Snatcher's plan to leave without meeting his parents was really simple. He had hidden the kid's drawing under the mattress before going to bed, not wanting anyone to find it. And then, as soon as he would wake up, he would get up, ignore the pain in his legs and go to the village square. Of course, he would need to be discreet, to avoid being seen by any servant… It was a flawless plan! Or he thought so, though he had forgotten a very important detail: it entirely depended on the obedience of his body in order to wake up on time.
Snatcher didn't even regard it as a threat to his strategy. Why would he? It was just an organic thing! A meaty body that -mostly- followed his commands! He had no doubt this cursed fleshy vessel would wake him up when it was the time to get his plan into motion.
The ghost had completely underestimated Life's enormous hatred for his existence.
What woke him up was not his own mind acting like an alarm clock as it should have, but a touch on his shoulder. The shade's eyes opened instantly as a feeling of terror took hold of him. He suddenly felt very vulnerable: he was in a fragile body, absolutely defenceless against any type of danger, in a groggy state that made him even more exposed. He had every reason in the world to feel threatened! However, when he jumped in his bed, getting away from the contact as fast as he could, his eyes suddenly met Simeon's surprised ones.
Snatcher stayed motionless for a few seconds, trying to understand what was happening, still dazed by his sudden awakening.
-"Oh my, are you alright? I didn't mean to frighten you this much, my Prince." The butler's voice cut his thoughts short.
"Wh-what?" was the first coherent thought forming in his mind, as he started to realize what had occurred: he was late. His eyes drifted to the window: it was sunny outside and a bright light passed through the glass. His eyes opened wide: he had been supposed to wake up way earlier!
-"Wai- What time is it?" He asked, too troubled to think straight. Oblivious to what was going on in his mind, the butler simply smiled at him even more:
-"Well, it is quarter to ten." The man answered calmly before continuing: "As you were badly injured, I thought you might want to rest a little more than usual, so I let you sleep."
This wasn't good. This clearly wasn't good. He was late! The hat-wearing brat hadn't specified a particular hour of the day for them to meet, yet he had the feeling that waiting wasn't such a good idea. But making the child wait wasn't what bothered him the most… No, it was something far more disturbing.
As if Fate had decided to team up with Life in order to make him suffer, Simeon started to talk again, addressing the topic the shade wanted to avoid at all cost:
-"I know this might be a little sudden, my Prince, but your parents are waiting in the living room." Snatcher felt like his heart had completely stopped beating at those awful words, his face turning pale as the butler continued: "Of course, take all the time you need to prepare yourself. Let me pick up some clothes for you."
Snatcher was only able to nod silently, too shocked to answer. His plan had been absolutely destroyed. Of course, his body would mess things up! Again! This was changing everything. Not only was he forced to meet his parents again, of all people… But it also delayed all of his intentions. At first, he had planned to leave before anyone got up, but now… It was too late for that. People would see him outside, even if he disguised himself. There were too many risks at this hour of the day… The manor teemed with servants, all of them knowing his physical condition by now. No one would ever let him go outside if he was ever spotted out of his bed. And if he bumped into Vanessa instead of them… He simply couldn't imagine how she would react.
Thinking about her, Snatcher couldn't help but be extremely worried. She had had a very peculiar reaction the day before, one the ghost had never seen while he was alive. Or dead, for that matter. However, the strangest thing was that she hadn't come back to see him again after that. The shade had expected to see her enter his bedroom, at least to wish him a good night, but she hadn't. Of course, Snatcher had been quite relieved not to see her that night, though now it was starting to trouble him the more he thought about it.
Vanessa had always been very… Clingy, to say the least. Yet, not only did she stayed away from him the previous evening, but she hadn't been the one to wake him up either. That sudden change in her behaviour… Was very unusual and it certainly wasn't reassuring the shade at all.
The latter was brought back to reality as the butler put several pieces of clothes on his bed:
-"There, my Prince. I took out a few from your usual ones, but please tell me if you want me to pick something else.
-No, it's… It's alright, thank you." He managed to say, almost mindlessly, as he couldn't help but focus on an issue much more urgent than his wardrobe.
