Me Without You (18 page)

"It's exciting, right?" Jervais
said.

"Jervais!" Jonah said
exasperatedly.

Brice started to light his cigarette.
"Hey, we're family here. No need to be embarrassed."

Just then, Jonah's phone alarmed for an
incoming message. It was Xavier.

"You just saw each other, remember?"
Jervais reminded her.

"He's going to our place," Jonah said
nervously. "The guy is nuts! If he sees Aunt Judith there, he'll be
dead before his time."

"You're exaggerating!" Brice said.
"Aunt Judith couldn't hurt him. She doesn't eat sick boys. Besides,
she and Jerone had to go to the police station for
identification."

"Police station?" Jervais
asked.

Brice took a puff of his cigarette and
blew it off. The smoke lingered for a while before it thinly
disappeared into the air. Amidst, his wide-eyed and impatient
audience, he smirked just a bit before he said, "The brakes on
Jemmah's car were tampered with by a guy who claimed a
wealthy-looking woman, all in white, with long black hair down to
her waist, bribed him to do it. That's why Jemmah had an accident.
Luckily, she only got a broken neck."

A strange sensation ran up Jonah's
right arm up to her shoulder. For a moment, she had totally
forgotten about Xavier and his message to see her at home and the
possible confrontation he may have with the rest of her family. She
was disconcerted with the image of Rebecca…so alive and
haunting.

"The woman sounds like your mother,"
Jervais whispered looking horrified. "Just like the kind of thing
she's capable of doing, too."

"Shut up, Jervais!" Brice said. "You
are freaking me out."

"I think we should all stick together
this time," Jonah suggested. "Let's go up to Jemmah's room where
the others are."

"You scared?" Jervais asked.

"I am," Brice quickly answered. "I mean
who wouldn't be? Even Jane is going nuts." He looked at Jonah and
addressed her, "What about your Romeo?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to go home alone
now!" Jonah replied.

"Well, I can go with you," Jervais told
her.

"Not even with you," Jonah
said.

"A woman in love will act senselessly
and would rather face a killer-ghost than to let her lover go
without seeing him," Jervais said. "It's only then when you two can
be together again."

"What if that would never happen?"
Brice asked throwing his half-consumed cigarette on the ground
before stepping into it. "He could die before she could face an
unknown killer on the loose."

Jonah had the feeling
of
déjà vu
.
Somehow, the conversation was very familiar to her. Even the same
queer sensation was back, as she felt it running through her nape
towards the back of her head. However, it no longer felt familiar
as she sensed someone staring at her from behind. But when she
turned there was nobody there.

But the lingering and very distinctive
menthol scent flowed through the air. There was no doubt in her
mind that the scent could only belong to Rebecca's unwanted
guest—Xavier's Aunt Gilda.

Jonah scanned the whole area a second
time just in time to see the tail of a black car that looked very
familiar. Although, she couldn't be certain, the car seemed to
belong to Rebecca. Jonah grabbed Jervais' arm and almost dragged
her back inside the hospital, "Let's go in, I don't feel safe
here!" Jonah cried out urgently. Jonah's other two siblings nodded
in agreement.

Brice, Jervais and Jonah traced their
way back to the hospital to the intensive care unit where Jemmah
was.

"I thought she only had a broken neck,"
Jervais told Brice. "Why are we headed to the intensive care
unit?"

"She's in a coma," Brice answered.
"With a broken neck. She's under observation until now. Although,
the doctors said her vital signs are okay, whatever they mean by
that."

"Oh!" Jervais simply
replied.

The three passed through hallway after
hallway with Brice leading the way and Jonah coming in last,
holding on to Jervais' hand.

Jonah's eyes seemed to be playing
tricks on her. Everywhere she looked she could see glowing colors
of different hues. The glow was hurting her eyes like smoke. She
was tempted to stop from walking and squeezing her eyes
shot.

And so Jonah did stop. Jervais had to
pause as well.

"What now?" Jervais demanded looking
impatient.

"My eyes," Jonah said. "They hurt. You
go ahead! Will be right behind you."

"No, not without you!" Jervais said and
called out to Brice who had gone ahead of them a couple of meters
away.

Jonah bent down and placed both her
hands on her knees. Then, she stood to her full height again and
stretched. She had never felt so exhausted before. Coupled with the
heat on her eyes, she was feeling feverish all of a
sudden.

Then, a door to her left opened just a
cracked. Jonah was caught off guard. A movement from the corner of
her eye of a dark, shadowy thing creeping up from the floor heading
upward to what looked like a human figure beside the bed jerked her
to look inside the room. When Jonah was looking directly, there was
no shadowy thing. However, she could see a part of a woman who was
seated near what looked the patient's bed.

The smite
… Jonah recalled.

The woman caught Jonah's eyes, gave her
a slight nod, stood up and closed the door behind her. Jonah was
about to move forward when her knees gave away and she fell flat on
the floor.

The next thing Jonah noticed, Jervais
was on her side helping her up.

"What's the matter with you?" Jervais
asked worriedly.

"I tripped," Jonah said. "That's
all!"

"No you didn't," Jervais insisted. "You
were not moving, how can you trip? You just fell over."

"I skipped breakfast and had no lunch,
Jervais," Jonah replied. "What do you expect?"

"Then, let's get you to Jemmah's room.
I am pretty sure you can munch on something there," Jervais said,
supporting Jonah by the arm.

"What happened?" Brice asked upon
reaching Jonah and Jervais. "Did you just collapse?"

"Of course not!" Jonah said.

"Move you two," Jervais commanded. And
the three continued walking down to Jemmah's room.

