Heather didn't have another second to think before she was hurled against the wall opposite to the door. The pain spread quickly throughout her back, making her wonder if she had managed to finally break her back. The pain was slowly beginning to fade, but before Heather could recover fully, she was picked up by the invisible force once more and thrown at the door. Her shoulder slammed into the wood and she let out a cry in pain.
"Heather?" a voice called out through the door. It was Erik and he was trying to open the door frantically, the door and knob shaking with his effort. "Heather, open the door." Another voice, Raven, cried out, "Heather, what's wrong? Its just us. Heather, please open the door." She wanted to tell them the truth, that a mad ghost was going nuts on her at the moment, but instead she made the mistake of looking in front of her.
Heather couldn't breathe; she couldn't move, she couldn't think straight and she couldn't understand. "No," her voice came out as a whimper as she tried to scoot closer to the door and further away from him, "No, this isn't possible."
He looked the same way he had when she had helped kill him. His pig like eyes, his wrinkled skin, his thin face, and his fancy black suit that looked remotely clean - except for the large dark stain on the front and back, right where his heart was.
"Anything is possible," Shaw said in the furiously calm voice of his, "You should know that by now, my dear." He walked closer to her, a dark flare in his eyes, and Heather desperately tried to move away from his touch, but he simply tsked like she was a small child. "You know, after the little trick you pulled in Cuba, it took me a while to get my strength up and to get used to these - new powers." Ina blink of an eye, Heather found herself sailing across the room, striking the far wall once more.
"Heather!" Raven and Erik continued to bang on the door, but it was no use. Heather wiped away the tears streaming down her face, desperate for Shaw not to see, but by the wicked smile on his face, she knew he had seen. "And now," Shaw continued, "That I'm strong once more, I'm going to kill you."
Heather's breathing quickened, as she scrambled away. She was going to die, oh god, she was going to die for real this time. Shaw was going to kill her and then probably kill Erik and Raven or make them find her body, oh god. He took another step towards her and Heather screamed out, "Stop!" To her surprise, the lights flickered once more and the warmth inside of her shot out through her fingertips. Shaw yelped and Heather's eyes widened. She had used her astral manipulation to hurt Shaw, hurt a ghost. Never before had she been able to do that.
Seeing that Shaw was disorientated at the moment, she saw it as the perfect (and only) moment to banish him.
She had learned the trick at age six, when a mean ghost - a demon, she would later realize - tormented her for a month: pulling her pigtails, scratching her back and legs, whispering evil words, and even pushing her mother down the stairs at one point. She had looked the demon in the eyes - its horrid red eyes - and told it strongly to go away. It took multiple times for it to work but it did. And it never came back.
She looked Shaw straight in his pig like eyes and said, "I banish you." For one second, nothing happened and Shaw furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. But slowly, the shadows of the room left their normal positions and came together, before wrapping themselves around Shaw and dragging him towards the center of the room. The mansion began to rock wildly, things falling from their sleeves, some shattering, as Shaw began to scream and desperately reach out for something to hold onto, but it was no use to fight against them.
There was no turning back now.
They dragged him through the floor and Heather winced and covered her ears as Shaw's scream turned into an inhuman howl of rage and pain. The mansion stilled suddenly and the scream faded away, but Heather didn't move her hands from her ears, the sound of the scream still bouncing around in her head.
She heard the door slam open and the other run into the room, but she didn't move her hands until she felt Charles gently remove them from her ears himself. They all crowded around her, their faces pale and scared but mainly worried. Raven pushed her way through the crowd, a wet rag in her hand. She pressed the cold cloth against her nose, which Heather began to realize was bleeding once more. "What the hell happened?" Sean asked in bewilderment.
Heather paused for a moment, wiping the sticky blood away from her mouth before responding. "Shaw - he came back." All of their eyes widened and Erik looked so angry, like he was seriously ready to go beat up a ghost. "He's gone now," she quickly added, "He's not coming back, ever."
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After taking a shower and having Hank check over her back and shoulder, saying she'd just be sore for a few days, Heather went back to her room, wanting to be free of everyone's watchful stares. She was glad they were looking out for her, don't get her wrong, but she was tired and she just wanted to be alone for a little bit.
But of course, she was only alone for a total of three minutes before Edie appeared. Heather let out a sigh, but sat up from underneath her covers. "How are you feeling?" Edie questioned, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Tired. And a little annoyed." Edie raised her eyebrow, and Heather continued, "I just - they're all acting like I'm going to collapse at any moment. Like - like I'm weak. I'm not weak, Edie."
"I know you're not," Edie said in a comforting voice, "And they know you're not. They were just scared of losing you. And when you're scared of something, you do stupid stuff."
Heather gave a small smile, leaning her head down on Edie's shoulder, as the older woman patted her back comfortingly. They were silent for a moment, before Heather decided to open her big mouth. "I wish we could figure out what's keeping you here."
Edie was silent before she slowly said, "I know."
"Maybe - what was your last words to Erik?"
"I told him everything would be alright," Edie answered, not missing a beat. Heather's heart hurt a little at that, but asked. "Anything else?" Edie shook her head before adding, "I wanted to say more but I got cut off." That caught Heather's attention.
"You got cut off?"
Edie nodded once more and Heather could have done a victory dance. "Edie!" She laughed, "I think - You just need to talk to Erik, you know, finish up your last words, and you'll be free!"
"But Erik can't see or hear me."
"Just leave it to me."
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Charles had told her anything was possible if she used her astral manipulation.
Heather held Patrick closer to her chest and closed her eyes, Charles giving her an odd look. "What are you - "
" - Shhh, I'm trying to concentrate. "
Charles fell quiet, as Heather took a deep breath and tried to think of happy memories. She thought of her mother's funeral, standing at the graveyard alone, an orphan at the age of seventeen. She thought of how the Morans welcomed her into their home afterwards, how it was such a change from her home. Her home had been so cold and lifeless for years, but at the Moran home - there were babies crying, small children giggling and playing, and laughter throughout.
Mr. Moran - an abusive drunk - had left a year before and life had blossomed throughout the house, despite Mrs. Moran being left to care for their seventeen children on her own, with only a small teaching paycheck to support them. At first, it had been chaos for Heather. She tried to help with the cooking and cleaning, but all together she felt cramped and useless. Over the year she lived them, however, she began to feel more like a member of the family, more like child number eighteen.
The familiar warmth spread through out her, but instead of turning into a zap, it slowly made it's way to her arms, where Patrick was sleeping, and gently exited through there. She peeked through her eyes at Charles' face to find him - staring back and forth between her and Patrick in shock.
He could see him.
Charles could see Patrick.
If she didn't have a sleeping baby in her arms, Heather would have jumped and whooped in happiness. Instead, she bit her lip, hoping to contain her squeals of joy. She stepped forward, offering the infant to Charles. "Patrick," she whispered, "Meet Charles. Charles, meet Patrick."
Charles looked at her cautiously before taking the tiny boy in his arms carefully. "He's real," Charles mumbled, "He's - he's really real." It was then that Heather realized that by learning she could make ghosts visible, she wasn't just helping Erik or Edie, she was also helping Charles. Charles had finally met the brother he never got to know.
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New laptop! It only took a month to get but it's worth it! School's also out for summer, so I'm going to write more!
Holy shit! There's only one more chapter for this story! Can you believe it?