Crossover: The Apparition Series, #3

By Dylan White

The pressures keep piling on for Jade.  She has to meet with a mysterious old woman, she has to keep Sean from going Dark, she has to face a swarm of Feeders, and — on top of all that — she has to get a job.

With Sean's intentions cast into doubt, Jade also has to do some digging into his past.  What she unearths could not only endanger their relationship, but Jade's life as well.  Now Jade has to keep secrets from Sean as much as he's been keeping them from her.  Jade knows, eventually, everything must come to light.

And when it does, Jade might have to die to have a love worth living for ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dylan White
• Release date: Oct 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781940799032

Dylan White

Dylan White has written The Apparition Series, an award-winning play, several emails, and this biography. He is a milkshake enthusiast and prone to speak in film and TV quotes. He lives in his own little world but often gets lost because Google Maps doesn’t work there. Apparition was written for his daughter who is so extraordinary that he wishes he were a better writer to describe how incredible she really is. Her brother is pretty awesome, too.

Book preview

1

DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL

They heard screaming.

It came from the back room. The piercingly high-pitched shriek sliced through all the other noise until it was the only sound. Everyone had the same thought. Someone was being murdered.

Seconds seemed like hours. No one moved. No one knew what to do. Should we run? Should we help? Are they going to come out here and kill all of us, too?

Then the door opened. Someone rushed to see what happened, not caring about the consequences.

Ed Figueroa had owned his Frozzurt franchise for five years and had seen just about everything. He had suffered unruly employees, angry customers, break-ins, and had even been robbed at gunpoint once.

Still, nothing could have prepared him for what he expected to discover behind the break room door. But instead of finding a girl on the floor, he found a girl on the phone.

What the hell?!

Samara Riley looked up at her store manager, surprised and embarrassed. Realizing she had probably screamed a bit too loudly, she took her cell phone from her ear.

Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.

We have a dozen customers who thought you were being killed in here! Ed chastised. Do you know how bad that is for business?

Samara gave her boss her best puppy dog eyes. I’m so sorry, she repeated. I’m on the phone with a friend of mine and she just told me—

I don’t care! Ed interrupted. Just take your call outside if you’re going to scream again.

I’m not, said Samara. I promise.

With one last scornful look, Ed closed the break room door and returned to the front of the store to help his other high-school aged employees serve frozen yogurt to afternoon sweet seekers.

Samara returned to her call. You still there?

I’m still here, Jade said on the other end of the line. I’m deaf now, but I’m still here.

Sorry, Samara apologized again. But this is so awesome! When are you coming home?

Saturday, Jade said.

"This Saturday?" Samara asked, excited.

Day after tomorrow, yes, Jade confirmed. But I can only stay for a couple hours.

What?! Samara whined, disappointed. You’re going to drive all this way just to stay a couple hours?

If that, said Jade. I have to be back home by seven.

Why?

It’s hard to explain.

Samara shook it off and decided to make the best of it. A couple of hours with her best friend was better than none.

It had been five and a half months since Jade Foster moved from Dos Cielos to Sol Vista. Samara couldn’t believe it had only been that long and, at the same time, it felt a lot longer.

She and Jade had been friends since elementary school and they added a third when they met Drea Copeland in junior high. The friends were inseparable, even planning on going to the same college someday.

Of course, those plans started to change when each of the three friends started finding different interests. Drea discovered sports, Samara had a fondness for music, and Jade simply hadn’t decided. Different interests, they quickly realized, meant different colleges. It didn’t matter. They were certain they’d stay in touch.

Then Jade threw a wrench in those plans when she moved away early. Samara didn’t blame her. It wasn’t Jade’s fault her mother remarried and moved away. She was just hoping to spend her senior year with her best friends. Instead, they only got to spend a few weeks in school together.

If they weren’t going to graduate together, Samara, Drea, and Jade were at least determined to get into the yearbook together. Any time a campus photographer turned up to take pictures of some event, the three would do anything they could to get in the shot. They even photo-bombed the Asian American Club’s picture.

When Jade finally moved away in early October, they quickly discovered staying in touch wasn’t as easy as they thought. While they would arrange times to chat online, life always got in the way. Days, even weeks, would go by without any contact. But when they did chat, it was like no time had passed.

