Alice Isn't Well (Death Herself Book 1) (22 page)

Kneeling next to him, she reached out and placed her right hand over his face, digging her fingers into his eyes as he let out a pained gasp.

“Like I said,” she continued, watching as a faint orange glow began to rise from the demon's face, “you don't belong down here, so we'll just have to find a way to put you out of harm's way.”

“Hannah!”

“Alice?”

She turned, but it was too late to shout a warning. Having risen from the demon's face, an orange glow rushed past her and slammed into Alice, knocking her back down into the rubble.

“Alice!” Hannah shouted, getting to her feet and leaving the demon's crumpled body behind as she raced over and saw that Alice was already trying to get up. “What the hell are you doing here? I told you to leave!”

“I had to come back for you,” Alice replied, wincing slightly as she felt a sharp pain in her head. “I had... I couldn't just abandon you.”

“Yes, you could!” Hannah said firmly, crouching in front of her and staring into her eyes, seeing a faint orange glow behind Alice's pupils. “I had him down! He had no other body to go to, he would have just drifted away and gone back to how he was!”

“I couldn't leave you,” Alice stammered, as the pain grew. Her voice was echoing slightly and finally she let out a gasp.

“He's back inside you,” Hannah continued, unable to hide her irritation. “Why won't you just obey instructions?”

“I -” Alice began, before her whole body began to convulse.

Grabbing her, Hannah held her in her arms for a moment, staring in horror as Alice's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

“Not again,” Hannah whispered. “I won't let you die on me again, not like this. I insist that you get old and gray first!”

Hearing voices in the distance, she turned and saw flashing blue lights over by the main fire. Glancing around, she realized that there wasn't much left of the shopping mall, with just a dozen or so old shops still standing. After a moment, her eyes settled on one shop in particular.

“Birthdays,” she whispered.

She paused, before a moment of realization struck her when she saw a bunch of old cardboard boxes stacked next to the store's main window.

“Birthdays,” she continued, looking down at Alice with a faint smile. “Okay, I don't know if you can hear me, and I
know
we're not
that
close, but I can't think of another option right now, so here goes.” She took a deep breath, before leaning down and clamping her mouth against Alice's, as if to kiss her. She held position for a few seconds, their open mouths touching, before finally she pulled back slightly as she drew the orange glow out of Alice's body and into her own. Finally, once the last of the glow had been transferred, she closed her mouth, despite the vast quantity of air she was holding.

Mumbling something unintelligible, something that sounded a little like “Wait here,” Hannah got to her feet and raced across the rubble, dodging burning pieces of concrete that continued to fall all around. When she reached the abandoned card shop, she used her shoulder to smash the glass of the window and then she climbed through, making straight for the cardboard boxes in the corner.

Still holding the orange cloud in her mouth, she tore the boxes open, pulling out cards and envelopes and party hats and assorted other items before, finally, she found a packet of multi-colored balloons. Tearing the packet open, she pulled out a yellow balloon and held it against her lips, at which point she began to blow the orange cloud into the balloon. After a few seconds, she pinched the end and took a deep breath, before tying the balloon tightly and holding it out to admire for a moment.

“How do you like your new home?” she muttered, tapping the side of the balloon before hurrying back out of the store and into what was left of the atrium. Letting go of the balloon, she watched as it rose up, passing the burning balconies until it reached the shattered glass dome and began to float ever upward, heading up high above the city.

Finally, she let out a sigh of relief, before turning and seeing that Alice was slowly hauling herself up off the ground.

“Happy now?” Hannah asked.

“What happened?” Alice replied, wincing as she limped closer.

“Nothing much. I just sucked the rest of the demon out of your mouth, blew him into a balloon, and sent him on his way.”

Alice looked up at the night sky and watched as the yellow balloon disappeared from view. “A balloon can't hold a demon,” she muttered, before turning to Hannah. “Can it?”

“Not for long, but by the time he gets out he'll be high enough that he'll remember his old life and he'll go back to it. I told you, demons are kind of simple-minded. He came from up there, and he'll be happy enough up there again once he forgets about wanting to be down here. He'll go back to his old ways and just drift with the clouds, watching over war-zones and absorbing all the human misery he can find.”

“So he won't come down again?”

