Death is Nothing

Sequel to: Blood is Life

Summary: A person's blood is their life, but what is death? Is death merely nothing compared to life? Is Matthew back? What new secret does he hold? It's a mystery Zack and Cody must solve before it's too late.

(A/N)This goes off the Alternate Ending from the first story, I'd suggest reading that one first, otherwise this story might be hard to understand

Chapter 1: The Return

"NOO! Stay away!" I was backed into a corner and frozen with fear. I was laying on my back with something heavy pinning my left arm to the floor. Everything around me was ice cold, and yet I was sweating like it was the hottest day of the year. "Please, leave me alone."

My pleas were no avail. Silently gliding towards me was a boy my age with an expressionless face. In his right hand, he held a large kitchen knife which he pointed outward at me.

The boy was about my age. He had extremely white skin with bruises on each arm. In the middle of his chest was a small bullet hole that from which there was a large trail of blood. His hair was dark brown and wore in a mushroom cut, and had a second bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. On both sides of this hole were his eyes. Each was surrounded by a dark circle, and shrunken in. Each pupil was completely dialated. The mere sight of his eyes seemed to burn into anyone who saw them.

"SOMEONE PLEASE! HELP ME! HELP!" I screamed as he drew closer and closer. As he neared the air grew so cold I couldn't scream, I couldn't even breathe. Inches away from me, he almost seemed to smile as raised the knife and brought it down. Somehow, I found my voice again. "NOO! AHHH!" I yelled as he plunged the knife into me.

"NOO! AHHH!" Fourteen year old Cody Martin suddenly snapped awake and sat straight up in his bed, screaming. He was breathing heavily and was covered in sweat. His hair stuck to his face and neck, and his whole body was trembling. He looked across the room, as he started to calm down. On the other side of the room, his twin, Zack, was sleeping peacefully. "It was a dream." Cody muttered softly, but the thought didn't soothe him. He knew what dreams could mean, especially when Matthew Pike showed up in them.

A few months earlier, Cody had met Matthew Pike in the park. Matthew, however, wasn't normal. He was the ghost of a fourteen year old murdered boy that had been consumed by hatred near the end of his life. When Cody refused to help him kill his father, he had possessed Cody, and then did just that with Cody's body. Next he almost killed Zack, and would have, if Matthew's parents didn't come back to stop him. Everytime Cody had a dream about Matthew or something to do with him, it either had come true or been a vision of Matthew's past, so the thought of "it's just a dream," scared Cody even more.

Cody walked over to Zack and shook him gently. "Whaassamaatter?" Zack said sleepily. He looked at the clock, 4:30. "It's 4:30 in the morning!"

"S-sorry," Cody said sheepishly. "I need to talk to you."

When he saw Cody was still shaking slightly, Zack snapped awake. "Cody what's wrong?" He said concerned.

"I had that dream again." Cody replied quietly. His had head was down and stared at the floor.

Zack sat up and sighed deeply. "Cody, he's gone. He's not going to bother you again."

"How do you know?" Cody asked.

"I just do," Zack said shortly. "Older brothers know these things. Now go back to sleep, we have to be at work in 4 hours."

"Ok," Cody replied. I hope Zack's right. He thought as he walked back to his bed. When he got there he laid down, but it was awhile before Cody was sleeping soundly again.

"Cody. Cody? CODY!"

Hearing his voice brought Cody back to reality. "Huh what?" he said as he looked around to see who was calling him. It was his manger, Wayne. "Cody this nice young lady has been waiting all day to check out."

"Oops." Cody said, somewhat embaressed. He finished ringing up her grocheries and gave her a complimentary coupon book. "H-have a nice day." He said as she walked towards the exit.

"Man, Cody what's with you?" Wayne asked soundng concerned. "You've been acting funny all week."

"Yea sorry Wayne." Cody said. "I've just haven't been sleeping really well lately."

