A/N: Hey, I reread my chapter a few days after posting...made some changes.
I don't really think ya'll noticed because no one reviewed. So I talked it
over with Paul and he said (trying to comfort me in my moment of sadness),
"Hayley, babe, don't be upset. I promise they'll review if you make some
tiny changes with that one part. I should have been clearer in my
dictation." See Paul can be a very understanding guy once you get to know
him. But then his blue eyes flashed with something animal-like. "If they
don't," he told me, "they'll pay severely." Uh, that comment sort of
scared me there. I pleaded that he not be as harsh, because I know you
lovelies are all busy people. I think he understood after he threw my
chair halfway across the room. I better let you read on, my little
lovelies! Did I ever tell ya'll how much it means to me that you read?
Well if I haven't, I certainly am now! And I'm sorry for ratting you all
out to Paul, I'll TRY to reason with him! ----"Nice" Hayley
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I found myself, once again in the shadow world...second time this week, third if you include my vision. But I wasn't alone. Suze was there along with the ghost I'd seen earlier. Then I remembered a conversation earlier in the week. That ghost must have been Craig Jankow.
"What the...? Where the hell are we?" Craig asked as he looked up and down the hallway.
"Where you should have gone a lone time ago," I said as I brushed my shirt off a bit. There was no blood on it or anything and it wasn't wet anymore. This wasn't my body; it was just a projection that my conscious provided me. I looked at Suze, who was looking worriedly at me. I smiled.
"Nice work, Suze. And on your first try too," I complimented her. "Shut up. I'm not exactly happy about this," she snapped, obviously scared about being there. "I can tell," I said as I felt my nose, which was not broken anymore.
"You know the fact that we're up here means that our bodies, down there, are unconscious," I informed Suze. "I know," she said as she glanced around the corridor nervously. "Well, that should get Jesse's attention, anyway," I joked, "Your suddenly dropping off into a coma, I mean." She looked really distressed. "Shut up. This is all your fault. You shouldn't have antagonized him."
Go ahead...place all the blame on me. We would have avoided this mess if Suze hadn't kissed me and then try to pass it off as 'nothing'. I crossed my arms. "And you," I said with great hurt, "shouldn't go around kissing..."
"Excuse me, but could somebody maybe tell me exactly what..."
"SHUT UP!" Suze and I said to him in unison.
"Look," Suze said, sounding like she was going to cry. Well, the shadow world is a little overwhelming and all. "I'm sorry about what happened at your house, okay? I lost my head," she informed me. She added, "But that doesn't mean that there is anything going on between us."
"You lost your head," I echoed her words tonelessly. She lost her head. That's all it was. That's ALL it had meant to her. Yeah, well I lost my head too. I lost it to her.
"That's right," she stated. We stood there in silence for a bit. For a moment I wished that I could just walk into one of those doors...anything to escape this place...anything to escape the feeling of rejection.
"What if I want there to be something between us?" I asked hopefully.
"Too bad."
So that was it? 'Too bad'? That was all she had to say to me?
"What about shifting?" I asked as I glanced at Craig, who seemed pretty confused.
"What about it?"
"I told you how to do it, didn't I?" I asked her. "Well, there's other stuff I can show you," I said as I walked nearer to her, "Stuff you've never even dreamed you could do."
She blinked a few times repeatedly, trying to process my words. She shook her head a bit. Then I had an idea. All she had to do was accept my offer. It's not like she had a choice in the matter. I'm the only one she had at the moment. She either had to learn from me, or she would never know.
"Come on, Suze. You know you're DYING to know," I persuaded her. "All your life you've been wondering who- or what- you really are. And I'm telling you, I have the answers. I KNOW. And I'll teach you," I offered, "if you'll let me."
She looked me in the eye for a bit, and thought. Then she narrowed her eyes at me. "And what do YOU get out of this magnanimous offer of yours?" she demanded. "The pleasure of your company," I said casually, with a smile.
She looked to the ground and pondered it for a while. She looked up at me, her green eyes sparkling, and said, "Okay."
I blinked with surprise. Did she just...agree with me? As long as I had known Suze, she had never done anything without a fight.
