CHANGE OF PLAN, PEOPLE!

I know that I said 'two more chapters and I'm done', but I'm going to extend it by another chapter and I'll have to wait to upload them both. HOWEVER, this is the final change in the plan of ending this bad-boy.

Also, sorry for the late update AGAIN, but school and friends and family and life managed to get in the way...again...but don't worry, here's a new chapter for you all :)

I'm gonna get back to work and revise for my exams and stuff and I'll see you guys next chapter :)

~Ciao


Chapter Fifty-Four

Escape

"Wake up, Anthony…Wake up…"

The teenager groggily but gently opened his elegantly-shaped eyes with hesitation due to his lack of knowledge of his location. The last thing he remembered was his attempt at taking his own life and an angry Jeff violently pulling a hysteric Jessie away from him as he slowly bled to death on the floor just before his crying, yelling parents came rushing in and called for an ambulance or the police or whatever emergency service they were calling for – he couldn't remember exactly, but he had an idea.

He expected to awake within a hospital, covered in wires and hearing the slow, paced beeping that measured his heart-rate – which would honestly calm him down due to its soothing rhythm, however he would feel disappointed because he would've failed in his mission to die and escape this new world without his beloved friends by his side. He just expected himself to still be alive when he woke up; he wasn't sure whether it was because he was confident that he would fail at killing himself or because he was secretly hoping that he failed, but either way, he expected failure. Although, when he opened his eyes, he wasn't in a hospital. He wasn't in any kind of room at all in fact.

Antony opened his eyes to witness nothing. He was surrounded by a white void, inhabited by no life or objects and was standing on thin air, almost as if he were floating, but he felt as if there was a solid floor beneath him that he could easily walk on with as much ease as if it were solid concrete; he lifted his head slightly and began to inwardly panic at his surroundings. He had no idea whether he was dead or dreaming or hallucinating, but whatever he was going through right now meant that he couldn't have possibly been conscious at the time.

Surprisingly, when the thought occurred that he could've been successful in his quest to kill himself, he started to become full of anxiety and inner-conflict; he suddenly very deeply thought through all of the reasons why even attempting suicide wasn't a good idea in the first place, realising that it was too late to change what he did. His parents would be completely destroyed if he were dead; they probably wouldn't be able to function without him there to look after and support; they might even begin to turn on each other or blame each other for his death, and could possibly divorce as a result. He would be causing them pain and heart-ache, which would coincide with the point that he had about suicidal people and the fact that he thought that their actions were selfish and inconsiderate – it affected the world around them and harmed the people that cared about them, however now, he was just like them.

Sweat began to form on his brow and his heart started to beat faster and faster inside of his chest.

That was when he realised something.

He wasn't dead.

If he could feel sweat and his heart beating, then he must not have been dead. When people die, their bodily functions completely stop working and that includes the heart pumping blood around the body and their sweat glands; it could've been possible that when you become a spirit, you could develop the illusion that you still had the bodily functions that you had when you were alive, but since Anthony didn't believe in the afterlife, that thought didn't even display itself in his head. That must've meant that he was still alive.

"Anthony…"

Time stopped. Anthony froze.

H knew that voice so well that it was criminal, but he knew that he couldn't be hearing it right there and then. There was nothing that we wanted more in the world than to be hearing that voice, but he knew that it just wasn't a realistic thing to wish for. He hoped and prayed that he wasn't, but he thought that he must've been dreaming now.

Hesitantly, he turned his head around along with his slightly limp body and widened his eyes at the sight in front of him.

"S-Sal…ly…"

Before the baffled teenager, his supposedly dead, best friend, stood nonchalantly as if nothing had happened to her at all. Her long, flowing, chestnut hair was let down and was almost glowing, and she was quaintly wrapped in a pure, sleeveless white dress and was barefoot, almost like a profit from a biblical tale; Anthony had honestly never seen her in a dress before and he never thought that he would ever get the chance to see her in a dress after earlier that day when he discovered that she had died.

He had no words to express how he felt. He could barely even manage to stare at this impossibility without collapsing or fainting out of pure shock and disbelief; he allowed his tears to flow down his cheeks and for his dry lips to begin to tremble as he attempted to whisper Sally's name, but realised that it was impossible, without stuttering.

