"You said I killed you--haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe--I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!"
•°•°•°•°•
I told you to haunt me, to drive me mad. I begged you.
I didn't believe you'd listen to me. I thought you were dead, gone forever. But i forgot that for two people whose souls are joined eternally into one, there is no gone. There is no separation for two entwined entities. Oh, Cathy. Haunt me. Your ghost will be my life, my savior, and my last sight. Make life easy for me.
"Heath--" Before he could let the speaker finish the word, Heathcliff screamed. It was a blood-curdling, heart-shattering scream, one that could haunt a feeler forever.
"My dear Heathcliff..." Cathy sobbed. Infectious pain was etched into the crannies of her face, bleeding into the nooks of Heathcliff's heart, digging deep into his heart like an especially pointed knife.
"Cathy? Cathy, is that you?" He knew it was her, it had to be, and yet... "Have you come to haunt me, my life?" Who knew being haunted could be a beautiful, sweet feeling?
"My dear, i've come to atone in earnest. I hurt you. I left you. I married another man. You loved me and yet... Yet i left you. I ruined you. Left you with nothing." Cathy was weeping now, looking like the haunted. Deep apologies danced across the outlines of her face.
"My love, you need not. You have nothing to atone for."
"You are wonderful." Her eyes were nothing but awe.
"How do you look so beautiful, Cathy?"
"Do i? Only now do i look beautiful?"
"From the moment i laid eyes on you as a boy till now, i haven't seen someone nearly as beautiful. But you look doubly beautiful now. Have you been to heaven?"
"Oh my, i have! In fact, i am too. I think it makes a person more beautiful, does it not? Ah, Heathcliff, heaven is wonderful!"
"You don't look happy, however." Heathcliff leaned closer and searched her face. "What's the matter?"
"I miss you. I miss you earnestly."
"I miss you, too, Cathy. Profoundly. Now you have come to haunt me. You will stay too, will you not?"
"Oh, dear. I wish."
"Please, Cathy. I cannot bear to let you go again."
"I can visit you sometimes." Cathy looked at him with a wounded look then. "But, Heathcliff, you have missed the point entirely."
Heathcliff looked at her, confusion evident in his eyes.
"For me to be with you, you don't have to be able to see me, or my ghost. I'm in your heart. Our souls are entwined. You know this. Ask yourself this: Why are you so restless? You will not let go of me. You will let go of the obsession to be able to see me. Do you understand, darling?"
"Cathy," he breathed, stunned, unable to form words. All this while he had been torturing himself, and for what?
Catherine was right.
Of course she was.
He had been so blind by his grief that he didn't realize their love was always reciprocated and there was no barrier between them. If his heart belonged to her then her heart belonged to him. It had all worked out in the end.
So what if she wasn't there to be looked at anymore?
It should not matter.
But it still cut through him.
The thought of letting her go for good cut through him with an unfathomable intensity.
Catherine knew he was processing this information, and that it was hard for him. She stayed there with him, silently, patiently, waiting for him to come to terms with this.
"I understand." Heathcliff finally looked up at her. "I was so stupid. I knew you loved me, even if you were married to that... But now i understand that you are always with me."
"Ah, dear. Thankyou. Now i can finally stop worrying about you."
Heathcliff held her hands in his and looked into her eyes, tears running down his cheeks. "Yes." He paused. "Goodbye, Cathy."