THE JOURNEY OF SHEIRA HART

13 | Maybe Flying Isn't Bad After All

In normal situations, I wouldn't have cared. Going out, leaving my house was something I consider very normal. Something I never appreciated. But right now, as I stood in front of my house, I suddenly didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay there and just forget about the mission. But then I remembered I am not in a normal situation. I am in a totally surreal situation. Something I wouldn't have believed even if it would happen to me twice. I am someone who's corporeally challenged at the moment and staying there would mean Mikhael and I would never be able to go back. As much as how I pissed at him, I can't let him disappear. The guilt would be so strong I would still feel it even as I disappear in the face of the Afterlife.

So setting that aside, I looked at Mikhael who's also staring at the house. "Your house felt so...homey."

"Where did you live?" I asked and his eyes remained on my house. And I could be mistaken but I could have sworn I saw something in his eyes. Longing? Pain? Anger? I wasn't sure. But he said, "Far away."

I was smart enough not to ask another thing about it. He looked like he doesn't want to talk about it. Mikhael di Angelo is someone with a mysterious past. Someone who isn't inclined to share it to her—to anybody. I am not even sure if he was telling the truth about not knowing how he died. He must have had a reason why he didn't tell me about it. Or anyone at that. And that's not my business so if he tells me or not, that's completely fine.

"What, you planning on stalking me?" he said. I looked at him and realized he's already facing me. I gave him an incredulous look.

"Are you high?" I asked and he just chuckled.

"Who knows what's on your mind?"

I faced him and placed my hands on my waist. "I assure you, I am not going to stalk you or anything."

A lopsided grin escaped his lips. "We don't know that."

I groaned and rolled my eyes as I continued walking. I don't know if that place is still open but at this hour, it probably isn't.

"Where do we go next? You still have..." he took my wrist and looked at the watch strapped there, "a week?" He looked at me, confused. "Why do you have a week?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't make the time limit." I looked at him and he kept looking at my watch.

"What about it?" I asked.

"The longer your time limit is, that means you have a lot to explore here," he said and let go of my hand.

"Well, this is quite a big town so a week of flying around would suffice." I continued walking and looked up. "And besides, we do have a lot to visit while we're here." I gave him a sideward glance and he was looking up too.

"But for now, since I doubt the shop is open, we should go somewhere."

I felt him looked at me and I extended my hand to touch a tree trunk only to have it pass through.

"Where?"

"Somewhere near the city center," I said and without any announcement, I grabbed his hand and dragged him until we felt ourselves flying.

"Not scared now?" His voice was mocking but I ignored him and gave him a sideward glance. "I could beat you in a race," I said, smirking. He gave me an incredulous look as he placed a dramatic hand on his chest.

"Beat me? Mikhael di Angelo?" He scoffed. The wind swept his hair, making him look younger. "Are you challenging me Sheira darling?"

I rolled my eyes. "Even as ghosts men really do care about things like that."

He scoffed again. "I mean, you are challenging me here. I am just accepting it."

"Fine."

"Fine, what?"

"Fine, let's have a race."

A smirk formed across his lips. "You sure you won't cry?"

I rolled my eyes and prepared to steady myself. Mikhael whistled at that. "You learn fast. Kicking you off the bridge paid off," he said and I just gave him a glare.

"I still haven't forgotten about it, di Angelo. I still have to kick your face because of it."

He scowled. "I told you, you can kick me anywhere, just not the face, okay?" And then he looked at his pants. "And not here too," he said and pointed towards his groin.

"Whatever."

I heard him chuckled. "You ready?"

"Always."

"Then in a count of three." He looked at me. "One," he counted.

I gave him a grin before I said, "Three!" I didn't wait for him and just flew so fast I could barely open my eyes. I laughed as I saw Mikhael lagging behind. I squinted my eyes and felt the wind caressing my hair rather harshly. Unlike the first time, I wasn't that scared anymore. And somehow, my eyes had gotten used to the strong whip of the wind.

Behind me, I heard di Angelo muttering something like, "Cheater!"

I just laughed and continued to fly, be one with the wind. I glided and slowed down as I realized it's better to go at a slow pace. Mikhael must have realized it as I felt him beside me. His hair was pushed back because of the wind and remnants of his scowl from what happened earlier were plastered across his face.

"You," he said, "are using my own tactics against me."

I shrugged. "As you said, I am a fast learner." I winked. A look of surprise masked his face but then it was immediately replaced with a smirk.

"Look at you, earlier you were threatening to kick me in the face and now, you're learning how to wink."

"I am not learning how to wink!"

He stopped and straightened. He crossed his arms before he gave me a look. "Tell me how many times have you winked to a guy before?"

I furrowed my brows. "What does it have to do with that?"

"My dear darling Sheira, a wink is not a wink unless it is something suggestive."

I faced him. "What on earth are you talking about?"

He groaned. "Never mind. Now I know why you don't have a boyfriend."

I scoffed. "Excuse me?" But the bastard just laughed. I just rolled my eyes and continued moving with the wind.

"How many guys have asked you out?"

"Too many to count," I said blandly.

He whistled. "Woah. Lying is bad, darling."