The gloriously pure girl facing the teen began to wonder towards Anthony, her bare feet touching the invisible floor beneath the two of them; once she reached him, her palm cupped his soaking, crimson cheek and she smiled sweetly at him. Anthony jolted at the fact that her hand actually touched him; she felt as if she was really there, creating a strong skin-to-skin contact with her friend, but he knew she couldn't have been there. The blood-loss must've made him start imagining things.

She wasn't there.

"Anthony…" She whispered. Anthony glanced up at her with lack of belief in his eyes. "It's really me, dumbass. Don't think it's just a hallucination or anything 'cause I don't wanna stand here talking to myself."

It was defiantly her. No one else would speak to him in that manner except for Sally and that broke Anthony up inside. He pulled her in for large hug and held her there so tightly that she couldn't move an inch of her body; she wrapped her arms around him in response and smiled at the ability to hold him in her arms once again. A small chuckled escaped her mouth when Anthony started sobbing on her shoulder and gripped her dress, almost as if he had to hold onto her otherwise the floor beneath them would evaporate and she'd fall into the abyss that appeared to be under them both.

"Sally…Sally…Oh, Sally…" Was all Anthony could say. The now grinning Sally laughed.

"You were never much of a talker, huh?"

Just then, Anthony pulled away from her, tears still falling down his reddened face, still gripping her shoulders and staring directly into her large, hazel eyes that shouldn't have been there.

"This isn't real…" He stated sternly.

Sally's smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of confusion. "What the hell are you talking about, Anthony? I'm right here."

"You died…" Anthony blurted out. "You were dead…I saw your body on a stretcher…you can't be here…"

"Well, I am." The illegitimately present girl's hand went back onto Anthony's dampened cheek and she attempted to pull off her smile once again. "I'm here. I don't know why or how or whatever, but I'm here."

"But…" Anthony began. "How…? I mean, you can't…it's impossible…you must know how…"

Sally shrugged and pointed at her forehead. "I have no idea. I did die…I mean, Jeff stabbed me in the head."

"He what?!" Anthony exclaimed, pulling away from his gaming friend as if her skin had burnt him. His eyes suddenly burnt with rage and hatred, which startled Sally.

"Whoa, cool your jets there, Rambo!" Sally put her pale hands in front of herself to signal for Anthony to keep calm. "That's a good thing."

"How in God's name is that a good thing?!"

Sally smirked. "Because it wasn't Jessie who did it…" She crossed her frail arms and tilted her head, staring at Anthony's look of confusion. "She tried. I saw her 'blood-lust' thing in action and trust me, she was crazy as hell. It looked as though I was gonna die by her hands…but then…she stopped."

"W-What do you mean…?"

"She paused for a second…she cried and said she was sorry over and over…that was when Jeff stabbed be in the fucking forehead…that dick."

Anthony drifted backwards and would've bumped into a wall if there was one there to bump into; he was finding this whole situation so difficult to even comprehend that he felt as though he was about to collapse to the floor – not that he knew whether the floor he was stood on was real or not. Sally placed one hand on her hip – which was the first movement that she had made since Anthony arrived to the void with her that was something that the Sally he knew would do – and gave an understanding smile, knowing that he must have been extremely confused and puzzled. She was aware that the whole thing must've been difficult to understand and it must've been hard for Anthony to keep calm when given all of this information, however he would have to understand sooner or later, and she would prefer sooner.

"You know what that means, right?" She asked softly. Anthony didn't move or respond in any way. "Jessie still has hope."

This caused the surprised otaku to scrunch up his eyebrows. "What?! Are you fucking kidding me, Sally?! She killed so many people! She-!"

"But she hesitated with me!" She interrupted, taking a single step forward. "She didn't want me dead! She cried to me and let me know that she regretted what she had done! She didn't want me dead! Jeff did!"

"Jeff may have triggered her…fucking murder spree, but she followed him blindly and killed people that she cared about! She was the one who killed John! She was the one who killed Lavinne and Ann-Ann! She killed her own parents for fuck sake!"

