-Chapter One-
One year old the bench was built by her grandfather.
Two years old the bench was where she played.
Three years old the bench was the place she would hear lullabies.
Four years old the bench was where she experienced her first sighting of the paranormal.
Five years old the bench started to grow old, the second experience happening.
Six years old the bench was where she sat when she heard of her grandfather dying.
Seven years old the bench was where she meant her best friend.
Eight years old the bench was where she held her baby sister and brother.
Nine years old the bench was where she told her best friend that she could see and talk to spirits.
Ten years old the bench was where her birthday party was held.
Eleven years old the bench was where she learned how to play the guitar and to sing.
Twelve years old the bench was where she found her first love.
Thirteen years old the bench was where she had her first kiss.
Fourteen years old the bench was where her paranormal sightings grew, her talking to them.
Fifteen years old the bench was where she had her first heartbreak.
Sixteen years old the bench held her as she cried about her younger siblings being murdered.
Seventeen years old the bench was where her quiet place was.
She stills awaits for eighteen, knowing the bench would be there for her.
The bench was always there for her.
Always.
Her fingers stung the strings upon the guitar, checking the tone of the song as she tuned the strings, finding the perfect tune. Strumming the strings once again, she let out a lyric of the song she would be singing, talking a deep breath before letting it out as she heard her name called from the stage. Standing from the floor where she was sitting, her black hood covered her face, her light blue hair slipping out into a side braid as it fell down to her chest, the end tied tightly. Her black converse were heard as she stepped out from behind the curtain, walking towards the stool as she felt her dark blue skinny jeans rubbing together. Swinging her legs across the stool, she leaned up against the mic, letting out a small sigh as she began to talk, the familiar faces of her family sitting close to the stage on the right.
"Have Faith In Me by A Day To Remember." She spoke as she adjusted her hands, moving how she was positioned before she licked her lips, beginning to play.
"Have faith in me 'cause there are things that I've seen I don't believe. So cling to what you know and never let go. You should know things aren't always what they seem," Moving her hands, she continued, remembering each lyric as it was written in her mind. "I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you fall and I always meant it. If you didn't have this chance then I never did. You'll always find me right there, again. I'm going crazy 'cause there are things in the streets I don't believe. So we'll pretend it's alright and stay in for the night. Oh, what a world. I'll keep you safe here with me."
"I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you fall and I always meant it. If you didn't have this chance then I never did. You'll always find me right there, again. I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you fall and I always meant you didn't have this chance then I never did. You'll always find me right there, again," Keeping up the speed, she continued on, switching hands as she sang, not bothering to look up. "They've got me on the outside, looking in but I can't see at all. With the weight of the world on my shoulders, they just wanna see me fall. They've got me on the outside, looking in but I can't see at all. With the weight of the world on my shoulders, they just wanna see me fall. Have faith in me. I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you fall and I always meant it. If you didn't have this chance then I never did
You'll always find me right there, again. I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you fall and I always meant it. If you didn't have this chance then I never did. You'll always find me right there, again. I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you go, and I never did. I said I'd never let you go, and I never did."
Finishing the song, she peeked up at the audience which erupted in clapping, her smile rewarding herself as the voices of happiness and clapping flowed in her ears. Before she stood up from her seat, a faint whisper was heard behind her in her left ear, it telling her, "Please don't stop."
Looking behind her, a little girl, probably about seven or eight with brown hair, braided into ponytails that were off her shoulders, and light brown eyes, was standing in a blue dress, giving a smile to show she lost one of her front teeth. Trying to ignore the little girl, she turned back to see the audience's clapping begin to die down, her turning back to see that the little girl had disappeared, her walking from where she used to be until she was behind the curtain, the little girl waiting in the corner of the room.
"Do you know what happened to you?" Elise Brooklyn knelt down to the little girl, placing the guitar on the floor as she put her hands in her lap.
"What happened to me?" She questioned, not understanding that she had passed away, looking like she was strangled as the red line across her throat showed evidence.
"You passed away. Do you, um," Turning to look as if expecting for someone to be watching her, she looked back to the little girl, continuing. "Is there a light or something that you see?"
"Do you mean that light in the corner," Looking over to the corner, her eyes flashed from the darkness of the stage to a bright light in her eyes. "Is it following me?"
"It's time to cross over. If you walk in the light, you'll find the people you love. Can you walk into the light for me, sweetheart?" Looking at the mark on her neck start to disappear, she nodded as a tear came out of her eye, her walking towards the light.