He had quickly thought about leaving without concerning himself with precautions. After all, if everything would go back to how it was before, why being careful? It would all be erased in the end! Or he thought so since he didn't know much about time travel in itself. But if the kid was waiting for him in the village square, it could only mean she had the means to take him back to the present… Right?
Uncertainty was one of the reasons which stopped him from going out inconsiderately. What if the hat-wearing brat had nothing to help him? He knew the kid was persistent, yes, but there was no guarantee she would be able to reverse everything. She had only drawn him a picture! It was hard to draw conclusions from a poorly made message! He couldn't be sure until he really met her in person.
The other reasons… Well, they mostly revolved around Vanessa and especially her reactions. She did freeze an entire town just for a ludicrous misunderstanding… But if everything was to be reversed, why did he care?
The realization took him by surprise and he found himself unable to answer it.
"I… Why?" He wondered as a feeling of dismay grew inside of him. All these people had perished once! He had died too! Why did he care if they died again?
-"My Prince?" Simeon's voice prevented him from thinking more about it and he couldn't help but feel grateful for his interruption. It wasn't like he didn't want to think about it… He just had more important things on his mind and he couldn't take more time to think about them when he had a whole strategy to reorganize.
-"Yea- Yes?" He corrected himself. Hundreds of years really did change him. He wasn't a Prince anymore and hadn't been for a very long time. Snatcher was convinced he was right to correct himself when a look of confusion crossed the butler's face.
Simeon was much more observant than he first thought… If he had to be very cautious around Vanessa, it now also applied to the man, apparently. If the shade was found out… It would make his position more complicated than it already was. Considering how loyal Simeon was to the royal family… Taking risks with him was out of the question.
-"I'm sorry, I'm just…" He shut his eyes and held up his hand in an apology gesture, as he started to lie: "I think I'm still tired."
His excuse seemed to work, as the butler's face became amicable once again.
"That was close…" Thought Snatcher.
-"Don't worry, it is perfectly understandable after what you have been through."
Snatcher let out a smile in answer, as his eyes drifted to the blankets, as he considered his options.
He could always try to convince Simeon he was feeling too sick to see anyone, though he wasn't sure it would work, as the older man was starting to become wary of him. The ghost could also take the risk of leaving without caring about the consequences, yet he couldn't help but feel unsure about the idea.
And there was still the "Vanessa issue"…
-"Simeon?" He asked before the butler left the room.
-"Yes, my Prince ?"
The spirit didn't want to broach the subject, however, he had to take everything into account… And that certainly included his crazy ex and what she was doing.
-"Vanessa was… Upset yesterday. How is she today?" He asked, faking a worried tone. In the end, the only worry he felt was not about the Queen's state but more about what she might do. The man winced, which was enough to tell Snatcher that he knew about what occurred the day before. The young maid had probably talked about it to the rest of the servants.
-"Well…" Simeon looked away, before answering hesitantly: "She ate her breakfast in her room this morning and still hasn't come out."
This was alarming. Vanessa used to sulk when they were alive, yes, but from something she had done herself? The spirit couldn't remember anything of that sort. All the times she passed in her room, not wanting to talk to him, were because of things he apparently did. Yet, the situation was very much different in the present. It was like she had felt… Guilty about what she had done. That was enough for the ghost to know that something was going on.
Seeing his lack of answer, Simeon continued with a suggestion:
-"Should I fetch her?"
The question took Snatcher aback, forcing him to put his thoughts aside once again. Fetching her? He didn't have a death wish! Those were for the brat he was supposed to join today, not for him!
-"No, than-" However, just as he was about to refuse, he stopped himself.
If he never solved whatever was happening in his back… He had a bad feeling it would come back right at him one way or another. With Fate and Life on his heels… It was just as dangerous, only delaying the inevitable. If escaping was that easy… He would have done so, way before. He had to stay for a night, it could very well happen once more.
There it was again: uncertainty.
As a ghost, he used to have his powers to defend himself and only a few things could actually hurt him… But as a human, any risk could lead him to either die or being shackled in the cellar once again. He had to be careful and if it meant staying with Vanessa for a while in order to make her feel better… The shade had to do it, despite how much he loathed the very idea of being in the same place as her.
