"What do you think we should be watching for, the signs we would be getting?" Wally said at the mountain, after everyone had successfully made their way back. It was...very quiet, like one sound would destroy all the calm that had been seemingly made since Artemis came back with no memory. They were planning on giving her a week or two before M'gann would attempt to bring back her memories since Martian Manhunter had been on another planet with a mission.
"I don't know, moving tables and stuff, maybe she'll be all Paranormal Activity with us." Robin said suggestively, waving his arms in a very mock-ghost way. Wally snorted on his bottle of water and went into the kitchen to wipe his face.
"We're out of paper!" He called and Robin waved back dismissively, even though he couldn't see it.
'Just go to the supply closet and refill it. And don't use your speed, Arte-she'll see it." He said.
screech-screech-screech
"Wally, come here and check out the T.V" Robin said, and they almost screamed at what they saw.
Fire.
Multicolored flames licked at my feet, desperate for the remnants of me. I jumped, not wanting to be burned or hurt. I looked around, trying to grasp some clue of where I was. It looked like a great big ball of fire, no doubt about it. However, I was standing on a path,and the fire had started to gather behind me. So I did what any thinking person would do, I ran. I kept moving, getting away from it unsuccessfully , since it got faster. Then, I felt like I had hit a wall at the "end". I didn't know exactly want to do, so I banged on the blank dark wall, somewhat illuminated by the fire. But I realized...there was no door. There was no way out, I was surely going to die here. The fire was coming and there was no door to escape from this with. What a witchy way to die.
I turned around, and welcomed the flames, knowing there was nothing I could do as the searing pain started.
Artemis!
I'm sure I heard that as I saw static in front of me, and little images became bigger in front of my face. It was Robin and Wally, right in front of the screen, staring holes into me.
"Can you see me?" I said, and they looked at each other, making sure they both weren't going crazy. I looked around, and saw that the flames were wrapping around me, until the walls started to lose their color.
"Artemis, you're okay-Where are you-When are you coming back-How did you get there?" They said, there voices overlapping upon each other, like always. I looked around, watching the scene change once again. I was over run by the sense of a hospital, watching the walls become a pale white with myself being placed in a hallway with flames now covering the walls. It was filled with the scent of sterilization and bleach, and I didn't want to breathe at all.
"I'm...I don't know where I am at all. It's so...quiet here. I just feel like I'm going to die here, you know? No one would know either, I'd just be gone." I say and they try to convey sympathy through the screen by putting their hands on it, and I do the same, imagining the feel of both of their hands.
FRESH SOUL!
I hear this echo throughout the halls, cackling sounds that swish around me. I shake my head, trying to make it all go away, but it won't. The tears are staring to go free now,and I look at them again.
"Robin, my fellow human, the only one who possibly understood me in this world we put ourselves in, where we had the do so much work to be recognized for things metas couldn't do. My brother in arms. I don't know...if this sounds like a farewell. It probably is, but I cant help. I'll miss you, you know if I never get out of here." He nods and I stare deeply into Wally's eyes.
"Wally...oh my god, I just don't know what to say now. You were important to me, even though I was really mean to you, you know that right? I'm just a really cold bitch, it's my nature. i can't let people in, it's like saying 'I'll allow you to give me future pain when I grow up'. What I want to tell you Wally is something I should have told you before I died. Wally, I-" A wave of fire erupted in front of me, throwing me back and making me scream as the screen disappeared.
What did I really scream for? Did I scream because I fell of because I didn't get to tell Wally that I-
"Give me your soul!" It said, grabbing my legs so I wouldn't be able to move. I looked down and choked out a strangled sob as I saw the dark figure latch itself onto me and keep me down. I grabbed at the walls, ignoring the fake heat ti gave off and tried to pry myself away from him and escape this searing pain the figment was giving me. It pulled me back and kept me on my back, grasping my throat and squeezing until it's dark fingers covered my mouth and delved inside, making me cough from the lack of air and the pain.
"I want your soul! Where is your soul!" It said, and I felt like everything was getting hazy as leaned my head back on an angle to see what was at the end of the hallway.
Or Who.