Standing up, the wind of her crossing over caught her hair, blowing her hood off to show a tear slowly falling down her face, her wiping the back of her hand against it before she picked up her guitar, heading towards the door. Pulling open the door, a voice called her name, her turning around to see Daniel, her best friend, walking towards her.
"Your performance was beautiful." Hugging her, the feeling of warmth gathered over her before he pulled away, a smile appearing on his face.
"You've heard me sing that song seven times in the past week. What's happening?" A sudden feeling of sadness washed over her, making her want to cry as she sneaked a look into his eyes.
"My father just passed away and my mother is moving me away to Maine for his funeral." The feeling of happiness was pushed away as they hugged once again, only tears and sadness brought to the room, the hug lasting forever before they pulled apart.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She whispered, barely enough strength for her to talk as her best friend wiped away his tears, giving a small smile.
"This shouldn't ruin your night. I just wanted to say that we're leaving tomorrow morning. I wanted to say goodbye." He told her as she choked a sob away, her hands covering her mouth as she started to cry again, only for her best friend to hug her once more, her slowly falling to the floor.
"Please, don't leave me. You can't leave me." She whispered into his shoulder as she was now on her knees, afraid to hug his as she felt the emptiness collapse over her, shutting her away.
"Please, don't cry for me," Pulling her head back, he rubbed his cheeks as he softly brushed away a few tears, looking into her eyes. "I shouldn't be worth all those tears."
"My best friend is leaving me and we'll never see each other again. You're leaving me, but I shouldn't be crying right now. It's not my turn to cry," Pulling the sleeve of her sweatshirt out, she rubbed the tears away as she continued, her mascara smearing across her nose. "It's your turn."
"'This is the memory. This is the curse of having too much time to think about it. It's killing me. This is the last time. This is like forgiveness. This is endless.'" Quoting the song, The Memory by Mayday Parade, he softly took her back in his arms, holding her as he rocked her back and forth.
"Listen," Pulling her face back into his hands, he put his forehead against her's, eyes closed as he whispered in her ear. "When we turn eighteen, we'll meet in Florida and stay together until we die."
When two weeks passed, she had convinced herself to stop listening to The Memory by Mayday Parade, the memory of her best friend becoming more awful to think about. The posters they made, the pictures that were taken of them, everything had been wrapped and put into boxes, shut off from the world as they were put in the attic, the darkest corner. She discovered three weeks later that her best friend was put into a hospital after a car accident from him driving over to Beacon Hills to surprise her.
She was the first one at the hospital.
"He's resting at the moment. You can visit him when he wakes up." Nurse McCall told her, placing her hand on her shoulder before leaving down the hall.
Staring at her hands, she remembered the day she told Daniel that she could talk to and see spirits, no laugh as he believed her. Most people didn't.
Looking up, she saw her best friend standing next to her, him smiling as a few cuts were across his arms, legs, and face.
"They told me you were sleeping." She said, standing up as she started walking with him towards his room, a smile across her face.
"You know the day you told me about you talking to spirits and seeing them? The reason I didn't laugh was because you lying to me was impossible. We were inseparable and you would never lie to me. The happy days we had, the sad ones, the mad ones, the tragic ones- all of them were days spent together. You know me as if you were my twin and I'll never be any closer to anyone than I was with you." Daniel told her, them slowly walking as she gave a smile to him.
"I'm just happy that you tried to surprise me and you're alright." She said, looking away from his face as she looked towards the floor.
"You wouldn't forget me, would you?" Daniel asked her, suddenly stopping as she looked at him in surprise, thinking about the question.
"No," She whispered, taking off down the hall as she skidded to a stop at his room, looking to see him in his bed, the straight line telling her he was gone. "No."
Running over to him, she fell to the floor, grabbing his hand as she fell apart in tears, screaming, "Nurse," over and over again as she gathered enough strength to pull herself on him, hugging him as her chest went up and down quickly, tears spreading down her face.
The nurse came.
She was pulled from the bed.
His pulse was checked.
They tried to bring him back.
He never came back.
Walking out of the room, using the wall to keep her up, she went into shock as she tried to not cry, reaching the waiting room to see his mother in the chair, her turning her head as she fell to the ground, crying. His mother jumped from her chair, racing to the room to meet the nurse in the hall, his mother crying as she fell into a chair, not believing what was being said. Turning to look at his mother, she leaned against the wall as she tried to collect her tears as the people surrounding the area stared at her, two boys from her school, Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski looking towards her. Sucking in a breath, she attempted to calm down as she put her elbows on her legs, sitting with her knees up before dropping her head into her lap, crying.
He was dead.
Elise Brooklyn's best friend was dead.
Daniel Summers was dead.
She was alone.
All alone.