The Holes in the Surface

Chapter 3

~Image not mine~

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Frank could remember the pain, could remember feeling as if every breath would be his last. But as he laid there in the quiet of the darkness, he felt peace. Complete peace. He hadn't left anything behind, had no fears of where he was going. He just let himself relax in the warm darkness he currently was floating in.

Yet all things must pass, as they said. He found himself becoming more aware, found the darkness had started to disappear. As he started to worry about where he was and what had happened, he felt a hand on his forehead. A soft touch, a loving touch. A touch he knew all too well. "Hazel...?"

"Frank." he opened his eyes to Hazel's face above him. "Frank, thank God. Nico was right."

"Nico...?" Frank's eyes moved to the teenager sitting next to his girlfriend. Pale skin, dark eyes, a noose mark around his neck. "Hazel... Who is that?"

"Nico. It's okay, he's my new friend." Hazel pulled him so he was sitting up. "It's...it's all okay, now. We're okay."

"Are...are we...?"

Hazel nodded. "We...we died...but we're okay. Don't you feel it? No pain. Nothing like that. We're with each other and we're okay."

Nico watched the two lovers, frowning when he saw Frank already become transparent. He didn't know much about this stuff, didn't know much considering that he had only seen one ghost and that was himself. Could they vanish? Why would they?

"Nico was here when I woke up," Hazel told Frank. "He explained things to me. He's really nice."

Frank grabbed her hand. "You're sure you're okay?"

Hazel nodded. "I promise. No more pain..." She grinned. "Sad that I'm happy to be dead, huh? As long as I'm with you."

Nico sighed. "Yeah, yeah. You love each other. Whatever."

Hazel would have blushed if she was still alive. "Nico... You're just jealous that you don't have anyone."

"That's probably true." Nico let his legs slide through the floor, smirking at the looks on their faces. "Are you ready to come to the third floor with me or do you want to watch all these gross humans all the time?"

"Third floor it is." Hazel looked to Frank. "Are you okay?"

Frank nodded. "Finding it hard to...to just keep my hand in yours..." He looked to Nico. "Why do I feel like I'm going to disappear?"

Nico shrugged. "We'll find out. Just come with me."

"We'll...we'll find out?" Hazel asked. "You're the ghost here."

"And now you are, too." Nico held his hands out to them. "Come on, let's go upstairs. I hate it down here."

Hazel sighed. "You're picky."

"So I've been told."