update: this is NOT the final chapter. there will be one more chapters after this one. (Original made by Professor ass spiders. Rio is owned by 20th Century fox/Fox animation.)
Maria never thought he would get to see her granddaughter.
Francisco thought he wouldn't see his son again. After seeing Carla, they walked towards the entrance of their hollow.
"Does she know?" Maria said to her mate.
"No. She only knows about her coma." Francisco said.
"I hate lying to her." Francisco said.
"We have no idea how she's going to react if she knows the truth." Francisco knew Maria was right, she knows about her coma and they have no idea how she'll react once she knows about them being Ghosts.
The wind picked up as they saw a beacon of light very far away from here.
"You think that's her way out?" Maria said.
"Let's hope so." Francisco said.
They both made a promise to their son that Carla will get out and they will keep that promise.
It was the only way to redeem themselves.
2 days had passed and Carla already formed A connection with Maria and Francisco.
They always try to spend time with her. Francisco showed Carla on how to make a butterfly land on you without startling it. Maria told Carla about a lullaby she knew, Teaching her on how to sing the lullaby. But, right now, Carla felt the tension.
"What's going on?" Carla asked.
"Carla, what do you know about that thing?" Maria knew there was a monster but if they're doing this, they need to know about how it hunts.
Carla was surprised. They knew about the monster that hunted her but instinct told Carla to talk about it's massive weakness.
"It can't see. It caught me with their talons and I saw its eyes or what was left of it. From what I know, it's blind, so it can only hunt through sound but it's hearing is limited."
What were they planning? Carla thought.
They were glad she told them.
"Carla, Francisco told you about your coma, right?"
"Yes."
"We have 5 days then."
"For what?"
"We want you to go back with your family."
Carla was Shocked.
"Wait, what!" Carla said.
"Carla, please let us explain."
Carla listened.
"We care about you, Carla. But this isn't your home, your home is with your family. We just want to go back safely, ok."
Carla stood there in shock, she knew about her condition but she didn't want to leave.
"Don't worry, we'll try to spend as much as we can with you." Maria said.
Carla still stood there.
"Let's get you to bed."
They walked towards her room.
Maria saw Carla with a somber look on her face.
"Will you guys come with me then?" Carla asked
"We will, Carla. Now please, try to get some sleep." Maria said in her motherly voice.
Carla looked at Maria as she walked away.
She can see Bia again.
Carla can see Tiago again.
But she didn't want to lose Maria and Francisco.
It took Carla hours before she drifted away to the land of dreams.
It's been 7 days. Today's the day Carla will reunite with her family.
Maria and Francisco observe the monster and try to see if there was a way to make sure Carla gets home safely.
One of the advantages of being a ghost is that you can't die.
The monster can still hear them. The monster just revealed another weakness.
It wants Carla but it can't see her. So, Francisco will distract the monster and make it follow him. While the monster is following Francisco, Maria and Carla will go to the beacon of light.
"Carla, you ready?" Francisco asked with concern on his face. They won't go unless Carla is ready for it.
After what seemed like hours, Carla nodded.
The family was in room 411.
the bandages were gone but the casts were still on Carla's body.
They stood there hoping to see Carla recover.
She still didn't move.
This became a routine for them, holding on to the hope that Carla recovers
Tiago walked towards his sister.
"Please wake up." Tiago said with tears falling down from his eyes.
The family walked up to Tiago, standing with him.
Carla is the last piece of the puzzle.
She has to wake up.
Else, the family will always remain incomplete.
The monster was walking around the forest, Trying to find the prey that escaped it's clutches.
This was the only prey that hadn't escaped and it will make sure they don't escape.
It heard something near it.
"Hey!" the sound from it's right.
"I'm right here, you freak!" It wasted no time and chased the prey.
The monster took the bait and followed Francisco towards the complete opposite side of the jungle.
Maria and Carla took flight as soon as the monster was nowhere in sight.
They kept flying towards the light.
"Carla, do you need a break?" Maria asked as they were far away from the beacon.
"No, I'm ok." Carla lied. Her wings were getting tired.
Carla and Maria are almost there.
Carla can finally see her family again.
As soon as they got close to the light, they heard Francisco yell.
"Watch out!"
It was too late.
