Lucifer [Louis] [On Hold]

06 | M e m o r i e s

AS SOON AS MELANIE CLOSED her eyes, she felt as if the earth had fallen away from her feet. Her stomach erupted with butterflies as she felt herself being spun around, almost as if she were floating in mid air. Her eyes remained shut, and Louis's hands were still holding her gently by the shoulders, his fingers digging into her skin.

Through her eyelids, Melanie could see colours flashing constantly, as if she were standing watching fireworks being set off. The brightness only increased until all she could see was white. She slowly opened her eyes - and gasped.

She was back at Rachel's party, and the room was crowded with her high-school friends. But there was something wrong - everything was in black and white like in The Beyond. Melanie frowned and looked around at the grey figures moving to the music and the way they seemed to move in slow motion.

"So, this was the party, huh?" Melanie turned as Louis spoke. He was leaning against the doorway, and she noticed that only the two of them were in colour, just like before.

"Are we still in The Beyond?" Melanie questioned, slowly reaching out to touch the shoulder of her friend, Chrissy. She frowned as her hand went right through her. "Am I a ghost now?"

"In a way," Louis said as he pushed himself away from the door. "This is  your memories, Melanie. We're both inside your head."

"This is crazy," Melanie muttered. "What are we doing here? I thought I was supposed to remember how I died?"

"You are - this is how it works. Your memories fix themselves in your mind like a jigsaw, and when you're ready, you re-live those memories as you are now - a ghost, as you put it. You'll re-live everything over again, but this time you'll remember everything because you'll be watching it. It's almost like watching TV with yourself as the main role."

"Sounds complex," Melanie muttered as she moved through the dancing bodies. Literally, through them. She jumped multiple times as someone walked towards her and disappeared right through her. It was nerve-wracking being helpless and stuck in a ghostly land. "So, I have to find myself at the party and follow myself until I die, correct?"

"Pretty much," Louis said as he followed her. "Once you find out, we'll be back in The Beyond and I'll offer you the choice I mentioned before."

"Live or die," Melanie said, more so to herself than to him. As she looked around the busy house, a smile came to her face when she saw Michael - alive Michael - moving through the crowd to his girlfriend. Melanie had seen that happen not too long before Rachel had offered to drive her home. "Creepy case of déjà vu right there," she muttered and Louis laughed from behind her.

"Where were you at this time?" he asked her and she let out a sigh.

"I was drunk, Louis," she answered. "How am I supposed to remember?"

"You were able to remember the party and leaving with Rachel," he stated and Mel shrugged. Yes, she had been able to remember those things but only because they were so fresh in her mind. She didn't keep a record of where she was every second of the day.