Hi All,
So this chapter comes with a warning... It has a massive cliff hanger and I would advise you to wait a bit because I'm still busy on the second part and i'm not sure when i'll be done.
But...
If you want you can read it, just know that you have been warned. Dun, dun, duuuunnnnn.....
Until next time, which is hopefully soon...
This is steph :)
Bye-bye
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(Recap)
“All this time you have been seeing ghosts and you said nothing to us?’
“I knew there was something up with you.” Van said looking at me like she was studying me or something.
“Oh snap, you’re the ghost chaser.” Vicky said getting excited at the thought of me being the ghost chaser.
Just then there was a knock on the door and we had to open because the lady said she was going to call security. We picked something up at the drive through and went to the lake to be alone and chat. We hadn’t done that in ages and it was good to have someone to talk to, it lessened the burden.
Now I just have to deal with the bunch of ghosts that are after me, then I should be okay.
Just another day in the life of Violet Spenser.
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Chapter 22
It has been a month since my mom started home care and a month since I let Vicky and Van in on my secret. So far they were a massive help, they never brought up the cinema incident, even though it was now officially a youtube video hit. Complete with a soundtrack and it has also hit number 21 of best freak outs on rude tube. Luckily it was dark, so no-one from school or anyone in my town, recognized me but it didn’t stop people from talking about it.
It was three weeks till the Autumn ball and Ethan still hadn’t asked me to be his date, I was starting to think that he never will. I marched angrily to my locker to shove my books in it. Even the Scott asked Vicky to the dance, unfortunately Dean asked Amy Sander’s and Van was really upset about it, seen as she thought they had a thing for each other. She said that, that was it, she was through waiting for him and she wasn’t about to ask him out because it looked like he didn’t even care for her. He might have just been messing her around for the past two years, so I really couldn’t talk to her about it, even though she was our group cupid, and she always gave the best advice on what to do in situations like this, but right now she was anti love and boys. So she was out of the question.
I was at my locker, putting away my English text book and swapping it for my biology and French because I had those two lessons up next after my free period, which was right now, when I heard someone from behind my locker door say,
“Violet can we talk?” I closed the door and saw that it was emo Shaun, and he was looking a little sad. I hadn’t seen him since the time he ran off after accusing me of playing a mean joke on him.
“Erm… okay, I have a free period coming up. Just let me finish up here.” He nodded but said nothing else.
When I was done I turned to him to let him know that I was ready to listen to whatever he needed to say, but he seemed to be lost in his thoughts, idly playing with an elastic band, while looking down at the ground.
“Shaun? Are you ready?” I asked, mostly to snap him out of whatever daydream he was in.
“Yeah. Do you mind if we sit outside?”
“Nope, lead the way.” I said and we started walking.
We said nothing to each other the entire way there and when we had finally got to the bench outside, Shaun broke the awkward silence.
“I was thinking about my sister-“
“Shaun, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know that she was-“
“It’s okay Violet just hear me out.” I nodded and he continued, facing ahead of us as he spoke.
“I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately, well since you brought her up and I figured it out. You’re the ghost chaser-“ I opened my mouth to protest but her stopped me.
“Don’t deny it Vi, besides it’s the only thing that would make sense.” He shrugged, as if finding out someone from your class can see your dead sister was nothing new. He took a deep breath after a few minutes of silence and then said,
“I remember the day Anna died, like it was yesterday. I was invited to Lisa Marina’s party, it was the party that would have boosted my rep in the popular circles, it was the first time I was invited to one of her parties. I remember going to see Anna at the hospital before going to the party. I told her that I wouldn’t stay long, and that I would see her tomorrow instead. She asked me to stay with her, by then she had already had a high fever, but I didn’t want to stay, I really wanted to go. I thought it wasn’t a big deal, that the fever would pass and
I wanted to have fun, hang out with my friends and maybe meet some girls. So I still went out that night, telling Anna that she shouldn’t be a baby, that I would see her tomorrow. I went and switched my phone off, because my parents didn’t want me to go either, because it was a school night, but I wanted to be someone, I wanted to be apart of something bigger, so I had to be there. I snuck out and went to the party. I was out till about four in the morning, way pass drunk. I snuck back in and found my parents sitting in my room.