-"Wait, yes, please ask her to come." The words almost burnt his tongue as they left his lips. Being a human was the worst, oh what he would give to get himself out of this situation…
He gave Simeon a weak smile as the latter nodded in agreement:
-"Right away. I will keep your parents waiting for when you're ready.
-O-Of course…" He replied, still smiling until the man finally left the room. As soon as the shade was alone again, he put his head in his hands and groaned lengthily. This was going to be awful, wasn't it? First Vanessa, then his parents, without any guarantee to be able to leave afterwards… Oh, that day was perfect, truly excellent!
He took a deep breath and lowered his hands. Why did everything had to be so complicated?
His eyes fell on the pile of clothes on his bed. The shade almost straightened to put them on before stopping himself. If Vanessa was going to come in… He certainly didn't want her to enter the room while he was still dressing up. So he lied back again onto his pillows and waited, looking at the ceiling silently.
Meeting his parents again… He couldn't believe it. If someone had told him that a few days ago, he would have laughed at the person's face instantly. Now… Well, things had changed for the worse. At least, if he had to find anything positive in reopening old wounds… His parents had always been very nice to him and had supported him in most of his life choices. His father had always been more severe than his mother, but always for his sake. They hadn't been very happy about him wanting to study law abroad but they had loved him enough to accept his decision.
Vanessa's parents, on the other hand… While the ghost had never met her father since the latter died before he met Vanessa, he did have known her mother. If he had to be completely honest on the subject… Maybe she had been scarier than Vanessa herself. The spirit had always been nervous around the old woman and had often tried to avoid her when it was possible. Fortunately, the old Queen had an accident and was no longer living at present. Regarding the causes of the incident… The shade had his suspicions for what truly happened. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, in the end.
The spirit started in his bed when a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Ignoring his fast-beating heart, he let out a hesitant "come in", as a feeling of dread settled over him. "What could possibly go wrong?" He thought, full of sarcasm.
The Queen opened the door slowly and Snatcher's body froze immediately. His eyes met her blue ones, though she quickly looked away before closing the door right behind her. Did she just avoid his stare? The Vanessa he knew never looked away after a fight. Then why?
The room was completely silent as none of them dared to speak. A heavy tension settled around them, almost palpable. Snatcher didn't know what was more terrifying between being in the same room as his own murderer or the fact that she stayed silent and motionless.
This was getting ridiculously frightening.
-"So…" He had no idea how he managed to be the one to speak first. He could feel the fear inside of him growing and growing each second. His heart was beating fast and keeping his breath under control was extremely difficult. Anyone could have seen how scared he was, despite him hating the idea of people noticing it.
The Queen remained silent for a few more seconds. Her face had a dark expression and her eyes were locked to the floor. It was easy to understand that she had something on her mind. Snatcher couldn't help but be both surprised and wary about that: she had never been the type to feel guilty, let alone the type to admit her mistakes. Thus, seeing her like this… Was not reassuring at all.
The ghost could feel his hands shaking slowly. He held his grip on the covers tight, hoping that it would stop the reaction. The fake smile he was keeping on his face started to crumple and it wouldn't be long before he lost his "happy facade". That was it. This was when she was going to kill him or just throw him into the cellar again.
He always knew that she would unmask him.
Eventually, she sighed and came closer, troubling the spirit even more. He couldn't tell if he was relieved or scared to finally see her do something else than just standing in front of his bedroom door. She gently kneeled beside the bed, her face still full of something akin to sadness and guilt. It only made Snatcher sicker to his stomach than he already was. Silence greeted him again and he wondered if he should say something, anything to break the ice. At this point, he had absolutely no idea about what to expect from his ex. He opened his mouth to talk once again but was cut short when she spoke instead:
-"I… I had a dream last night." Her tone was low and uncertain, two words which heavily contrasted with her personality. The ghost held his breath, too scared to move or to interrupt her.
-"It was more a nightmare than a dream, actually…" She paused before taking a deep breath: "I was home, reading something in the living room. You were next to me, looking through the window. I lifted my head and I asked you what you were thinking about."
