Resurrection
Part One: There For You
I wanna be there for you
Someone you can come to
Runs deeper than my bones
I wanna be there for you
I wanna be there for you
Swirling shades of blue
Slow dancing in your eyes
Sun kisses the earth
And I hush my urge to cry, cry
I wanna be there for you
Someone you can come to
Runs deeper than my bones
I wanna be there for you
I wanna be there for you
'Cause I hear the whispered words
In your masterpiece beautiful
You speak the unspeakable through
I love you too
I wanna be there for you
Someone you can come to
I wanna be there for you
And be someone you can come to
The love runs deeper than my bones
I wanna be there for you
It's strange, being dead. (And I don't know about you, but I've often heard when you die— and go to Heaven— you're supposed to see the 'Pearly Gates.' Well, here I am, and I have yet to see 'em. Go figure). No, not having an out-of-body experience, it's different from that, way different. It's like you're here, but you're not, you're somewhere else. Nowhere, and everywhere. You're all over the world, seeing different things at once, yet , you're not really anywhere on Earth. And sometimes, it's like this great wide abyss, white and misty and blank. Like you're the only one there. But you're not alone. There are other... consciousnesses, in there, other people. It's terrifying and relaxing at the same time. You know? Well, I wouldn't really expect you to know, you haven't been dead, maybe you've had an out-of-body experience, but you haven't been dead. No sir-ee bob.
Anyways, about the part about being all over the world. It was like the time I left my body at the hospital too, when I knew those random things. Only when you're dead (and I mean, really dead, like, dead dead. Dead and buried in the ground after you've dieddead. That dead.) it seems that the whole 'knowing things' doesn't happen so randomly. like sometimes, when you're dying (as in the process of becoming dead and not actually dead) you'll see dead family members. You don't see dead people whom you don't know, or have nothing to do with you. 'Hey, I don't even know you, why are you here when I'm dying?' That doesn't happen.
What I'm getting at here is, when I was dead (and we've covered that I've actually died, which personally gives me the friggin' creeps saying so) I saw two very important, very disturbing things. One was my mother. The other was the Volturi. The former really didn't concern me as much as the latter. Here's what happened:
I was floating aimlessly in limbo, minding my own dead business, when I'm ghosted over to Volterra, in the main throne room of the most powerful vampire family in the world, ruled by the three most dysfunctional 'brothers' you will ever know of in your short, insignificant mortal lives on Earth (including my own, short insignificant life, which ended, apparently, not so long ago, although I really have no idea how long I've been dead, but that's beside the point). It's the conversation these three dysfunctional vampire brothers were having that's the point. It went a little something like this.
"Have you heard? One of our little human prospects, the young Hannah girl, has died." Caius said. More like sneered by the contemptuous, with-stick-up-ass bloodsucker, if you want to get technical.
Aro sighed regretfully. He's just plain creepy. S'all I have to say. "What a shame, but I guess it couldn't be helped, you know how frail those humans are. She would have made a wonderful addition to our family." Translation: 'Dammit! Why did the stupid little brat have to go die on us? We could have been so powerful!' Blah blah blah, you get the picture, I tell you, the guy is seriously, mentally unwell.
And you know what Marcus said? No, you don't. 'Cause he didn't say anything. Hey, speech deficiency, anyone? Silent as the empty grave he should be in but apparently crawled out of. At least he isn't the mealie worm express. Zombies are gross. And gooey—oh, back to the matter at hand.
"We still have the wonderful Bella girl, as always." Aro smiled, sighing mildly. What is it with him and sighing? It's—quite frankly—weird and unnerving.
"Then if Edward does not uphold his end of the bargain within our parameters, we will visit them ourselves, as agreed?" Caius drawled irritatedly. Oh, very friendly. Say, how 'bout you come to my birthday party, you'd be a hit with the guests—oh, wait, when I'm not dead. Sorry, my mistake.