“Not unless he has another accident with a plane, but that was a million-to-one shot. And even if it happens again, his link to you should have been broken.” She turned to Alice. “You're welcome, Wendy. Or Alice. Which do you prefer?”

“I...” She paused. “I guess I'm Alice now. Alice Warner.”

“You look like an Alice.”

“I do?”

Hannah nodded, before turning as she heard voices getting closer. “I think there are some emergency teams arriving. Come on, you don't want to have to start explaining this to people.”

Guiding Alice away from the ruins of the burning building, she led her out across the wasteland until they reached the edge of the river. Below, the Thames rippled as a cool breeze blew through the night air.

“Why did you hang around?” Hannah asked, holding back a little. “I told you to go and you didn't.”

“I couldn't leave a friend behind to face a demon,” Alice replied, turning to look out across the river.

“What friend?” As soon as the words had left her lips, Hannah understood and a hint of sadness entered her eyes. “Oh.”

“So I guess you can tell me now,” Alice continued, turning to her. “What exactly
are
you?”

She looked around.

“Hannah?”

Stepping forward, she looked in every direction, but there was no sign of anyone nearby.

“Hannah?” she shouted, but she already knew, deep down, that it was too late.

In the distance, more and more flashing blue lights were arriving at the burning shopping center. Flames were still billowing into the night sky, sending up vasts plumes of smoke. Somewhere up there, too far now to be seen by anyone on the ground, the yellow balloon was rising higher and higher.

Epilogue

Eighty years later

“Hey, Mum, come on, sit up.”

Helping Alice up from the bed for a moment, the girl grabbed a couple more pillows and slipped them into place, before easing the old woman back down.

“Better?”

“Better,” Alice replied with a smile. She was old now, well into her eleventh decade, and her once-dark hair had become light gray, while her face was wrinkled and tired. “You should...” She paused, struggling a little for breath. “You should go down to the others. You don't want to be... wasting your time up here with an old woman.”

“I like being with you,” the girl replied. “The others are going to come up in a few minutes, too. I hope you weren't counting on some peace and quiet this afternoon, 'cause David and John want to play Monopoly and we figured we'd put the board on your lap. Are you going to join in?”

“I'll...” Alice paused, as she saw light shining a little more strongly through the window. “I'll watch.”

“Back in a minute, then,” the girl replied, heading to the door. “Do you want anything from downstairs, Mum?”

“Just water.”

As soon as the girl had left the room, Alice turned and watched the light as it continued to stream through, casting a bright patch on the carpet. The light seemed to flicker slightly, as if it had briefly changed at some base level. After a moment, Alice became aware of movement nearby, and she slowly turned to see a familiar figure sitting in the chair next to her bed.

“Hey,” Hannah said with a smile. “Long time, no see.”

With tears in her eyes, Alice stared in shock.

“Sorry I took off last time,” Hannah continued, shifting awkwardly in her seat. “I've never been very good at goodbyes, but I
did
promise myself that I'd come back and check on you. Thanks for not telling anyone about what happened, by the way. If you had, I'd have come back sooner and wiped your memory. You're lucky I didn't do that anyway. I broke a lot of rules for you.”

Sitting up, Alice continued to stare, as if she could barely believe what she was seeing.

“I knew you'd come back,” she said finally, her voice sounding tired and frail. “I don't know how, but I just knew it.”

“I don't usually come back and check on people,” Hannah continued. “I usually only attend a death with it's going off the rails. I let nature take its course and I only interfere when it's strictly necessary.”

“I'm an old woman now,” Alice replied.

“No kidding. I can see that.”

“I have...” Alice paused. “I have four children.” Her eyes opened wide as if she could barely believe what she was saying. “I'm one hundred and seven years old!” she added. “Isn't that amazing? One hundred and seven! Even with all these medical advances, that's still...” She paused. “I was a mess last time we spoke.”

“And now look at you.” Hannah smiled. “I've kept track of your life. I know you've done well. Husband, kids, a successful career. You might have had a rough start, but once that demon was gone, you really shot up, huh?”

“I did my best,” Alice replied, “but... I always hoped you'd come sooner.”

“It wasn't the right time.”

“And today
is
?”

“Yeah,” Hannah replied, with a hint of sadness. “Today's the right time.”