The room had a visitor's lounge
adjacent to the main room where Jemmah was. Glass paneling
separated both rooms apart from each. But from the lounge, anybody
can see that Jemmah was lying unconscious on the bed with a lot of
gadgets stuck to her mouth and arms. The neck brace was also
visible. Only one or two visitors were allowed inside the main
room.

Jane was seated on the couch, with her
head on top of her two clasped hands. She appeared to be sleeping.
But when she heard the footsteps of Brice, Jonah and Jervais, she
looked up and greeted them with a smile.

Jonah quickly sat on the
couch next to Jane and became still. The movement of the
smite
was too quick for
her to handle as she spotted them again right in the visitor's
lounge. She stood up and peered through the room where Jemmah was.
She looked to her side and became still. She waited to see
the
smite
but there
was none. But when she looked back to where Jane, Jervais and Brice
were, the
smite
were appearing from everywhere around them.

The sight of Aunt Judith
here is most welcoming
…Jonah
thought.
She would know how to handle
this
.

Jonah joined the group
looking for anything that can deter the
smite
. The only thing she recalled was
how Aunt Judith reprimanded Jervais for being childish at the time
the
smite
appeared
in their house.

"Act childish, Jervais!" Jonah croaked.
Her voice almost did not sound right to her ear. She knew it was a
strange request, but her Aunt Judith had once mentioned it could
come handy at times.

Jervais went near Jonah and felt her
forehead. "Did you bump your head when you fell off or something?
Should we call for someone to check you up? This is weirder than
weird."

"Oh, I am alright. I just remembered
Aunt Judith telling you to continue being childish for it has its
benefits sometimes. I guess I was just thinking out loud and it
slipped," Jonah said, her face turning hotter than her
eyes.

"Aunt Judith has that kind of effect on
people you know. They get spooked long after their encounter with
the woman," Brice chimed in."You should cross over something
burning to get her out of your system."

Jervais laughed out loud. "I would say
you have become a healer, Brice!"

"It is in my gay blood," Brice said and
bowed to his imaginary audience. "Remind me later, Jonah. When I
smoke, you have to cross over my cigarette."

"Very funny," Jonah replied
and grinned. From the corner of her eye, she could see that
the
smite
was
slowly disappearing and the air was thinning. She figured it was
probably better than being attacked at all. Not that she could
imagine what would happen if the
smite
attacked someone.

"Enough of that, why don't you two say
hello to your sister," Jane urged Brice and Jervais to see Jemmah
inside. "The doctors recommend letting Jemmah hear our
voices."

When Brice and Jervais left
the lounge, Jane took Jonah aside and whispered, "When you left the
house, did you still see the
habak
on my drawer? I didn't have time to check
it."

"Yeah, it's still there," Jonah
answered. "But we need to hide it, Jane!"

Stolen

When Jane announced she had to get a
few of her personal necessities at home, after offering to watch
over Jemmah the whole night through, Jonah had narrowly escaped
Jervais and Brice's knowing smiles when she volunteered to drive
Jane home.

"I hope Jane can fight off the killer
ghost," Jervais whispered in her ear.

"I hope Romeo can fight off your killer
Aunt," Brice jested in her other ear.

"Shut up, you guys!" Jonah warned,
motioning for Jervais to hand her the keys.

Although, Jonah had sent Xavier a
message to see him the next day in Church instead, she still got
the feeling that Xavier was at her place and being stubborn.
Without confirmation from him, Jonah was certain he was waiting for
her at her house.

The drive to the Blood house was
tensed-filled. Jane was unlike herself. She was looking upset and
at the same time in an introspective mood. Jonah had to fight the
urge to create a sound inside the car. Even turning the cd player
on did not seem appropriate at the moment. And yet, she was itching
to hear something other than her own thoughts.

Jonah finally broke the silence. "Jane,
are you alright?"

"Gosh, Jonah—I am scared. There's a
killer on the loose and we don't know who the new healer is. Who
will be next?" Jane said. She was almost in tears with her lips
trembling a little.

"Please don't say that, Jane," Jonah
told her older sister. "It could all be a case of mistaken
identity. Jemmah may not be the person they were after."

"Jemmah may not be," Jane contended.
"But the woman who paid the guy to do it sounds so much like your
mother, it is impossible to consider it merely as a
coincidence."

"It is impossible, your mother is
dead!" Jonah replied. "You said it so yourself. What can she
do?"

"This healer stuff is also impossible,"
Jane said. She looked out the window and looked like she was
contemplating on what she was going to say next. "The thing
is—because of your mother's image in the picture, it is impossible
for Jemmah's accident to be an accident. It was premeditated. The
way I see it, Jemmah became the first target because your mother
was in favor of her, Jonah! Even if they never really came to terms
with each other."

"Oh, Jane—" Jonah expressed her alarm.
"They may go after you next. Your mother had entrusted to you a lot
of responsibilities regarding the household and her children. You
need to be careful."

"That's what I am scared off," Jane
confided. Both women became silent all the way home, swallowed in
their own worlds.

Jonah was just rounding the curve to
their driveway towards the front door, when she caught a glimpse of
a shadowy outline in the bushes. The figure was no doubt
Xavier.

Hoping that Jane was too preoccupied to
notice him, Jonah allowed herself to dilly-dally when the car
finally came to a stop. Pretending to have a hard time finding her
things at the back of the car, Jane left her as the older woman
dashed off hurriedly inside the house.

Jonah immediately scampered to where
Xavier was. With an accusing tone, she told him, "I told you I was
going to meet you tomorrow. Why did you have to come
here?"