Ok, enough with the cynicism. Now for my dear mother. I first saw her, setting the table for supper. She set up her spot, as I expected. But, shockingly, she placed another plate at the opposite side of the table, where I would have sat. Then she sat down, no food yet on her plate, rested her elbows on either side of her plate, laced her fingers together, and stared—concentrated, really—in an almost puzzled-looking gaze at my former place. It was strange, and the way she looked at that place at the table, not mournfully—not terribly so, but like if you saw a confusing puzzle, like something was amiss (not that I doubted that—I was dead for crying out loud, 'before my time' some would say) it was like she was trying to stare into another world.
Then suddenly she rose from her seat, and moved to the stove to retrieve a pot of stir-fried chicken and dished out a portion onto her own plate and finally sat down to eat.
Abruptly, and without warning, I felt... a sort of tugging feeling, and my watery, double-world vision was starting to become cloudy, foggy. It was like someone grabbed me by the back of the soul(since I didn't have a body—you kinda checked that in at the door to the afterlife) and started hauling some ghostly ass (A.K.A.-my ghostly ass). I felt like I was being pulled down, and everything around me was starting to go black. This was new, even for me, you know? I was wondering what was happening to me now. Am I having a 'near-life' experience instead of a 'near-death' experience?
Then I wondered, 'what if I'm going back?'
But why now?
Farewell, afterlife, parting is such sweet sorrow. No, not really. It's kinda so-so, being dead. It's not that bad, but I wouldn't mind actually going back. Death is... frankly, boring. (Small note: you call this "Heaven"? Put in a library, and X-Box, some form of entertainment, a community center or something, for crying out loud.) But really, not many people who die just up-and-decide to come back from the dead. It really shouldn't be possible, to tell you the truth. Operative word there: should. Because, apparently (with me, at least) it is possible. Go figure. Which would stand to question, how am I coming back? I certainly didn't ask for a two-way trip when I died (and I doubt the point of death is to spend a little bit of time in the afterlife then just come back unexpectedly). I don't think the 'big man' would be happy about the attendance rates then.
So, somebody must be bringing me back. Who? Mom? No, she wouldn't mess with stuff like that, she's too smart. The Cullens? Nope, also too smart, and besides, they're not capable of something like that. The Volturi, on the flip side, are not so smart, but they aren't capable of bringing someone back to life (which is a very good thing—repeat after me: 'we no like the Volturi'. Very good, here's a cookie).
Before I had a chance to fully grasp what was happening, everything went black and the living world slammed into me like a freight train.
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I found myself being crushed under the pressure of Earth's gravity, panting with exertion at the unexpected weight of my lungs. I felt so heavy. I wasn't used to being alive, being in a body. I felt that I was laying on a small sort of bed, completely foreign to me. I opened my eyes to—nothing. I couldn't see! I was blind! Everything was black! I started to panic, flailing my heavy, cumbersome limbs, which hit hard surfaces all around me, the contact was a shock to my newly acquired nerves, and I gasped in surprise; it felt like an electric jolt. I started breathing heavier, and it was starting to get harder to breathe. I really wasn't used to this.
'Where am I???!!' I screamed in my head, and cringing as my shrieking voice filled the cramped confines of my prison. I clapped my hands over my ears to protect them from the sound, shuddering at the jolt of contact. Then it hit me. I was in a coffin. In the ground. Six feet under. Oh crap. And that's why it was getting hard to breathe. My body needed oxygen to survive, and in a small space (like a sealed casket, for instance) there isn't much oxygen. Ergo, I could only survive so long in said casket until it was back to the afterlife. In all honesty, I was actually considering it. Death wasn't that bad... But what I was doing right then was focusing on one very important thing: escape. I clawed away futilely at the roof, ignoring the tingling as it rippled down my arms.
"Oh shit! Shitshitshitshitshit! I can't escape, I can't get out, and I'm gonna DIE AGAIN! USELESS!!! AHHHH!" I screamed. (Please note, that the 'AHHHH' was a scream of frustration. I was very frustrated. I wasn't scared, or anything... Ok, maybe a little, but that was a scream of frustration.)
Then it hit me. Oh. How could I be so thick? I had magic freaking powers! Can anyone say, 'like, hello!' (And yes, I know we all can but please refrain from doing so because it's very annoying and makes the people who say it sound like air heads. And to those people who did say it... the best I can give you are my condolences. The worst: laugh. And laugh hard. But this is all very much beside the point.)
