“It appears you’re going the wrong way, my dear,” he said.
“Don’t you want to go to the spa?”
Chrissana was so captivated by him, it took her several
seconds before she could answer. “They say I do.” Then she rambled. “I-I mean,
I hadn’t intended to, but I am dreaming, and I think there are others there who
want to go more than I do.” She huffed to get her sentence straight. “I just
think those people need a healing more than me.”
“Always thinking of others before yourself, are we,
Chrissana?”
She stepped back, her eyes narrowing. “How do you know my
name?”
He smiled. “Because you look like a Chrissana.”
“How’s that?”
His brows bounced and a knowing smile widened on his face.
Damn, if he isn’t as
charming as he is handsome.
She turned to see if others had been observing them.
Luckily, the crowds were still busy boarding the carriages.
“Where is this spa?” she asked.
“Up there.”
She followed the direction his head had tilted to notice a
large sprawling building of powder blue that almost matched the color of the sky,
and the tops of its numerous turrets looked sharp as needles.
“What happens there?” she asked.
“Whatever a soul or spirit needs to happen,” he said.
“Each therapy is quite individualistic and tailored to the person.”
“Is that good or bad?”
He laughed. “Would you not think it’s a good thing?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve never been here before.”
“Neither have they,” he said. “Better hurry. The carriages
are about to pull off.”
She looked back to see the doors closing and people who obviously
weren’t going wandering back toward the streets lined with shops.
“That’s all right,” Chrissana said, turning her attention
back to him. “I’ll wait this one out. I’d like to know a little more about the
place before I make my decision.”
The man chuckled silently. “Usually a wise course of
action, but sometimes one has to make quick decisions without having all the
facts, Chrissana. Time, at the moment, isn’t on your side. One such as you
shouldn’t linger too long in this place without proper treatment.”
“Well, those other people seem content to wait.”
“That’s because they live here,” he said, then bent down
to her and whispered, “and they’re no longer alive.”
“Something I thought I would be,” she admitted. “I really
don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“This place finds those in need of healing. That’s why you
found yourself here. Obviously, your life isn’t yet complete.”
Chrissana looked down at the ground. “Is this some sort of
purgatory?”
The man’s voice lowered to become more soothing. “Walk
with me, Chrissana.”
He started off in the opposite direction of the town with
Chrissana hurrying to catch up with him. There were no more shops as the area became
more residential and quiet with townhomes lining both sides of the street.
“When you sleep,” he began, his voice rising as though he
were addressing an audience, “your soul wanders all over the place. Do you
notice that, many times when you dream, you often don’t become aware of the
fact until the very end of it?”
“Yes.”
“One does far more in dreams than they can consciously
account for. In times like these, they find themselves in the spirit realms—like
this one. Some people manage to remember and others wake up not remembering
anything at all.”
“So are you saying that these spirit realms can be places
where both living and dead can mingle?”
“Yes. We also get people who are in comas, where they’re
not entirely dead but in between. That is where you are.”
“You said this place found me.”
“Yes, you were called.”
“Who called me?”
“I called you.”
Chrissana stopped. “You did?”
“Part of my obligation here is that I seek out certain
souls who are in need of assistance. Especially in dire circumstances such as
one seeking to end their own life.”
He had said the end part rather sternly, and Chrissana
turned her head away, stung by his tone.
“Maybe I made a mistake,” she said softly.
“Maybe?” He snorted.
Chrissana tilted her head up, mentally pressing her tears
away from her eyes. “I’m not sorry that I don’t feel much like living at the
moment. I do admit that spending an eternity in this place doesn’t sound so
bad.”
The man began walking again. “So you think an eternity
here would suit you?”
Chrissana fell in with him. “It’s beautiful and Christmassy. My mother would have loved
this place.”
“Christmas is our favorite holiday, here, also,” he said.
“It does keep everyone’s spirits up.”
Chrissana laughed. “It keeps the spirits’ spirits up.”
He laughed along with her, but then he became serious once
more. “If you choose to be a spirit, Chrissana, you will be much different than
you are now.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he held up his hand.
“I wouldn’t make such decisions now, but just know that
everything you are experiencing at this moment is with your human body―mainly
touch sensations, taste, smell, eyesight, and hearing. These would all change
if you were to become a spirit, so I suggest you put that decision aside for
the time being.”
They had come upon a carriage connected to two white stallions.
The body of it was the same color as the man’s clothing, its framework outlined
in gold. Chrissana had never seen anything so luxurious. He walked forward and
stood next to the door, his hand taking hold of the handle.
“My name is Audric,” he introduced, “Audric St. Sauveur.”
He placed his free hand over his heart and bowed to her.
“Your name sounds very French.”
“France was my origin a long time ago. I’ve been here so
long that my accent has faded and has become a mixture of many, given all of
the places I have lived and visited. So, since you missed your opportunity to
attend the spa, would you mind if I played host to you?”
“Until the next wave of carriages come?”
“I’m afraid that would no longer be feasible for you. I am
your only resource at this point.”
Chrissana backed away from him.
“I assure you, I mean you no harm whatsoever. I will not
do anything without your consent, and your choices will be your own.”
“No tricks?”
“No tricks.” His eyes half closed and his head bowed
toward her.
“Can I just wake up? What if I changed my mind and don’t want
to do this at all.” Despite how fairytale-like the village appeared and how sincere
he seemed, she felt a momentary uneasiness. If she happened to go with him, she
could wake up finding herself in a hell of some kind.
“If you remember, you took a rather large dose of
medication. Waking up in your world may prove somewhat difficult at the
present.” Audric righted himself. “Once here, this place demands that you be
given treatment, as you made that agreement when you walked across the bridge.
Those are the rules.”She looked up at him. He was awfully good-looking, and the few times she had given way to her attractions, it had not bode well for her. On Earth, men like him wouldn’t have given her two nods. Not that she was unattractive, but her daily makeup regime was only enough to offer a little color to her brown skin. Showing cleavage or other dynamic wear to accentuate her figure had never been her style. She preferred being alone with books and painting to going to parties or other types of socializing.
Audric opened the carriage door. “So, Chrissana?”
