CHAPTER 44: THE END

In a flash of blinding light, the bloodied circle from which Suzanne had pulled the dark figure into, exploded, sending a gigantic shock wave throughout the hill on which the mansion stood. It lifted everyone up in the air and for a moment, Tom felt as if he could fly. But he did not land gracefully. He landed on something hard and felt an agonizing pain shoot up his body. For all he knew, he could have broken his hip. Then everything went black.

He had no idea how long he stayed unconscious but when he opened his eyes next, a smoky wind was blowing in his direction. The mansion was on fire. It had gone up in flames.

With great difficulty, he sat up, only to fall back on his back. He looked down and to his horror, he saw that his stomach was bleeding. He had in fact been lying in his own pool of blood.

“Stay still,” a female voice said. He looked up, it was the blonde woman. Her skin had miraculously healed. She pricked her finger and allowed her blood to drip on his wound and right there and then, Tom witnessed a miracle. His wound began to close up, leaving only his bloodsoaked shirt and pants.

“Who are you?” he coughed, even though a part of him knew the answer.

She smiled at him, “A friend.” With that, she got up, took one last look at the burning mansion and walked off into the twilight.

Tom got up, immediately searching for signs of life. Not far away, he saw the twins, huddled against each other by a bush. They were crying.

Next, he saw both Marcelino and Hans. He had a feeling that the blonde woman had healed them too. Marcelino stood next to Hans and they both met Tom’s gaze. Hans shook his head and Tom knew what he meant.

*She’s gone.*

It was only after the sun had risen and the fire truck had put out the flames that Tom would find out about what had happened during the time he was unconscious.

Hans and Tom at next to each other at the foot of the hill as the firemen tried to salvage whatever they could from the mansion other with thick woollen blankets over their shoulders. The paramedics had been confused as to how they were all bloodied but appeared to be physically fine. At Hans insistence, the paramedics left them alone. They had witnessed enough strange happenings over the past few days to accept that some things were just not explainable.

“She did it,” Hans said.

Tom nodded silently, nursing a steaming mug of hot coffee that the paramedics had given him.

“She dragged both the mist and the dark figure with her into the abyss, sealing herself in with them.”

*Just like Vlad’s father.*

Hans went on to explain that without its host, the phoenix let out an anguished cry before it too burst into a brilliant ball of flames, raining onto the grounds as sparkling white before it vanished.

“Here,” Hans said, handing something over. He

It was a ring! Suzanne’s wedding band. It had somehow survived the explosion and fire!

The firemen had found it as they were clearing the mansion.

Tom grabbed it and cradled it against his chest, finally allowing the overwhelming pain of loss to wash over him. He cried and cried and cried. Suzanne was never coming back.

***

Suzanne opened her eyes.

*This can’t be hell.*

She propped herself on her elbows, finding herself in the middle of a gorgeous meadow filled with endless greenery.

*Where is this?*

Beautiful blinking stars shone brightly in the clear blue sky as rays of shimmering sunlight shone down on her, filling her with the most wonderful feeling. It was the feeling of tranquillity.

She got up, amazed to see that her skin had healed. She looked like how she was before her encounter with the mist.

She saw a stream nearby and decided to walk towards it. It was only then she realized that she was barefooted and wearing a simple and lovely white dress.  

At the lake, she saw a man, also in white. He had his back towards her and was humming a song. It was a beautiful song. It made her want to break into a joyous dance, but she stopped herself, suddenly feeling shy.

“Hello,” she called out softly, wondering whether to cross the stream over to where the man sat.

At her voice, he turned around and smiled at her.

“Hello Suzanne,” he said. Suzanne almost cried. His beauty was extraordinary, never in her life had she ever laid eyes on anyone like him before. He had two arms, two legs and a perfectly normal head on his shoulders, and yet there was something exquisite about him, something beyond her understanding. He had a comforting presence about him.

Just by looking at him, Suzanne could feel all her troubles wash away down the stream.

“Come,” he patted at the boulder next to him. Without hesitation, she crossed the stream and sat next to him, feeling like a little child again.

“Would you like to hear a song?” he asked. His voice radiated peace. So much peace.

