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Nancy’s arrival into the afterlife overwhelmed her, and the blast of fresh air, especially after the claustrophobia of the hospital, rocked her very being to the core.
Trembling but ecstatic to see Damien, she hugged him tight, afraid she might be dreaming. She buried her face into his neck, savouring the smell of the man that she had missed so much for so many years.
‘What’s going on, Damien? Have I actually died? The pain has gone away.’
‘Yes, you have died. But I’m not sure how you came to be on the island with me. I’m only here because I died before I was supposed to. This island is where people go to if they have died prematurely, before they move on with their spiritual lives. Kind of a limbo place.’
The curator spoke with quiet authority. ‘It’s true Damien is dead, but he isn’t meant to be. However, he and his friend Hector have really enjoyed their time on this island together, and we have promoted them to the Supernatural Management Group, SMG for short.
‘Because you are actually dead—meaning, you died at the right time—you were meant to be reincarnated straight away. You were destined to be born as a baby in Hong Kong in your next life. However, you’ve had a tremendously hard life since Damien disappeared and you deserve to be with him, so we managed to put a stop to the previously mentioned reincarnation plans. He has missed you more than words could ever say, and it’s clear to me that you are his only love.
‘Normally, when people come to this island, they arrive here with nobody else present—no friends, no family, no one to greet them or make them welcome. They have to learn to survive before they are eventually intercepted by the last arrival on the island. In Damien’s case, that was Hector, who kindly showed him the ropes and enabled him to go hunting. After a while, they decided that simply waiting to die in the village wasn’t for them, and they instead ventured off on a great exploration of the island.’
Damien, staring blankly at the curator, was still far more interested in his wife’s arrival. ‘Why did she die? Because of cancer?’
‘That certainly played a big part, but it was the septic shock that killed her,’ the curator replied.
Damien started to cry. ‘I’m so, so sorry, darling. I really don’t know how I can make any of this better for you.’
‘I wouldn’t worry. I’m dead now...apparently,’ said Nancy, cringing as the words left her lips. ‘That’s so weird to say!’ She looked at the landscape surrounding the coast. ‘What a beautiful place. It’s kind of heavenly, which I suppose is about right.’ She then looked at the other islanders who had gathered to greet her. ‘Anyone going to introduce these people to me?’
Hector held out his hand. ‘Hi, I’m Hector. Pleased to meet you. I’m dead because, like Damien, I went through a door in a museum that said ‘no entry’ on it. Not in England though. I was taking my class for a trip in my home town in Germany.’
‘You men are the same the world over.’
Eloise let out a dirty laugh. ‘Yes, they are. You are lucky to have Damien though. He is a one of a kind.’
‘Hang on, you are Eloise, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, I am. It’s lovely to see you here on the island. We dead-at-the-right-time folk are a rarity in these parts.’
Nancy frowned. ‘So when I saw you on Earth, were you dead then too?’
‘Yes, my dear, I was. The reason I was there, was to just make sure everything was going to go as it should. The curator is the head of the management group. She did try to prevent Damien from dying, but his curiosity got the better of him.’
At that moment, another penny dropped for Nancy. ‘Curator, do you really work in the museum?’
‘Yes, I do, from time to time. It’s a kind of crossroads for the supernatural; it gives a place to cross to and from Earth or somewhere else. I manage it to make sure it’s not abused. Your boy, Marcus, is a chip off the old block, isn’t he?’
Tears welled in Nancy’s eyes at the memory of her orphaned children. ‘Yes, he is. He’s a good soul. I hope that he and Hope are going to be alright.’
The curator gave one of her enigmatic smiles. ‘I think they’ll be okay.’
Nancy noticed the ugly, probably once-gory gouge of a scar around Mel’s neck. She gasped involuntarily. ‘Oh my God, what happened to you? Did you hang yourself or something?’
‘I died having fun! I was trying erotic asphyxiation but accidentally killed myself. Bummer, eh?’ He grinned, making it plain that he wasn’t sorry about his departure in the slightest.
The other islanders stood about, smiling but staring blankly into the distance, the same as they did in the village. Damien wondered why they even existed on the island. What good is it for them to be in this place of limbo?
The curator looked around the gathered people. ‘Everyone, back to the village. Nancy needs to get comfortable and have some time to be alone with Damien. There is a vacant hut, Hector, into which you are to move.’
‘Ja, of course.’ Why is it that I always do as I’m told?
Eloise and the curator walked away in the direction of the village, and everyone apart from Damien and Nancy followed in a neat line.
‘Do you remember when we went to Seahouses?’
‘Yeah. It was a fabulous break.’ She smiled and looked out to sea.
‘Nancy, look, there are puffins!’
Gazing out over the waves, cuddling and feeling delighted to at last be back together again, memories of that holiday swelled up inside them like the rising tide and curled over them in a wave of happiness.
Nancy peered up at her husband. ‘How much do you know about my life since you went missing, if anything?’
‘Little bits here and there, but not as much as I’d like. Tell me about that great big dog. He scared the shit out of me, barking at me like that.’
‘Barking? When was this? How do you even know about Rocky anyway?’
‘When I found out the truth—that I was already dead—I couldn’t, wouldn’t accept it. One day, I found a portal, which is essentially a window to the physical world. Hector tried to tell me I couldn’t use it as a door, so, of course, I jumped straight through it.’
Nancy couldn’t help a smile. ‘What happened?’
‘I crash landed into the kitchen as a ghost. After you’d gone into the lounge, Rocky saw me and started growling and barking. Honestly, I shit a brick.’