I faced him. "I am not lying!" I exclaimed and glared at him. "Why on earth would I even lie about something like that?"

"Okay! Okay. If there were too many of them, why didn't you get a boyfriend?"

"Because unlike you, Mr. Darling of the Crowd, I don't just date anybody."

He nodded and an approving smile was plastered across his face. "Touché," he said. "And you died single."

I groaned frustratedly and continued flying. "Are you saying you had a girlfriend before you died?"

He shrugged. "I don't remember. But it would be impossible if I didn't have one. With this face?" He gestured to his face and I couldn't help but grimace.

"You're too over yourself."

"I mean, just look at me. What's not to like?"

"Ask that question to somebody else, di Angelo," I said and decided to go down when I saw the spot I was looking for. It was atop a hill. People made benches and stood lamps there. It has the perfect view of the city. I felt Mikhael followed. I closed my eyes the moment I sat on the ground.

"What are we doing here?" I heard Mikhael landing beside me. I looked at him and he was scanning his eyes around.

"To clear our minds. And to relax," I answered and closed my eyes again. I remembered this place was the place I always go to whenever I wanted to think. While I was alive, I wasn't someone with big problems and all. Sometimes, whenever I feel sad or if I need someplace to think, I would come here, with my bike and just get lost in my own thoughts. I wouldn't even notice the time and would just sit on the bench and look at the city below.

"Let me guess, this was your favorite place?" I felt Mikhael sit beside me.

I nodded. "This is where I go whenever I feel that it's already too much. I take a break, I come here."

Mikhael was silent for a moment before he said, "Have you ever thought of committing suicide here?"

I chuckled. "No, I didn't, mercifully. I assure you, I didn't die of suicide."

But the moment the words left my mouth, it felt real. Suicide. What if that's how I died? I recalled the image I saw on the glass wall that day when Mr. Grim decided to shoe his powers off. My arms were at odd angles. What if that was because of the fall? I swallowed hard. As far as I can remember, I didn't have suicidal thoughts. Sometimes, I just love the peace and quiet this place can offer. And it's really high up in the hill and some people wouldn't bother coming here. That's why I always had my bike. Most of the time, it would just be me. Sometimes, couples would come here and be hoping to get some intimate moments together but then since I was there, they'd settle for a hug. I suddenly miss those times.

"Did you also see how you looked when you died?"

"Regretfully, yes," he said and I can truly sense the regret in his voice. I couldn't help but chuckle.

My eyes remained on the city lights below. Even though it's late at night, somewhere out there, people are still working, studying, doing things they love. While in here, it's...asleep. Very peaceful. Like you're standing in an entirely different dimension as you watched the other. It felt magical and refreshing at the same time.

"Did you ever tried guessing how you died? You must have been curious." I didn't look at him. His silence says it all. He doesn't like talking about it. I remained quiet as I continued to admire the city lights below us.

It took him several minutes to answer. "I think I fell from a horse and the horse stepped on my head or something."

I almost choked. I looked at him, wide-eyed, to see if he was serious or not. But his face was so serious and there was no hint of laughter on it. "Are you serious?" I asked and he just nodded. "That's very...specific."

"Which means I have thought about it a lot until I came up with that conclusion."

"But a horse? Why were you even riding a horse? Did you have a farm or something?"

It was his turn to chuckle. "Like you, I also have a favorite place I go whenever I feel stressed. I remember there was something like a farm about two hours away from where I live. They had horses and sheep. I talked to the owner and I got so hooked with his stories. Things led to another and I found myself helping him in the farm, tending the animals." He glanced at me and a smile plastered across his face. "I particularly enjoyed riding the horses there. I think I fell down from one and then died."

"Huh."

"What I saw—what Mr. Grim showed me, my head was severely injured. And my body was just...I don't know if I could have both my feet if I managed to live."

"And you think a horse could manage to inflict that much damage?"

I saw him look up the stars. "It's easier to accept that way. At least, I died while I was doing what I love. And I died in my favorite place."

I let out a breath and looked at the stars too. "Then I think I died here. Maybe I...maybe I was riding my bike too fast. Maybe I lost control of it and crashed." I looked at him only to find him look at me. We both know we were just comforting ourselves. Thinking about how we died as pleasantly as possible. We both know it wasn't pleasant. We both know that we said...what we claimed—none of it was true. But somehow, thinking about those less bad ways of how we died, it gave me a sense of peace. Somehow it sounded so convincing. And I plan to hold on to that until I discover the truth.

Mikhael smiled and looked back at the stars. "Then you're a damn bad rider."

I scoffed. "I could say the same to you."

He didn't say another word and so did I. We were both immersed in our own thoughts and enjoyed the comfortable silence that we didn't realize it was almost morning until we saw the surrounding getting clearer. We were both lying on the ground and at some point, I think I must have closed my eyes and slept. Yes, ghosts sleep too, apparently.

"I can tell why this is your favorite place," I heard Mikhael say. I looked at him as he was staring at the sunrise. "This offers a damn good view of the sunrise."

I smiled. "It does."

Mikhael stood up and offered his hand to help me get up too. I straightened my dress and looked at him.

"Where are we off too, now?

I gave him a grin before I said, "Off to the newspaper stand."