RENEE

That very evening, we held the funeral for Truffles, feeling the warm sun on my face mingled with wet tears. The air was still, and the surroundings were quiet, nothing like what Truffles was.

I thought about the day I'd first brought Truffles home, her soft little barks lighting up the atmosphere, forcefully pulling my parents out of grief. I remembered how healing her presence was, her large curious eyes were enough to make me forget my worries.

Of course, Mike only knew Truffles for a few days after the accident, but his eyes were red too. My parents stood next to each other, as her coffin was lowered into the earth, watching it with regret.

The funeral ended on a quiet note, and we all went inside, feeling more helpless than ever. Clover lit scented candles next to Truffles and meditated, to find out the state her spirit was in.

"Can Clover really do that?" Mike whispered to me, looking awed, but also slightly scared.

"Well, I don't know." I shrugged truthfully. "It's fine, Clover's no expert. She just started getting into spirituality." I assured him.

"Oh okay." He leaned back, still watching her. "I was afraid she could read my mind."

"And why is that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Mike.

Mike gave me a lopsided grin, and whispered, "I kinda... Sorta have a thing for her."

"Ooohhh," I whispered back, giving him a playful punch.

"Don't tell her, Renee," He shook his finger in warning.

I mimed zipping my lips. "You're secret is safe with me."

We fell into a peaceful silence, where I thought about Truffles. I wondered if Noah had been assigned to her spirit again, and he'd somehow seen me.

Why hadn't Noah tried to contact me again?

Was he forbidden to?

Then I sighed, thinking about Noah wouldn't bring me to him. It was the same case with Truffles too.

Then Clover suddenly opened her eyes.

"Renee," she spoke urgently, "Truffles wants to talk to you."

Mike threw me a surprised glance, mouthing the word, 'Wow!'

"You need to sleep, Truffles is waiting for you," She told me.

"Okay," I replied, moving back to my room. As I lied down, my eyes fell on the meditation stimulator.

Maybe it could help me channel my energy onto Truffles.

I picked it up, making sure that the generator was in place. I lowered the current entering the device, hoping that it would be enough.
Finally, I placed the helmet on my head and fastened the straps. Closing my eyes, I tried to meditate on Truffles, to locate her energy.

Soon enough, I heard her happy little barks.
"Renee! Renee!" They seemed to call out to me.

Then Truffles came up to me, wagging her tail to and fro. The surroundings became clearer, and I realise that it was my backyard.

"Renee!" She barked again, and somehow I'm able to understand her. I wondered if it had anything to do with being a Spirit or if it was because I was using my device.

"Hey girl!" I told her, running my hand over her golden head. She licked my cheek, yet there's a tiny part of sadness hidden in her eyes.

This might be the last time ever.

"Renee, you need to touch my head," Truffles barked, moving her head so that it was right underneath my palm. I watched her curiously as she closed her eyes, and the surroundings changed again.

It was the day of the car crash, and I found myself standing at the side of the road, along with Truffles.

I turned to see another Truffles walking along the pavement, sniffing at the ground. She walked to the middle of the road, still sniffing, and suddenly, she looked up, her ears raised.

The Truffles next to me turned to the nearby bushes. "That's where she was hiding." She said angrily, baring her teeth.

"Who?" I asked her.

"The girl who made me fly." She replied.

I saw myself entering the scene, rushing towards Truffles, only to find her being lifted off the ground. Yelling at Truffles was no use, I thought sadly, watching myself shout.

I turned to the bushes and saw her, a thin skinny girl wearing black robes. Her face was covered by a hood, but something about her was vaguely familiar.

Had I seen her before?

I saw myself continuing to beckon to Truffles, when the speeding car came, crashing violently into me, causing my body to fly off the ground. I saw that Truffles was gently lowered onto the ground, where she scrambled away, running towards my injured body.

The guy in the car got out looking stunned like he hadn't seen me on the road. He cast a glance around, before getting back in his car and driving away, faster than ever.

My parents had told me that the police had tracked him down pretty quickly after the accident.

Meanwhile, another car came into sight, stopping near the robed girl. The windows rolled down to reveal another black-robed, masked person.

"Is she dead?" The person asked. I'm guessing she was a female too, but her voice was deep, so I couldn't really tell.

"Yup." The robed girl pointed at my injured body, then I noticed another less injured version of myself lying on the ground.

My spirit.

These people could see my spirit?

"Okay, get in," said the person in the car to the robed girl.

"What about the dog?" She asked. "Maybe it saw us?"

"It's going to die soon, anyway. Just like her," said the other person menacingly.

"Oh yeah," the girl says, slamming the car door once she got inside.

The car soon sped away, and I noticed that there was no number plate. Then, I saw my spirit self watching my injured human body in horror.

"They want to kill you, Renee. They will come again." The Truffles next to me told me anxiously. The scene dissolves before my eyes, leaving me back to the backyard.

"Who are they?" I asked her, but Truffles looks as clueless as me.

"Truffles, you're time is up," said a female voice. "We can't stay here for more than twelve hours."

I turned to see an extremely pretty girl with short hair like mine, but the similarities stop there. Her hair was blond with pastel highlights of different shades. She was wearing a short pink dress, with hot pink boots, looking like some sort of a barbie.

"Hi Renee," She smiled at me. "Noah's told me a lot about you."

I lost my voice for a second. "Noah? You know him?" I asked hoarsely, and she giggles.

"Sure! We're really close," She told me.

Really close?

Like a girlfriend?

I saw Truffles wagging her tail at the girl, and it made me suspect her lesser. Maybe she was actually nice.

Nice as in not being Noah's girlfriend.

"You came to take Truffles to the Spirit Realm?" I asked her, as she petted Truffles.

"Yes! I let her stay back here, because she wanted to tell you something. Hopefully, it was important." She added, and I noticed the change of tone in her voice.

"Yeah, it was very important." I set my jaw in a line. "Thanks."

"No problem." She said quite cheerfully. "Oh, and are you going to create the illegal realm?"

I raised my eyebrows at her. "You know about that?"

"Of course I do!" She laughed breathily, "Noah tells me everything."

I studied her, wondering if I should tell her my progress or not.

Then I realised that she was my only chance to reach out to Noah.

"I've been imagining a meadow filled with flowers. It's sunset, and the sky is streaked with orange." I told her truthfully, as I had no better choice.

"Oh okay, I'll tell him to search for that." She nodded to me.

She looked around the backyard we were still standing in. Truffles sat obediently next to her, waiting patiently.

"Um Renee, you need to leave," She told me uncomfortably. "Only then can I dissolve this Realm."

"This is a realm?" I asked in awe.

"Yes, it's a temporary one I made for Truffles. It only exists for twelve hours, so it isn't illegal. And now we have only a minute left." She answered with a forced smile.

"Oh okay," I nodded, controlling the urge to question her more about the Realm. "Bye Truffles, I love you!" I called out, wiping the tears off my eyes.

Truffles gave me a happy bark. "Bye, Renee, I love you too!"

And with that, I was thrown back into the Earthly Realm, sobbing uncontrollably at the sight of my dog leaving forever.

I could never see Truffles again.