My mom and dad were crying and comforting each other. Right then I knew… I knew something was wrong, I remember getting this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I felt my body go numb as I neared them. My dad never cried, not once in my entire life had I seen him crying, but that night, he cried like a dam had burst and he couldn’t stop himself. I asked them what they were doing in my room and why they were crying, but I already knew why, deep down I knew why they where there and why they seemed not to care that I went to the party against their wishes and came home drunk.
My sister had died that night, her heart gave out and she died, they said that there were no signs and that her heart just stopped, it couldn’t withstand the onslaught the sickness had on her little body. The doctor’s had tried everything they could to bring her back and when they couldn’t, my parents tried to call me, my friends too but our phones were off, they said that she would never have wanted me to be sad, that she loved me and that everything was going to be okay.
They kept apologizing, trying to make me feel better, they said I didn’t know that this would be her last night and that I shouldn’t blame myself, but she knew, she had begged me to stay with her and I didn’t, I went to a stupid party instead. I wanted to be cool, to be apart of something bigger, instead I ended up losing so much more than what I thought a stupid party could offer me.
I realized that being cool and having a lot of friends weren’t important anymore, that all the energy I had spent trying to stay popular was a waste. I had let her down and I could never forgive myself for it. I just wanted to be someone, but I had ended up failing my little sister… so instead I became no-one. I got rid of everyone that was close to me and became the person I am today.” I looked over at Shaun, seeing him for the first time… really seeing him. This explained a lot and I felt so bad for him, the guilt that he had carried for more than two years over something that he didn’t know. I didn’t know how I would survive if the roles where swapped, and it was Lily that died and I who had ignored her plea for me to stay.
“Shaun, I’m so sorry you’ve been carrying this around all this time. What happened to Anna wasn’t your fault; you didn’t know that Anna would die that night.” I said, trying to comfort him, but he said nothing for a while, except stare out ahead of him. Then he spoke up,
“Ever since she died, I had felt so guilty that I had never stayed when she asked me to, that I wasn’t there with her when she died. For a while I had always felt like she was still around, like she hadn’t yet… passed on. I just miss her so much; there is nothing I wouldn’t do to see her one last time… to apologize for not being there when she died. I know it’s not my fault that she died, but it is my fault for not being there when she needed me most.” I didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel better. He believed beyond a doubt that he let his sister down and he was unforgivable, that nothing he did could ever make up for that.
“When I realized that you where the Ghost Chaser, I realized that I could see her again; ask her to forgive me for not being there and I was wondering if you could maybe help me talk to her. Just this one last time, please Violet, it would mean the world to me, if I just got one last chance to say good-bye and to let her know how sorry I am...”
“Shaun, I-I’m not even sure how to help you? I hadn’t found your sister the last few times; it’s more like she found me.”
“Please Violet, I’ll even pay you, I’ll do anything. Will you please help me?”
“Shaun, I don’t know. The hospital is-“
“What would you do if it had been you. If your little sister was the one to die and I could help. Please I’m begging you Vi.” He actually got down on his knees and put his hands together in a pleading way begging me me not only with his eyes but his whole body. I signed in defeat.
“Okay fine, but you need to get up. People might talk. When do you want to do this?” He smiled as he dusted off his knees and said,
“Can we do this today? Can we go now?” He asked facing me, his face lighting up.
“Well er-“
“Please Vi.”
“Okay fine, let’s go, but I need to be back for my next class.” He nodded and smiled a genuine smile, leaning over to give me a hug. I was a little stunned, mainly because this was the most emotion I had ever seen from emo Shaun, I don’t think that I had ever seen him smile before and I couldn’t help smiling and hugging him back .
After wasting no time, we drove in my busted up beetle to the hospital, Shaun was anxious, barely able to sit still, like a kid in a candy store.
When we got to the hospital we practically ran inside. Shaun turned to me excitement all over his face. I don’t think I had ever seen anyone this excited to be at a hospital before.
“So how do we do this? How does this work? Do we just call her name and she appears or is there a certain place she likes to hang out in?”
“Slow down. I’m not really sure how this works. Usually she finds me.”
“So what do we do in the mean time?”
“We can always just walk around, and talk about whatever.”
“Er…okay.”
I led him down the hallway towards my old room, where I had first seen Anna. I kept looking around, hoping to see her soon, before I ran into any other ghosts and find myself in a real mess.
