Author's Note: Sorry for the little delay! I hope you liked my 3 first chapters. I hope I haven't disappointed the ones who wanted Gigolo Joe as the Present Christmas Ghost (and that goes to you, Matrix Refugee!), but I had three reasons: First, Martin didn't even know Gigolo Joe in the movie (and I'm a total newbie handling with Joe as a character). Second, in the Dickens's story, the Present Christmas Ghost gets old as the day passes by, and a mecha CAN NOT age, now can he? Third, I wanted to introduce my own characters, someone Martin would know...and who better than one of his relatives? (as I did with Danielle *c'est moi = that's me!*) Well, the already quoted Matrix Refugee suggested me to use one of the Specialists (Specialists = Advanced Mechas = the tall face-less alien-like dudes who talk to David at the end of the "A.I." Movie) as the Yet-To-Come Christmas Ghost...but I decided to use somebody else...somebody Martin would know. You'll have to wait till the end of this chappie to know who he or she is!! *Dannie makes cliffy dance*
Chapter 4: Future days, revelation ahead
Martin was sitting in his bed, not feeling asleep anymore.
"The Future Christmas ghost will be here any minute now" he said "I must be prepared"
When he had just finished saying these words, a cold, but familiar breeze let itself feel.
"God, why am I so used to this?" Martin shrugged, but looked in front of him.
When the fog cleared, there was a tall figure (as tall as Martin was), covered with a black cloak. The room was dim, and the ghost's face wasn't clear enough to see it, so Martin couldn't guess if it was a man or a woman.
"I guess you're the Yet-To-Come Christmas Ghost" Martin said "What will you show me? What will happen in the future?"
The strange figure didn't move. It just stood there, completely emotionless, not letting his host guess its real intentions.
"Well? It seems like you're not a friendly ghost" Martin said.
The figure moved his hand (let's assume it's a man), like motioning Martin to follow him.
"Want me to follow you? Fine" Martin talked as he took the ghost's pale hand, and shivered at the contact with the cold hand of the ghost; it was like touching ice itself. Then the ghost moved his hand and they disappeared.
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When they appeared again, they were in the Swinton's living room. This time there were Monica, David and other relatives of the Swinton family. Everybody dressed in black, their faces covered with sadness.
"Oh, Monica, we're so sorry" Aunt Sabrina said.
"He was so full of life" Uncle Anthony said.
"It's not like he was our ideal relative, but still..."
"What's wrong?" Martin asked "Who died?"
The ghost didn't answer.
"Oh, I forgot you won't talk to me" Martin sighed "I guess I'll have to figure it out by myself" he added, and started to think of the possibilities... Was it his dad? Because he wasn't anywhere in the room, and he remembered that the doctor had said Henry had some heart problems. Or maybe it was his aunt Melissa, who recently had a brain disease? He didn't have any clue, so he soon gave up, and started watching the scene again.
Monica and David were sitting in the sofa, she had her face covered with her hands, and was crying; David hugged her in a comforting way. Teddy was besides them, dressed with a black bow around his neck.
"Why did he have to go?!" Monica cried "Why?!"
"Monica, that's how life is" Aunt Sabrina tried to comfort her, patting her back.
"Although he wasn't quite a good relative, we miss him a lot" Uncle Anthony said.
"I just...I just didn't want him to die...so alone" Monica said, and started crying again.
"And what will you do with the body?" Uncle Anthony asked.
"Henry's just taken it to the mortuary" she answered "He'll be buried this evening"
"So my dad isn't dead" Martin said "If it wasn't my dad...no, can't be my aunt Melissa, because she didn't get along with us" he thought "Who might it be? Who?!"
The ghost just stood there, completely motionless.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" David said, his face was covered with sadness. Even when he didn't quite understand what was going on, he felt so bad for seeing his beloved Mommy like that, he wanted to cry, but he knew he couldn't "He will come back, won't he?" he asked innocently, his head leaning on her lap. Monica caressed David's smooth blond hair.
"David...I'm so sorry" Monica said "He won't come back...ever again" she added, but her sobs didn't let her continue.
