Chapter 10, Confession

Five AM…dawn was approaching soon amongst the city.

The whole town appeared to be empty it seemed…the streets…the restaurants, and the stores…made it look like a Ghost town. Then again…this was the hospital. This was the place people would most likely avoid on account of death and suffering so of course people wouldn't wake up on this far side of town.

Of course that was something Annie would disagree on.

"Stupid mom", she grumbled kicking a can into the streets. "'Stay hidden Annie', she says, 'Don't come out till I tell you Annie' she says…I'm sick of taking orders from her".

It's been two weeks since she left home, heck the country she grew up and suffered in, and what did she do this whole trip?

Hide away in the lovebirds' trunk and stowaway into their luggage in a plane ride which lasted hours and hours and was finally let out by mom who stole the luggage from the airport before Noodle and 2D came. Let's just say the crowd got a little hostile when they saw a ten year old girl spill out gasping for breath, they had to run for the hills before they called security.

Yeah so what, if that sounded a little farfetched, that was part of the life of Annie Von Cracker. The life of a blind ten year old witch was a burden and not a party, especially if you were born with a birth defect….and diabetic.

"I wouldn't be diabetic if she hadn't been feeding me nothing but junk food", she growled under her breath as she stepped into a sinkhole of water. Cursing, she pulled herself out. "Dirty rat, always telling me what to do and ordering me to do this and that like getting in the plane by luggage"…she didn't even mean that extra passport ticket rubbish, she just wanted to stop her from complaining about the flight so goddamn much.

Something flew over her head and crashed into the walls…a bottle of glass shattered to pieces. Annie stopped and turned sharply. Her eyes narrowed as she shifted her foot to the left trying to pick up unusual activity. Someone was following her, she smirked. No surprise.

"I can hear you", she said coolly as another bottle of glass flew over her head and smashed into the wall by the previous target, "And I'm not scared".

"You…can see…me?"

"Of course I can", she said bitterly while shifting her foot again. "I can hear you too".

"Where….where am I?" said the voice. It was faint, but Annie knew she was standing no more then two feet away. "You're at the hospital", she said quietly, looking away. "At least what's left of it?"

"Hos…pital", the voice slurred. "What…hospital….why?"

"Your friend Noodle's in there right now suffering from the consequences of my mother", replied Annie bluntly. Her eyes narrowed angrily at the bitter truth. "She set her up, knocked her out, took a blow to the head and probably has amnesia for all we know".

"Noodle?" the voice sounded strong at the mention of that name. "Noodle's…here?"

Annie sighed. She slowly smoothed her hand over her dark boy cut hair while her other hand held the little doll she always carried dangled by the arm. "You're…Cassie right?" she asked the stranger, facing her again. "Cassie Sanchez?"

"Yes…" said the voice, becoming more visible to her ears and 'sight' as her confidence became as strong as her voice. "Yes…I am".

"I guess you know that you're dead right?" Inquired Annie folding her arms into her chest where her doll rested in the center.

"It's...foggy", moaned the girl faintly, scratching her head. "But...yes...I'm dead...I've...been dead for...how long?"

"Four months", replied Annie. "You've been dead for four months".

"Really?" Cassie squinted at her image. She was pale all over. "Dios mio, feels a lot longer than that". Her chalky hand soon rested upon her stomach, where her shirt was bloodstained and tainted with the reek of death and as she touched it, she nearly shivered all over.

"It was terrible", she whispered, eyes filled with dread and sadness. "I felt...pain...and sadness filling my mind...fear...the gun shot...it felt like...it was tearing my insides apart...I felt like my whole...abdomen was on fire...screaming...Noodle was...crying for me...it goes...blank after that then...I wake up and I find them there...in the hospital...crying...I didn't know...why they were crying till I saw...the body...my body".

Tears filmed her once youthful eyes of endless joy. Now...she felt old and...weary...like she'd never be cheerful again.

"When I saw...my body...I felt scared...I felt sad that Noodle...was crying for me...that the whole band, her familia, was suffering for me...even Murdoc could not hide it...I saw grief or what looked like loss...sweeping his eyes when he helped consoled...my best friend...I was crying with them...even though...they could not...see me".

Annie felt a tear welling up in her eye and blinked it away. "I'm sorry", she said. "I'm sorry that...you had to suffer like this. Mom shouldn't have done that. All she wanted was to get even with dad I didn't know she was going to really kill..."

"So...you're Paula's daughter?" Cassie mused and Annie could hear the dark tone in her miserable voice. "The one who..."

"Who's blind yeah", sniffed Annie. Boy she never got tired of that...

"I can 'see'...just differently from you, like me talking to ghosts for one thing".

Cassie gave a light chuckle. "I've...been wondering...about that. You...don't seem terrible".

"You mean I'm not like my mom right?" Annie chided though she gave a weak smile. "No...I may have inherited her attitude and daddy's taste for music but I'm not a cheat...I'm really a nice person just...they don't understand".

That was the bitter reality. No matter how hard she tried, she'd never amount to anything. All people ever saw in her was that she was the daughter of a whore, a crack baby...a diabetic blind freak who thinks she can 'see' ghosts and then laugh about it afterwards.

"Look", She said looking up at Cassie's direction. "I can...help you...if you want".

"Help?"

"Yeah..." Annie rubbed the eyes of her doll. "I can help you cross over...all you have to do is...talk to Noodle...say goodbye to her...once last time..."

To be continued...