Free Ignite Me (The Annihilate Me Series) by Christina Ross Page A

cry.   Because he knew at that very moment that
I wasn’t a sham since I knew her name.   Through me, he knew that Helen was there with us, which she was.   I asked him if he’d like to stay, he
said that there was no way he was going to leave now, and then he took the seat
across from me.”   She paused—and
then threw up her hands.   “And
that’s when things went batshit crazy!”
    “What do you
mean?”
    “ I channeled
Helen! ”
    “What do you
mean you ‘channeled’ Helen?”
    “Her voice came
out of my mouth!”
    “No, it
didn’t.”
    “It did.   I swear it did.   First time ever, like I said.   I.   Spoke.   In.   Her.   Voice!   She completely overtook my body, which I
can only assume is a testament to their love for each other because that’s how
powerful her presence was inside of me.   Helen wedged herself in deep, and I was turned into her vessel.”
    “What in the
hell did you say?”
    “I didn’t say a
thing.   My trap might have been
yapping, but Helen had full control over what was coming out of my mouth.   It kind of freaked me out.   I knew that I could have forced her out
if I wanted to, but I didn’t because of the tears I saw filling Ed’s eyes.   And so I just gave my body over to her
and allowed them to talk to each other for the first time in thirteen
years.   Just thinking about what
happened is starting to make me get all weirded out again.”
    “What did she
sound like?”
    “Like a young
woman.   Probably the woman he wanted
to remember most.”
    “I can’t
believe this.   What did they say to
each other?”
    “It was mostly
Helen who did the talking.   She
wanted to reassure him that she still loved him, that he was the love of her
life, and that she didn’t blame him for putting her into a nursing home when he
could no longer care for her.   Over
and over again, she said that it wasn’t his fault.   He said, ‘You do remember me, then?   You really do, Helen?’   And she said that of course she did,
that she was with him every day.   She said, ‘I no longer have Alzheimer’s.   All of that’s gone.   What I have now is clarity and peace,
and my love for you.   You must know
that I love you, Eddy, and that I’m so sorry to have left you when I did.   It was too early for us, but what could
I do?   It was out of my hands.   And yet here you are with me now.   Finally—at last.’”
    “Now, I am
going to cry.”
    “I felt so
conflicted,” Rhoda said.  
    “Why?”
    “Because I knew
that I was bringing Ed great joy and great pain all at the same time.   Joy from hearing the woman he still
loved and missed, and pain from not being able to reach out and touch her.   To kiss her and to hold her again in
ways that the rotten disease had denied him when she was still alive.”   She threw up her hands again.   “ And then Helen asked him to kiss
her! ”
    “I can’t take
any more.   What did you do?”
    “I did what was
right.   At that point, I knew that
my body wasn’t my own.   So, I let
him kiss me.   And when he did, he
wasn’t kissing me—he was kissing Helen.   His kiss was so soft, tender, and
meaningful, I could feel both of them coursing through me to the point that I
felt faint.   Helen said, ‘I need to
go now, Eddy.   I’ve already put this
young woman through enough.’   And
then Ed, who was a wreck at that point, said, ‘It’s your birthday, baby
girl.   Happy birthday.   I wanted to come here in hopes of
wishing you that, and to let you know just how much I love and miss you.’   She thanked him for coming, she told him
that she would love him forever and be at his side just as she always was, and
that one day in the future, they would be together again.   And then, just like that, she was gone,
and I pretty much collapsed in my chair.   I’ve never felt so drained.”
    “What you did
for that man is nothing short of remarkable,” I said to her through moist,
blurry eyes.   “To be