She let out a sob as she stopped to breathe again, falling apart right in from of the spirit, who could do nothing but remain very still at the sight:
-"You got up and ignored me. You left the room, so I followed you. You came out of the manor and walked into town, but you wouldn't listen to me… You kept moving forward, pushing me behind when I tried to stop you."
Snatcher felt the world collapsing around him, horror engulfing him the more she talked:
-"And then…! And then…" She hid her eyes with her left hand, as her other one came on top of Snatcher's right one. The shade froze even more at the contact and his heartbeat increased as he witnessed her break down, unable to do anything.
Suddenly, he felt a cold, freezing sensation on his right hand.
-"Then you came to that flower shop… You came for that girl, that woman… And you left me." Vanessa looked up, her blue eyes filled with an indescribable emotion. Anger? Sadness? Despair? The shade didn't know. Though, he was very much aware of the feeling on his hand, as he stared at it in complete fear.
-"You remember too. You know I'm not talking about a dream, don't you?" She asked, in a murmur, yet it seems so, so very loud for Snatcher.
She knew. She knew, she knew, she knew, she had always known it was him.
He looked back at her, throwing away any try to keep his calm. His face contorted in absolute terror as he saw Vanessa's expression again. Her teeth were clenched and anger wasn't enough to describe her current emotion. She was livid. Her eyes were fixed on him, though not directly. It was as if her stare went right through the shade… As if she wasn't herself.
Yet, to Snatcher, she was exactly herself at that moment.
His silence was worth every possible answer she could get:
-"You left me! You abandoned me!" Vanessa's grip on his hand tightened and the freezing sensation intensified until he couldn't feel his fingers anymore. However, he didn't even notice it. After all, all his attention was focused on one single thought: "I'm going to die. I'm going to die again."
The sensation of cold seemed to grow and spread out on the rest of his arm, slowly extending to his forearm.
The ghost couldn't scream. As much as he wanted to, his voice was stuck in his throat and his body remained still, despite his survival instinct screaming at him, ordering him to flee, to move away, to escape, anything! Yet, his body stayed motionless, frozen. "Not literally but soon to be" more precisely.
That thought seemed to bring him back to reality. He had to do something! Acting without thinking, he took back his hand out of his ex's grasp and jumped out of the bed, as far away from her as he could in such a short time. His back hit the wall behind him. A sharp pain woke up in his legs from the sudden move, but that wasn't all. His right hand hurt as well and when he looked at it… His skin had a worrying blue tone with red little lines on it. Frostbite.
Panic made him look up once again, terrified of seeing Vanessa chasing after him. Yet, when his eyes fell on her, she hadn't moved from her spot. She was looking at her own hand with icy tears rolling on her cheeks, shaking like a leaf.
-"… Sorry… I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I…" With a wavering voice, she kept murmuring apologies, without even looking at him. Little by little, the sobs coming out of her transformed as she burst into tears. The silence was quickly broken as cries escaped from her opened mouth and resonated in the bedroom.
Snatcher watched, bewildered by what he was seeing. What was happening? Why was he not dead yet? Why was Vanessa… Crying instead of freezing him to death just like she had planned to? Why was she apologizing? She was trying to kill him again, why didn't she keep going, why did nothing make sense anymore?
Pounding sounds started to get closer to them and Snatcher realized too late that what he was hearing weren't the sounds of his own heartbeats, but rapid footsteps-
Though, before he could finish that thought, the door opened swiftly and several figures entered the room in a panicked manner. The ghost jumped at the sudden apparition, his eyes fixed on every person who came in. Simeon was one of them, standing in front of the others, looking around in hope of understanding what happened here.
The others in the back… Were none other than his own parents.
His heart skipped a beat when he recognized them instantly, despite not having seen them for hundreds of years. The red curly hair of his mother, the brown hair of his father… Her round and gentle face and his stern but worried one… They looked just like he remembered. His mother was wearing a long and beautiful brown dress. The front was black, while the rest of the dress had vine patterns. She was wearing long black gloves and a black necklace. The sleeves of the dress were flared, so much that her hands were barely visible. His father had a formal costume. The jacket was dark blue and it was buttoned up. His pants had the same colour than the jacket, perhaps in a slightly darker tone. The man was also wearing a black tie, which was matching the black top hat he was holding in one of his hands.
