The Lovely Bones—MY Ending
Author's Note: I do NOT own The Lovely Bones (unfortunately) or any of the characters. However, my OC is my own invention. This is more of a crossover for him and The Lovely Bones.
My name is Alexander Kane, or it was when I started my new life. Some could call me a psycho, others a vigilante. I prefer to think of myself as a hunter.
It all started for me when I committed suicide. I had brought shame on myself for making some unwanted advances toward a woman. Right afterwards, I knew it was wrong. It wasn't that big a deal after a while. She went on with her life, hopefully knowing I was sorry for the perverted things I said to her. I couldn't live with it, so I hung myself.
The next thing I remember is waking up in a small, dark box. It took several minutes of beating the box open and clawing my way through the dirt. When I made it to the surface, there was a man there waiting for me. His physical features seemed perfect, for lack of a better word. He was wearing a dark grey trench coat just like every mysterious guy you see in the movies.
"Hello," he said as I was still panting from the digging. "I'm Gabriel, and I'm sure you have many questions? For example, how you're alive right now or how you're broken hands are now starting to mend themselves."
When he said that, I immediately looked at my hands. I was pretty sure I had broken my fingers and knuckles trying to get out of the coffin. There were bloody scabs on them from all the punching. But, now the bleeding had stopped and the scabs and scratches were starting to seal up, turning a slight pink as if they were healing after a few weeks. But this was only a couple of minutes.
Gabriel said, "Take my hand and come with me. I shall explain everything."
It turned out I was chosen by God to come back and fight evil. No mortal weapon could kill me. My bones were so strong it was impossible to cut anything off. The most that could happen would be breaking or getting shot. I could get a bullet to the brain and heal after about a minute. I wasn't given any specific rules on how to supposedly fight evil. Apparently I could do what I wanted except for the rare occasion Gabriel or some other angelic emissary give me the name of someone to pick up unharmed. These individuals would be rehabilitated. I didn't see much point to it, but I went along with it. As for as all the other scumbags of this world were concerned, it was open season.
So, here I am, five years later, and a body count well into the triple digits, always consisting of serial killers, rapists, child pornographers, abusive drunks…the list goes on. The place I was passing through was some small-ish town in Pennsylvania (A/N: I forget the name of the town Lovely Bones takes place in). All these towns look the same to me. On average I'd stay about a 2-4 months, I get lucky enough to find some sick bastard to stalk.
It was getting very cold, so I stopped by this diner so I could warm up and get something to eat. Just because I couldn't die didn't mean I couldn't feel the discomforts of mediocre things like starvation and sleep deprivation. I noticed the few customers here were kind of sullen. Well, the older people were anyway. I wondered what was up when I noticed the big poster saying "IN MEMORIAM—SUSIE SALMON." I read the poster's smaller print. It was some teenage girl who died today in 1973. There was some sort of tribute or memorial service that was taking place at some cornfield near some local school.
Normally, I don't pay attention to stuff like this, but something grabbed my interest. I felt drawn to this event, this dead girl. Something must have happened. I've seen people do memorials like this for kids killed in car crashes, but I had a feeling this wasn't the case here. Some guy behind the counter looked old enough to know what was going on. Normally I wouldn't be this social, but I wanted details.
"Excuse me, sir," I said, hoping he wouldn't notice some of the scars on my face. I used makeup to cover them until they were thin lines. "I was just curious about that poster there. I'm not from around here and I don't want to impose, but I'm just wondering why everyone I've bumped into today is down in the dumps."
He looks at me like I just don't belong here. Maybe I opened Pandora's Box asking that. But, the old man sighed, maybe because I'm not the first visitor to this town who's asked about this girl and he's given the story dozens of times.
"37 years ago today, little Susie Salmon disappeared. Apparently, one of her neighbors, name of George Harvey, took her into the cornfield and killed her. No one knows exactly how. We wouldn't even have known she was dead except for blood stains and a body part found by some folks' dog. The son of a bitch wasn't even a full suspect until Susie's sister Lindsey hadn't broken into his house and found evidence linking him to Susie. In my opinion, that girl handled her death better than the rest of her family. Her daddy was grieving too much, her mom too little, and her little brother was too young to really deal with it."
I was shocked. A teenage girl lured into a cornfield just to die by the hands of a neighbor. Being the pessimist I was, I wondered if the fucker did more than simply kill her and cut her body up afterwards. Something, passionate rage perhaps, urged me to inquire further.
"You said a part of the body was found. What about the rest?" I asked.
"Well, it wasn't sometime until after the 10th anniversary of Susie's death when the cops were looking into every place Harvey had been to while he lived here. Apparently he dumped a safe into a sinkhole a few miles into the country sometime shortly after the murder. When the cops found out, they got permission to open up the sinkhole and keep digging. It took them only two months to find the safe. DNA proved it was her. At least her family got to put that child to rest properly."
A 14 year old girl, found as rotting, mutilated pieces in a dirty safe. My blood was boiling. I had one last question for the old man.
"Did they ever catch Harvey?"
"Yeah…and no," he replied.
"What?"
"He skipped town after Lindsey Salmon stole that evidence from his house. Apparently went by different names all over the state, not staying in one place for too long. Well, not as long as he stayed here anyway. Anyway, several months before Susie's body was found, he was found dead on the face of some cliff. Reports said he must've lost his balance while standing too close to the edge. His body was there for a few weeks until it was actually found."
Interesting end for the animal certainly. Perhaps nature's or God's way of payback, but not mine. Sure, falling on a rocky cliff sounds like a painful end, but I could've done so much more. The things I could've done to that bastard would have made him want to jump off that thing. Hell, maybe he'd even have considered turning himself in just to get the fuck away from me.
"It ain't right," the man continued. "It ain't fair that that girl should die so horribly and that man just happens to die due to clumsiness. It just isn't right."
I felt something rise in me. Hope perhaps? I had died and come back, so why couldn't this girl? I needed to talk to Gabriel. The best place to start was obvious: where Susie Salmon died.
"Where exactly is this cornfield?" I asked.
