11 Chilly Tale of a Summer Break - Final (1/2)

Emma followed Aleta down the stairs. She knew that now was the best time for her to find out what was going on, considering it was only less than twenty-four hours left before her mother arrives.

Aleta stepped outside the inn. Even though it was summer, the night air was too cold for her thin nightdress. Emma resisted the urge to pull Aleta back or call her grandma. She didn't, thinking how Aleta would just start to avoid her again. At least now they were talking.

Aleta's loose expression with a distant smile worried Emma, though.

Emma followed the girl until the stream where they played together that afternoon. For a moment, she feared Aleta was going to throw herself on the water. Instead, she stopped on the riverside and turned to Emma. She held out her hand, offering it.

Emma didn't move.

”What is going on here, Aleta?”

”I want to show you something. Come with me.”

Emma moved her foot. Every happening since she arrived started to cross her mind, like pieces of a puzzle trying to fit together.

Aleta's weird moods, the phone calls and the knocks on the door, the boys saying Aleta was weird, the ring, Sherry, everything. Emma started to have a better idea of what was going on, even if it was too absurd to believe it.

”Say my name,” Emma said, stopping suddenly.

Aleta didn't say anything, still holding out her hand.

”You didn't say my name yet,” Emma said again. ”Do it and I'll take your hand.”

Aleta opened her lips. They moved and the name came out of her mouth.

”Bud…”

Emma retracted.

”You're not Aleta. You're Sherry, right?”

Aleta's body froze. Her face became tense as she stared at Emma.

”I'm not Bud,” Emma said. ”Bud was my mother…”

”Liar!” Aleta's mouth shouted, sending shivers to Emma's body. ”You're Bud. You have to be. You would never leave me. Please, please, Bud…”

Aleta started to walk slowly in Emma's direction. Her pupils were shaking as she talked.

”I love you. I have always loved you. I won't accept you leaving for that...that guy. Bud, please, hold me again. Bud…”

She walked closer. Emma didn't move.

”It's cold and lonely here, Bud. Don't let me alone! Please, come live with me! Let's live together again!”

Aleta gave another step. Emma almost didn't see the shiny object coming in her direction. She jumped away missing the point of the knife Aleta was holding in the last moment.

With the blade in the place where Emma's belly was just seconds before, Aleta looked at her. Emma gasped and her hands started to shake.

”Stop, Sherry!”

”Why won't you come with me, Bud?” Aleta said with a cold stare. ”This girl, she said you're not Bud. But she's lying. Why did she lie? I thought she was my friend. I just don't want to be alone anymore. I want to be close to the one I love. We're the same, so why won't she let me?”

”My mom, I mean, Bud wouldn't want you to hurt anyone, Sherry,” Emma said, giving a step forward. ”Please, give me that knife.”

”No! I don't want to be alone anymore! I don't want to!” Aleta walked two steps back, getting away from Emma but closer to the stream. ”I don't want to be alone anymore. If you won't come with me, then I'll take her. I'll take my friend. She'll live with me!”

Aleta raised the knife again, this time, pointing against her own throat. Her hands were firm, her eyes coldly looking at Emma.

”No. Please, don't do that…” Emma asked with a crying voice. ”Please, don't hurt her…”

”Hurt? I wouldn't hurt her. She's my friend. My only friend. She said she would help me, so I'll take her now,” Aleta said, pressing the point of the knife against her throat. A fillet of blood came out. ”We'll comfort each other. If she stays here, she'll suffer even more. Just like me. I won't allow it. She won't end up suffering like me.”

She pressed the blade more, making more blood come out. Emma felt her legs failing and despair dominated her body. She reached her hand in Aleta's direction but stopped in fear of startling Sherry even more.

”I'll go with you!” Emma shout while tears formed on her eyes. ”I'll go with you, so please, let her go!”

”Bud?” Aleta said, slowly moving the knife away from her throat.

”Yeah, that's right. I'm Bud,” Emma said, walking slowly in Aleta's direction with her extended hand. ”I'm sorry. I left you but I love you. I won't let you be alone again. We'll always be together from now on. So don't be so hasty, please.”

Aleta smiled. Her eyes weren't as cold anymore. There were tears flowing from them.

With a fast movement, Aleta thrust the knife in Emma's direction again. This time, Emma turned sideways and held Aleta's wrist with a strong grip. The girl tried to release herself but Emma pulled her body and kissed her lips.

During the kiss, Aleta lost the strength in her hand. The sound of a metallic object crashing against the ground was heard together with the sound of water flowing.

Emma grabbed the knife from the ground fast, while still holding Aleta's body in her arms. She felt the body's weight as the girl lost consciousness, making Emma hold her tighter so she wouldn't fall to the ground.