Nichole and Lucian, Snatcher's parents, were standing in the room. In the same room as him.
And they were staring at him.
His father was the first one to speak :
-"What in heaven's name is happening here?" His severe voice made the shade's breathing stop, as a very strong surge of feelings overwhelmed him. It was his voice, his father's voice. He remembered what it sounded like and it was just like that. The older man's eyes were fixed on the ghost, waiting for an explanation, but all the shade could do was stare back in disbelief. They were here. With him. Not frozen under several feet of snow.
Alive. Just like he was.
-"Alistel!" His father called out to him one more time, yet Snatcher was unable to answer. Instead, he felt his eyes stinging and his vision slowly becoming blurry the more he looked at them. He blinked several times but the sting continued and even intensified. He brought his left hand to his eyes, rubbing them mindlessly, only to feel something wet on them. That's when the realization hit him, just as if he had been hit by a train violently.
Was he… Crying? Him? The ghost that had taken so many souls, that had murdered so many innocent people… He was crying?
-"Sugar?" A sweet and worried voice then resonated as well and Snatcher's eyes drifted to the woman. His mother.
-"What happened?" She asked too, though Snatcher couldn't help but ignore her words as he focused on her voice instead. It was her.
The spirit felt a lump in his throat and a sob escaped him while tears rolled along his cheeks :
-"It's you… You're here… You're actually here…" His voice broke after he pronounced the last words, his eyesight now nothing more than a blurry mess. His parents looked at each other, confused by what he said. He hated this. He hated this body. He hated to be in this situation. He wanted nothing more than to leave this place and never return. This was the worst thing that could happen to him, the absolute worst-
A quick movement caught his attention, with green moving in the corner of his vision. Vanessa had stood up and he barely had the time to see her fleeing the room, soon followed by the panicked butler. A feeling of fear engulfed him, as he thought about what she could do in her state. They were all going to die. The last time she fled to cry about him, she had frozen the entire village, and now that she had discovered he remembered just like she did… Snatcher himself had no idea about what she might do. How long would it take for him to hear her scream just like the last time? To see guards coming in the room to take him and lock him up in the cellar? Everything was repeating itself.
An unbearable silence fell once again in the room. The only sounds which could be heard were Snatcher's heavy breathing and his father tapping his foot on the floor impatiently.
-"Well?" He demanded again and, this time, the ghost found the courage to answer:
-"She…" What could he say? If he said anything about what she had tried to do… He supposed that would only bring more awful things. Well, in a way… He couldn't see how things could turn even worse. Before he could stop himself, words left his mouth as he tried to come up with the best possible excuse in such a short time: "I… I told her I planned to leave soon."
It wasn't a lie, in the end. Only an omission regarding where and when he planned to leave. Only if he had time before she killed them all. Again. What could he do? Fleeing would only make things worse, as she would try to stop him even harder. On the contrary, if he tried to calm her down, she might freeze him to death just to make him shut up.
The only thing reassuring him was that… She had apologized. And Vanessa rarely apologized, especially in situations like these.
What if she just locked herself in her room just like she had done the day before? Hoping was all he had left in his position.
Snatcher's parents stared at him for a few seconds, and he carefully hid his injured hand on his side. They couldn't see it.
-"And she pushed you out of the bed because of that?" replied her mother, both perplexed and confused. He couldn't blame her, it was a bad excuse after all.
-"… Yes?" His hesitant tone didn't fall on deaf ears: his father's expression became more severe as he retorted:
-"You just came back only to leave again? What are you, a spoiled child? Is this a way to treat those who welcomed you back? Those who called a doctor for you? That's not how we raised you!" His father's face reddened as his anger grew more and more: "And all for what? Because your teacher is sick? You decided to come back only for a few days, without informing Vanessa's kingdom first? Then you crossed the forest, alone, only to sprain your ankle and to break your leg? And now you made Vanessa cry? I simply cannot believe this is what happened. We raised you much better than that!"
His mother tried to calm her husband, though it did little to help :
-"My dear, please stop…"
Snatcher remained motionless for a few instants, as his mind slowly processed everything that had been said to him. Was his father… Lecturing him? After everything the ghost had been through, being shackled on a wall, locked in a cellar, being murdered, dealing with afterlife for hundreds of years, he was the one being lectured?
