Page 60 of Juliet's Echo

“Good. ’Cause she’s here,” Psalm smiled.

He turned and headed toward the front of the house.

I stared after him until he disappeared down the hall, then looked back at Echo’s face on the laptop screen.

“I hope you suffered watching Simone’s cold body in that casket. Hope you still cry at the image of her being lowered into the ground. And since you’re this master of sound, I hope the thud and vibrations of the dirt tossed over that casket replay in your ears every time it rains. Hope there’s room next to her plot, because you’re next.”

Most people wouldn’t understand what I’d done.

What I still needed to do.

Because most people would agree that I should have moved on. Accepted the loss.

But what most people won’t take the time to realize is that I was a good kid who didn’t ask for much and accepted a lot of shit.

I accepted the fact that my parents weren’t affectionate towards me.

Accepted the fact that I didn’t know how to express myself or understand the voices in my head.

Accepted the fact that the kids at school, on the playground, and at every social event called me names, beat me up, and socially excluded me.

Accepted the fact that when I attempted to take my own life multiple times by way of my wrists, my parents forced pills down my throat that made me mentally and physically numb.

“You’ll grow out of it, Sloane.” “It’s all in your head.” “You don’t need friends. Friends are trouble.”

All things my parents used to say to me whenever I brought up that I felt differently than others and how it kept me up at night.

Then I finally got someone who never judged me. Someone who indulged whatever I wanted to do. Someone more broken than me. Someone who needed me. Needed my love. Someone who made life seem worth living.

Then I had to accept the fact that one of the mean kids took her away from me.

Fuck that.

My acceptance had run out.

I slammed my laptop shut and clutched it like a trophy.

“Yeah, you lived long enough, Everette,” I said, laughter spilling out of me, ugly and wild.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind me caused me to slowly turn.

Psalm stood there with an unreadable expression. His ass must've been mixed with feline the way he could just sneak up on you.

Beside him stood a young woman. She was petite, brown-skinned, and beautiful, but more importantly, she was familiar. Her long hair sat in a ponytail high on top of her head. A bo-bo?

“Um... Alonse, this is Juliet.” His voice held confusion, obviously due to the distress in my demeanor. “Juliet, this is my cousin, Alonse.”

She smiled politely before signing as she spoke, and it was then I noticed the hearing aids in her ears.

“Hello. Nice to meet you, Alonse.”

Her height. Her aura. The deep dimples in her smile. If I had ever doubted reincarnation, it was evident that it was real now.

All strength left my body from the shock, and my knees momentarily gave out. My laptop slipped from my hands. This time, when it hit the floor, the screen cracked completely. Juliet and Psalm reacted to the laptop hitting the floor, but I couldn’t move.

Simone was standing right in front of me.

Not really, but close enough for my eyes to recognize her spirit and my bones to feel the haunting. This girl’s eyes. Her soft but electrifying energy. That ghetto-ass ball clacker in her hair. And dare I say, respectfully, her beauty.