Still, there was an unspoken sense that the geographical distance was creating an emotional distance. It was only a two-and-a-half-hour drive down the California coast from Dos Cielos to Sol Vista. But given their circumstances, they might as well have been across the country.

Samara usually worked weekends so it was impossible for her to go visit Jade. Drea’s weekends were often filled with club soccer tournaments so her availability was extremely limited. And, up until about six weeks ago, Jade didn’t have a car, so she couldn’t come up.

Why Jade waited so long to make the trip was a question Samara decided to let go. She was just happy Jade was finally coming back to the old neighborhood for a visit, brief as it may be.

That’s okay, Sam said, her excitement waining. We’ll make the most of it. I’ll get Drea to ditch practice and we can all go have lunch or something and catch up.

Jade sighed. She wished she could make a more social visit, but she had business to take care of. I’m not going to have time for lunch, Sam she said apologetically.

Samara was getting flustered. Then why are you coming up at all?

Do you still make fake IDs?

The question took Samara by surprise. She had only made one fake ID in her life. Usually when a teenager wanted a fake ID, it was so they could buy liquor. That’s why it didn’t make much sense that Samara made herself an ID that said she was only nineteen.

But Samara didn’t have any interest in buying liquor for herself. And she certainly didn’t want to buy any for anyone else. If anything happened to them, Samara knew she might be held responsible. Even if nothing happened, she didn’t want to contribute to anyone else’s illegal behavior. Yet, the irony of illegally carrying a fake ID escaped her.

People finally understood Samara’s reasons when she bought a ticket to see her favorite band when they came to play at an eighteen-and-over club. Samara saw the show, loved it, and never used the ID again. Mostly because her parents caught her when she came home.

Samara was grounded for a month. But the concert was so amazing, she thought it was completely worth it. Samara promised herself—and her parents—that she wouldn’t use or make a fake ID again.

She was going to break that promise for Jade.

Initially, Samara resisted. But there was an urgency to Jade’s tone that told Samara there had to be an important reason. Definitely more important than buying beer. Slightly more important that going to a show. And when Jade told her that she didn’t need a fake driver’s license, Samara was intrigued.

Before Samara could get Jade’s reasons, Ed Figueroa came back in to tell Samara her break was over. She said goodbye to Jade, excited to see her on Saturday, hung up her phone and went back to work.

Jade clicked off her phone and sighed heavily. That was taken care of. That was the easy part. The hard part still lay ahead. Somehow, Jade had to get to Dos Cielos and back without anyone knowing where she was going. Or why. If they did, Jade might never learn the truth about Sean.

Sean was actually whom Jade was most worried about discovering her road trip plans. He had expressly told her once that she should never go back to Dos Cielos again.

He didn’t give her a reason. Only an order. For a while, Jade accepted it. Jade had come to accept a lot of things about Sean. Now, she wasn’t so sure she could trust him. She wanted to. She loved him. Still, Jade came to find that the more she got to know Sean, the less she actually knew about him.

Sean was never keen to answer any questions. He managed only to give half-answers or evade them altogether. Jade accepted this part of Sean for a while as well. She told herself that a ghost would not want to talk about how he died, imagining the memory would be too painful.

But then Sean was reluctant to share other details about his life. Again, Jade rationalized Sean’s resistance to talk about it might only remind him that he didn’t have one anymore.

It wasn’t until Sean became downright defensive about it that Jade began to suspect Sean wasn’t just uncomfortable. He was hiding something. His refusal to visit the place where he died was one thing, but his insistence that Jade never return to Dos Cielos was another.

There was a connection that Jade didn’t understand. And Sean wasn’t about to reveal it. If Jade was going to trust Sean, she had to know the truth, even if he wouldn’t tell it to her.

Only now, to learn the truth about Sean’s past, Jade had to do the one thing Sean had insisted she never do—go back to Dos Cielos.

With the help of her friend Alison, Jade discovered there was a woman living in her hometown who knew Sean when he was alive. This woman would have been very young at the time, but she was still alive and Jade’s best hope for getting to know who Sean really was. Jade had to talk to her. Personally.

Jade wasn’t sure how she was going to accomplish this. Sean had a bad habit of following Jade at inopportune times. Even though he promised that places like school were off-limits, Sean still showed up on occasion.