"BUT," she added, "Jesse is OFF-LIMITS to you. I really mean it. No more insults. No more fights. And no more exorcisms."
"So that's how it is."
"Yes, that's how it is."
I thought about it for awhile. Damn, there went part of my plan. Unless...unless I could get her to trust me. That's it! But would she? Trust me, I mean? From the looks of things, I doubted it. But what if I offered her something that could save Jesse. Not now, but in the past. What if I showed her how to time-travel, so she could save Jesse from being killed in the first place? I'm sure she would go for that. She loved him, right? She wanted him to be happy. He would get a second chance at life. The plan could work, but I had never tried to change the past before. I didn't know if it would mess things up. It was risky. But the only risk in taking an adventure is not taking it at all, right?
After finally deciding, I shrugged and said, "Fine by me."
Suze looked more than shocked, but in a good way. After a while she smiled to herself.
Craig had been wandering around the place. He went near one of the doors and looked at it curiously. "Hey," he said, "What's behind those doors?" "Your just rewards," I said with a smirk. "Really?" he asked as his eyes widened, "My just rewards?" "Sure," I replied with a shrug.
"Don't listen to him, Craig. He doesn't know what's behind those doors. It could be your just rewards, or it could be you next life. No one knows. No one has ever came out through one of them. You can only go in," she corrected me.
Craig examined the door. "Next life, huh?"
"Or eternal salvation," I suggested, "Or, depending on how bad you've been, eternal damnation." He placed his hand on the doorknob. "Go on," I urged him, "Open it and find out whether you were naughty or nice."
"Well, it's gotta be better than hanging around down there," he said as he twisted the doorknob, "Tell Neil I'm sorry I acted like such a...you know. It's just that, well, it's just that it really wasn't very fair."
He took a deep, but unnecessary, breath and opened the door a few centimeters. A bright light flashed, engulfing him in it. I had seen this happen a lot, so it really didn't phase me. But Suze, she ended up covering her eyes with her hands. Just as soon as it had happened, it was all over. Craig was gone. Everything looked just as if nothing had happened. Suze still had her hands over her eyes.
"Well," I said as I turned to face her, "now that he's out of the way..."
She slowly lowered her hands from her face and looked around nervously. I looked up at the unfamiliar stars in the sky, and remembered my vision. I remembered the stars as the fell on me in the vision, cutting me just like it had when I crashed through the glass doors. I remembered Suze shrieking, trying to stop it all. Just like she had that night, while I was fighting Jesse. Suddenly, I really didn't want to be there anymore.
I heaved a shudder and asked, "Now can we get out of here? This place gives me the heebie-jeebies." She raised one of her dark eyebrows and said, "Okay. Only...only how do we get back?" "Same thing," I told her as I closed my eyes, "Just picture it."
I gently placed my fingers on her arm. I felt that feeling of calm. I knew everything was going to be all right. I didn't know, however, that things would be so hectic when we got back.
I felt some weight on my chest. Then I felt someone's lips on my own. I was a little shocked by this so I jerked my eyes open. WHY WAS THERE A GUY KISSING ME? EW! Oh wait, I was getting mouth-to-mouth. I guess dropping off into a coma in water had nearly drowned me.
I started coughing up some major chlorine. The guy put his head to my chest once more.
"Whoa there," I managed to say after all of the coughing, "I'm good, I really am." I sat up quickly, just to show him I was okay. Just as quickly as I sat up, I regretted my action. Um...major post-shifting headache. I felt really dizzy, with all of the flashing lights from the ambulance. The blaring sirens didn't help too much either. Blood from my nose was dripping onto my hands. I looked over at Suze, who wasn't conscious yet. Jesse was kneeling over her, touching her face as he had earlier that night.
"Do you remember anything that happened?" the EMT asked me, once I was stable. "Um," I faltered, "Not really." What? So I lied, sue me. What could I tell him? The ghost of some girl's boyfriend beat me up? I'm not Jack! Plus they'd probably diagnose me with brain damage or something.