“So how is it that you see ghosts? Have you always been able to see them?”
“No I haven’t, It All started after I got shot. I just know that before I was shot, I wasn’t able to see anything out of the ordinary, my life was pretty much normal and then after I got shot and woke up in this place, I was able to see them. I’m not sure about what happened between the shooting and me waking up in this place, but now I can see them as clearly as I see you.”
“Was Anna your first?” Shaun asked while looking down at his feet as we walked.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know at the time that she was. I thought she was …er real, like a live person. You kind of broke the news that she wasn’t.”
“So… can’t you tell the difference between the living and the dead? What does the dead look like?”
“Well no I can’t. To me they look the same as the living. Some of them… they look exactly like they did when they died.” I said thinking of Maria. She defiantly didn’t look like she did when she was alive. She looked pale and she had blood all over her. Definitely didn’t look alive.
He nodded and said, “That must have been scary when you found out you could see the dead.”
“Scary is a serious understatement. Imagine waking up from a bad day, only to be able to see dead people. It’s no walk in the park, some of the things you see…” I trailed thinking about Maria’s body, and swallowed the bile that had risen in my throat at the memory of her partially decomposed body.
“You found that girls body. They said that she had been there for weeks and that she had began decaying. Is that true? Where you the one to find her?” He asked seeming genuinely interested.
“I rather not talk about it if you don’t mind.” I said trying to forget the image, “But yea, I found her.”
He nodded and said nothing more about her.
We carried on in silence and as I neared my old room, I felt someone watching me. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck standing. I looked around, but couldn’t see anyone, so I shrugged it off to my over-active imagination.
The room was empty and I walked around it a little then sat on the bed. Shaun looked around and then turned to me, without looking at me, but at the room, like he was trying to find something.
“Is she in here? Can you see her?”
“No I don’t see her.” We waited for a half an hour and in that time Shaun got more anxious and he kept asking if I could see her now. Finally I decided that this room wasn’t going to work, and that we should walk around a bit more and maybe we might find her then.
I turned to leave when Shaun stopped and said,
“You feel that? It got kind of cold in here. Maybe it’s the air-con kicking in.” I was about to agree with him, when I heard someone from behind me, say, “Violet what are you doing here? This place is dangerous.” I turned around and saw Anna standing by the window. The sunlight silhouetting her tiny frame, as the light filtered through the curtains. I could make out her features and she was really worried.
“Anna there you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“She’s here? Where is she?” Shaun asked looking around wildly.
“She’s standing over there by the window.” I pointed to Anna and his head snapped in that direction.
He looked over at the window, trying to find her. Anna look a little confused. She held Tedster tighter as she looked at Shaun. I realized two things then, one was that she didn’t recognize him. In the photo, in Shaun’s locker he had short blond hair, with a tanned skin and no added piercings. He looked totally different from what he used to look like. He had dyed his hair pitch black, and had grown it out, long enough to cover his eyes. His face was caked with make-up, making him appear pale with a lip piercing and an eyebrow piercing. And the second was that Shaun couldn’t see her.
“Anna it’s me… Shaun.” Shaun said in the direction I told him Anna was.
“He’s not Shaun.” Anna said, looking at me then at Shaun a little confusedly.
“Anna sweetie, it’s Shaun. He’s just … different.” I said looking at Shaun.
“Shaun has Blond hair, like me, and Shaun doesn’t have metal sticking out of his face. He looks like a robot girl.” I chuckled at her cute little scrunched up face.
“What’s she saying?” Shaun asked me.
“She doesn’t recognize you, she thinks you look like a robot girl.” He smiled and chuckled a little then said.
“Anna it’s me, it’s Shaun. I know I look different but this is just me…expressing myself.”
“If he’s Shaun, then prove it. What was my nickname he gave me?” She said, crossing her arms, while still keeping a tight grip on Tedster.
“She wants you to prove you are you. She wants to know the nickname you gave her.”
“Oh that’s easy. It’s Anna Banana.” He said and smiled a little at some memory.
“It is him. He looks so different…What’s he expressing?” She asked as she neared Shaun so that she could get a better look at him.
“She wants to know what you are expressing.” I said to Shaun.