That wasn’t as troublesome, however, as the times Sean followed Jade on her dates with Derek Masselin. Sean insisted it was for Jade’s protection. But it was Derek who ended up dead.

Jade had to come up with a reason she’d be gone all day on a Saturday and why Sean couldn’t follow her. Only one believable explanation came to mind.

When did you get a job? Sean asked.

Yesterday, Jade lied. It’s why I was so late coming home.

I thought you were in a car accident.

I was, Jade affirmed, her mind scrambling for a justification. I ran into Aaron Holmes in the student parking lot. While we were waiting for the auto club, we started talking about insurance and how he pays for it and how I hate that Ray pays for mine and then I remembered last Christmas when Aaron said he might be able to get me a job at the pizza place where he works and so I asked him if the offer was still good and he said it was and that I should come to a training this Saturday. So that’s where I’m going.

Being a ghost, Sean couldn’t get tired. But listening to Jade ramble on like that exhausted him. She seemed to be full of nervous energy and it practically drained him of his. Under normal circumstances, Sean would have suspected she was lying. However, given what she’d just been through, Sean figured her anxiousness was understandable.

It was a considerable adjustment for Jade, getting used to having a ghost in her house. That’s why Sean appeared to her slowly and over time so she would become accustomed to him. Sean was thrilled when Jade not only accepted his presence, but came to care for him as well. Even more, Sean felt a warmth he hadn’t experienced in as long as he could remember when Jade finally fell in love with him. It was all Sean wanted.

He loved Jade from the first time he saw her. It didn’t matter that she was living and he wasn’t. When two souls are meant to be together, they would find each other. Sean figured that’s why he hadn’t crossed over into the Light. He had yet to find his true love.

Sean thought he already had found it when he was alive. But that love faded. And then moved on without him. Lost, Sean went searching for the love that would lead him to the Light. When he found Jade, he knew she was the one. When Jade felt the same for him in return, Sean knew he had to protect that love.

Knowing the pain of losing love, Sean didn’t want to experience it again. And he didn’t want Jade to feel it either. So when Jade’s step-father tried to exorcise Sean from the house, Sean didn’t care that his spirit would be cast into an eternal void, never to find the Light. His only fear was that Jade would experience the loss of love.

So Sean fought. If he was going to go, he was not going quietly. In the process, he practically destroyed the downstairs of Jade’s house. And Jade had to witness almost losing him to the void. For a moment, Jade thought she actually had. But Sean reappeared to her as soon as he could. He didn’t want her to worry. He didn’t want her to hurt.

Witnessing something like a violent exorcism wasn’t the sort of thing people do on an every day basis. It made sense to Sean that Jade would be going through a bit of an emotional trauma.

Even though Saturdays were one of the few days Sean had with Jade, he understood her need to get out for a while. The destruction of the downstairs would serve as a constant reminder of what happened. Sean thought it was best that maybe she had something to distract her for a while.

That sounds cool, Sean said supportively.

Jade couldn’t help but notice the hint of disappointment in his tone.

It’s just for a few hours, she promised, hoping to comfort him.

I know, said Sean. I was just hoping to spend this Saturday with you.

Jade slumped with a bit of a smile. It was sweet. For a brief moment, she had second thoughts about leaving. Jade felt guilty enough for digging into Sean’s past behind his back. The fact that he was going to miss her only amplified her anxiety.

Sean’s body language betrayed his sadness. It was punctuated by his diminished energy. Sean even seemed to turn a foggy gray.

What is it? Jade asked, concerned.

Nothing, Sean dismissed. He tried his best to appear cheerful, but he didn’t succeed. I just don’t want to be alone this Saturday.

Jade got suddenly nervous. She was afraid Sean was thinking about doing something that would ruin her entire plan.

You understand this is important, right? Jade cautioned. It’s like school. I can’t have distractions. You can’t follow me.

I can’t follow you.

I’m not kidding.

Me neither, said Sean. I can’t follow you. I can’t leave the house.

What are you talking about?

The salt barrier. I didn’t cross it before the exorcism started. Now my energy is trapped in the house.

Jade felt frustrated. Had she known that Sean wouldn’t be able to leave the house, she wouldn’t have had to come up with her job excuse. It didn’t matter. Sean wouldn’t follow her and he wouldn’t question where she was.