"Yea I can tell." Wayne replied looking at the bags under Cody's eyes. "Look I'll have Zack take over at the register, how bout you go get another box of ice cream bars out of the freezer. We're pretty low out here." Wayne pointed to the novelty cooler located near the snack aisle. "Besides the cold should wake you up."

"OK," Cody replied, trying to smile. "Sounds good."

Wayne motioned Zack over to cash register as Cody counted the drawer. Zack then signed on and Cody walked over to the freezer.

"Well, W-wayne was r-right." Cody said to himself as he walked into the freezer and shut the door behind him. "I-I-I'm definitely awake now."

On Cody's right were the frozen vegetables, on the other side of whcih were a series of glass doors that customers opened to get to them. On his left were several shelving units packed with frozen foods and desserts.

The ice cream bars were located on a shelf about Cody's height near the back of the freezer. Cody walked back and grabbed the top box and pulled, but it wouldn't move. Great! He thought as he saw some water marks on the side of the box. They're stuck together!

Cody pulled on the box harder. As he pulled the ice cream box, the bolts that held the shelves in place came loose. Cody screamed as the shelves and everything on them came tumbling down on top of him.

Cody tried to get up, but there was too much weight on him. A half second later, a box on a higher shelf, that was supported by the shelves that had just collapsed came tumbling down.

SMACK!! The box hit Cody square in the head, leaving a gash on the side of his head. Blood began to flow freely, painting Cody's blond hair dark red. Cody quickly lost consciousness as a result of both the box hitting his head and the blood loss. As Cody's world went dark, he thought for a split second he saw the outline of a boy whose hair was worn in a mushroom cut. Then, all went black.

- Zack's POV -

"Hey Zack," Wayne said to me. "You seen your brother?"

"No, why?" I answered.

"I sent him awhile ago to get those ice cream bars. It shouldn't take this long."

I laughed, "He probably got lost in there."

- Normal POV -

"Mommy! Mommy! I wanna pick out the vegetables for tonight!" A little girl said as she pulled on her mother's pants.

"OK sweetie, go ahead." Her mother replied.

The girl went to grabbed the last bag of broccoli and screamed.

"Honey whats wrong?" Her mother said. Her scream drew the attention of several other customers, along with Zack and Wayne's attention.

"Mommy! There's a boy in there! Laying on the floor!" The little girl said as she started to cry.

"Are you sure?" Her mother said with a slight smile, Then she looked in the freezer where the broccoli had been. "OH MY GOD!"

Zack and Wayne came running over. "Whats wrong ma'am?" Wayne said.

"There's someone buried in there!" The girl's mother shrieked. "Look you can see his head next to that pile of rubble!"

"Zack go check it out." Wayne said as he tried to calm the woman down.

Zack walked over to the freezer door, and his eyes instantly widened at what he saw, "Cody!" He yelled. He ran forward and signaled Wayne through the gap in the vegetables. "IT"S CODY!" Zack yelled.

Wayne quickly rushed into the freezer and helped Zack clear the boxes and shelving off of Cody. "Cody? Can you hear me? CODY!" Zack yelled desperately.

No answer.

After he freed Cody of the debris, Zack picked his little brother up and rested him in his lap. Zack noticed that Cody's hair was dark red on the side of his head. Cody's skin was also ice cold. He also checked Cody's pulse. Faint, but there.

Wayne took his apron off and pressed it to Cody's head to stop the bleeding.

"Zack call 9-1-1! NOW!" Wayne said. Zack didn't need to be told twice. He carefully set Cody back down. He propped Cody's head up with the now blood-stained apron

On his way over to the phone, Zack kept thinking, Please be ok! Please be ok! Please be ok!

In all the confusion, no one noticed a figure watching the scene from behind another shelving unit. The figure smiled slightly to itself and disappeared. As it did so, it softly said in a dry whispy voice, "This is only the beginning."

(A/N) Please Read and Review, again I'd suggest reading the prequel Blood is Life first. This story takes place after the alternate ending.