"Oh, Mommy..." David said, his face buried on Monica's chest, like he wanted to cry.
Monica nestled her chin on David's head, as her flowing tears dampened his soft, shiny blond hair...
Martin was losing his patience at the ghost's passive attitude.
"So...talk to me? Lecture me?" he said "Do something! You're a living cliff-hanger! It's annoying to stay like this!, at least your other buddies were friendly"
The ghost finally looked at him, and moved his hand. The house faded away, and they ended up in a desert snowy garden, like a cemetery or something like that...
"What are we doing here?" Martin asked, and the ghost waved his hand "Oh, you want me to follow you? See, we're finally getting on good terms, right?" he said sarcastically, as he followed the ghost.
They walked through the snow and the graves, until they stopped in front of a mass of snow, leaves and leftover flowers. The ghost's hand pointed to the leaves, and looked at Martin.
"Do you want me to take them off?" he asked, and the ghost nodded.
Martin started brushing away the leaves, when his hands touched a cold, stony surface. He knew he was touching a grave.
"Here's buried the person Mom and the whole family is crying about, right?" he asked again, as he cleared off the grave. The ghost motioned him to read the grave marker.
"Okay, okay, deal! I'll read it" Martin said, as his eyes met the grave marker "Let's see...it starts with an M...shit!" he exclaimed, as some snow fell on the grave. He cleared it off and continued reading. When he finished, he felt a punch in his heart...
Martin Jonathan Swinton (2011-2041)
Gone at the age of 20
Suddenly he started feeling dizzy, as if he had lost some blood...those words kept echoing in his head...
"Martin...Swinton... Martin...Swinton...Gone at the age of 20..."
The ghost's hand was still signalling to the grave, like a statue.
Martin was kneeling down on the floor, hugging himself. He realized that it was him who was under that grave...cold, dead and completely alone...he was getting insane...and grabbed his head between his hands...
"No...this can't be happening...the dead one...is me..." he muttered, then yelled "NOOOOO!! NOT ME!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" he cried, hitting his head against the stony grave, not caring if his head was bleeding...not caring if he got hurt...everything was over...he didn't care anymore...
Suddenly, a light sparkled in his mind...he could change everything, couldn't he? If only he had a chance...
"I...I've learnt the lesson" he said, in a humble voice "I...know I have to change..."
The ghost's hand started trembling slightly.
"I'll show you I'll change..." Martin said "I just need another chance..."
The ghost stood besides him, his hand still trembling.
"Please...another chance...I know I still have a chance to change my future" Martin begged with tears in his eyes "I don't wanna end up like this...please..." he cried, until he felt something touching his shoulder. He looked up, and found a hand leaning on his shoulder. It was the ghost's hand...
Then the ghost took off his cloak, and there it was...the mysterious ghost was a pale-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed teenager boy, who was looking at Martin with a big, warm, charming smile. Although he seemed to have Martin's age, those deep blue eyes were unmistakable to Martin...
"David?" Martin gasped. "So you were the ghost?"
Teenage David smiled and nodded (A/N: if you have trouble imagining Teenage David, just visualize Haley Joel Osment nowadays), as two taller figures joined him...those were the ghosts of Danielle and Tatiana...smiling at Martin. The three Christmas ghosts had finally come together...
"I'll show you I'll change...this is a promise" Martin said "I won't waste this chance you've given me...mark my words"
The three spirits smiled.
"I'll change...I'll do my best..." Martin said, as the ghosts disappeared... everything faded away...
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Author's Note: I hope you're pleased with the chapter...and I hope you'll understand why I used David as my last ghost. I mean, Martin is in a moment where he needs somebody to help him...and David fits that perfectly, although it's a bit ironical from me to put him in that situation. Just picture it: Martin used to torment the poor David, and now is the little boy (erm...an older version of him) who helps him to have that chance he needs to fix his life...I really like the twist of that.
Now...what has Martin learnt from all this? What will happen to him this Christmas? When will I stop making these silly questions? Keep your eyes open for Chapter 5, the last one of this story, and don't forget to review!