Keep Me Alive

As yet unpublished, one of my 'works in progress'.

It all started with a girl. Isn’t that how most stories start? Just a girl and a few simple words:

“All you have to do is keep me alive”.

In truth, it seemed easy enough at the time. I was twenty-three and trigger-happy. I had barely been out of the marines for three months before I picked up work as a bodyguard-for-hire. I worked for some defense attorney who got rich by helping wealthy criminals go free. How I went from defending the country on the outside, to protecting a guy who helped it fall apart on the inside, I’ll never know. Anyway, it was my second day on the job and I was assigned to the attorney’s daughter, Allison Copeland: tall, blond, and barely old enough to drink. A real heartbreaker. When she first saw me in the foyer of her dad’s house, she cocked an eyebrow and put her hand on my captain’s arm.

“Joe, looks like a lover boy got through.”

“Naw, Ally, his name’s Cash; he’s new meat. He’s assigned to you tonight.”

With a surprised “oh” and a smile, she walked right up to me, the heels of her shoes clacking. She flashed a smile that nearly killed me, and said those words, the words that keep running through my mind, day and night: “All you have to do,” she paused, “is keep me alive.” She said it like it was a challenge between us, like we were ten and she just bet me that she could beat me to the cookies. She gave me a wink, flipped her hair, and went back to getting ready. I don’t know what else she could have done to make herself look any better; if I wasn’t on the job, I would’ve been trying to pick her up anyway. As it was, the marines had taught me a thing or two about staying focused on the job.

Mr. Copeland had assigned three of us to Ally that night. We were to escort the girl to a concert, and then back home safely, easy thing. The only problem was, her dad had just gotten a pretty crappy guy out of a life sentence, and most folks were none too happy about it. We got Ally to the concert fine, easy, like I said, and even got her pizza on the way home. She didn’t talk much; not to her bodyguards anyway, and if she did, it was to the two other guys. I guess she had just known them longer.

She did talk to me once, though, but all she said was, “You can relax, loverboy. It’s not like I’m going to die tonight.”

I couldn’t relax though--it wasn’t in my nature, not when her safety depended on it. I still wonder if there was something I could have done to prevent it all; you know, made her sit on the passenger side or something. After some digging, they found out that the guy who hit us had a brother that got messed over by the guy Ally’s dad had gotten out of jail, or something like that. He was one of those ‘none too happy’ people, I guess. All I know is, out of nowhere, bright lights flashed through the drivers’-side windows, and then we were moving sideways, rocking upside down and spinning.

The paramedics said Ally and Joe were dead when they got there. The other bodyguard walked away ok, but I was stuck in the hospital for a week. It wasn’t until after I got out that I learned about Ally. Her dad didn’t even sound sad when he told me he was going to bust the guy. He just sounded really angry. Regardless, he said I could keep my job if I wanted it, since he was officially short a guy anyway.

Honestly, protecting Ally’s dad was a lot more like I expected it to be: simple. My life seemed to finally go back to the way I’d wanted it to be, with the exception of those words, taunting me whenever they could.

But then I saw Ally again. I’m not talking open-casket funeral, or something. I’m talking Ally, moving around and lifelike. When I first saw her...again...she was sitting on the counter in her father’s kitchen filing her nails, wearing a pure white skirt and shirt, one leg over the other like nobody’s business. Something seemed different, but I couldn’t put a finger on it.

“It’s about time you showed up.” She said, sliding off the counter. “I was starting to worry that I’d fail my first day on the job.”

“What...what’re you doing here? Who are you? You can’t possibly be--”

“Ally? Oh, I am. And yes, I really am dead. See, there really is a big guy upstairs, and he decided that I’m one of the lucky ones. Since my life was cut short, and by no fault of my own, I get a little bit of a second chance. I’ve officially been put on protective duty, and I’ve been assigned to you. Funny, huh?”

“This can’t be real. So you’re like...like my guardian angel?”

Ally winced. “Not quite. I never exactly earned the halo in my life. It’ll take a bit of work before I’m a full angel. Think of me as...as a ghost. Until I show up all in white and growing wings, anyway.”

“No. No way. I’m insane. I hit my head in the crash; I must have. You’re not real.”

I tried to leave, but as soon as I turned around, she was standing in the doorway.

“You may be crazy.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, you chose to go out and get shot at for four years, and then you chose to put yourself in the line of fire for, of all people, my father. Why any sane person would do that on purpose is completely beyond me. Regardless, I’m stuck with you now. Or maybe, you’re stuck with me. And yeah, I’m really here.”

I looked for another exit, but she was everywhere I looked.

“Am...I the only one who can see you?”

“As far as I know. It’s not like I’ve ever done this before.”

“And...how long are you sticking around for?”

“Wish I knew. I also wish I knew what I’m supposed to be doing down here. They just said, ‘look after that guy, and use the time to think’. Because that’s helpful. So I guess I’m just supposed to follow you around, encourage you to do good stuff, and warn you if I see a train coming.”

I tried to decide if I was going to believe her, or if I was going to ignore her and see a shrink, when my new team captain walked in.

“Cash, boss is going out tonight, so you get to head out early.” He said. If he saw Ally, and how could you not? then he wasn’t surprised to see her there. I started to wonder if maybe Ally really hadn’t died in the crash, and everyone else was just trying to screw with me. I glanced back at her, but she just smiled and shrugged.

“Alright, thanks.” I walked past my captain and out the front door.

Once I was on my motorcycle and heading home, I decided that I had just had a strange hallucination, and I’d never see Ally again. I convinced myself that I was probably just running a fever or something, and the cool air and the fast bike were helping to clear my head. I believed what I was telling myself, and I was ready to accept the whole thing. I parked my bike and walked up the steps to my apartment, with no plans except to grab a coke and find a game on tv. When I flipped on my light, the first thing I saw was the bright splash of white on my faded blue couch.

“Do you know how many deaths are caused by motorcycles each year? You really don’t want to make my job easy, do you?”

Guess I wasn’t getting away from Ally any time soon.