Suzanne nodded her head eagerly, “Yes please.”

Then he began to sing the song of life, and every note he sang filled her with love, joy and peace. She did not want the song to end. But it did.

“My Lord, “ she did not know how else to address him, “please, can you sing some more?”

He smiled, shook his head and gently patted her on the head. Suzanne had never felt so much love coming from a person’s touch. And then she realized who HE was.

“You did well Suzanne,” HE said, standing up, lifting her to her feet as well.

“Come with me,” HE motioned for her to walk with him along the stream.

She did as he asked and for a long time, they walked silently down the stream, just admiring the beauty of the trees surrounding them.

“Do you like it here Suzanne?”

“Yes, it’s lovely,” she did not want to leave, but suddenly, she remembered the battle.

“My Lord?”

She needn't have asked. He knew even before she had opened her mouth.

“I brought you here, to the garden.”

*The garden….*

She thought of Tom next.

 “Do you miss him?”

“Yes.”

HE stopped and turned around to face her She had been walking behind him all this while.

“Would you like to see him again?”

Suzanne took a deep breath, “Yes…”

HaShem waved his hand over the stream and it suddenly became, still as a mirror. Suzanne looked into it and to her amazement, she could see Tom.

“Tom!” she called out happily waving her arm. “Tom!”

In the reflection, she could see Tom whirling around at the sound of her voice, “Suzanne?”

Then for a brief moment, he seemed to see her, and his face broke into a smile.

Then the streams started to flow again.

HaShem smiled as he played with the grass underneath his feet. Then he looked up at the sky and said, “I will let you go and wait for him at the rainbow bridge.”

*The rainbow bridge…just like from mother’s lullaby!*

Her heart skipped a beat upon hearing that, but she was suddenly anxious, “Will I get to see you again after that My Lord?”

HaShem laughed with a twinkle in his eye, “Of course my child. Of course.”

A hushed wind blew across the garden, filling it with specks of golden light, and slowly, Suzanne began to vanish.

***

It was 3 months after Suzanne’s passing and Tom wanted to end his life.

*Perhaps I’ll get to see her this way,* he thought bitterly. He was back home in his own apartment now and everything was n disarray. Pizza boxes were strewn all over the couch and beer cans were littered everywhere. He had kept himself busy checking in on Suzanne's grandmother, but the old lady had long forgotten about her granddaughter and was happily living out the remaining days at the home for the aged.

Tom looked at the pills in his hand, *I could just take this and it’ll all be over.*

And he would have done the stupidest thing in his life had he suddenly not heard a voice calling out to him.

“Tom!” a voice called out. It sounded like Suzanne. She sounded happy.

*It’s just your imagination!* he scolded himself. He had been hallucinating about her a lot, drowning himself with the thoughts of the life that could have been for them.

“Tom!” the voice called again. It was Suzanne!

He whirled around, only to find himself staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Then slowly but surely, the image of a bearded and haggard-looking Tom Banks was replaced by a radiant and joyous Suzanne. She was waving at him!

“Suzanne?”

*How can this be?* Behind her, he saw the most beautiful landscape, its radiance took him away. And then he knew, she was in a better place, waiting for him.

Tom Banks finally smiled.

***

30 YEARS LATER…

An old man lay on his deathbed in the comfort of his home as a nurse gently tucked him under a warm blanket. Two elderly women, twins, sat by his bedside holding his frail wrinkled hands, speaking softly to him.

And all along the pristine white walls of his room were photos of his younger self, smiling happily into the camera.

In one, he was smiling from ear to ear together with an Asian man. They were each holding a beer in their hands. The Aisan man was Hans. In another, he was sitting on the floor next to a big burly man, decorating a Christmas tree. The big burly man was Marcelino. In yet another, he was standing at a podium in a doctoral gown, giving a rousing speech to the graduating crowd of Princeton. He had served as a professor in philosophy there for a good twenty years.

The old man was Tom Banks, and his time had finally come.

He closed his eyes and breathed his last. And when he finally took his first step onto the rainbow bridge, he saw her.

“Suzanne.”

“Tom.”

They smiled.