The monster's talons gripped Carla and Maria and They plummeted down.
They were pinned to the ground.
They both stopped moving and held their breath.
The monster didn't let go. It wanted to make sure that his catch wasn't alive.
Carla couldn't hold her breath for any longer.
The light was moving towards them.
Carla gasped for breath, the monster's wing turned to hands as it picked her up.
The sight of human teeth surrounding its beak greeted her again.
Carla held her breath again.
The monster decided to risk it and moved it's beak towards her head.
"No!" Carla heard Maria and Francisco yell out.
The monster stopped as he heard the humming of the light.
Panicking, the monster dropped Carla as the light surrounded him. It became engulfed in flames, the smell of burning Flesh and wood filling Carla's nostrils.
The monster got out of the light and reached its hands towards Carla.
The hand stopped.
The monster stopped moving as it's body suddenly became a whitish color.
It stood there like a statue. A statue of quartz.
The statue came crumbling down, the pieces crumbling to ash as it hit the ground.
The light was still there.
Carla was relieved, the nightmare's finally over.
"Come on, let's go!" Carla said, trying to convince Maria and Francisco.
"I wish we could." Maria said.
Carla turned around.
Maria and Francisco were transparent, glistening as the light reached them.
"We wanted to tell you sooner" Francisco said
"No, we can still make it! You just have to step into the light." Carla tried to deny the truth.
"Carla, we're dead." Francisco said
"Died of old age." Maria added.
"No, you're not dead, if you're dead then does it mean that i'm also…" Carla couldn't finish.
Maria and Francisco hugged her.
Carla couldn't handle it anymore as Tears fell down.
"Please, don't cry." Maria said, trying to comfort her.
Carla's tears dropped harder as Memories of Maria and Francisco flooded her head.
"La, la, la, la, la…" Maria sang her Lullaby to Carla.
"La, la, la, la, la…" Francisco joined in as he sang with a gentle voice.
Carla stopped crying.
"Why?" That was all Carla could say as she sobbed even more.
"We needed to make sure our son won't know the experience of losing a child." Maria said.
Carla looked up at Maria.
"Son?" Did Carla hear correctly?
"I wished we could see you on better terms."
"Granddaughter." Both Maria and Francisco said.
Tears formed again.
Carla hugged Maria as she sobbed even more.
"Carla, They need you." Francisco said.
"I'm not ready to go!' Carla sobbed.
"Carla, you're still alive. Bia is still alive. Tiago is still alive. They need you." Maria said
"Carla, we'll still be here. Watching from the clouds, witnessing your ups and downs. We'll still be here, ready to comfort you if you ever need it."
Carla stopped crying. She stood there Looking at her Grandparents.
Carla then hesitantly stepped forward to the light.
"Carla, Please tell our son that I am sorry for Not being there." Maria said with tears in her eyes.
"Sorry that we couldn't save him." Francisco said with Tears in his eyes as well.
Carla woke up from her nightmare.
The family still stayed with Carla even though it was midnight.
they stood there waiting for any movement.
Silence. they started to move away from Carla.
The silence was interrupted by a gasp.
the gasp then turned into screaming.
Carla was panicking, memories of the talons pressing against her body were still fresh in her mind.
she was thrashing around trying to get out of her casts.
Blu was the first.
"Carla, your saf-" Blu tried to say but Carla screamed even more.
"Get away!" Carla tried to move away from the thing but she couldn't even more.
Blu eyes widened as he realized Carla was having a panic attack.
He has to act now.
Blu approached Carla slowly, making sure she didn't panic even more.
"It's ok, you're safe. they aren't here." Blu said in an gentle voice.
"Dad?" Carla said, hoping it wasn't the harpy's.
"Yes, it's me. Jewel and everyone else is right behind me."
Carla unexpectedly hugged him, tears falling down from her eyes.
"It's ok, you're safe." Blu said while he used his wing feather to form circles on Carla's back.
"please don't leave me." Carla said wobbly.
"I won't"
The family also joined in the hug, Hugging Carla to comfort her.
They're finally together.
the family was finally together.
For those who saw the original ending, I decided to remove it and expand the story by another chapter.
for me, it was rushed and it wouldn't have any pay off, so hopefully, this is better.