work on the same projects. At this point, you guys might as well be married." She said. I smirked at her before pouting my lips to stop laughing.

" You know, the thought of marriage did cross my mind. That's why I have been trying to contact you. I wanted your opinion." I said she looked at me with disgust, knowing that I was mocking her. She held up both her middle fingers before mumbling bitch.

" Kal, I'm sorry if I made you feel insecure, but you will always be Kal, always be my best friend. It's just fun to have a living friend again; it makes me feel somewhat normal." I said, hoping she would understand. She sighed before getting up and hugging me. I didn't feel the hug, just a slight chill that raced down my spine.

" I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left. I should have talked to you about it." She said into my chest. I wanted to pat her head like I did when we were younger, and she was alive. I've always been taller than her, and I took joy in reminding her, even in moments of comfort.

" I swear I can feel you patting my head," she said as she let go. I smiled and looked at her. She hung her head before I heard sniffling.

" Hey, why are you crying?" I questioned, concerned, what was going on with her.

" I don't want to lose you, Mana. I don't have anyone I connect with so much over here. There all lifeless little shits." She said before she started laughing, more than likely about her little pun.

" You're a piece of work, " I said while smiling as her crying turned into a full-blown laugh.

" You'll find someone that you can bind with as much as me one day, and I will try not to get jealous, and you'll realize that among all the lifeless, there is one somewhat lively shit," I said, making a face of confusion at the end.

" Yeah, you lost that one. You started so nicely. I was rooting for you to carry it home." She said with a snort. I burst out laughing.

" I was just trying to keep up with the wordplay; leave me alone," I said and continued to laugh. By this time, Kal was in tears. I hated this girl so much, but I can't see my life without her.

" I love you," I said; she smirked.

" I know you do." I looked at her, shocked.

" You just smashed my vase because you didn't think I did," I said. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

" Enough with the vase already, I'll get you a new one," she said, and I smiled at my victory, " and I guess I love you too," she said with a smile. I couldn't ask for a better best friend.

*****END OF FLASHBACK****

" -and those are the reasons why I am no longer jealous of Sage." I heard Kal saying.

" Wait, what?" I questioned. She looked at me with her shoulders slumped, a faint sign of rage could be seen in her eyes.

" Don't go breaking shit," I said with a smirk.

" You dissociated, didn't you? You had me speaking all the time rambling on why I am not jealous." She said with an eye twitch. Kal hated being ignored, and I could be the worst listener sometimes.

" Beb, let's not do this. I'm tired, yell at me for not listening later; I'm glad you're not jealous. " I said. She stared at me with disinterest before signing.

" You should be happy that you're not feeling well, or I would list every reason as to why I'm starting to prefer Sage." She said that perked me right up. Excuse me, prefer?

" Prefer? you guys can't even communicate." I said.

" Well, she's better at listening-"

" Yeah, because she can't hear you weirdo," I said, cutting her off.

" I know that dipshit, that's why I can say whatever whenever already knowing that I am talking to myself, but it's different when the person can hear you but chooses not to listen!" She yelled. I just groaned and got up from the bed, making my way out of the room.

"Don't walk away from me, don't make me trip you down those stairs!" I heard her yell from my bedroom. I groaned and paused in front of my staircase.

" That's what I thought." She said before appearing beside me. I stared at her before making my way down the stairs slowly; My eyes remained joined with hers daring her to make me fall. Any other day I know she would have me at the end of the stairs, possibly bleeding and in pain, but she was taking it easy on me.

" Be glad that I love you," she said after I reached the last step. I smirked as she smiled. Yeah, we're toxic in the best way.