Disclaimer: Victorious and all of its associated copyrights are not my property and I stake no claim to them.
A/N: Alas, here we are, the final chapter. I hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. This is just to wrap everything up, so read on.
Jade's POV
About two weeks after my…'experience' at the old house, Tori and I were moving in the last of our things to our new house. We bought one from this century, call us paranoid, but it seems safer. Tori even went so far as to talk to the neighbors about the house (obviously I wouldn't do it, lack of appropriate people skills and all), and all checks out.
There wasn't a ton of remodeling to do on this house, mostly just some repainting because most of it was horrifically bright colors. Tori had already spread random pictures and paintings throughout the house for a more homelike appearance. She conveniently 'forgot' all of mine pertaining to anything even slightly bloody.
Nevertheless, things were working out alright. Last I checked the 13 that Abigail was so kind as to brand into my stomach looked a bit like the aftermath of a weak scarification attempt, not half bad but it could've been better.
I had just set down the last box, and my ass had just hit the couch when Tori's phone rang. I groaned, I figured it was probably Beck or Vince 'hey you guys forgot something' then Tori, 'Jade I know you just sat down after working so hard but go get this.' Surprisingly, she was on the phone for quite a while, which gave me ample time to relax before she sent me on another recovery mission.
"Jade?" Here we go. "Yes Tori? What did we forget this time?" I asked sounding as exhausted as I felt.
"Um, nothing. That was Father John. They finished the gravestone, complete with 156 names," She told me. I thought for a moment. Why did that number sound familiar?
The thought struck me like a ton of bricks. "156 Shadowlake." I repeated numbly. Our old house address. This is just crazy.
"Yeah… We made that connection too. I highly doubt that's coincidence if this is the real number of people they executed," Tori said.
Ignoring the bizarre things that keep occurring, I asked, "So when are we going?"
"Tomorrow." Awesome.
Driving down that road once again seemed like asking for trouble. It felt like it too. As we neared the site where the house used to be located, and where the witch trials were once conducted, we started to feel more uneasy by each passing moment. Tori and I both knew we were risking a hell of a lot coming back here, and we hoped it would be worth it.
Parking on the other side of the street, we got out and were very hesitant to cross to where they were working on setting up the new memorial. It was a slate gray cross, made of some type of stone, a lot larger than I originally thought, probably to incorporate all the names. It stood at least 4 feet tall, not counting the granite block it was mounted on.
I leaned back against the car, wrapping a protective arm around Tori as we waited for Father John to show up. Luckily we didn't have to wait long, as he arrived just a few minutes later.
"Tori, Jade, It's good to see you. Come, I'm assuming you'd like to just get this over with as quickly as possible" Father John said as he shook our hands. At least he understands.
Tori retained a death grip on my hand as we crossed the street, nearing the memorial. Father John gestured for us to step past the memorial onto the old foundation of the house. Are you crazy, man?
Still, we accepted the offer, we didn't have much of a choice at that point, so we did. He led us over to under the shade of a tree, where he got out his sacred robe and scarf, the ones he used in the exorcism. I'm assuming this tree had some historical value, of what, I don't know.
I stood behind Tori, arms around her waist. I was very uncomfortable here, and my protective instincts were kicking into overdrive.
Father John began some type of cleansing ceremony, trying desperately to free the spirits the demons had enslaved. After a good half hour of futile attempts, I was beginning to get irritated, this was going nowhere. Just as that thought crossed my mind, that black mist appeared.
After saying some type of prayer that I couldn't remember for the life of me, it seemed to be in a great fight with itself. After what seemed like hours of torturous contortions this thing was making, it abruptly tore in two. It was like a sight from one of those movies or TV shows.
The black mist was stood right by the tree, facing a white mist. It was like Good VS Evil. The ultimate showdown. Not exactly something you'd expect to see even once in your lifetime.
"In the name of Christ I deem these spirits free!" Came Father John's shout, followed by the white mist slowly elongating, and disappearing into the sky. Well how 'bout dat.
Now the black mist stood in front of Father John, this wasn't going to be good.
Pulling a crucifix from his pocket, he thrust it towards the mist, willing the demons to return to Hell.
The dark mist paid no mind to him, instead slowly making its way toward the memorial. We followed, watching the mist as it began to tear in two, again. This time, without any trouble at all. As they split, there was a pure black mist, and a dusty gray mist.
The black form backed away, going back towards the house's foundation. At the same time, the gray figure continued to observe the memorial, until the black mist disappeared into the ground.
The gray mist seemed to dissolve into the memorial's gravestone, as a total of 13 names on the stone glowed.
After a few moments of silence we decided to go see what had happened.
Of the names on the gravestone, most being polished silver, 13 stood out as a brilliant gold. Among the names, was Abigail Harper.
Epilogue - Tori's POV
I think it's cute how after coming home Jade always stomps into the house with authority just to go and be a softie 2 minutes later by using Lennon as a pillow. The same is true for today, but I've been lonely all day, so I feel like crashing their party.
5 minutes after hearing Jade stomp into the house, then verbally announce her arrival, I went to the living room to see her lying on Lennon, watching Ripley's Believe It or Not, laughing at some guy swallowing swords. I steal the remote and turn the TV off, earning myself an annoyed groan. "Tori, why'd you turn that off?"
"Because I missed you today," I answered innocently. She pulled me down on top of her, and Lennon decided it was his time to go.
"I missed you too, but you didn't have to turn off the TV," she said, clearly slightly annoyed I made her pillow walk away. I figured I needed to make my meaning clear.
"No, Jade, I missed you," I clarified. A look of realization slowly appeared on her face.
"Oh, you missed me…" I just mumbled, "Yeah…"
As I kissed her she took the hint that I was in that mood again, it happened a lot these days. She picked me up and carried me upstairs, no small feat considering the extra weight I've put on with the baby.
The last thing I remember seeing before being lost in a world of blissful pleasure, were the words we had painted on the ceiling of our room, amongst faux night sky and glow-in-the-dark stars, "Welcome to Heaven."
A/N: There you have it, folks. This story's been one hell of a learning experience for me, and I greatly appreciate all the positive feedback. You guys are awesome.
P.S. Self promotion crap here, I'm putting the finishing touches on a one-shot I've been working on since the beginning of this story, so watch for that if you're interested ;)
