(A/N to follow chapter.)
ANNIVERSARY CH 4 LINEN
Whitefingers clawed away at the dark earth, falling away to reveal a pale, confused boy.
Summer reached for his hand, to help him out, but Seth snatched it away before they could touch. Staring at her suspiciously, he dragged himself free, and stood, carefully.
Summer took a moment to see him, outlined inweak yellow light from the electric torches arranged around the cemetery. For a second, the length of a memory, it was last year again, both of the boys were alive, and Seth was still her boyfriend. If she looked past the dirt, he didn't even look that different, messy hair, a wrinkled suit, and he was just Cohen.
Looking everywhere but at her, lost and confused, he had one hand pressed to his stomach, where a bullet still resided.
His mouth was open, and he was gasping, Summer fought the urge to giggle. After all, he hasn't taken a breath in a year. The stifled giggle turned into a choked sob before she could stop herself, and he turned his attention to her.
"Hey, Seth." She spoke slowly, her voice soft, as if he were a wounded animal. "I wasn't sure this would even work, but considering what happened, I figured the chances were pretty good. I never told anybody, because they would have thought I was crazy. Thank goodness you made me read all those comics, huh?" Summer was babbling, she knew she was, but it wasn't every day she was confronted with the reanimated corpse of her boyfriend.
He stumbled towards her. In the slanting lamp-light, Summer though she might have seen a smile flicker across his mouth, and she took hope from that. Still talking, she moved towards him, slowly, carefully, "Remember those comics? And we discussed the myths behind them? Crows? I figured there might be a chance. A billion to one, but if anybody could be a Crow, it would be you. After they killed you, and the way they killed Ryan."
Saying Ryan's name must have triggered something in the boy because suddenly awareness snapped into his eyes. He turned back towards the headstones, staggered over to them, carefully stepping over the disturbed earth of his abandoned grave.
With trembling fingers, he traced the words
RYAN ATWOOD-COHEN
10-7-1989 TO 7-23-2005
BELOVED SON AND BROTHER
"He died a day after you, in the hospital. He didn't wake up, but at least Sandy and Kirsten got to say their good-byes."
Summer looked over at the other stone. The same note, BELOVED SON AND BROTHER, didn't nearly do Cohen justice. But, you couldn't fit a whole lifetime on a headstone, and maybe those four words were enough.
A stone urn full of fresh flowers sat between the two stones, on the side it read, "They will be missed." There really wasn't any more to say.
Lost in thought, at first Summer didn't see Seth walk away, across the grounds. Catching up to him, and remembering his earlier response to her touch, she kept her hands away from him, "Where are you going, Seth?"
Silently, he walked on. She followed, unsettled. Of all people, Seth was never the quiet one, and the fact that he hadn't spoken since rising unnerved her.
They left the cemetery grounds and walked into the street. Seth seemed not to see the traffic. Cars driving by swerved to avoid the boy. Summer bit back a smile at that. She wondered what the drivers must think of them, a girl dressed in black trailing behind a pale boy in a torn suit covered in dirt as they passed a cemetery. She thought they might end up an urban legend, the old Seth would have laughed, but the new Seth?
Still, she had to say something, "Seth, what do think those drivers—"
"Summer."
His quiet voice stopped her in her tracks. After walking a bit further, Seth must have realized she wasn't following anymore because he turned around.
"Are you coming?"
Shaken, she said the first thing that came to mind, "I thought you couldn't talk."
"Nothing to say."
Summer cracked a small half-smile. "You know, you sound just like Ryan—"
Seth's eyes darkened, and Summer swallowed the rest of her sentence.
Seth turned away and started walking again, Summer followed him. What else could she do?
Walking through Orange County in the dark, familiar landmarks turned sinister. Of course, it wasn't the first time Summer was wandering around at night, over the past year she'd avoided people, and found it was more peaceful after sunset. But with Seth, her boyfriend Seth, who up until less than an hour previous had been dead, things took on a haunted air, the ghosts of memory waited to lunge at her.
She was so wrapped up in this, she missed what Seth said.
"What? You said something?"
"Nothing."
Walking behind the boy, she couldn't see him, but she could almost swear she heard a smile in his voice. "I know you said something, and since you've only said, like, eight words so far, I don't want to miss it."
"Who?"
"Who? Who what, Seth? You have to give me more than that."
"Who did it, Summer? Who killed us?"
This time, Seth was the one that froze. Summer slowed down behind him. There were a lot of ways to answer this. He was delicate right now, the wrong answer and anything could happen.
"Who, Summer? You know why."
"Yeah, I know why. Okay, the truth is, no one knows. We tried. Sandy tried. So hard. The police, private investigators. But there was nothing. Tips went nowhere, leads dried up. You know, Caleb even offered a reward for information. Lots of people called up after that, but nothing. The only people who know what happened are you and R- you guys."
Summer stood behind Seth, wanting nothing more than to put her arms around him. But there was no time for that. It's not what he came back for.
"I don't know."
The hollow sound of his voice startled her. He sounded so lost, confused.
"But, you were there, Seth. They shot you. You must have seen?"
He turned to her, her eyes were caught in his. "I don't know who killed us. But I'm going to find out. Then, they're going to die."
With that, he set off walking again. He knew where he was going, and she followed along. There was a lot to do.
Author's Note: I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I could blame work, or my commute, for being soul- and creativity-killing, but the truth is, I'm just a lazy procrastinator. I'm going to try and update at least once a week, and that's about the best offer I can make.
One thing that would help would be more reviews. If I'm coming off as a bit desperate, it's only because I am. I got one review for the previous chapter (Thank you, by the way, cdgeiger) and it's disheartening.
Yesterday I wrote a long, bitter postscript about the lack of reviews and how bummed I get checking my e-mail. Part of my being upset might be that our internet provider crashed for, like, all of yesterday, but nyway. This morning I checked my e-mail like usual and found two more reviews for this story. That and the fact that My Chemical Romance has posted the new video for their song "The Ghost of You," have made me a very happy camper. So, here I am, chipper as the day is long.
I'm going to finish this story, though it may take a while, whether people review or not, but please review.
Love it, hate it? Don't care. I'm just a complete whore for attention. smiles.