"Fuck! Just...I can't do...any of this. Tomorrow we're going back to that hospital roof and waiting for Secret. YOU HEAR ME!" He yelled to no one in particular and walked away, preferably to get that paper he want in the beginning of all this chaos.
"Dumb ass building with it's stupid tall story shit and it killing intent. Stupid Gotham and it's crazy bastards always trying to do some stupid shit and-"
Bam
He fell backwards after colliding with another person. Another stupid thing to put to the list, he thought as he groaned to look up and see-
"Artemis?" He asked confusedly before remembering all the things that had taken place. He got up with no words and went into the supply closet to get that roll of paper.
"Sorry for running into you." She said, and Wally visibly stiffened before walking away. Then, coughs erupted from her, heavy and dry as she tried to breath in and went to her knees. Wally ran back around, called for Robin, and brought her back into the med-bay where she was supposed to be.
"I'm going to go get some oxygen, you been on it for a while, so your just not used to the air here. We're on a mountain, so...yeah." He said, bring the small tank over to her and putting the mask over her face,helping her breath as Robin came in.
"What happened?" He asked, pulling out his comm, wanting to know if he should alert anyone. Wally shook his head no and grabbed a stethoscope while sitting Artemis up.
"Breath in deeply when I ask you to, okay." He said solemnly, and shakily up the end on her back. She did what was asked, not seeing Wally's hesitation to being close to her, how small his steps were, how stiff he was.
"You're fine, just rest. take it easy so nothing happens...please." He said, almost pleading with her not to destroy him again. She nodded without knowing the depth of his meaning and laid back, focusing on something that was in her own mind. He has to like me..even a little. I feel like he just loves me, i know it. I won't let anyone take him from me...not even you,Artemis...the host thought, formulating a plot to get rid of the true Artemis...once and for all. Hopefully the demon would just kill her before she had to use the devious plot.
"Get off of her! How dare a disgusting thing like you try to take a soul. That's right, I'll destroy you before I let you take anything." The woman said, grabbing my hand and lifting me up before making me run away from it. I kept coughing until she brought me into an empty room to sit down and take a breath. I looked at the woman clearly and scrutinized the person who saved me.
She was African American with nice curly hair, wearing a gray robe black shoes and some leggings. She was without a doubt, a ghost. There was no other way she could be here if she wasn't a ghost, so my findings are solid.
"You're probably wondering why I'm here, well, why you're here. Well, I don't exactly know about myself but I can give you until one of us get out of here." She said with her British accent before putting a hand out and giving a wide smile..
"Hi, My name is Anne. Nice to meet you." She said as I shook her hand.
"Likewise, My name's Artemis. I think I..died. It's not permanent but i had some help with a powerful ghost who put a soul in my body to preserve it, in a way. Sooner or later, I'm getting out of this place. How about you?" I asked while she stared at her shoes. She wasn't that old really, possibly in her mid-twenties. However, it felt like she had been here for a while.
"I was exorcised. I had just been sitting there when the person who killed me saw my ghost and started waving crosses and throwing salt around me. Sometimes it works so I came here. I have some friends who are supernatural and can see me so they're coming to get me in a week. We keep in contact." She said, getting up to stand by the door.
"Come on. Let me show you how to get out of here. It seems that powerful ghost has made a way for you." She says, and guides me through the hallway, ending our way at a door.
"What is this?" I asked and she snickered. I glared at her impassively and she shrugged.
"It's a door...the ones you open to go places. Even though this one is a little special. I saw it when I found you, which means this door is yours. Open it and you'll go back home. There was never any trial , just a test of faith to see what you would do when seeing your friends one last time. I guess you passed ." She said, before squeezing my shoulder and disappearing in wisps of white.
I put my hands on the knob gradually turning it before it fully opened and I was on my way home.
"I think I did something wrong." pseudo-Artemis said, putting her forehead on her knees in front of M'gann, who sympathetically touched her shoulder in worry.
'What do you mean? You just got here. What could you have done?" M'gann said, still confused at where this was going. She couldn't say anything to offend her, but this girl, Artemis, was changing. She seemed more angry than sad right now.
"I'm just so angry, mostly at myself anyway. I think...I think Wally hates me." She says before looking away from M'gann.
