Chapter 2

So tear me open, pour me out

There's things inside that scream and shout…

The session blurred by, Casper couldn't even remember what he had said. He just wanted it to be over. As soon as it was, he flew straight out of the study and to Kat's room, where he knocked and announced his presence. No one answered. Cautiously, he peeked in, no one there. He doubled back and checked the attic, she wasn't there either. How about the basement? She might be trying to figure out the Lazarus mix, now that she's taking that college chemistry class. He rushed into the immense underground chamber, but alas, no Kat. Probably went out with her friends, he thought, even though he was one of the very few she had since that Halloween incident. The trio was out, probably trying to track her down, and Dr. Harvey was working on a book. The house was quiet, one thing it rarely was ever since the trio first showed up. That allowed Casper free to roam the hallways and grounds. His mind wandered as much as his ghostly form did. He wished badly that he could be alive again, but for a longer time. He was only allowed those few precious minutes because he was selfless, but this time there was nothing to power the resurrecting machine or people to save.

He made a blind right turn and suddenly felt icy water bearing down on him. He was in the garden. No one had visited the garden, not in a hundred years. Kat and Dr. Harvey didn't know it exist, and the trio kept away from it for unknown reasons. They said it smelled too girly and always went avoided it (although he could've sworn he'd seen Fatso there once), but Casper knew that it was because of the fact it belonged to her, his mother. That was the one question Casper couldn't answer to the doc. She died when Casper was born, so he had no memory of her, none at all. He had seen a small portrait of a pretty young blonde woman in his father's study, but it got locked away in a room and the face in the picture faded and soon he forgot all together. J.T. said to his son often that he reminded him of her, making Casper smile and resemble her even more. Now all that remained of Rose Marie McFadden was an overgrown jungle of vines and plants that snaked along the ground and entangled with the fence.

The sky opened up a little wider and the rain came down harder, as if crying for the memory of the lost woman. Casper hovered in his mother's garden, trying hard not to cry himself. He turned to go when he felt a drop of liquid caress his cheek, and it wasn't the rain. It was during this time when he saw it. He stopped, ran a hand over his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and he wasn't. There on a partially decayed hedge, were two of his mother's favorite flora, a rose and a lily of the valley. They were in full bloom and hearty, the area around them green from past rains. The lily was growing from the same stem as the rose, making them entwined. No one had cared for these plants but here they were, healthy and vibrant. And they even grew together! Should he leave them here, but they would surely drown in all this rain, the puddle they were over was filling up fast. Younger blossoms were under the cover of ensnared shrubs and barely wet, so more would be growing soon. Tenderly as he could, he plucked the plants and made his way inside where he cut off the thorns. He had just the place for the beautiful flowers.

"I just took a shower!" Kat said to no one as it started to pour.

She had just got of the mall when it began to pour like crazy. She waited a few seconds, trying to make up her mind on whether to go back in or run to the car. A loud crack of thunder made up her mind for her. She would definitely be staying. But as she opened the door to go back in the safe, dry shopping mall, she thought of Casper. For some reason, the short conversation they exchanged replayed in her mind. He looked so hurt when she told him she couldn't be with him until next week. She had just now been shopping for a dress, but no luck. What was the point of going anyway? She wanted, no has, to go back home and tell him the dance was off. Running as fast as she could without falling on her face, she dodged big puddles to get to her father's car. She unlocked the driver's side and climbed in. After starting the engine she blasted the heat and began to pull out. It was getting dark, time for dinner. James said something about making it, but lately she was swamped with putting together his book. So the task was usually up to Kat, whose culinary skills had greatly improved thanks to home ec class. She was so focused on getting home she barely registered to trees and cars going past her until a blinding flash and resonating boom sounded near her. Very near.

The tree she past went up in flames. The lightning had split it in two and it almost landed on the car. She gasped from fear and gripped the wheel harder, pressing down on the gas to clear the rear fender from the flaming debris.

"Whoa! Why don't you pull over and let me drive Kitty?" Stretch asked, becoming visible in the seat next to her.

"Oh no." Kat moaned. If the near death experience wasn't enough, the terrible trio must've followed her. Fatso was munching on donuts in the back seat; Stinkie was a pale shade of green.

"I forgot…"

"Forgot what?" Kat asked exasperated.

"That he has carsickness." Stretch explained.

"What is he doing in here!"

"I dunno." Fatso added. He thrust a moldy box of the pastries between the two front seats. "Donut?"

Stinkie hurriedly stuck his head through the window. Kat felt like doing the same.

Less than an hour later Kat had battled through the rain to Whipstaff and to the front door. She unlocked it and trudged up the stairs to her room, tossing her keys onto the dresser. She then dried off and dressed into warmer clothes. The bed was warm and comforting; she sighed with relief and pulled the other pillow towards her. Something soft was lying atop of it. Curious, she raised her head to look. It was a rose and a lily, perched daintily on her pillow. She knew instantly who put it there. Smiling, Kat smelled its fragrant scent then laid her head down as she fell asleep to the soft pattering of rain against the window.

Casper had been waiting in the kitchen when Kat had come home. He was relived she arrived safe. He got as far as the top of the staircase where he waited the movement inside to cease, then glided over. She was asleep; her hand lay atop the flowers that were still on the pillow. Drifting closer, he kissed the corner of her lips, and then sat down in a nearby armchair to watch over her.