"She's still her…that's something…" The ghostly figure glanced downwards and held onto her pale arm gently.

Anthony began to rapidly rustle his shining, brown hair and dig his nails into his scalp. A part of him wanted to be able to see things the way the impossible Sally saw things, but he knew that wasn't possible in itself; he had spent his whole life defending Jessie, not matter what the circumstances were and he never thought that there would come a day when he would be so incredibly outraged at even just the thought of protecting her from judgment. Sally crossed her arms and sighed, exasperated.

"I know that you don't wanna have any faith in her because of everything that she's done, Anthony, but you have to admit that the fact that she hesitated and Jeff was the one who killed me-."

"How are you even alive, Sally?!" Anthony interrupted. He waved his hand around in a deranged manner. "How are you here because I saw you! I saw you in that stretcher! You were dead and gone!"

The undead teenager's eyes drifted to the unseeable floor as she kept her arms firmly crossed as an imaginary barrier of defence. "I don't know, Anthony…I mean, I thought I was dead, but then I saw this guy…"

"What guy?" Anthony asked.

Sally's bright eyes lifted back onto her distressed friend. "I don't know who he was. All I remember was that he was really tall…like, really tall. And he was pale as all hell…and he was wearing a dark suit. After I saw him, he came closer to me and before I knew it, I was behind you in the police station, but you couldn't see me…"

"I…I thought I was going crazy…" Anthony stated with a sense of disturbance. "I thought I was insane…"

"I don't know what happened or who the guy was…" Sally continued. "…but I do know that you're not dead and you need to wake the fuck up now."

Anthony jumped at the words. "What do you mean?! Am I not dead already?"

"Well…you're just knocked out. Trust me, I would've been able to tell if you were dead too."

"Wait…" Anthony's face became paler and his eyes became wider than they already were, as if he realised something important for the first time. "You told me to do this…to kill myself…"

Sally stayed quiet, her arms still crossed and her mouth in a fixed line; she didn't think that Anthony needed her to contribute to his realisation. He was so stressed and panicked that if she even tried to say her piece, he wouldn't hear her or listen to her; she had known him long enough to know that when he was in a state like this, there wasn't any point in attempting to calm him down. The only thing she could do was let him yell, scream and talk at her and then speak back to him when he was calmed down. He was about to play the 'blame game' with her and she had to just let it happen and lose this one time.

"Why didn't you…make sure I…died…?"

Sally glanced up with her large, hazel eyes in surprise and witnessed a crying Anthony; his face was flushed red with anger and irritation, but his expression was calm and almost exhausted – as if he didn't have the energy to be angry at Sally or even Jessie anymore. His fists went down to his sides, but remained tight and clamped together.

"I could've been dead by now…I could've escaped…I would've been gone from…all of it…" he whispered to himself, ignoring Sally's presence completely.

"Wait…" Sally held her hand out, signalling for Anthony to stop speaking. "Anthony…"

"I could've been dead…without you or Jessie around me, why would I want to be alive?" His hands grasped his hair once more and he crouched his body, nearly toppling forwards. "I could be dead. I wouldn't have to live in a world without you or Jessie…I could just leave it all behind…"

"Anthony!" Sally bellowed. The distraught teen didn't even flinch at her expression of vexation and continued his speech.

"If I were dead…then I could just leave…my parents would just have to live without me…I could just sleep forever and ever…and I-."

SLAP

Sally's plane hand stood firmly in the air as she glared at her best friend with almost hatred in her eyes; her arm began to tremble and her face scrunched up as she attempted to hold back tears. Anthony just stood still, eyes wide and cheek now slightly pink and starting to throb from the slap, not sure what just happened. All of a sudden, the girl dressed in white reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer to her and resting her chest on his in a sweet and delicate embrace; all the teenage boy could do was stand there, allowing his friend to hold him, letting the tears fall with his shocked expression.