"Did you have anything to drink?" he asked. "I don't remember," I lied. Hey, I didn't have anything to drink AT the party. He didn't ask BEFORE. He checked my vitals, and then stood up. "Well, son, it looks like you have a broken nose." Then he called over to some other EMTs and told them about my situation. He left me sitting there for a bit to check on that other guy that plunged in the water...Neil was it?
Suze and I both looked at each other at the same time. Suze didn't look too well herself. She was shaking a bit as another EMT took her pulse. Jesse must have disappeared somewhere. She glanced at me with sympathy. I guess I looked pretty terrible. She was given a clean bill of health, and the EMT helped her up.
Three EMTs came over to me with a stretcher. They picked me up and put me on it. Then they put a splint on my nose. Suze walked over to me, massaging her temples with her hands.
"Headache?" I asked as I was lying on the stretcher. "A killer one," she replied. "Forgot to warn you," I said, "It always happens, post-shifting." She smiled at me. I tried to smile back, but my nose hurt so much.
"I'll be back," I said, imitating the Terminator. I didn't know how long I'd be gone, but I knew that for sure. Then the EMTs wheeled me away, leaving Suze where she was.
I gave the Paramedics my name, age, and phone number so they could call and inform Mark about my accident. It turns out that I had to stay at the hospital overnight so they could work on my nose. Gosh, I was in so much pain.
Once I got to the hospital, they put me on some painkillers. Let's just say I felt plenty better after that. In the morning, I was brought home, because Mark needed to watch over Pops.
"What did you do to yourself, Paul?" Mark asked as he crossed his arms angrily over his chest. What could I tell him?
"Uh..."
"Nevermind, I don't want to hear it," Mark said as he paced around. "Just go and get some rest. Your grandfather insists that I take him to the festival of Father Serra. That'll give me plenty of time to think of a great punishment. Just stay here. Don't go anywhere."
When I finally made it to my bedroom (climbing stairs is rather hard when you are extremely sore), I let out a laugh. Mark was going all-parental on me. He was being like an uptight father. I guess that finally makes him normal.
Well, you know what that means? Since he is acting like a normal father instead of an attendant, it was time for me to act like a normal teenage son instead of the grandson of a patient. And the best part is that I can be even sneakier that the average teenager because I have incredible powers. Time to laugh it up, Mark...
...After I get some sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: One chapter to go...I think it'll be pretty short. You didn't think I'd end it like that did you? Like I said last chapter...twists and action. I have over 50 reviews! This ROCKS, you guys...no wait...ya'll rock! Thank you so much! Stay tuned for the last chapter...coming soon! I promise I'll get it out fast! Love----Hayley.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I found myself, once again in the shadow world...second time this week, third if you include my vision. But I wasn't alone. Suze was there along with the ghost I'd seen earlier. Then I remembered a conversation earlier in the week. That ghost must have been Craig Jankow.
"What the...? Where the hell are we?" Craig asked as he looked up and down the hallway.
"Where you should have gone a lone time ago," I said as I brushed my shirt off a bit. There was no blood on it or anything and it wasn't wet anymore. This wasn't my body; it was just a projection that my conscious provided me. I looked at Suze, who was looking worriedly at me. I smiled.
"Nice work, Suze. And on your first try too," I complimented her. "Shut up. I'm not exactly happy about this," she snapped, obviously scared about being there. "I can tell," I said as I felt my nose, which was not broken anymore.
"You know the fact that we're up here means that our bodies, down there, are unconscious," I informed Suze. "I know," she said as she glanced around the corridor nervously. "Well, that should get Jesse's attention, anyway," I joked, "Your suddenly dropping off into a coma, I mean." She looked really distressed. "Shut up. This is all your fault. You shouldn't have antagonized him."
Go ahead...place all the blame on me. We would have avoided this mess if Suze hadn't kissed me and then try to pass it off as 'nothing'. I crossed my arms. "And you," I said with great hurt, "shouldn't go around kissing..."
"Excuse me, but could somebody maybe tell me exactly what..."
"SHUT UP!" Suze and I said to him in unison.
"Look," Suze said, sounding like she was going to cry. Well, the shadow world is a little overwhelming and all. "I'm sorry about what happened at your house, okay? I lost my head," she informed me. She added, "But that doesn't mean that there is anything going on between us."