”I understand that you loved my mom,” Emma said, sitting against the trunk of a tree and lying Aleta's head on her lap. She caressed the girl's bangs. ”But now it's for the best that you move on, Sherry. I'm really sorry about what happened, but I hope that you can find peace.”

***

Emma didn't realize how much time passed until Aleta opened her eyes. She let the girl sleep on her lap and caressed her hair the whole time. The night was cold and Aleta's thin nightdress probably didn't help but Emma didn't think she could take her home while she was unconscious. And no way she would leave her alone there.

Aleta's eyes stared at Emma. It was dark, but the moon was casting enough light. Emma's eyes were accustomed enough to discern the girl's confused expression.

”Are you the real Aleta now?” Emma asked.

”She...she is gone,” Aleta said, letting out a sigh. ”Sherry is gone…”

”Will you tell me now what is this all about?”

Aleta bit her lip. Her eyes wandered through the trees above them but soon moved to Emma's face. She nodded.

”Sherry was dead. Or should I say, she was a ghost. I met her when I moved to the inn and I wanted to help her. She was the one who…” Aleta didn't say anything else. Emma nodded.

”Why couldn't you tell me?”

”I-I just didn't want you to see me as a freak. I never had friends because of it. My family freaked out when they realize I could see these things. People don't like being told about things they can't understand.”

”So it's normal for you to see, like, them?”

”All the time. People who died and can't move on. They're everywhere. I wanted to help. With Sherry too.”

Both girls remained in silence. Emma still caressing Aleta's hair. After some time, it got too cold for them to ignore.

”Can you stand?” Emma asked.

Aleta tried to get up, but her body fell to Emma's lap again. She gave Emma a wry smile.

”That's fine,” Emma said.

Taking care to support Aleta's body with her hands, Emma got up holding the girl in her arms.

”W-W-What?!” Aleta said while blushing.

”If you can't walk, I'll carry you,” Emma said, walking away from the stream. ”Now that you're conscious, it'll be easier. You're not that heavy”

Aleta's body was like a child on Emma's arms. She knew the girl wasn't that developed physically. Emma herself was pretty athletic. But how easy it was to carry her was still surprising.

Emma could feel Aleta's soft legs through her dress. Her perfume too close to her.

Feeling embarrassed, Emma tried to direct her thoughts elsewhere.

”S-So, about Sherry…” Emma said when they were half the way to the inn.

”She moved on, I think...” Aleta said. The cold wind was giving her chills. ”At least, I can't feel her around anymore. When she died, she was full of regrets and couldn't move on. I tried to be her friend. But the dead are hard to reach. So most of the time, it was useless. You ended up being the one who saved her.”

”Her death. That wasn't an accident, right?”

Aleta didn't say anything.

”That girl,” Emma said. ”She was in love with my mother. Not a sisterly love. Not as a friend. It was a romantic love, right? I felt bad about her. Her love was real, and yet my mother went away. Me being born is proof of that girl's mystery.”

”No,” Aleta said, shaking her head. ”Sherry was a difficult person. She couldn't get over it. Most people would've accepted it. Moved on. That happens a lot. I don't think your mother was wrong. It's not wrong that you were born. Sherry just couldn't take a no,” Aleta looked at Emma and smiled. ”I got close to her because we had lots of things in common. I pitied her, but also loved her as a friend. So thanks for stopping her suffering.”

Emma nodded.

”And, huh…” Aleta said. ”I was, huh, really happy when you, you know, worried about me…”

Emma blushed and tried to look away from Sherry, which was impossible when she was literally carrying the girl in her arms.

”Y-You remember everything?”

”Yeah. Actually, when I am possessed, I usually lose consciousness. After she tried to attack you, though, she became a mess. I could see everything. Or maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was me. Maybe I didn't want to hurt you.”

”S-So… Y-You do understand, right? About the, huh, kiss. That was…”

”I understand,” Aleta said, smiling. ”And it wasn't bad…” she added in a low voice.

”What did you say?”

”N-Nothing,” Aleta looked away, blushing. ”It was nothing.”

***

Aleta took a whole night to fully recover. Apparently, there were times in the past when a dead person's spirit would possess her and keep her on the bed for weeks. It was hard on her body.

Emma's grandma told her granddaughter everything she knew after Aleta said it was okay. Aleta was a medium. She could see and communicate with the ghost of the dead. Or sometimes act as a channel for them by getting possessed. Because of that, her parents were afraid of her, so Emma's grandmother thought the isolated inn would be a good place for the girl to live until she learned how to control her gift. Aleta asked to make it a secret from Emma at first since that always made people avoid her in the past.

During the whole night that Aleta was on the bed, Emma didn't leave her side. She held the girl's hand all the time, going as far as sleeping beside her. It was morning when Aleta had recovered enough to stand up. Almost at the same time, the sound of car a telling them that Emma's mother had arrived sounded outside the inn.