"Hadley. Wake up. You can't stay asleep much longer. Come on, Hadley Jamison."
I let out a groan and tried to ignore the annoying voice that was speaking. I was blissfully numb and felt nothing. I didn't have a care in the world. I found I much preferred it this way.
It was relaxing. I definitely deserved to relax.
"Hadley. Wake up."
I cracked open an eye and let out a shout when I came face to face with Death. He was leaning over the bed I was lying on and there was a very sad look in his eyes.
Wait. Back up a second. Bed?
"Take it easy for a second, Hadley," Death cautioned me.
I scooted upright and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.
The room I was in was small and bare of anything and painted white. Apart from the bed I was sitting on, there was nothing else. I was shocked to find that I was wearing the same clothes I'd been wearing earlier that day, the day I was hit by the car.
Where was I?
"Death," I said, looking over at him. "What happened?"
Death blew out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "You died, Hadley," he said softly.
I remembered the sound of squealing tires and the sensation of being thrown into the air, but nothing else.
"I was hit by a car," I said slowly. "Wasn't I?"
Death nodded, slipping his hands into his pockets.
"By Havoc."
"Yes."
I knew I should have been shocked by the news that I was dead. But instead I just felt resigned.
In the end, my fate had been inevitable, hadn't it? Death was right. Havoc would have gotten to me sooner or later, whether or not Archer took his life.
"He must really not like me," I said to Death with a frown.
"It's not that, Hadley," Death said, leaning up against the wall. "It's more that he can't stand what you were fighting for."
"And what was that?" I asked confusedly.
Death gave a smile and looked sort of embarrassed. "Love."
"Oh."
Love. It seemed like a funny word to toss around in a conversation after everything that had just happened. It was something that didn't make much sense and maybe was a little more trouble than it was worth.
But it had been totally worth it. Even if the last words Archer and I shared weren't exactly too pleasant. At least he knew I cared about him. At least he was alright.
"So Archer's safe now," I said. "Right?"
Death didn't say anything. He stared at me with a cool look that gave nothing away and that did not bode well with me at all.
"Death!" I exclaimed. "Please tell me! Is Archer going to be okay?"
He leaned away from the wall with a sigh and offered out a hand to me. "Come on, Hadley. We have a lot of things to discuss."
"Hey! I'm not going anywhere with you until you - "
Death grasped my hand and pulled me off the bed to my feet. My knees buckled and I almost hit the floor. My legs felt like jelly and I was suddenly very light headed.
"Ah, sorry," Death said sheepishly. "I forgot. The first few minutes after waking up are a little rough."
"No kidding," I gasped out. "Gimme a hand here."
Death wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me up against his side and lead me towards the door.
"Where are we going?" I asked. "If this is heaven, it's kind of boring."
We had just stepped out of the room into a narrow hallway with white walls and pristine linoleum tiled floors. Looking to both sides, I saw that the hallway seemed to stretch on and on in both directions, leading to nowhere.
It was kind of creepy.
"No, this isn't heaven," Death said, dragging me along to the right. "Come on."
"So this is hell?"
Death stopped walking and cut his eyes to me in a not so funny expression. "Stop asking questions."
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."
I'd just gotten hit by a car. I was dead. The least I deserved was answers.
Death continued to tug me down the hallway, on and on until he stopped outside a door with intricate carvings etched into the wood and a huge brass doorknob.
Death gave me no warning at all concerning what was about to happen before he pushed open the door and ushered me inside.
"What the - "
I was standing in a large conference room. It had a long, fancy table that took up most of the room with leather chairs placed around it. There was a window at the far end of the room, but instead of showing off some sort of scenery, all I could see was fog.
What was most surprising wasn't the room itself. It was the man who was sitting at the table.
I could tell by the way he was sitting in his chair that he was tall. His hair was dark, his eyes were bright blue, and he was rather handsome. I'd never met this man before, but I had a feeling I knew who he was.
"Hello, Hadley," the man said, getting to his feet. "I can't say I'm exactly pleased to be meeting you under these circumstances, but I'm glad to see you."
"Right," I said shakily. "Who are you?"
The man gave a slight smile. "Chris Morales."
I stood there for several moments, staring at Chris Morales with my mouth hanging open. I'd never seen any picture of Chris before, but April, May, and June slightly resembled him; their lips, the shape of their eyes.
"Do have a seat, Hadley," Death cut in, giving me a nudge as he passed me.
Somehow I managed to stumble my way into a chair beside Death, across the table from Chris Morales.
I was still having a hard time believing that I was actually staring at Chris Morales. I'd heard so much about him, yet it felt oddly like he wasn't real.
This was just too surreal.
"Why are you here?" I asked Chris, thankful my voice wasn't shaking anymore.
"To thank you," Chris told me. "For everything you've done for my family."
"I haven't really done much," I said quickly. "I think I messed things up more than anything."
June had gotten hurt. Regina had gotten even more hurt. From the outside it may have looked like Archer had gotten better, but it wasn't like I could be sure about it.
Chris gave a short laugh, shaking his head. "No. No, you didn't."
"How can you be sure?" I asked him shrewdly. "You're dead, aren't you?"
"I am," Chris agreed. "But that doesn't mean I can't see a few things going on down there with my family."
"But I - "
"What you've done, Hadley, has made all the difference in the world," Chris cut me off, leaning forward. "You don't know how my wife and Archer were before I died. You probably wouldn't even recognize them if you had the chance to go back and meet them. From what I've seen, Archer really would've killed himself. And I think it was you who changed his mind, made him see reason."
I felt stupid that tears were running down my cheeks. I didn't want to talk about Archer. As much as I was sure he was going to be alright, that he was going to be there for his family, it was...painful to think about him.