“I’m showing people how sad I am that you’re not here anymore. I miss you Anna banana, I miss our movie night, I miss playing princess and castle with you. I wish you were still here, but most of all… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for not being here when you died, I’m sorry I left you, I wasn’t here to help you. I wasn’t your white knight when you need me.” Shaun started crying and I couldn’t stop my eyes tearing up as well.
“Shaun don’t be sad. I’m still here. You’re still the white knight.” Anna said coming closer to him.
“She says you mustn’t be sad, that she’s still here and you’re still her white knight.” I said, sniffing a little.
“I’m so sorry Anna, I should have stayed when you asked me to, I shouldn’t have gone to that stupid party. I should have been there…“ He trailed as he sank to his knees.
“Tell him it’s okay, it was my time and even if he stayed I still would have died and that he shouldn’t be sad anymore.” Anna said looking over at me, then to her crying brother kneeling on the floor.
“She says that it’s okay, that she would have died no matter where you were. You don’t have to be sad anymore.”
“I’ve been waiting for you big brother. To tell you that I love you and will be watching over you, like you always watched over me and Tedster.” She said with a small smile on her face, and then she reached out and tried to brush his tears off his cheeks, then she hugged him, squishing her cute little face into Shaun’s neck.
When she touched him, Shaun gasped and touched his cheeks were Anna had touched him and made a move like he was hugging her. He turned to me and I smiled at him, nodding to let him know that she was there and he wasn’t imagining it.
“She’s says she has been waiting for you to let you know that she loves you and she’s going to be watching out for you, like you had always looked after her and Tedster.” She slowly pulled away from Shaun and said,
“Tell him I say good-bye and to not be sad that I’m not going to be here anymore. I want him to know that I’m happy and that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore. He has you as a friend.” She said turning to me smiling.
“Can you be his friend Violet?”
“I will.” I smiled at her then said to Shaun, “She wants to say good-bye and that you shouldn’t be sad anymore. She says that you need to be happy and to not be alone.”
“No wait, you can’t go. Not when… not when I just found you. You can’t leave.” Shaun said frantically.
“I have to go Shaun, but I’ll never be too far away.”
“Wow this is super sad.” I mumbled as I wiped a stray tear from my eyes, sniffing very un-lady like as I did so.
“Vi.” Anna said and motioned to her brother.
“Mmm…Oh right, sorry I forgot he can’t hear you. She says that she has to go, but she’ll never be too far away.”
“I can’t let her go a second time.” Shaun said sadly.
“You have to Shaun, otherwise she’ll always be trapped here. Alone in a hospital, just roaming, forever lost. She had said what she needed to say to you, so now she’s… free.” I said realizing what I had said made sense and I turned to Anna to confirm what I just said and she smiled and nodded her head in agreement.
“I know it’s hard to let go, but you have to, for her sake. You don’t want your sister to be trapped here. She needs to move on, she has waited all this time for you, don’t make her wait any longer.”
“You’re right. I… it’s just… it feels like I’m losing her all over again… and I miss her so much. I have felt so alone for such a long time.”
“Shaun you need to let her go. I know it feels like if you let her go then you will forget about her, but believe me you’ll never forget her. That weight on your chest will ease and you’ll be able to live again. You have to remember the good times, she doesn’t want you to be sad, she wants you to live. To live a life she never had a chance to, to live it to the fullest and remember the good times and not the sad.” We were quiet for a little while and I looked over at Anna and she smiled a grateful smile at me and I smiled back at her.
“How do you know all this stuff?” Shaun asked as he looked up at me.
“I lost someone close to me too a few years ago. I know from experience and a few encounters with erm… others.” I smiled warmly at him and hugged him. I started to hear voices and looked around. I had gotten that feeling that someone was watching me again, the hairs on the back of my neck started standing up again and I swallowed a nervous lump in my throat. Anna walked up to me and placed her cold hand on my shoulder to get my attention.
“Violet… you have to listen to me. I’m grateful for what you have done for my brother and me, but you can’t come back here. They are coming for you. You are in danger, you need to stay away.”
“But I don’t-“
“I can’t stay any longer… I feel the river calling me. Tell my brother he can take his mask off now, he doesn’t have to hide anymore. He can be happy. Tedster is also waiting for him; he’s in my chest of toys in my room. Tell him he can have Tedster and to take good care of him. He needs him more than I do.” She said and smiled as she started stepping back. And I noticed that she didn’t have Tedster anymore… when did that happen?
