Chapter 1
"Jo, are you there?" I asked. No answer of course. Ever since that night Mattie had almost died, Jo hadn't said anything, or tried to contact him, ever since Kyra began to live with me Mattie wasn't well enough to come and live with me, nor was I sure she even wanted to.
That day, before all the screaming, before all the blood, I and Mattie had had a moment, where I began to say those things, and found myself saying it in her ear, and to hear her agree.
"Who are you talking to, Mike? Is it one of the ghosties?" Kyra asked me.
"Yes, Kyra, it is." I greed. Kyra ran up to me and hugged my leg.
"Can we go see my Mattie now?" she asked, smiling.
"If that's what you want, then anything!" I yelled, picking her up and setting her on my hip. Her cheeks turned a bright red and she laughed. I kissed her cheek, and picked my keys up off the table, when Bunter's bell began to ring. I paid no attention to it, and kept walking to the door.
Last time I had seen Mattie was when I was in the hospital room, while she laid in a temporary comma. I could have sworn she had died that day; I had even laid a damn blanket over her! That day, there had been a terrible storm! Enough to scare the living shit out of me!
That night Kyra had seen the ghosts that had been watching me for so long, and that night, Jo had shown her feisty side to Sara. That night I had found something important. Also, that night, I almost killed myself. I opened the door, and walked out as Bunter's Bell rang loudly, and slammed it shut.
As if the ghosts took it as a warning, the bell stopped ringing. The ghosts must have understood that I wanted nothing to do with them anymore, I was done with them! I opened the passenger side door of my car, and set Kyra in it, and buckled her in. The hospital had said Mattie would be able to go home sometime this week, perhaps it was today?
I could only hope. In Kyra's hand, she was clutching Strickland, that small little dog that she had loved so much since the say I had gotten him for her in that happy meal. Kyra looked up at me with big blue eyes, and smiled.
"We go see, my Mattie!" she cried. I smiled and nodded.
"Yes, Kyra, we go and see your Mattie. Your mommy." I said. The thought of Mattie made me smile, I hadn't seen in the longest time! I wondered if her hair was still the same shade of blonde, and if her skin was still soft. I closed the door and walked to the other side of my car, and got in.
On the way to the hospital, I passed a lot of people who no longer cared for my friendship, or Mattie's. That didn't faze me at all! Mattie and Kyra were more important to me now, more then these snobs. Mattie, who had nearly been assassinated, and had everything ripped from her hands!
Kyra had recently figured out how to work a radio, and was fiddling. She landed on a station that was playing some pop song called "bet on it" by some boy, and she put her hands to her side, and looked at me. Her cheeks turned red, and she began to half dance.
Her upper body was moving, and it may have been the most adorable thing I may have seen in all my years of life. Her small body just a-jamming to the quick beat of this pop song. As the song was closing to an end, we pulled into the parking lot of the Castle Rock General Hospital. Room 127 was the room Mattie was in.
"Come on Hun, we can go see mommy now." Kyra jumped in joy, and screeched a little. I smiled at her, and blew her a small kiss. She could unbuckle herself from her seatbelt now, and she opened the door and landed with a small thud.
Thud once for yes and twice for no. I thought to myself. Kyra looked at me, and blinked innocently. I knew she had picked up on the thought; the connection between us had only strengthened since Mattie was put in the hospital.
"What does that mean, Mike?" she asked quietly. I shrugged and picked her up. Her weight had grown quiet a lot, and I liked it. It made me feel like a father, a father that I was once going to be. She gave a cute little giggle as I kissed her nose.
"Here we come Mattie! Beware, Mike and Ki are on the way to see mommy!" I yelled into the empty parking lot! On the way up, Ki chose a few flowers to give Mattie, three lilies and four roses. She also bought a small teddy bear, one that rather resembled Strickland.
Walking down the hallways of the hospital was hard, knowing I was going to see Mattie, lying in that damned bed, helpless. It was a horrible thought, and I pushed it out of my head. I was happy she was alright, I was not happy, I was grateful! She was beautiful, and she chosen to fall in love with me, me of all people.
As we approached room 127, I sensed something terribly wrong, something wasn't right. I bent down and took Kyra by the shoulders.
"Stay here Hun, just until I say it is okay." She nodded in agreement.
I walked into the room, and my heart stopped. I felt the very life drain from me, I almost fell to the floor, and instead, I grabbed onto the door frame and caught my breath. Mattie, she was gone!
END