"Wake up!"

Ty felt his heart jump into his throat. He bolted upright in bed, his hand flying to his chest. His entire body seemed to thump with adrenaline, and he looked wide-eyed to where the voice had come from. He let out a long exhale when he saw Amy standing at the foot of his bed, her slender arms crossed over her chest, a determined look on her face.

"It's just you," he panted, trying to force his body to calm down. Nothing was happening; nothing was going to happen to him.

Amy looked around disdainfully. "So you weren't lying about living in the loft."

"Or working here," Ty added, but she didn't acknowledge that. She was looking to the side, to the sheets of plastic that hung around the room. Finally, he pressed, "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes," she sniffed. "You need to start talking."

"About what?" Ty questioned.

"Strange things have been happening recently, and I believe it's all your fault, so it's time for you to start talking," she sounded more threatening with every word she said, although Ty was having a hard time being intimidated by the slight blonde.

"Why do you assume it's my fault?" Ty asked, but then he stopped himself. Was he really going to argue with her, especially as he actually did know the truth when she was inexplicably blind?

"Are you trying to tell me you don't know anything?" Her voice had calmed, but Ty's heart skipped a beat. She was strangely perceptive, but she had still managed to avoid the harsh truth.

"I do know what's going on," Ty admitted. "But it's hard to say, so I don't want to."

"Selfish much?"

"You're the one that needs me," Ty snapped before he could stop himself, before he could think about the words. He shouldn't be so rude to her or so defensive. She did need him. Amy needed him to help her realize the truth, and cross to wherever spirits were supposed to go.

"So tell me what I need to know!" Amy cried. Her light eyes flashed, and then her façade of strength crumbled. She looked even younger than she was when she whispered, "Will you help me? I know something is wrong and I don't know what to do about it, but somehow you seem to. I need you to help me."

So she wasn't completely oblivious. Ty didn't know how spirits typically found out they were dead. He had never bothered to ask and none of the ones that he encountered had ever seemed to want to share.

"Okay," Ty said slowly. "I'll tell you everything that you need to know, but you're not going to like it."

Amy paused at this, and then she sighed. "But I have to know, don't I?" She glanced at him, and he realized that she wanted affirmation that she couldn't hide, and he gave it to her with a nod. "So, tell me."

Ty climbed out of bed, feeling like this shouldn't be a conversation he had while lying down. He went to stand in front of her, getting really close to her for the first time. He realized how little she seemed, how young. Ty wasn't old by any means, he was nearing the end of his teenage years, but somehow there was a vulnerability to Amy that made him even more reluctant to say anything to her.

"What's the date today?" He asked her.

"What?" Amy blinked, starting. "I don't know."

"Just answer the question, okay?"

Amy shrugged.

"Guess," Ty encouraged.

"I don't know," she repeated. "It's … I mean, Spartan's been here for a few weeks at least, so …" she took a guess, and Ty felt his heart sink.

"It's actually a few weeks after that," he said quietly, and told her the real date. She told him that he was full of it.

"I don't have to stand her for you to screw with me! I came to you for help!" She shouted, storming toward the door.

"Why me?" Ty called after her, stopping her in her tracks. "Why not go to Jack or Marion? How did you not know Lou was living here? What was the last conversation you had with your mother?"

Her sense of time was warped, Ty realized. She was aware that Spartan had been at Heartland for a while, even if she wasn't sure how long, but it had never occurred to her that she hadn't spoken with her family members for an extended period of time; that no one had seemed to notice her presence.

"What do you do every day, Amy?" Ty demanded.

He knew that she wasn't present at the ranch all the time, because he'd see her far more often if she was. When she was here, he wondered what she did. If she was in the barn all the time, she'd see Jack and wonder why he didn't see her. If she was in the house, she'd wonder why no one reacted to her. She'd know that her mother barely left her room from the depression. But Amy seemed ignorant to the comings and goings of her family; to the world at large. Sometimes, Ty wondered if she just lived in a fog, and if that was the case, he was impressed that she had even picked up on time passing and that something was wrong. He was sure the cause of this was Spartan. If Amy had been around horses her whole life, especially damaged ones, she would know that it took time to build trust with an animal and create a bond. Spartan's attitude changes toward her must have been one of the things that tipped her off. The way the animal acted was different, so obviously things had been happening, but on the other hand things seemed exactly the same … At least, Ty assumed that was what her point of view was.

"I didn't go to Grandpa or Mom because … because … you seemed to know things. And Lou is never here, so why would I think that …" She still had her back to him, but Ty could see her shoulders slump inward as she realized her answers were inadequate.

"Amy, turn around and let's talk." Ty tried not to say it as an order, but it came out that way.