In that respect, Jade was glad she thought of an alibi ahead of time. Otherwise, Jade thought she might let it slip she really went back to Dos Cielos if the subject of Saturday came up again.

So just jump ahead, Jade suggested, to when I get back.

I can’t do that, either, said Sean. The salt barrier traps me in both space and time. If it didn’t, I could jump ahead to a time when the salt barrier was no longer there. And then there’s no point to the barrier.

Jade slumped. She didn’t like the idea that Sean was going to be with her every waking and sleeping moment. She’d never have any privacy. She’d certainly never sleep well, knowing Sean was always watching her. Then Sean suddenly had an idea.

Why don’t you break the barrier?

Jade considered it. It would allow Sean to jump ahead so she could sleep. But it would also allow Sean to leave. And Jade worried Sean would then try to follow her to Dos Cielos. That was a risk she wasn’t willing to take. So she quickly came up with an excuse.

I can’t, she said. You think Ray’s not going to be suspicious of me digging in the yard? And if he figures out what I did, he’ll just bring back the exorcist. And I don’t want to risk losing you again.

A broad smile spread across Sean’s face and his energy glowed brightly.

You’re protecting me, he said, touched.

Just like you protect me.

Sean hugged Jade warmly. He was grateful for her consideration even though it meant he was still trapped. At least he was trapped with her. But Jade tried to hide the fact that she felt trapped as well—and didn’t like it as much as Sean did.

Jade usually slept in on Saturdays but this one was different. She didn’t want to get up early and she didn’t need to, either. But she hardly slept the night before so she figured she should just get up.

The nervousness she felt about her trip to Dos Cielos consumed her mind. There were so many things that could go wrong.

She could have car trouble on the way there or back and have to explain where she was. Aprylle Kennedy may not even be alive anymore to tell her what she needed to know. She might not even be able to tell her anything. She might not even be willing to tell her anything.

Sean spooned her as she tried to sleep. But Jade couldn’t help but fidget. She was just a bundle of nerves. Sean assumed she was anxious about her first day at her first job. He wanted her to relax. Partly because he hated to see her so unsettled, but mostly because she kept kicking him.

For a living person, that would be annoying enough. But for a ghost, it’s extremely disturbing to have someone’s legs constantly kicking through you. So Sean offered to help calm her nerves.

You can try, Jade accepted warily.

Sean snuggled up to her as close as he could. Though the touch of his shimmering energy was cold to Jade’s skin, it sent a warmth through her veins. Sean didn’t say or do anything else. He just held her. And it wasn’t long before Jade felt the nervousness drain from her body.

Sean had done this before. And it had always worked. Within minutes, Jade would be asleep. He explained that he was simply absorbing some of her energy to the point where she would drift off. Jade thought early on that it was the sort of thing a Feeder ghost would do to take the energy of the living. But Sean assured her that it was simply a means of controlling the flow of energy. Anyone could do it. Not just Feeders.

Jade accepted that explanation until that night. Her doubts about Sean’s intentions kept her energy elevated. Sean was only able to calm her, but not enough so she’d fall asleep. If he tried to absorb any more of her energy, it could be dangerous for her.

So Jade pretended to sleep. And Sean pretended to believe her.

Even if Jade could have slept in, it wasn’t going to happen. Around eight in the morning, Ray came knocking on her bedroom door.

Jade? he called from the other side.

Yeah? Jade answered, trying to sound groggy.

Sorry to wake you so early, Ray prefaced, but we’ve got people coming over.

That was a strange thing to announce at eight in the morning. Especially since the house was practically torn apart after the exorcism. Jade couldn’t imagine her mom and step-dad were having people come to breakfast.

Who?

The insurance adjuster and a couple contractors, said Ray. Jade didn’t understand why that was any of her concern. When she didn’t answer, Ray figured he should give her a reason. I just didn’t want you coming down in your nightshirt or whatever while they were here.

Okay, Jade said dismissively. She didn’t think the warning was necessary so she shrugged him off.

And if you wouldn’t mind, it would be great if you could help with the clean up.

That caught Jade’s attention. The clean up? Jade flung open her bedroom door, startling Ray.

You’re not hiring a crew or something for that?

Jade remembered one time when she was nine, the dishwasher broke and flooded the kitchen in her old house. Her father hired a clean up crew to come out, siphon out the water, and put in giant industrial fans to dry up the rest.