I closed my eyes (it was useless to have them open anyway since I couldn't see anything—they should have buried me with a pen-light, you know, just in case I decided to come back to life) and placed my hands flat-palmed onto the wood above me. I realized that once the wood was gone, the dirt would come crashing down on me mercilessly. I took a deep breath that consisted mostly of carbon dioxide and a smidgen of oxygen. I focused, concentrated, and I felt the wood melt away beneath—or above— my fingers, and scrunched my face as little clumps of dirt fell on me. The dirt chunks got bigger and bigger until the roof of dirt above me completely collapsed onto me, nearly knocking the breath out of me. I scrambled, digging my way up through the dirt, fighting against gravity. I was starving for air when I felt a barrier of tougher dirt, and what felt like roots, woven together like matted shag carpeting. I pushed and dug and wiggled my fingers through the roots, and I felt my fingers break through them, into open air. I furiously ripped away at the dirt and roots and grass that stood in my way to freedom.
I clawed ame-sized hole and wrenched my head and shoulders through, spitting out dirt and greedily breathing in wonderful, amazing glorious oxygen. Still panting, I looked up to the sky to see a grey sky covered with menacing clouds, threatening the land with forecasts of rain. My eyes were drawn down back to the ground, and at the foot of my grave—literally where my feet had been a few minutes ago, buried under six feet of dirt—was a small tan kitten with blue eyes.
That in itself would be strange enough. But it just has to get weirder, as per usual. The kitten's stare was fixated on me, watching me meaningfully. Intelligently.
"What are you doing here,little guy?" I cooed coyly, feigning obliviousness, wondering what it was doing here.
Suddenly, the kitten fixed me with a deploring glare. A kitten fixed me with a deploring glare. NOT normal. I held it's gaze, trying to figure out what...
"What are you?" I asked. "Who are you, if that doesn't apply."
The kitten then gave me a bemused and mocking look. Ok, this is a four point five on my scale of weird. Yeah, I have been through weirder things than this, remember? You know, I met this family of not-so-fictional vampires called the Cullens, and I have weird powers, et cetera, et cetera...
My eyebrows knitted together as I continued to have a staring contest with a kitten when I asked, "you know something; don't you? What do you know?" I demanded.
The little fuzz ball seemed to smile.
"You were the one who brought me back? You were the one who brought me back! Why did you bring me back?"
It seemed to be amused at my little rant, and for a minute I ignored it and continued to wiggle my way out of the ground. I was coming up the daisies I was supposed to be pushing up. I was just grateful I wasn't dead long, else I might have been all decomposing and nasty.
Just then, the kitten gave me an almost dismissive look, turned tail and sauntered away.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" I called out to it. It paused, looked back to me and tossed it's head forward, in a 'follow me' gesture.
I stopped for a moment, shrugged, and followed.
"And by the way," came a deep, mature, feminine voice, "I'm a 'she' and I've been named Hope."
"Nice to meet you." I responded casually. It didn't phase me at all that this cat was suddenly talking and could apparently bring me back to life. But this now jumped to a seven point four on my scale of weird.
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"Where are we going... Hope?" I asked the tiny tan kitten who trotted along casually ahead of me.
"We are going to see your mother. She wondering where I am, and I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." Hope responded.
"Ok. So, can you tell me... who or what are you, and what are you doing here? Just curious, you know." I brushed some dirt off my shoulders and off the front of a black and white silk dress that laced up in the front. It was the dress they buried me in. I fought off a chill.
"I don't have my own official name, but over the years and various forms, I've been given different names by different generations. I'm a familiar, a former demon sealed into the form of a feline, taking on a new form with each new generation. And," Hope paused, turning back to look at me, "I'm here to help you."
"Wait a minute!" I said, raising a finger, "you were a demon? And what do you mean, sealed? like a jar of tuna? And why are you here to help me? Apparently I've been leftout of some sort of loop here..." I pointed out my index fingers and traced a circle in the air, my left finger tracing the left side of the circle and my right, the right side, symbolizing the loop out was inconsiderately kept out of.