“But -” Alice paused, before realizing what she meant. “When?” she asked finally. “I mean, do I have time to say goodbye?”

Hannah shook her head.

“When is it going to happen?”

“About two minutes ago.”

Alice opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but somehow, deep down, she could already feel that it was true. Holding her hand up, she realized she cast no shadow on the nearby wall.

“When your daughter comes back up in a few minutes' time,” Hannah continued, “she's going to find that you passed peacefully in your sleep. Like I said, I usually only show up for a death when things are getting complicated. It's been a long time since I came for one that was going down normally. To be honest, it's a nice change of pace.”

“I suppose I should be flattered,” Alice replied, clearly shocked.

“You bet,” Hannah continued, getting to her feet. “So are you ready? I figured you'd like one final walk through the garden before the light takes you.”

“Yes,” Alice said, slowly easing herself to the edge of the bed, “that would be nice.” She paused for a moment, looking down at her frail old feet as they hovered above her slippers. “I don't feel scared,” she said finally.

“That's good,” Hannah replied.

“
Why
don't I feel scared?”

“Maybe because you know a little more about how it works,” Hannah pointed out. “Not many people ever get to remember a past life.”

“And will I remember this one?” Alice asked. “When I get to my next life, I mean. Will I remember any of this?”

Hannah shook her head.

“Couldn't you make it so that I do?” Alice continued.

“Sorry.”

“So I'll be reincarnated at some point, and all of this... It'll be gone?”

“You won't remember any of it,” Hannah replied, “although you might have some pretty funky dreams from time to time.” She paused, before allowing herself a faint smile. “You'll get to remember in the periods between lives. And I'll remember it, so there's that.”

“I wrote you a letter,” Alice said, wincing with pain as she opened the drawer of her bedside table and took out a white envelope with Hannah's name written on the front. With trembling hands, she held it out to her. “I thought that if you didn't come to see me in time, at least I could leave something behind for you.”

Taking the letter, Hannah looked down at it for a moment.

“Don't read it now,” Alice told her, slipping her feet into her slippers and then taking Hannah's offer to lean on her arm. “Save it for later.” She smiled. “You don't look a day older. It's amazing, but you look exactly the way I remember you. This isn't all some kind of fantasy, is it? I'm not losing my marbles again, am I?”

“No,” Hannah said with a smile as they reached the door. “It's real. Your marbles are remarkably intact for someone your age.”

Turning, Alice looked back at the bed and saw, to her shock, that her own body was flat on its back, with its eyes closed and its mouth hanging slightly open.

“So that's how my family will find me, is it?” she asked.

“It's not too bad,” Hannah pointed out. “Trust me, I've seen a lot worse. Not everyone gets to die peacefully in bed. And not everyone gets a personal visit from Death herself.”

“Is that who you are?” Alice asked. “I had my suspicions, but...”

“Come on,” Hannah replied, leading her out onto the landing. “I don't have all day for this. I've got things to do. Show me this garden that matters so goddamn much to you.”

Once they'd left the room, Alice's dead body lay in place on the bed, undisturbed. Her eyes were closed, and when her daughter returned a few minutes later with a glass of water, she initially thought that her mother had simply fallen asleep. It was only when she tried several times to nudge her awake that she realized something was wrong, and once she'd checked for a pulse she hurried to the door and called for her brothers to hurry up. A few minutes after that, Alice's four children sat around the bed in silence, none of them knowing what to say now that their mother was gone.

Light continued to stream through the window. Outside, unseen by anyone else, two figures walked away from the house before disappearing into a patch of light that had fallen across the lawn.

***

A short while later, alone in a dark house, Hannah took a key from her pocket and used it to unlock a door. She paused, before make her way into the room with Alice's unopened letter in her right hand.

Stopping, she looked around at the thousands of other unopened envelopes that covered the floor, all of them with the name Hannah written on the front in a range of different handwriting styles. Some of the envelopes seemed fairly new, while others looked positively ancient. She turned Alice's letter over and, for just a moment, she considered opening it and reading the message inside. Finally, however, she leaned down and gently set the letter with all the others, before turning and heading out of the room.

Once the door was closed and locked, the letters lay all together in darkness. One day, perhaps, they would be opened, but for now they simply waited, each one containing a message of thanks.