How ironic!
A sour laugh escaped his lips, as he straightened, ignoring the pain both in his legs and his hand. This was hilarious! He, a ghost that had lived so many years and killed hundreds of people, was being lectured by his formerly dead father? What a joke!
-"Are you laughing?" asked his father with clenched teeth: "Do you mind sharing what's funny with us?"
He stopped laughing, not amused anymore. Anger was growing in him, little by little. No one could tell him what to do or scold him. They didn't know anything! They had no idea about what happened! But he did!
-"You think you can lecture me?" He asked, though it wasn't really a question in itself.
-"I beg your pardon?" His father replied with an outraged tone, glaring at the shade furiously: "I would like to remind you that the only reason you can study law abroad is that we agreed to.
-Get out." The word escaped from his lips, as he returned Lucian's glare with as much rage as he could convey: "Get out!" He repeated, now screaming just as loudly as Vanessa, as he stood up, not paying any attention to the pain in his legs.
His parents looked at him, astonished by his sudden reaction. After all, it immensely contrasted with how he used to be before dying, when he was the kind and dumb Prince he used to be. But things had changed, lives had been lost and hearts had been broken.
He would never go back to how he used to be… And those people in front of him were not his parents, only the Prince's ones. But he was not him anymore. He had become a soul-stealing ghost and nothing could change that and especially not time travel.
-"I have no idea what has gotten into you, but we won't accept that behaviour from you!" His father retorted in a tone that was nothing but livid. Next to the man, Nichole was crying in his embrace, not looking at the spirit since his outburst. Seeing her cry caused a sudden pain in his chest but he decided to ignore it. It was just his body acting against him once again. He was not their son anymore. He had been done with this life for hundreds of years!
-"Get out, get out, get out!" Snatcher repeated, louder and louder, wanting nothing more than not to see them anymore. The pain in his chest intensified, however, his fury was strong enough to conceal it. This was just a trick from this fleshy body. Nothing else!
Lucian glared at him for a few seconds. The only sounds in the room at that moment were Snatcher's breathing and Nichole's sobs in the man's chest. It lasted less than a minute but it felt much, much longer to the spirit. Eventually, the man shook his head and turned to his wife :
-"Let's go, Nichole." He put his arm on her shoulders and took her to the door, which he opened for her. She exited the room, sobbing in a white handkerchief, disappearing from the ghost's vision. The man then turned to him once again and spoke in a very low voice :
-"That's it, we're leaving. You can forget about those law studies. Maybe you'll realize how nice we were, by letting you do what you wanted."
"Law studies?" He scoffed at the idea: "Yeah, right, as if I still needed them."
-"Whatever." He simply replied, leaning against the wall behind him to ease the pain in his legs.
Lucian glared at him once more before exiting the room as well, following his crying wife. As for the shade, he remained a few moments unmoving, trying to process everything that just occurred. Very mixed feelings grew inside of him, mostly anger but also… Sadness? How ridiculous!
Yet he could feel his vision blurry again, just like the stinging sensation coming back in his eyes. He quickly brought his left hand to his face, rubbing his wet eyes. This was nothing more than his body doing things on its own! He wasn't sad! Those people weren't his parents anymore!
Then why was he feeling so bad about what just happened?
He let himself slide against the wall and sat on the floor once more. He hid his face in his hands as sobs left his mouth, unable to stop himself. His fingers intertwined in his hair, pulling it more and more, as if he wanted to erase his feelings by causing pain instead. But it just made him feel worse.
He had no idea how long he stayed on the ground, crying alone. It might have been minutes, hours… He didn't know exactly. After a while, his sobs stopped, having no more tears to cry.
Enough. He couldn't take it anymore.
He stood up again, still ignoring the pain in his legs, even if it was less intense than the day before. He eyed the pile of clothes on his bed with an expression of rage painted on his face. He was going to make everything go back to how it was before. And if Vanessa decided to freeze everything in the meantime… Well, he didn't care. That was it, he was sick of everything. The shade didn't want to stay there any more second in this room, in this manor, in this whole period.
He was going to find the kid and she was going to fix everything.