"You lost your head," I echoed her words tonelessly. She lost her head. That's all it was. That's ALL it had meant to her. Yeah, well I lost my head too. I lost it to her.
"That's right," she stated. We stood there in silence for a bit. For a moment I wished that I could just walk into one of those doors...anything to escape this place...anything to escape the feeling of rejection.
"What if I want there to be something between us?" I asked hopefully.
"Too bad."
So that was it? 'Too bad'? That was all she had to say to me?
"What about shifting?" I asked as I glanced at Craig, who seemed pretty confused.
"What about it?"
"I told you how to do it, didn't I?" I asked her. "Well, there's other stuff I can show you," I said as I walked nearer to her, "Stuff you've never even dreamed you could do."
She blinked a few times repeatedly, trying to process my words. She shook her head a bit. Then I had an idea. All she had to do was accept my offer. It's not like she had a choice in the matter. I'm the only one she had at the moment. She either had to learn from me, or she would never know.
"Come on, Suze. You know you're DYING to know," I persuaded her. "All your life you've been wondering who- or what- you really are. And I'm telling you, I have the answers. I KNOW. And I'll teach you," I offered, "if you'll let me."
She looked me in the eye for a bit, and thought. Then she narrowed her eyes at me. "And what do YOU get out of this magnanimous offer of yours?" she demanded. "The pleasure of your company," I said casually, with a smile.
She looked to the ground and pondered it for a while. She looked up at me, her green eyes sparkling, and said, "Okay."
I blinked with surprise. Did she just...agree with me? As long as I had known Suze, she had never done anything without a fight.
"BUT," she added, "Jesse is OFF-LIMITS to you. I really mean it. No more insults. No more fights. And no more exorcisms."
"So that's how it is."
"Yes, that's how it is."
I thought about it for awhile. Damn, there went part of my plan. Unless...unless I could get her to trust me. That's it! But would she? Trust me, I mean? From the looks of things, I doubted it. But what if I offered her something that could save Jesse. Not now, but in the past. What if I showed her how to time-travel, so she could save Jesse from being killed in the first place? I'm sure she would go for that. She loved him, right? She wanted him to be happy. He would get a second chance at life. The plan could work, but I had never tried to change the past before. I didn't know if it would mess things up. It was risky. But the only risk in taking an adventure is not taking it at all, right?
After finally deciding, I shrugged and said, "Fine by me."
Suze looked more than shocked, but in a good way. After a while she smiled to herself.
Craig had been wandering around the place. He went near one of the doors and looked at it curiously. "Hey," he said, "What's behind those doors?" "Your just rewards," I said with a smirk. "Really?" he asked as his eyes widened, "My just rewards?" "Sure," I replied with a shrug.
"Don't listen to him, Craig. He doesn't know what's behind those doors. It could be your just rewards, or it could be you next life. No one knows. No one has ever came out through one of them. You can only go in," she corrected me.
Craig examined the door. "Next life, huh?"
"Or eternal salvation," I suggested, "Or, depending on how bad you've been, eternal damnation." He placed his hand on the doorknob. "Go on," I urged him, "Open it and find out whether you were naughty or nice."
"Well, it's gotta be better than hanging around down there," he said as he twisted the doorknob, "Tell Neil I'm sorry I acted like such a...you know. It's just that, well, it's just that it really wasn't very fair."
He took a deep, but unnecessary, breath and opened the door a few centimeters. A bright light flashed, engulfing him in it. I had seen this happen a lot, so it really didn't phase me. But Suze, she ended up covering her eyes with her hands. Just as soon as it had happened, it was all over. Craig was gone. Everything looked just as if nothing had happened. Suze still had her hands over her eyes.
"Well," I said as I turned to face her, "now that he's out of the way..."
She slowly lowered her hands from her face and looked around nervously. I looked up at the unfamiliar stars in the sky, and remembered my vision. I remembered the stars as the fell on me in the vision, cutting me just like it had when I crashed through the glass doors. I remembered Suze shrieking, trying to stop it all. Just like she had that night, while I was fighting Jesse. Suddenly, I really didn't want to be there anymore.
