Read Second Chance Online

Authors: Shaun Dowdall

Second Chance (6 page)

“He must be out,” James said.
 

“Wait,” Hannah interrupted before James could continue. “I hear something.”

Footsteps sounded from within the flat, walking towards the door. The door clicked, creaking open, revealing Ben.

As James looked at his friend, a range of emotions struck him. At first, he felt happy, seeing a familiar face, but that was soon washed away as he recognized the pain and despair in Ben’s eyes. The man was clearly struggling to cope, crushed by the loss of his friend.

“Hannah?” Ben asked, clearly surprised to see the girl. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to talk to you about something,” she replied, casting a quick look in James’ direction.

“Ok, come on in.”

Ben led the way into his flat, Hannah following. The place was a mess, takeaway boxes littering the sides and cans of beer piled high.
 

James watched as his friend slumped into his sofa, reaching for a can in the process.

“I wish he wouldn’t always turn to drink whenever things got rough!” James said, marching to where the pair now sat.

“So, what is it you needed to talk to me about?” Ben asked, putting the beer to one side.

“I’m not really sure how to say this,” Hannah began, clearly unsure of how to start the conversation. “After the accident, I started seeing things—James being one of them.”

James watched his friend, searching his face for any sign of a reaction. He knew Ben wouldn’t react well, that he would most likely grow angry, but they needed him to believe what Hannah was saying, James needed to get through to him one last time.

“What?” Ben asked, smiling across at Hannah as he tried to keep himself from laughing. “If this is a joke, it’s in bad taste.”

“I’m being serious,” Hannah shot back, clearly trying to remain calm. “He is here with us now.”

Ben burst into laughter, rubbing at his eyes as his body shook. James watched on, prepared for this moment. He had expected Ben to laugh it off, he had been ready for that, but his friend was clearly drunk, something James wasn’t prepared for.
 

“Tell him it wasn’t his fault, that the order came from above,” James said.

Hannah looked at James for a moment before repeating his words, falling silent once she had.

“Tell him, we all feel the guilt of that night, but we were under orders to give Claire whatever she wanted. The decision was never ours to make, and he isn’t responsible for her death. Neither of us were.”

James watched as Hannah told Ben what he said. His friend had grown silent, staring at Hannah as though the girl was mad, belief slowly setting in as he listened to her.
 

“He did everything he could to save her; he knelt beside her, holding her hand until the paramedics arrived. I still remember his last words to her, ‘you were great up there tonight,’ the final reassurance she needed to hear before she died.” James explained, giving Hannah a moment to repeat his words before he continued.

“We both blamed ourselves, but the choice was already out of our hands. Everybody had been given the order to give her space, and that’s exactly what we did. It was not his fault; tell him that, that he helped her in her last moments on this earth.”

No one said a word for what felt like an eternity. Ben sat in silence, his shoulders hunched, and tears streaming down his cheeks. He looked up, staring into Hannah’s eyes, sobbing openly as he did.

“Why are you doing this?” he whispered.

“James is still here,” Hannah explained. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but I can still see him. I’m trying to help him move on, and he was worried about you.”

“Me?” Ben asked, looking around the room, clearly searching for James. “Why me?”

James looked at the beer Ben had left on the side, his closest friend now. He had watched as Ben grew dependent on alcohol, pretending he hadn’t noticed his friend stealing a drink from the flask he kept hidden in his bag.
 

After the incident, Ben had continued in personal security, denying that Claire’s death had taken any toll on him at all, but James could see through his charade. The girl’s death had broken him in a way that Ben couldn’t even see.

Despite James’ insistence that he wasn’t to blame, Ben had continued to torture himself over the accident.
 

“Tell him that his reliance on alcohol needs to stop—that he needs to get help. Every drop of the stuff he drinks dishonors my memory; it dishonors Claire’s memory.”

Hannah nodded, repeating James’ words.

“I’m so sorry,” Ben said, searching the room in desperation, seeking out his friend. “I miss you so much. Who’s going to keep me in check now that you’re gone? I can’t bear to say goodbye, not again.”

“You’ll be fine without me,” James said, choking back his own tears. “You have a chance to live, so take it. Don’t let a single moment pass you by. Reach out with both hands and grab it; live a life worthy of us both.”

James forced a smile, trying to keep his emotions in control as he took one last look at him. He knew his words had been enough, that the look on Ben’s face confirmed his friend would remain strong.
 

His work there was done. All that was left for him to do now was move on. “Goodbye,” James whispered.

Chapter Thirteen

~James~

James walked beside Hannah through the luxurious public gardens, savoring his last moments with the woman. He didn’t know how he knew it, but something would soon come to separate them. It was an instinct that had awoken within him, whispering to him, warning him their time together was coming to an end.

The sun was slowly setting in the darkening sky, casting shadows upon the couple as they walked in silence. A gentle breeze whipped at Hannah’s hair, one that James could no longer feel.
 

He knew he should have been able to feel the chill of the evening air setting in, but he couldn’t. He was numb, his senses dead. The only thing left was his emotions, something he couldn’t make any sense of.

As he looked at Hannah, a smile forced itself to his lips. The girl was beautiful, graceful in the setting sun. Her long, dark hair shimmered in the failing rays, dancing upon the wind as she moved. Her brown eyes burned with intensity as she peered out from beneath long lashes, staring right through James and into his soul.
 

Everything about the moment was perfect. They stood alone on the path that led through the gardens, tall trees surrounding them like silent sentinels, watching over them as the moon rose to take the sun’s place in the sky.
 

“James, what you said today, it really made a difference,” Hannah whispered, taking a step closer to him. “He was lost and broken. You really got through to him.”

James nodded. He was happy he had the chance to set his friend straight, to guide him before any real damage was done, but now he had nothing left, no unfinished business left to attend to.

