Death Remembers Me - Short Story

 

DEATH REMEMBERS ME

by

SARAH CLEMENTS

 

 

 

            Something about this moment felt familiar.  Sitting on the park bench over-looking a busy river, I felt a sense of urgency. The boats flew by with inner tubes behind, people were laughing, dogs were barking, joggers jogging by oblivious to it all with their earpieces tucked into their ears. No one seemed to even notice me. All except one person. My pink haired, bubbly follower, who referred to herself as Grimmy, was waiting as usual just smiling at me as her legs swung freely from the bench seat. We talked from time to time, but usually she just lingered day after day. One day she was just there helping me out when someone was ignoring me. I was growing more and more frustrated when she stepped in.  The rest just happened naturally.

“You seem agitated,” she said curiously, leaning forward to get a glance at my face as I watched the scenery.

“Not really, just wondering why I’m here exactly,” I answered trying to hide my blush by not thinking about it, which obviously made me flush red even more.

“You’ve always liked this place, silly goose,” she said with a laugh as she stood up and started balancing on the small step ahead of us before the pier started.

That wasn’t what I meant. But she did have a point.  Maybe I just liked the scenery, or the busy nature when I felt like the world just ignored me.  The urge to go do something was there, but not the knowledge of what.  Giving out a big sigh, I watched a boy fall off the tube behind the boat as they circled back for him.

“The water, is it cold?” I asked her as I watched the boys interact. 

“I suppose it would be, but on a hot summer’s day it feels oh so nice.”

Her words turned to gibberish as I watched that family as they continued up and down the river a few passes. Siblings, that’s what I was trying to remember.  I was supposed to meet my sister if I remembered right.  Was that today?

“Did I say if I was supposed to meet my sister, Valerie?” I asked looking to her finally as my eyes grew wide thinking I was late to meet her for lunch. 

“I think so, actually.  You have time though, just enough to go meet her at the café downtown you two always liked to talk about.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” I yelled as I stood up and I ran so fast I was at her doorstep out of breath.

My sister wasn’t there.  I looked in the windows, stepped inside but no one looked up or looked like they were expecting me.  Perhaps she was just running late like she tended to.  No matter because she lived just a couple blocks away. I smiled as I thought to surprise her.  Her boyfriend wasn’t home this time of day, so she probably just lost track of time and was finishing getting ready.  As I walked briskly, I felt this weird sense of déjà vu take over me.  I lived in this town for many years, born and raised of people and places we knew and loved.  Walking down this road countless times meeting up with my sister was a frequent thing, but this time felt different. I was on a mission. 

I knocked on the door, but there was nothing. The door was unlocked and so I called out to her as I cracked open the door. Still nothing. Looking in further, there was a scene I would never forget. Blood stained on the wooden floors, and I almost lost my stomach. Closing my eyes to get my bearings, I opened them, and the stain was gone. Shaking my head in doubt and worry, I called out for her.

Then I heard her voice. It was strained, as if she’d been crying, coming from the backyard. I rushed to her, but as I opened the back door I saw her talking to a police officer. Neither looked up at me at first, but then she slowly turned her head for a moment before looking forward again. 

“Hey, I’m sorry but I was worried,” I said to her, but she just continued talking to the police officer.  So, I just sat and listened. 

“I know there has been a lot of time that has passed, but please I’m trying to make headway on this case.  Now, can you tell me what happened back then, Miss Richmond.”

“I was going to meet my sister, Clara Richmond, at the café just down the road called Revolutions.  We had talked earlier that week saying how we’d love to go since they finally opened. So, that was around 10 am on the 22^nd of October. I went home and my boyfriend, Henry, was home which was weird for that time of day.  He got mad and he avoided the question until…”

“Take your time, I know this must be hard,” the officer said with a calming voice as he wrote notes. 

“It was hard when my sister went missing, it was hard that she was found dead, and it was even harder when my ex-boyfriend was accused of murdering her, leaving me with so many questions and no answers.  This may be the weird way of keeping her alive,” she said clearing her throat as she continued. “He hit me in my ribs and stomach.  My sister had come back because I forgot my cell phone and saw everything.  There should be a complaint for that for October 22^nd.  He was released a few days later because I wouldn’t press charges as he never hit me before and I told myself it wouldn’t happen again. Then two days later when I came home from work there was all this blood.  I called him, no answer. I called Clara, no answer. I called mom and dad, but they hadn’t seen Clara. I called his parents, and they said he was out of town.  I didn’t hear from him he was going out of town, so I went to my sister’s and my park bench.  That’s when I saw her body.  At first, I thought her hair was just some weird seaweed but then it was her.  Her head was... and there was so much blood.  I called the ambulance, but it was too late.”

The sobbing from Valerie was uncontrollable at that point as I started screaming, “I’m here!  I’m right here!”

I reached for her, but my arms passed right through.  That was when Grimmy came to me.  She stood on the other side of my sister looking at me with a small frown as if she were trying to not cry.  I was crying, I could feel the hot streaks of tears burn my face. 

“He found you,” she said softly as the rest of the world was tuned out, “and said that he wanted to apologize.  Invite you to dinner with your sister so everyone could talk.  You listened because you always saw the good in people.  He hit you over the head with the crystal you bought for her during her tarot reading phase a few years ago.  He dragged you his truck, dumped you in the river and left. That’s the part she doesn’t know.”

“Where is he?” I asked as I felt a fury build that I never felt before. 

“I don’t know, but what I do know is that you haven’t been at peace and keep coming back here to find something.  Like a time loop you can’t escape.  Trauma to the head makes it especially hard to process for the dead.”

“Who are you?”

“Death, different than the grim reaper you expect, I know,” she said solemnly as she outstretched her hand and I recoiled from it.

“I won’t leave Valerie,” I said with tears in my eyes.  I could never leave her, not until she found peace.

“I know which is why I keep an eye on you,” she added putting her hands on my shoulders giving me a comforting embrace. “I won’t leave you until you come to peace with leaving her behind. That’s my job as a grim reaper, to protect you until you’re ready to move on.”

Staring at my sister’s face, I saw the years that had occurred. I hadn’t died recently. It didn’t take long to realize that I had been dead for almost fifteen years.  The small details came to me as the dates on the newspapers, the photos around her home, and the lines upon her face.  Without knowing where my killer was, I was going to keep her safe until she didn’t need me anymore. When and how I didn’t know, but my path was clear to me. Even if it took the rest of her life, I would be here to protect her.  That much I was willing and able to do.