I heaved a shudder and asked, "Now can we get out of here? This place gives me the heebie-jeebies." She raised one of her dark eyebrows and said, "Okay. Only...only how do we get back?" "Same thing," I told her as I closed my eyes, "Just picture it."
I gently placed my fingers on her arm. I felt that feeling of calm. I knew everything was going to be all right. I didn't know, however, that things would be so hectic when we got back.
I felt some weight on my chest. Then I felt someone's lips on my own. I was a little shocked by this so I jerked my eyes open. WHY WAS THERE A GUY KISSING ME? EW! Oh wait, I was getting mouth-to-mouth. I guess dropping off into a coma in water had nearly drowned me.
I started coughing up some major chlorine. The guy put his head to my chest once more.
"Whoa there," I managed to say after all of the coughing, "I'm good, I really am." I sat up quickly, just to show him I was okay. Just as quickly as I sat up, I regretted my action. Um...major post-shifting headache. I felt really dizzy, with all of the flashing lights from the ambulance. The blaring sirens didn't help too much either. Blood from my nose was dripping onto my hands. I looked over at Suze, who wasn't conscious yet. Jesse was kneeling over her, touching her face as he had earlier that night.
"Do you remember anything that happened?" the EMT asked me, once I was stable. "Um," I faltered, "Not really." What? So I lied, sue me. What could I tell him? The ghost of some girl's boyfriend beat me up? I'm not Jack! Plus they'd probably diagnose me with brain damage or something.
"Did you have anything to drink?" he asked. "I don't remember," I lied. Hey, I didn't have anything to drink AT the party. He didn't ask BEFORE. He checked my vitals, and then stood up. "Well, son, it looks like you have a broken nose." Then he called over to some other EMTs and told them about my situation. He left me sitting there for a bit to check on that other guy that plunged in the water...Neil was it?
Suze and I both looked at each other at the same time. Suze didn't look too well herself. She was shaking a bit as another EMT took her pulse. Jesse must have disappeared somewhere. She glanced at me with sympathy. I guess I looked pretty terrible. She was given a clean bill of health, and the EMT helped her up.
Three EMTs came over to me with a stretcher. They picked me up and put me on it. Then they put a splint on my nose. Suze walked over to me, massaging her temples with her hands.
"Headache?" I asked as I was lying on the stretcher. "A killer one," she replied. "Forgot to warn you," I said, "It always happens, post-shifting." She smiled at me. I tried to smile back, but my nose hurt so much.
"I'll be back," I said, imitating the Terminator. I didn't know how long I'd be gone, but I knew that for sure. Then the EMTs wheeled me away, leaving Suze where she was.
I gave the Paramedics my name, age, and phone number so they could call and inform Mark about my accident. It turns out that I had to stay at the hospital overnight so they could work on my nose. Gosh, I was in so much pain.
Once I got to the hospital, they put me on some painkillers. Let's just say I felt plenty better after that. In the morning, I was brought home, because Mark needed to watch over Pops.
"What did you do to yourself, Paul?" Mark asked as he crossed his arms angrily over his chest. What could I tell him?
"Uh..."
"Nevermind, I don't want to hear it," Mark said as he paced around. "Just go and get some rest. Your grandfather insists that I take him to the festival of Father Serra. That'll give me plenty of time to think of a great punishment. Just stay here. Don't go anywhere."
When I finally made it to my bedroom (climbing stairs is rather hard when you are extremely sore), I let out a laugh. Mark was going all-parental on me. He was being like an uptight father. I guess that finally makes him normal.
Well, you know what that means? Since he is acting like a normal father instead of an attendant, it was time for me to act like a normal teenage son instead of the grandson of a patient. And the best part is that I can be even sneakier that the average teenager because I have incredible powers. Time to laugh it up, Mark...
...After I get some sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: One chapter to go...I think it'll be pretty short. You didn't think I'd end it like that did you? Like I said last chapter...twists and action. I have over 50 reviews! This ROCKS, you guys...no wait...ya'll rock! Thank you so much! Stay tuned for the last chapter...coming soon! I promise I'll get it out fast! Love----Hayley.