"Calm down, child," the cat chided me. Which sounded so weird coming from a cat; it takes a while to get used to. "Yes, I was a demon, a millennium ago, I'm very docile nowadays, don't be afraid." The cat-demon-thing grinned darkly at me. "A thousand years ago, your first ancestor sealed me into the form of a cat and I was bound into your family's service. I served each generation of your family, aiding them in their quests and journeys and battles and such," she rolled her eyes in a bored fashion, "it was about the time your family made the crossing from Europe to escape persecution that times settled down for your family that I decided to sleep."
I gave Hope/it/her/whatever a questioning glance, raising an eyebrow.
"Sleep is different for me than what it is for your kind. When we sleep, we, how you say, shut off. We go dormant, so to speak, and we sleep for a long time. And now that my help is needed once more from your family, I've woken up. And sure enough, there you were! Dead and buried! The latest generation, dead! How blasphemous. So I brought you back. I heard you were in a dispute with those Italy vampires, they are not above trickery, those fiends." The 'kitten' shook its head.
"Wait—how do you know about the Volturi?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"What? Those leeches? I've had a few, how would you say... 'run-ins' with them from time to time. They've been around for a while. You're family originated in Romania, didn't you know? They traveled all over Europe, until the time of the hunts, that is."
"Ok, say whhhhhaaaaaaaaaaat?" I drew out the word, adding a high pitch, expressing my incredulity.
"You didn't know?" Hope raised a furry, kitten eyebrow.
"Uh, to put it bluntly—no."
"You didn't know you're family were Elementals?" Hope asked skeptically.
" 'Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?' " I quoted.
"I never got what was so entertaining to you humans about things like that. 'Different Strokes' was, as you would say, lame."
I gave a weak laugh.
"You're family were very powerful semi-humans. Not exactly witches, but you could call them that. They could control vast amounts of energy and power. And around the times of the witch hunts in Europe—you're family was in France at the time—they decided to head for the new world to escape the carnage. They were able to dodge the witch trails in Massachusetts by heading North to what would be later called Canada. It was around then that I decided to sleep. And here we are now."
"I'm still very confused, but ok.." I trailed off as we continued down the sidewalk.
We continued walking in silence until we reached—my house! I ran towards it, dashing up the steps and paused at the door. I wondered if my mother was even home right then, but I opened the screen door and tried the handle on the main door beyond it. I turned, and I opened the door and stepped inside.
"Mom?" I called out. "Mom, are you home?"
I heard a gasp, then a commotion upstairs as my mother raced down the stairs in a flurry of motion. She stopped dead on the landing at the sight of me and stared. Hope had come in after me, and was now sitting beside my left foot, looking expectantly at my mother.
"Hannah?" She asked. "I knew something wasn't right, I knew you had to come back."
She smiled, and rushed to me, snaring me in a crushing hug, despite the fact that I was nearly covered head to toe in dirt. I had just crawled from out of my grave and my mother was about to put me back in it with her affection.
"Mom! I love you dearly, but please, stop—ow—crushing me." I begged.
Daphne let go and smile sheepishly. "But how? How did you come back?" She then asked.
"It was... Hope. She's, not what she appears to be."
"You can't be serious..." my mother laughed, but the laughter died off as she saw my serious expression. Yes, mother, the cute little kitten you found is a former wild and vicious demon. That kinda kills it, no?
Daphne looked down curiously at Hope.
"Hello," the kitten said, a little smugly, if I do say so myself.
My mother's face went blank, and I grew concerned as she straightened up, turned, walked over the couch and sat down, staring out the window. All she said was, "huh," in a 'huh, go figure' kind of way.
Well, at least she wasn't having hysterics... I started laughing. I was just so happy to be back, and so relieved to see my mother was ok. Now, I can be there for her again.
Here it it, folks, the long awaited, greatly anticipated, third installment in the Wish Trilogy!! (Crowd applauds) Thank you, one and all for your support and your reviews and I hope you all enjoy 'Ressurection' as much as you enjoyed 'Wish' and 'Repercussions.' And please, never forget to read and review.