Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.

A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know that it has been quite a while since I have updated, but I am back and that is all that matters, now isn't it? Well, I must say that writer's block is taking it's toll (Not to mention homework) on me. So, if this chapter doesn't turn out to be as good as you think it should've been, let me know. I'm working on getting the flow back. BTW, the song for this chapter is "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Here we go.

//Say hello to the night,

Lost in the shadows,

Say hello to the night,

Lost in the loneliness//

*~*~*~*~*

//You and me//

When Chris woke up again, he was in a room that was white from top to bottom and had not one single item in it. The line between reality and the supernatural had been blended together in Chris' mind. He no longer knew if he was living in the past, the future, or right where he was supposed to be. Time had become a stranger. Chris slowly sat up, and noticed a mirror on the wall at this point. He got up and walked over to it.

//We used to be together//

Staring back at him was a ghost. A shocking reflection of what he had become. He stared at the hollowed eyes and thinning body he saw before himself. He moved his hand up to touch his face, as if to confirm that was what he looked like. The darkness that filled the eyes of his reflection startled him.

//Everyday together always//

As he watched his own reflection, the image of himself in the mirror began to change. He became fuller, his hair was once again vibrant, his face was filled out; his eyes were smiling. He watched as he became the man that he had once known. Stephanie appeared in the far corner of the mirror. He whipped his head around, and sure enough, she was standing not far behind him.

//I really feel//

His eyes filled up with tears as he saw her again. She was not the beautiful person her reflection showed. She had cuts all over her face, and a huge gash in her forehead. Chris allowed the tears to come pouring down his face.

//I'm losing my best friend//

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. She looked at him, and gave him the comforting, warm smile that she had given him many, many times before. Yet she remained silent.

//I can't believe this could be the end//

"Am I dead? I mean....you're here...." Chris trailed off. Stephanie came closer to him.

//It looks as though you're letting go//

"No," she finally responded. "You're not dead. Yet, you're not alive either. Whether you live or die will be decided in the next few moments." Chris gave her a puzzled look.

//And if it's real, well I don't want to know//

"Everything that has happened to you, from Molly's death, to Hunter's, to Shawn's, to Dave's, mine, and yes, even your own. It's all been real. Or so we've been led to believe here."

//Don't speak,

I know just what you're saying//

"In this place, this purgatorial place, there is no such thing as time. One millennia could pass with the blink of an eye without anyone even noticing."

"So, this is...in a manner or speaking.....heaven?" Chris asked her.

//So please stop explaining,

Don't tell me cause it hurts//

"No, this is the place for second chances. Since time is of no matter to us, second chances are able to be granted," Stephanie said. "However, deals must be made and sacrifices are a must. Please forgive me Chris, this is where you might get angry with me."

//Don't speak,

I know what you're thinking//

"I made a deal that if you were somehow forced into this purgatorial state, that we would both get a second chance at life. We would pick up the day before the party and the accident, without any knowledge that any of this had happened." Chris nodded.

//I don't need your reasons

Don't tell me cause it hurts//

"However, since Molly, Hunter, Shawn, and Dave's deaths were your fault, that tended to complicate the plan."

"Whoa, whoa, wait. How were those deaths my fault? I thought that Molly committed suicide, and her ghost was killing us?" Stephanie looked at him.

"That is what your mind, and my help has led you to believe."

//Our memories//

Chris looked at another wall, adjacent to the one with the mirror on it, and watched as he shook the cage with Molly standing on top. He saw himself shoving the pills down Hunter's throat. He saw himself follow Shawn into the weight room, offering to help him, then dropping the dumb bell on his neck. He saw the last death, Dave's with gruesome clarity. Things made perfect sense. He was a murderer. And he hadn't even known it. He turned back to Stephanie.

//They can be inviting//

"Why.....Why did I do this?" He asked. This time, Stephanie's eyes watered.

"Because I asked Him to make you. That was my sacrifice. Your family for our second chance." Stephanie said to him.

//But some are altogether frightening//

"You made me kill my own family, think that it was a ghost, try and commit suicide, then go through six months of a living hell in an asylum because you wanted a second chance? That's not how life and death is supposed to work!! When you die, you are dead, there are no second chances."

"Why not? Because you refuse to believe it could be?"

//As we die both you and I//

Chris looked at Stephanie. The ever-familiar feeling of betrayal rose up from the pit of his stomach.

"Why would you sacrifice my family for this?"

"Because you agreed."

"What?"

//With my head in my hands, I sit and cry//

Chris watched as he saw himself lying in bed, talking presumably to himself. When, in fact, he was praying.

"God, I don't ask for many things in my life, but I'm begging you on this one. I'd give anything to have her back. I'd sacrifice my family for her." He said. Chris looked at Stephanie. He almost believed what he had said.

//Don't speak,

I know just what you're saying//

Until he saw the smirk on her face from watching.

//So please stop explaining,

Don't tell me cause it hurts//

"Lies. All of it. You lie, they lie, and we will never get that 'second chance' that you keep talking about!!" Chris screamed at her. "None of this is even taking place. You, my dear, are dead. I realize now that it is my fault that you are, that's something that I've got to deal with. The point is, you're dead, and I'm not. And all of this second chance bullshit is something that isn't physically or even faithfully possible. Whoever you've been listening to needs to get his facts lined out. You've been lied to......and so have I....."

//Don't speak,

I know what you're thinking//

Chris looked down at his hands and suddenly everything made perfect sense.

//I don't need your reasons

Don't tell me cause it hurts//

If he got his second chance, great, if he didn't......

//It's all ending, I gotta stop pretending who we are//

Oh well.

//You and me//

He raised his hand, balled it into a fist and ran for the mirror. He smashed his fist through the glass, his hand getting cut and torn apart. Stephanie screamed.

"I'm sorry, Stephanie, forgive me." He whispered.

//I can see us dying//

All of a sudden, a choking sensation came over him. He felt as if there was a noose around his neck. The black room faded out to that of his stairwell. He struggled against the rope that held him a mere three inches from the floor. The room faded out again to back into the silent room. An FBI agent was checking his pulse. Chris was still choking.

//Are we?//

The room finally stopped upon emerging to his house again. He vaguely heard the doorbell sounding. He let one hand down to search through his pockets for his knife. The room began to spin.

//Don't speak,

I know just what you're saying//

He grabbed it and flipped it out. With his last strain of energy, he swung his arm up, aiming for the rope and hoped for the best.

//So please stop explaining,

Don't tell me cause it hurts//

The rope sliced in half and he fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

//Don't speak,

I know what you're thinking//

He coughed and gasped as the air again entered his lungs. He rolled over on the floor to help his body out. The doorbell continued to ring, but he continued to ignore it. Tears spilled out of his eyes. He was alive. And, for the first time in a long time.....that felt wonderful.

//I don't need your reasons

Don't tell me cause it hurts//

*~*~*~*~*

Review please!!! Let me know what you thought!! This IS NOT the last chapter!!! There IS more to come, I promise!!!