“Anyone can send accidental unconscious visitors back to Earth—they’re just an admin error.” She shrugs as if it’s no big deal that she literally just disappeared a whole entire beautiful and interested-in-me human. “But for people who areactuallysupposed to be here? No can do.”
I sink down onto one of the plastic chairs.
“I’m sorry.” Merritt grimaces. “You two really did have some kind of spark, right? Were you holding hands? Even though you only just met? That’s bonkers. What a shame he had to go. For you, I mean. He’s a very popular man on Earth, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
I bury my head in my hands and let out a low groan. This is what eternity looks like? Stuck with this woman?
“Oh, wait a hot sec…” Merritt says thoughtfully. “What if I…? Maybe I could…And then you would go back and…No…it wouldn’t work…Hmmmm, unless…”
I lift my head, ears pricked up like a dog’s. “What did you just say? Maybe I could go back what? What wouldn’t work? What are you thinking?”
Merritt plops down onto a chair opposite me and taps her beringed hands against her thighs. “Well, I guess there is the Franklin Bellamy Clause. Maybe that could work…”
“The Franklin Bellamy Clause? What’s the Franklin Bellamy Clause?”
Merritt pushes her glasses up her nose and sits forward in her seat. “So. There’s a clause in the Evermore handbook,written by this higher-up called Franklin Bellamy. It was back in the nineteen nineties, I think. He introduced a rule stating that within three hours of arrival—providing they’re not yet known to be deceased—a Dead can be sent back to Earth by an Afterlife Therapist. Under certain conditions, of course.”
“What conditions?”
“They can return to carry out an important favour for a staff member. If they do it, the Dead gets to remain on Earth.”
“They get to stay alive?”
“If they successfully complete the given task, yes. Franklin Bellamy created the clause so that he could have someone return to Earth and tell the woman set to cure IBS in 2028 that she had a carbon monoxide leak in her apartment. He prevented her death, and in 2028, the world will become a happier and more comfortable place for many.”
“Why didn’t he just go back himself? If he had that kind of power? Why did he need to send someone else to go?”
Merritt rolls her eyes. “Did you not hear me, babe? There has to be a provision of the returning Dead not yet being recognised as deceased. Can you imagine? Me rocking up on Earth after being gone for five years? As careful as I might be, there’s always the chance that someone who knew me might see me wandering about. It would be a potential disaster in the very fabric of space and time, not to mention highly embarrassing.” She shudders at the thought.
“So you can only get new Deads…I mean…arrivals to do the ‘favour.’ ”
“Yeah. The rules are that it can only be done once, it needs to be for something important, and it can never directly involve someone you knew on Earth.”
“Why not?”
Merritt’s eyes widen. “Oh, if we were able to manipulate the outcomes of those we knew and loved on Earth, it would send us crazy. Everyone would break the rules and risk revealing the existence of Evermore. Nightmare!”
“Do you still have your send-back?” I ask, almost breathless.
Merritt nods. “Yeah, I’ve been saving it.”
“For what?”
“For bargaining power, what else?” She raises an eyebrow. “We can gift our send-backs to other staff members, trade them for promotions or perks. As long as I hold on to mine, then I have a little something in my back pocket, should I ever need it.”
I stand up. “Don’t save your send-back! Use it on me!” I glance at a pink digital clock on the wall. “I’ve only been here about two hours, right? There’s still time for me to go back! You must be able to think of a favour I can do for you! Anything. I want to live! I’ll do anything at all!”
Merritt bunches her mouth up for a moment and then lifts her chin, her eyes lit up. “You’ll do anything?”
“Yes,” I shout. “Anything you want!”
Merritt glances towards another door before scooching right to the edge of her chair, her face close enough that I can smell the cookie on her breath.
“Okay, I might have a little idea but…” She trails off and lowers her voice. “But the other therapists would not like it…”
“I thought you said you could run rings around those old guys?”
Merritt nods quickly, her curls bouncing in time. She presses her teeth over her bottom lip. “I did. I did say that. And I totally can. Evermore is very much like Earth: a bunch of old men in charge, all so stuck in their ways. Heaven help anyone who actually tries toinnovate, to bring a little modernity to this place.”