"Don't ever say anything like that again, you fucking dumb, piece of shit or I swear to God, I'll kill you myself…" Anthony's eyes rested. That statement sounded like the old Sally, like that Sally that wasn't supposed to be dead, and that calmed him and relaxed him just like a lullaby. "I don't want to hear stuff like that from you. You have to be strong, Anthony…"

Sally now pulled away from him and wiped a tear away from his cheek with her soft thumb, giving him a sympathetic smile. "I know that I told you to join me…but that's because I knew that you wouldn't die today…don't ask me how, I just knew. I just wanted a chance to speak with you face-to-face…but now, you need to be strong for me and live."

"But…" Anthony sniffled. "…but without you or Jess…I…I…"

"Hey…" Both of Sally's cold hands now cupped Anthony's soaking cheeks. "I'm always here. I'll be able to talk to you and give you messages as long as you stay alive…and when you become unconscious, we can speak like this again. Every time you sleep, we can talk. And Jessie…" Sally's face became serious now. "Jessie's gone…and we both have to deal with that."

"I…I don't think I can…" Anthony's eyes closed and he sobbed quietly. "I mean…I hate her. I hate her for what she did, but…she's still Jessie…and I love her too…"

"I know…" Sally pulled Anthony in closer to her and let him rest his head on her shoulders as she played softly with his hair. "I know, Anthony…I know…"

Suddenly, a bright light appeared behind Anthony and he released himself from Sally's grasp and turned to look directly at it, causing him to flinch slightly. There was an almost blinding light that was so large that Anthony could walk right through it like a door in front of him that had appeared out of nowhere.

"What is that?" Anthony asked Sally as he shielded his tear-covered face with his arm to protect himself from the blinding light.

Sally – completely unaffected by the blinding shine before her – simply crossed her arms and answered. "That's the portal that will lead you back to consciousness."

Anthony flipped back to glare at his gaming friend. "But I don't wanna go back! What about you?!"

"You have to, Anthony. I'll be around you. I'll be following you and whispering to you when you're awake…and when you're asleep, we can speak like this again…I promise." Sally stepped forward and placed her hands on his chest, pressing her forehead into him. "You have to go back."

"But…I don't wanna leave you here…" Anthony protested like a child.

Sally leaned upwards and pressed her lips to his ear, much like she did when Anthony was about to slit his wrists, except this time, Anthony knew that she was there and that he wasn't going insane. She was here this time, pressing her hands onto his chest and her breath was gently caressing his reddening ear.

Before he knew it, he was becoming tired. His body swayed slightly and his eyes gradually but slowly – due to his protest – closed, as if he were going back to sleep.

"I'll always be here…" She whispered. "All you have to do…is go to sleep…"

~:~

"Ah!"

Anthony awoke where he initially thought that he would end up when he opened his eyes before Sally a moment ago; he laid down in a hospital bed, his arm hooked up to machinery and a huge aching in his wrist, where he had slashed them. His muzzy eyes glanced down to his pale, throbbing wrist and he noticed that it was covered in pure, clean bandages; considering that they weren't covered in blood – since his cut was quite deep and he remembered that there was a huge amount of bleeding before he passed out – he figured out that they must've been changed quite recently and frequently by the nurses, meaning that he must've been at the hospital for quite a while now.

He didn't bother to lean up since he still felt weak and he hadn't adjusted to the light of the hospital room quite yet. Slowly and gently, he turned his head towards the window and saw that it was dark outside. The first thought that appeared in his head was the fact that Jessie and Jeff must've been quite far away by now. It had been at least a whole day since they had run away from his house after his attempt at suicide and they wouldn't have stayed around if Jessie wanted to leave with Jeff as badly as she was making out. They probably would've assumed that he was dead and left him there as they ran off together.

A slight smile appeared on his face as he realised that Jessie was really gone. The girl he loved was no longer with him anymore…but it was okay. He was alright with it because he knew that he would never be alone again.

Sally was with him. She would always be watching over him. Even if what he had seen before he awoke in the hospital bed was a dream and he was slowly becoming insane, the fact that he had seen Sally once more was all the comfort that he needed to help him cope with her death; every time he fell asleep, he would be able to speak to her, hug her and even touch her face. By some magic, he had been blessed with the advantage over most humans and was allowed to see someone that he loved who was dead by simply falling asleep. Plus, she would always speak to him when he awake, just to let him know that she was around, looking out for him, just like a ghost.