Still, Amy listened. She spun away from the steps that would take her down into the heart of the barn and crossed the room back to him. She was standing extraordinarily close – close enough that it unnerved Ty, and he had to take a little shuffle all away.

"Honest question," Ty said, "What do you do all day?"

"I see Spartan and then … I usually spend a lot of time with Mom because she works with horses and that's what I like to do."

"Usually?" Ty picked up on the word.

"Things are confusing," Amy whispered.

"What's the last clear thing you remember doing with Marion?"

Amy turned her head to the side, looking at the door. "I was on a ride with Jen. I was riding Hutch. Mom told me not to stay out too late, because of the weather. It was supposed to get bad. We were riding on someone's property … I think his name was Mallen. I heard a horse crying and I had to check on him. It was Spartan. He was locked inside a barn, covered in dirt and starving. I had to save him. Jen and I rode away from the property. She said goodbye and I went back to Mom. She didn't want to go out driving in the rain, but I asked her too because it was important for me to get Spartan. We went to Mallen's, and we got him into the trailer …" She said all of this in a deadpan voice, as if she had no emotional attachment to the scene was describing.

"Then what happened?" Ty pushed when she trailed off, her eyes glazing over with memories.

"It was raining really hard. Mom was driving really slowly. Spartan was kicking. He didn't like the trailer. There was a … a …"

"A what?"

"A tree? I think it was a tree. It was in the middle of the road. Mom had to swerve to avoid it, but we ended up going down over a bank," Amy's voice was rising with emotion. Her eyes squeezed shut, but Ty could still see panic all over her face as she confronted that night for the first time since it had actually happened. "We were going so fast and Mom was losing control of the truck. Spartan was screaming and I can't remember if I was too. I was so scared and then … then I shouted for her and then … everything went dark and there was so much pain … so much pain."

Her eyes flew open, her porcelain cheeks wet with tears. She reached for him in a frenzy, gripping onto his bare forearm so that she would be grounded to something. Ty glanced down at her hand, freaked out because she was dead and she wasn't going through him and because of how frozen she was. He would have rather stood butt naked, for hours on end, in an Albertan snowbank than feel the bone-crushing, strength-sapping cold that resided in Amy's dead fingers. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to shake her off.

"After the pain?" Ty murmured as she stood there, a perfect doll, the only thing giving her movement was the terrified movement of her eyes.

"I was here?" Amy squeaked, turning it into a question. Ty watched her change from the confrontational answer seeker who had woken him up, to someone who was finally realizing the truth. She was deflating.

"No hospital? What happened to your mom?"

"Mom … was fine. She had to be fine, because I was fine, right?" Amy said all of it in a rush. She brought her other hand up so that she was gripping both of Ty's forearms, and then chill doubled. It was painful, but he couldn't pull away. The physical agony of her touch was nothing compared to the emotional anguish on her face as she choked out, "I wasn't fine, was I?"

Ty shook his head, and she let go of him, collapsing to the floor. Her knees made a dull thud as she collided with the wood, burying her face in her hands so that the only thing she could see was her long, curled blonde hair. Ty could only watch her for a moment as heat rushed back through his body. He never thought that he would feel overheated in this loft, but right now, he did. It was only her gasping sobs that brought him back to the broken hearted girl on the floor. He knelt in front of her forlorn figure.

"Amy?"

"I died!" She screamed, with so much force torment that Ty felt tears come to his own eyes.

"Amy, I'm so sorry."

Her sobs seemed to double as she curled further in on herself. Ty didn't know what he could do or say. There was no way to make this better. He couldn't heal her. Time couldn't fix her. There was nothing left for Amy here anymore. Tragically, she had lost her life before she could reach the height of it and, although Ty had encountered child spirits before, somehow the thought of the life Amy could have had touched him deeper than anything else had before. He was just about to reach out to her – cold be damned, touch was comforting and she needed that – when he saw it. He saw a thin black film begin to slide over her golden hair, stars twinkling across her body as the truth sunk into Amy. She was dead. She finally knew that she was dead.

A scream erupted from her lips and she bolted backward, flying onto her bottom. She stared in horror at her hands, at her legs that stretched out in front of her.

"What's happening to me?" She cried out.

"It's something that happens when you know you died." Ty tried to explain it gently, but there was nothing gentle about explaining the particulars of death. "It's perfectly normal!"

"None of this is normal!" Amy shouted.

"I know," Ty murmured, and he tried to reach for her, but she just as he was nearing her hand, she disappeared from in front of him, like the ghost she was.

So, next week I'm moving home for the summer! I should be able to update on Tuesdays as always. The difference being that there's a four hour time difference between where I am now and home. But, this is good news because now you'll be getting updates roughly four hours than you usually do! Woo!

I don't own anything recognizable.

~TLL~