That’s what my dad did.

The comment wasn’t necessary information, but it served its purpose as a dig at Ray. He knew it was meant to belittle him, but he chose not to let it bother him.

Oh, I hired a crew, Ray said in retort. But we need to go through the mess and collect all the books and Blu-Rays and everything.

Just the thought of rummaging through the rubble exhausted Jade. She let out a tired sigh. Do I have to? None of that stuff is mine anyway. All my books and movies are on my computer.

You don’t have to, but it would be a big help, Ray said, not-so-subtly gesturing to the cast on his broken leg.

He hoped to appeal to Jade’s sympathetic side. It didn’t work. As far as Jade was concerned, Ray had it coming. He was the one who held the exorcism in the first place. Ray assumed the risk, Ray should pay the price. Besides, Jade thought, Ray was an idiot.

Jade wanted a way out of helping and suddenly one occurred to her. I can’t, she said. I got a job. At Pizzatronic. I have to work today.

Jade couldn’t help but feel a little smug. Her lie of an excuse came in handy after all.

You did? Ray said, pleased. While he was disappointed that she wouldn’t be helping around the house, Ray couldn’t help but be glad that Jade was finally going to fend for herself for a change. Good for you.

Normally, Jade would have expected Ray to have a hint of condescension in his tone. Instead, he seemed genuinely proud of Jade. She couldn’t help but beam a little, feeling a sense of pride herself. Then she remembered. She didn’t really have a job.

Jade didn’t need to leave the house for a couple of hours, but she couldn’t wait to get out. The longer she stayed, she feared, the more likely she’d let it slip what she was really up to.

She pretended to take extra time getting ready in the bathroom. Her excuse was that she wanted to make a good first impression her first day on the job. Really, she just sat in the bathroom, playing games on her phone, until she couldn’t justify being locked up anymore.

Finally, Jade gave Sean a hug and kiss and he wished her luck. Ray was occupied with the insurance adjuster so she managed to slip past him. But her mother was another story.

Jill blocked her daughter from getting to the door and proudly put her hands on Jade’s shoulders.

Ray says you got a job! Jill exclaimed, pleased.

Yeah, Jade laughed nervously. And I don’t want to be late, so, sorry.

Jade wriggled free from her mother’s grasp and rushed out the door without a goodbye. Jill dropped her arms, disappointed. She felt that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get any sort of positive reaction out of Jade.

Jill felt dismissed and disregarded. She usually attributed Jade’s demeanor to depression. Or just regular teenage apathy. Lately, however, Jill was starting to get the sense that Jade just didn’t like her.

That was true, and had been for a long time. Only now, Jill was finally figuring it out. She held out hope for a better relationship with Jade when she grew out of her adolescence. But if Jade simply didn’t like her, Jill thought, that hope was greatly diminished.

Jade fumbled with her seatbelt and started her car. She took one last bracing breath before taking off on her mission. Her breath caught when she happened to glance up to her bedroom window and caught sight of Sean staring down at her. She turned away quickly, put the car in gear, and took off down the street.

There was no turning back.

2

HOMECOMING

Jade spent the better part of her drive thinking about all the different ways the day could go wrong. She tried distracting herself, but to no avail. Finally, she turned off the music and just drove in silence.

Her thoughts turned to Sam and Drea. The more she thought about seeing them, the more excited she got. She remembered the fun times they had together and wished this reunion would add to their repertoire. Unfortunately, Jade didn’t have time. And the little time she had needed to be spent doing something decidedly less than fun.

The skies grew darker the further north she drove. Soon, the light misting of sprinkles on her windshield turned into actual rain.

When she finally got off the freeway, her familiar old neighborhood seemed oddly foreign. Streets and store fronts that were common sights to her just last summer felt like something out of a distant dream.

Jade’s excitement to be back home waned as the whole experience felt very surreal. Just the night before, Jade imagined returning home and not wanting to go back. Now, she felt like she didn’t belong there anymore and the sooner she could leave, the better. But first she needed answers and she didn’t want to leave until she got them.

Jade’s car pulled up to Sam’s house. The rain came down in sheets and Jade was reluctant to get out of the car for fear of getting drenched on her way to ring the doorbell. Fortunately, she didn’t have to.