“Does this mean it’s time for me to leave?” he asked.

Hannah shook her head, a single tear forming in her left eye.
“I don’t know,” she answered, taking another step. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t want to go yet,” James admitted. “I feel like we’ve been cheated, given the chance to meet only when it’s too late for us to do anything about it.”

Hannah nodded, pressing her lips together to form a tight, thin line. “I know,” she said. “It doesn’t feel right letting you go. Not yet.”

James smiled at Hannah’s words. He was glad to hear his feelings weren’t purely one sided, that she seemed to feel the same way. “Hannah I…” he began, before something caught his attention.

A chill ran through James, something unnatural coming over him. Slowly, he turned, his eyes scanning the darkening path, searching for the source of his unease.

A tall woman walked towards him, hand in hand with an elderly man. They were both dressed in stylish clothing, the man in a full suit and the woman in a long, black dress.
 

They stared at James, their eyes glued to him, never looking elsewhere.

“You can talk with the living?” the woman asked, her blonde hair tied back in a bun. “How is this possible?”

The elderly man looked at her and smiled, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “They must be the pair that everyone is talking about,” he said, nodding at Hannah, who stood silently behind James. “You really have caused quite a stir, young man.”

James looked at the pair, confused, questions racing within his mind. “Who is everyone?” he asked.
 

The woman looked at the man, subtly shaking her head, a desperate attempt to force him into silence.

“You have so much to learn,” the man began, ignoring the woman’s warning. “You have upset the balance, and soon they will be coming.”

“Who?” James demanded, anger boiling up within him.

The pair fell silent

each of them staring off into the distance, seeing something he could not. Before he could ask them any more questions, they vanished, leaving him alone with Hannah, who had watched the exchange, never seeing the pair.
 

“We need to go,” James whispered, unable to shake the feeling they were being watched.
 

As they began to retreat, he watched the shadows, searching for a threat but finding none. Although he couldn’t see anything, he knew something was there, watching them, hunting them.
 

Chapter Fourteen

~Hannah~

Hannah was determined to find the answers they needed. She had taken some time to come around to the idea that James was real and now that she accepted the truth, she wasn’t prepared to let him go. She didn’t know what it was she was feeling, but she found happiness in his presence, something she knew she was selfish to feel.
 

“Why are you still looking?” she heard James ask from the sofa.

Hannah scowled over her shoulder at him. Ever since the exchange earlier in the evening, James had been mostly silent, clearly afraid of what the pair had said. He had slumped into the sofa, resigning himself to a fate she refused to surrender to.

“Should I give up just like you have then?” she demanded.

James shrugged. She couldn’t believe his attitude—how casual he was about what was coming.

“What use is there worrying about it?” he asked. “We know that something is coming, whether it is good or bad, there really isn’t much we can do about it. You tried, and for that, I’m grateful.”

“I’m not giving in,” Hannah argued. “There has to be someone who can tell us more about what is happening to you.”

James shook his head, standing up from where he sat, walking towards her. He knelt down so they were level, looking into her eyes.

“It’s out of our hands,” he whispered. “Let’s just enjoy this time together while we can. What will be… will be. I’m dead. We both need to accept that, and that something is coming to take me away.”

She looked into his eyes, feeling her emotions overflowing. A tear broke free, running down her cheek. She knew it wasn’t an appropriate time to ask, but she couldn’t help herself. “What did the lady mean when she spoke about love?” she asked.

She saw the shock in James’ eyes once again, the fear and confusion mixing. She needed to know how he felt, needed to know if he felt the same way she did.

What she was feeling then was different from anything she had ever felt before. She found herself wanting James to hold her in his strong arms, to feel the warmth of his body, to never let him go. She wanted to protect him, to stay with him every moment of every day, despite how impossible it was. She was falling for him.

“It was nothing,” he answered, standing up and walking away. “She was clearly confused.”

Hannah stood up, following James, her temper getting the better of her. She knew he was hiding his feelings from her. He had been about to say something before being interrupted by the ghosts, about to admit how he really felt.

“Be honest,” she said. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

James turned on her, his eyes dark with anger. She felt the temperature of the room drop, the scowl on James’ face causing her to stop where she was.
 

“What does it matter how I’m feeling?” he demanded. “They will come and take me away soon, so what I want, what I feel… it doesn’t matter anymore!”

Hannah could feel her heart breaking for James. She had pushed him to be honest, and she could see the pain he was feeling. “It matters to me,” she whispered, taking a step closer to him.

James raised his hands, taking a step back and shaking his head. “You deserve so much more than this,” he said, tears staining his cheeks.

She watched as he turned away from her, walking towards the door. Reaching out, she wanted to tell him how she felt, that it didn’t matter what she deserved. She wanted to tell him that the only thing she wanted was him, but she was too late. James was gone.

Chapter Fifteen

~James~

James walked blindly down the street, not truly concentrating on where he was going. He was angry, not with Hannah, but with himself. He had acted childishly, afraid of his own emotions and scared of what awaited him, lashing out because of this.

He didn’t know if what he felt was really love, but he knew it was a powerful emotion. Whenever he looked at Hannah, he felt something building up within him, something that chased away the terror he felt. When she was by his side, his death no longer mattered. He wanted nothing else but another minute with her.

Now he had ruined any chance he had with her, losing control and pushing her away. He knew that she cared for him, maybe more than he did for himself. She was kind, gentle, and caring. All of those things making her even more beautiful to him.
 

When she looked at him, she made him feel as though he were the only man in the world. The fact that she couldn’t feel him didn’t bother her; she was able to look past that. She was a truly inspirational person.
 

He stopped for a moment, looking around at the people walking down the street. The sun was setting, casting shadows as friends and couples walked side by side.

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