“Is she leaving? What is she saying?” Shaun asked as he looked between me and where he thought Anna was standing.
“She said you can take your mask off and be happy.” I said as comprehension settled in… she said they’re as in the other ghosts are coming for me. What are they coming for me? What do they want? I got up and walked over to her, trying to catch hold of her to stop her from going.
“Anna wait what did you mean they’re coming? What do they want?”
“Bye Violet. Stay safe.” Then she turned around and behind her I saw a massive crystal clear river gently flowing. I knew that, that river, with no bottom wasn’t real water, it felt like you were floating on air, and that you couldn’t taste or touch it. The air smelt of a mixture of sea salt and cut grass, all fresh and clean even though there was no salt or grass around. I had no idea how I knew this, I just did.
“Anna wait!” I called out to her but she was already gone, vanished along with the river, only the lingering warm fresh smell of the river was left behind.
“She’s gone isn’t she?” Shaun asked from behind me, his voice breaking a little.
I took a deep breath trying to remember why I was here. I was here for Shaun, even though I wanted to rant and rave, shout out to the ceiling, demand answers.
I turned and plastered on a sad smile and said, “Yes she’s gone.”
“I can smell sea salt and cut grass. Can you smell it?” He asked looking over at me and I nodded my head.
“She liked the sea.” He mumbled to himself, but he didn’t move from where he was, just kept staring at the now empty spot of where Anna once stood.
I opened my mouth to say something to make him feel better but I had no idea what to say. So I did the only thing I could think of…
“I’ll be outside.” Figuring he wanted some time to himself to take all of this in. He nodded and as I passed him, I touched his shoulder in comfort and gave him a sad smile, closing the door behind me.
I walked outside and sat in one of the waiting chairs that lined the wall of the corridor.
What did Anna mean? Does the ghosts want to harm me or use me? Why are they after me? What did I do to them? Do they need my help like Maria and Anna did? She did say I was in danger, but am I in danger from them or because I can see them?
I sighed again and slumped in my seat. I started to hear the whispering of many voices. At first I couldn’t make out what they were saying but as it got closer and louder I kept hearing them say, “It’s her.” “She’s here. She shouldn’t have come.” “Somniator.”
My heart beat sped up and I slowly stood facing the voices which came from a darkened hallway. “Is anybody there?” I called out into the dark.
The whispering got more frantic and I noticed the shadows nearing, then the shadows started to take the shape of out stretched hands with bony fingers tipped with dagger like tips. They were reaching out towards me and as they neared the lights on the ceiling started to go out. I started to back away and shouted out, without taking my eyes off the shadows.
“SHAUN, SHAUN.” He came running out at my frantic voice with a worried look on his face.
“What’s-“ His voice died when he looked in the direction I was staring at.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Please tell me you see the shadows moving?” I asked hoping I wasn’t going mad. He got out of the room and neared me.
“Er… yup, I was hoping I was imaging it.” He said gulping at the end.
“Time to go?” He asked, but I was already turning to run.
“Yup. Defiantly time to go.” I called out and I felt someone take my hand and I jumped two feet into the air, but I saw that it was Shaun. He was tugging on my hand to run faster.
We reached the stairs first and Shaun tried to push it open.
“It’s locked.” Shaun said kicking the door.
“Come on, the elevator is over there.” I said pointing to the elevator not even ten feet away. We skid to the elevator and I started pressing the down button like crazy.
“Come on, come on you stupid man-made piece of crap.” I said as I kept glancing up towards the ever approaching shadows. I looked up at the glowing numbers showing the progress of the slowest moving elevator in the world. It still had two more floors to go, before it would open to our floor.
“Er… Vi.” I looked over at Shaun and he was looking in the other direction and I turned to see what he was looking at and saw that there were more shadows approaching from that side.
Shit we were trapped. Finding nowhere to run, we latched on to each other as we watched the shadows near.
So this is it, death by ghost is how I go out for the second time. As they neared, I started to see their hollow faces and glowing eyes, with wide open mouths. Their tattered clothing that clung to their skeletal frames slowly moved as they neared as if a faint wind was blowing.
“Does this happen often to you?” I heard Shaun ask.
“Nope, this is a first.”
Then we both screamed as the shadows closed in on us, moving from the sides as well as the ceiling and the only light of the elevator started to flicker as it finally went out.