A chuckle escaped his mouth and he reached for his glasses that rested on the bedside table next to him.

Once they were securely on and he had adjusted to the light in the room properly and got to grips with his surroundings, Anthony stopped his laughing session and sat up with slight difficulty.

"Sally…" He whispered. "I'll do it…I'll live. I promise…I'll live."

A sudden chill fell over him. He could feel Sally's arms go around his neck and her cheek against his. He simply smiled at the embrace, despite his lack of knowledge on whether it was real or not.

"Thank you…Anthony…"

"No, Sally…thank you…"

The door to his room slowly opened and Charlotte – her hair in a messy bun and stress evident in her face – wondered in holding a bundle of muti-coloured flowers; once she saw Anthony, her face lit up and tears formed in her large eyes. She slammed the door behind herself and threw the flowers on the floor before running towards the patient and grabbed him so roughly that he was slightly harmed by her touch; Sally's embrace disappeared from Anthony's senses and slight disappointment filled his mind, although he was glad that he was being hugged by an actual person so that he could feel her warmth.

"Thank God…" She wept. "Thank God…Anthony. You're alright…"

"Um…Charlotte…? I can't breathe…"

Charlotte jolted and released Anthony from her grip immediately; her face flushed and she wiped her eyes, preventing any tears from falling down her face as she laughed nervously.

"Sorry…" She apologised. "I'm just happy that you're awake. You're parents are asleep in the waiting room. I'll go and get them if you want?"

"Um…" Anthony glanced down to his wired arm sorrowfully. He knew that he would find it hard to face his parents after doing what he was about to do; he would never be able to explain why he attempted to kill himself to them and that would always eat away at them. They might wonder if it was their fault and there was no way that he could tell them the truth. He was ready to procrastinate seeing them for as long as he could. "Can you wait a minute?"

The blond policewoman smiled. "Of course."

"Um…" Anthony began. "How did you know that I was here?"

"The station got a call from your parents. They both thought that they saw a couple of people running out through your backdoor when they found you and wanted us to catch them, but they were long-gone by the time we arrived."

Anthony's heart skipped a beat. He knew that the two people must've been Jeff and Jessie. Since they didn't catch the two of them and Charlotte didn't even know who the people were, Anthony sighed with relief subtly. They'd gotten away, and Anthony was okay with that.

"What happened, Anthony?" Anthony glanced up at her, but his eyes were dulled.

"I…I was just so…depressed and…alone." His gazed wondered towards his damaged wrist. "I just wanted to be with Sally…that's all…but I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah. I won't do it again. I know now that this isn't what I wanted…" The teen tried to pull off a tiny smile.

A sigh escaped Charlotte's mouth. "Good…so, was there no one at your house when you…?"

"No." Anthony answered bluntly. "There wasn't. I was alone."

Lying to the police wasn't something that Anthony enjoyed doing, but he knew that there wasn't any point in telling them about Jeff and Jessie; they were likely to be on their way back to America by now and it would be too late for the police to run after them. Besides, if they found out that he knew about Jeff being in Oxford and about what Jessie did, they could charge him for abiding a criminal. That was something that he didn't think he could handle and that he didn't particularly want to deal with.

"If you're sure." Charlotte said.

"I am…"

"Look, Anthony…" Anthony tilted his head slightly. "I know that Sally…I know that her death was absolutely devastating to you…and I can't even imagine what you're going through…"

"I'm fine." Anthony stated, grabbing Charlotte's attention. "I really am…"

A huge grin appeared on Anthony's pasty face as he realised that he had access to Sally whenever he wanted. He would forever be able to be with his best friend and that made him so incredibly happy that he couldn't contain it.

"I've seen the light…and I'm happy!"

~:~

'I don't need Jessie anymore…

I love her and I'll always love her, but…she can run off with Jeff if she wants to. If that will make her happy then I won't stop her.

I'm just happy with Sally always by my side.

I can finally move on.

I can finally forget about her.

I can move on…

I'm sorry, Jessie…but…

Goodbye.'