I wasn't ever going to see Archer again. I wasn't ever going to talk to him, scowl at him or laugh with him or tease him. I wasn't ever going to be able to kiss him again.
I thought I could do this. I didn't regret anything, but I most certainly underestimated how much this would hurt.
"Really?" I sniffed, running my jacket sleeve underneath my nose. "He always seems so...put out. Even when we were having a good time together."
"You can hardly blame the boy," Death cut in. "He hasn't had it easy."
"I think you showed him the future that he could have," Chris said thoughtfully. "A future he never thought he wanted."
"And what future would that be?" I asked.
Archer had said himself that he didn't even know what he wanted to do with his life. How could Chris know?
"Settling down and starting a family," Chris answered. "Finding out what he really wants to do in life - what he's passionate about."
Archer hadn't wanted that future with me, had he?
"And Regina..." Chris continued, his voice starting to twist with pain. "You showed her that she didn't have to be afraid anymore. That she could let go. You gave my girls an older sister, which they've probably needed for awhile now."
I sat back in amazement, hardly believing what I was hearing.
"So, yes, Hadley," Death said to me. "You helped them. You did good, kid."
"I just never expected I'd end up dying at sixteen," I admitted. "I wanted to go to college and get married and have kids and...live."
"I know," Chris agreed. "But there's a special place here for people who give their lives for others."
"That there is," Death said quietly.
I leaned my head back against the chair and blew out a sigh.
This story had come to an end.
Archer was going to live. The triplets and Regina were going to be fine. I sincerely hoped that Victoria was going to recover from her heart attack as well as possible. Everything had gone according to plan - kind of - and there was nothing else to it.
I felt satisfied and pleased, happy that everything was going to be okay, but also very, very sad.
I hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye.
"So now what?" I asked Death and Chris. "Now what's supposed to happen?"
"I can't answer that," Chris said with a small smile. "It's up to you."
What did he mean, it was up to me? I was dead, wasn't I?
"It's up to me," I repeated slowly. "What do you mean? I'm dead."
"True," Death and Chris said in unison.
"But don't think this is over yet," Death said, a slight grin working its way onto his face.
"Oh, God," I groaned, my head falling into my hands. "What's going to happen next? I'm going to be Satan's mistress or something?"
Death just stared at me with a blank expression while Chris tactfully disguised a laugh as a loud cough.
"No," Death said exasperatedly. "You have a choice to make."
"And what choice is that?" I asked, trying hard not to be sarcastic.
I'd heard this before - and especially from Death. For the time being, I was done making choices.
"You can choose to stay dead," Death told me in a serious voice. "Although there's no guarantee Archer won't be joining you in the very near future. Or you can choose to go back."
"Go back? Go back?" My eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates and my mouth was hanging open. "It's that easy? I just go back?"
"If you want," Death assured me. "Christopher here probably wouldn't mind company if you decided to stay.."
Chris shot Death a narrow-eyed, angry look. Neither of them looked very happy and I was worried for a second they were going to start fighting.
"That's not funny," Chris snapped. "She's sixteen. She deserves to live."
That did give me an idea.
"Death..." I looked over at him cautiously. "Is there any way Chris can go back instead of me?"
As much as I desperately wanted to go back and live, wouldn't it serve the Morales family better if it were Chris instead of me that came back?
"No."
It was both Chris and Death that spoke at the same time.
"It...wouldn't be right," Chris said slowly, a pained look coming over his face. "I've been dead for five years. As much as I want to see my girls and be with my wife and son, it wouldn't be fair to anyone."
"It's not fair that you were killed!" I piped up. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, Chris. You didn't deserve it. Regina and the girls and Archer really miss you. They still need you."
"It's against the laws of nature," Death said with a sigh. "Chris is right. It would be too difficult. Memories would have to be erased. Archer's father would have to be released from prison. There's too much involvement to go unnoticed."
"But thank you," Chris said, looking at me. "I mean it."
I did my best to give Chris a cheerful smile before I looked to Death again.
"So...I can go back?" I said. "I can go back right now?"
Death's grin widened. "I take it that's your decision."
"Yes!" I half-shouted. "I want to go back!"
"Very well, then," Death said wtih a nod. "You can go back."
I let out a relieved sigh, but not before turning back to Chris.
"Don't worry," Chris said before I could say anything. "It's the right thing to do. Your parents need you. Regina and the girls need you. Archer needs you."
His smile was genuine as he looked at me, and I could tell that Chris Morales really was a kindhearted, compassionate person - the type of person you only meet once in your life.
"Thank you, Chris," I said, my voice quiet. "I'm glad I met you."
"And you, Hadley. Look after our family, okay?"
I couldn't help but smile at that. "Will do."
"Ready?" Death asked, getting to his feet with a heavy sigh.
"Right," I said quickly, standing.
"But first - "
Before I could react, Death reached over and gripped my shoulder tightly, and then my vision slid violently out of focus as a scene played out across my eyes - something only I could see.
It ended just as quickly as it had begun, but it was enough to make me grip the table for support and wait for the room to stop spinning.
"What was that?" I asked Death weakly.
"Just a little preview," Death said, sounding oddly satisfied.
"You mean that's going to come true?" I gasped, my eyes widening. "Are you serious?"
"It just might," he said with a smirk. "But you never know, do you? Things change all the time."
I knew first hand just how true that was.
I managed to wave to Chris and tell him goodbye before Death gripped my shoulder again.
Then I knew nothing at all anymore.
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The story's winding down!! D: what do you guys think? I think I'm going to go back and edit this part later. See if I can find anything to change.
Comments and votes are appreciated! and especially with this chapter. Like, really.