Nancy’s smile grew into a full burst of laughter. ‘Sorry about that. He’s nothing but a big soft brush really. We got him from an animal shelter in Sheffield. Eloise was there, weirdly; I wish I’d have known who she really was at the time.’
‘Don’t be sorry, love. Rocky was only doing his job. What else would you expect him to do? As for Eloise and the curator, they seem to get where water can’t.’
‘Yeah, I realise that now. It makes me sad that I didn’t know you were there with me that day. What happened afterwards? How did you get back here?’
‘You remember how Marcus visited to show off his new Suzuki to you?’ Nancy nodded and smiled at the memory. ‘What a machine that is! Anyway, I hitched a lift to the museum with Marcus and re-used the same door in the storeroom.’
‘The door with the big sign on it that says no one is ever allowed to use it?’
‘Yes, that’s the one.’ Damien looked down at his toes like an admonished child. ‘The curator was there, and she gave me a right telling off. I wish I’d have taken the chance to come back, but I swear I didn’t know I had a choice.’
‘Oh my God, me and Marcus nearly used that door when we went back to the museum! Thank God we didn’t. That curator woman was there when we left the storeroom, and she told us to never, ever go back in there again. Now I know why.’ Nancy looked out over the ocean, watching birds flirting with the waves and crying out. Her shoulders sloped as she let out a big sigh. ‘I have to tell you something, Damien. I’m sorry, but I didn’t stay faithful.’
‘Niall, right? It doesn’t matter. At least you didn’t trade me in for a better model.’
Nancy laughed with embarrassment. ‘You arsehole. He was there for us, and I just kind of fell for him. I’m really sorry. Aren’t you mad?’
Damien pulled her into his arms once again. ‘No, how could I be mad? I just wish that I’d been able to come back out of that room and be with you till death did us part. I hope he treated you properly? Although, I have to admit, I thought he seemed to be a bit of a virgin.’ Nancy giggled, unsure as to how to respond to Damien’s digs. ‘Come on, we should get back to the village and I’ll show you around.’
They talked as they walked, neither of them feeling like they’d ever been apart from the other. ‘Have you been on this same island all the time?’
‘Yes. Me and Hector have been on an adventure, trying to discover more of it—all the hills and mountains and forests. Then, after all that, we were shown a screen in a command hut that showed the whole bloody island anyway. It has been fun though. Apart from the bit when we discovered our own gravestones. We reckon they had been put there to warn us off from going into the forbidden area.’
‘But you’ve been gone for years, Damien. Is the island that big that it takes years to explore?’
‘No, an island day and a normal Earth day are not the same length. It’s weird, but you’ll understand it soon enough.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘I’ve only been on the island a few weeks, but in that time, a few years have passed on Earth.’
‘I did wonder why you don’t really look any older. You are a lot slimmer, I noticed. It suits you. What changed to help you lose weight?’
Damien laughed ruefully. ‘To be honest, it was nothing more than getting out and about and eating healthily. I’ve been outside and exercising one way or another every day. I think I’ve lost over four stones!’
Nancy cuddled into him and looked up into his eyes. ‘At least we know for sure that we’ll be together forever now.’
‘Thank God, and we are getting our own hut. It would have been a bit weird having to share with Hector. To be fair, I bet he is glad too. I was supposed to be the guide for the next new person, so I don’t know what is going to happen about that now.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Just as I said. The new person arrives on the island after they die, but they don’t know they are dead yet and have to look for shelter and food for themselves. It would normally be my job to make sure they were okay. Hector, when he was my guide, left me a pile of goodies, like a sleeping bag, food, water, pots and pans; then, after a few days, he showed himself and told me that I was in fact dead. To begin with, he told me we were alone on the island, but I followed him along this very path and found the village. It turned out that I’d been set up to follow him and find the rest of the community. Maybe you’ll be the one to sort out the next newbie, and I’ll have a get-out-of-jail-free card.’
‘Screw that! Anyway, Eloise obviously has a soft spot for me, so I reckon I’ll dodge that bullet easy enough.’ Nancy grinned at Damien. ‘See, it’s not taken long to get you back under my thumb.’
The path was well trampled, so it didn’t take long to make it to the top of the vast hill that overlooked the village.
Damien slowed his pace as they approached the crest. ‘Wait until you see the view from the top of the hill.’
Nancy gasped when the village and the west coast came into view. ‘This is just perfect, Damien. Wow, the huts are so cute.’
‘Yeah, basic too, but I think we can try and do something about that now we are management.’
Nancy scoured the rough, sloping land before them. ‘How do we get down to the village from here? The hillside looks kind of steep.’
‘Don’t worry, just follow me. Besides, it’ll be easier for you.’
‘How do you work that one out, fatty?’
Damien chortled. ‘Fatty, yeah, thanks for that. Some things never change.’ He playfully batted Nancy’s arm, feigning offence. ‘Well, because I am not meant to be dead yet, I can still experience pain. Like when I hit my shin the other week—it hurt like hell. But you are actually deceased, so I don’t think you’ll have that problem.’
‘Even so,’ Nancy said, brushing her hair away from her face, ‘I’ll be careful. I’ve had more than enough pain lately. Bloody hell...I hate cancer.’
The descent down to the village was easy enough for both Nancy and Damien, and Nancy was impressed with her husband’s newfound agility and speed.
‘Hey, wait for me, Damien! This is so weird. You were such a couch potato when you were alive. I bet you would’ve enjoyed taking the kids out for walks in the woods. It’s a shame we didn’t get this passion for the outdoors before.’
‘I know, but I bet even Marcus would struggle to keep up with me now.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure; after all, he still has youth on his side.’ Nancy winked at her husband and laughed as he shook his head in dismay.