"What? No, that can't be true at all. I mean, you should have seen how Wally doted over you in the hospital when he thought no one was looking. It was just..adorable. I don't think anything's changed. I guess it's your memory he's afraid of." M'gann says, still not understanding the reason behind this thinking.
"Are you sure? BUT it's a whole other thing. I'm not..me anymore. I'm not the Artemis you know. I'm...different now."He says and M'gann gives her a small hug.
"He's on the cliff-side if you want to talk to him. He'll probably let you know everything, he's not one for keeping everything to himself." M'gann says while Artemis steps out, looking to find Wally.
I was truly back. There was no doubt about it. The same mountain, the same rooms, the same...everything. I knew no one would be able to see me but I had to try my best to find someone with some sense.
"-SO I just wanted to know how you felt about me." I said, or rather my host body said, which was really confusing. I'm out here,, another soul is out there, talking to Wally about how I feel. Wait, how he feels about me? This cannot be happening, not at all. There is no way that soul is trying to steal him from me.
"You're not you...If you know what I'm trying to say. Artemis...isn't like this, at least wait until you can remember everything then come back and tell me what's on your mind." He said, staring to get up before she took his hand and sat him back down. Oh Lord, please don't make me watch myself come on to Wally. This is just like...death by not being able to feel. I've got to stop this.
"I know what I'm since the beginning, I felt like...like you were very important to me. I...I really like you Wally." She says, while leaning in to kiss him. He looks like he's doing the same before he pulls back and I throw a glass by them in glee.
She glares at me and I'm so sure her eyes turn black. Wally gets up and walks toward the glass, kneeling down right in front of me and I put my hand on his cheek while the host gets up to change this scene. He looks up unexpectedly and i can't help but smile, except for the fact that he can't see me.
"I'll clean this up Artemis. You can go back to your room, I guess. We can..talk about all of this later." He say, while getting a dustpan and a bag to clean up my mess.
"So she's gone now. Jesus, I thought I was going to jump off the cliff to escape her. Is that really how you feel Artemis, underneath all of you cruel ways." He say with a small laugh, realizing that he may be talking to himself.
"I know you're there, but I just can't see you. I felt you just now, I know it. I'm going to believe that you'll find your own way back. Meanwhile, I'm going into hiding." He says, walking away and giving a small wave to no one in particular before leaving the mountain. I exhale in relief, knowing that whatever plan the host had will never work as long as I'm around.
"You think he'll want you like this. You will never get back inside your own body. Do you want to know why? M'gann is planning on reviving your, well my memories. All I have to do is pretend that I can remember everything, which I will be able to do once I take your soul and everything will be perfect." She said, walking up to me until we were staring into each other's eyes.
"I can't allow it. Secret will help me destroy you and that is the real truth. Don't mess with the living sweetie, cause you're already dead." I said, and thought of Secret, which is how I disappeared.
"Secret, could you please get you astral butt over here. Me and Robin have been waiting for you and you know it. In other new that host body wants me." He said and Robin raises one eyebrow while Wally shrugs.
"The chick tries to kiss me and I swear Artemis broke a glass to stop us. At first,I just thought Artemis broke through or something, but no, I just stuck between a ghost and a hard place." He says, and Robin starts laughing at the scene in his head.
"Did that really happen?" Secret said, sitting on a stoop a little bit away from them. She looked more worried than mad, and was gazing at something to the right of her before nodding.
"I see. Artemis is here, standing by my side. Give me a day and she'll be back into her body, but not without a fight. The host inside...she's trying to get rid of you Artemis. She's probably not being devious..just scared of being alone." She looks back to her right, possibly in a conversation with Artemis before giving her a shocked expression and rubbing her temples.
"Stay away from her Wally. Whatever you do, don't be alone with her. She's trying to erase Artemis through you. Artemis's soul left while you were with her, meaning that a part of her will be with you forever. If the host is able to get that part-
"Artemis will never come back to us." Wally finished, staring at that same place where Artemis was quietly sobbing.
I thinking this story is almost over. It could be finished in the next chapter or I could pull it to fifteen, whatever you guys want. I'm getting to work on the other stories that I had left because of all of the shit I've been going through for the past few months. Please Read and Review, it keeps amateurs like me alive.