The front door opened and Sam emerged, bundled in a large all-weather jacket with a faux fur lining around the hood. She wore black leggings and a pair of boots that looked more fashionable than functional. Jade worried they’d get ruined in the rain. But if Sam didn’t care, why should she?

Sam pulled open the passenger door and got in. She shook herself off, hoping to keep as much water outside as possible, but it was an act of futility. The seat was soaked. Jade didn’t care. She squealed like a schoolgirl when she was finally face-to-face with Sam again. The two friends hugged each other over the gear shift and let out a high-pitched shriek that almost shattered the glass.

Look at you! Sam exclaimed. Still rockin’ the purple streak.

Jade self-consciously stroked the single highlight of violet in her otherwise raven hair. Every one of Jade’s friends thought of it as her trademark. Jade thought of it as her scar.

It was an act of rebellion, really. Jade’s father, Brian, thought her purple streak was a teenage form of expressing herself, an attempt to distinguish herself from everyone else at her school. He found it amusing that Jade never saw the irony in the quest to be seen as an individual. Because that’s what everyone wanted.

Jade actually did see the irony. It just wasn’t why she colored her hair. Not entirely.

Jade wanted to be noticed, yes. But it was something of a paradox since she always hid behind her bangs whenever she was embarrassed. The purple streak was a means of showing everyone that she was still there, even when she hid. Jade didn’t do it to get attention from everyone at school. She did it to get attention from her mother at home.

It wasn’t as if Jade was being ignored. Jade just wanted her mother to see her as her own person. Jade felt that Jill pushed her to be something she wasn’t. Or to be something that Jill wished she could have been.

Jade wasn’t entirely sure when it happened. But sometime when she was in junior high, Jill started to focus more on Jade’s academic performance than on Jade herself. She seemed very concerned that Jade wasn’t going to get into a good school and make something of herself, as her mother would say.

So Jill became preoccupied with her daughter’s grades. When Jade didn’t excel at something, Jill hired tutors. Jade tried to argue that not everyone was good at everything. Her grades were good enough, Jade thought. But Jill thought differently. She thought they all needed to be exemplary.

You need to set yourself apart, Jill would say. You’re not going to succeed unless you can prove that you’re better than everyone else.

Jade didn’t understand that at all. She would argue that all she needed to be was the best at being herself. Her mom would ask who that was. Jade never had an answer. Certainly not one that satisfied her mother.

One day, Jade asked her mother why it was so important that she get all A’s and into a good college. Jill said it was because she didn’t want Jade to make the same mistakes she did.

Jill always coasted through school, thinking opportunities awaited her when she graduated. She believed she could be anything she wanted. And Jill wanted to be a singer. So Jill joined choir and did the school plays. She even went to an arts college and majored in music. She was certain that one day, she would be a singer. Because that’s what she wanted.

Jill forgot to take one thing into account. She could be anything she wanted, yes, as long as she was willing to put in the work. So when Jill graduated and people weren’t clamoring to give her gigs, Jill put her dreams on hold and took whatever job she could find to pay the rent.

Chances to sing were few and far between. And Jill had fallen for Brian after having met him at the movies through a mutual friend. Jill thought if she was going to have a future with him, she would need to get serious and settle down.

She went back to school and got her teaching credential, eventually landing a job at an elementary school. While she was good at her job and she enjoyed doing it, she felt she was doing a disservice to her students. Her heart wasn’t in it. In that respect, Jill felt like a fraud to her colleagues who did it for the love of teaching. Jill just did it for the paycheck. She considered quitting many times. And then she got pregnant.

So it’s my fault? Jade asked.

I didn’t say that, Jill dodged.

You didn’t say those words, Jade clarified, but that’s what you’re saying. You think you gave up on your dreams because you made mistakes and I was one of them.

That wasn’t what Jill was saying at all. She never regretted a moment of being a mother. But a part of her longed for a life she let slip away. And, to a degree, she blamed Jade. Mostly because it was easier than blaming herself.

It explained so much. It explained why Jill put Jade in junior choirs and signed her up for singing lessons. When it became clear that Jade didn’t even come close to having perfect pitch, Jill pulled her from voice class and put her in dance class. Jade proved to be more than a bit uncoordinated, so Jill