A/N: Sorry that it took so long for me to update. I started school last week, and it's been murder. I'll try to continue updating on a timely fashion, but it'll be very difficult, since I'm a senior, and in some ways, senior year is worse than junior year. So, please forgive me, but the updates will be a little bit (maybe a lot) slower than they have been. Oh, I think you guys are going to love the ending of this chapter. It's a cliffie, but I think that it's a good cliffie.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of the songs mentioned in the story.

Chapter 7: Haunting, but Protecting

It was broad daylight when Melody touched down in Williamsburg, so she headed straight for her old house. When she arrived, she was surprised at how deserted it looked. That was probably her fault, she guessed, for going there and just having a mental breakdown. Oh, well, at least that meant that she was in no danger of being caught. She was just about to enter, when she felt a pull coming from the direction of the graveyard. Her mind told her to get settled back in her house and then go visit her sister, but her heart screamed at her that she should stop what she was doing and go see her sister immediately.

Melody chose to follow her heart, and she rushed to the graveyard just in time to see Laurel start kneeling at the place where Aria's body rested.

"I'm back, Aria." Laurel declared. "And boy, do I have news for you! Well, I'll tell you the insignificant news first: I've got a foster home now. Yeah, the Matkins took me in. You remember Annabelle and Carter? They're my new foster siblings. They believe in the Guardians, and I'm so thankful for that. They're helping me keep my belief. I know they're real, and I know that they were there, protecting me on that fateful night, but after seeing what happened to you, I- I think I'm losing my faith in them." Laurel sobbed. "They protected me and this is how I repay them; by forsaking my belief in them!"

"Oh, Laurel, please no!" Melody begged, even though she knew that Laurel couldn't hear. "Keep faith; you still need them!"

"I know what you'd say to that," Laurel continued. "'Oh, Laurel you need to keep believing; they protected you from sharing my fate!' I know they did, big sis, but it's still so hard! After they found your body uncovered and bleeding, I was horrified that you hadn't been saved from those men. But, just for you, I'll try to keep my faith."

Melody breathed a sigh of relief at that statement, and she felt a little more hopeful that, if Laurel kept up her belief in the Guardians, perhaps soon, Laurel would also be able to see her. All she could really do now, though, was hope.

"On an even more exciting note, though: Our house is haunted!" Laurel continued, her voice brightening. Melody was certain that, if she could see Laurel's face, Laurel's eyes would have been as bright as Christmas tree lights. "I don't know if I should go back to the house or not, but I really want to find out if our house is really haunted. I- I want to see if it's your spirit haunting the house."

Melody gasped. Oh, if only Laurel would believe in her, then she could truly interact with her once again! But, as it was, Melody could only offer Laurel some slight comfort. She drew her violin onto her shoulder and began to play a slow song, one that told of sadness, yet of the person overcoming the tribulation. The tune flowed like water, and Melody could almost hear a harp playing along with her. She knew the song was originally written for piano, but hey, there was no one preventing her from playing a violin cover!

As the spirit of music drew out the last note of "River Flows in You," Laurel stood up and glanced around, as if she could hear the song and wondered where it was coming from. However, the mortal saw no one and merely shrugged it off… for the moment.

Once again, Melody returned to the scene of the crime in torment. To have the fact reconfirmed that Laurel did not believe in her made her anguish return. It was not as bad as it had been after facing the copies of Pitch Black, but it was still enough for a few tears to leak from her eyes.

She walked over to her previous, and very extensive, music collection. She had liked nearly every genre except for extreme screamo (cue shudder), but she had been in possession of nearly a hundred CDs, ranging from old classical music of the great composers Bach and Mozart, to the country style of Taylor Swift, to the enchanting voices of Celtic Woman, even to the torture-chamber type of music favored by Bats For Lashes and Evanescence.

At the moment, her soul felt like it was going through so many torture chambers, so Melody grabbed the Evanescence album Fallen off her shelf, put it in her old CD player, and fast forwarded to track 10. "My Last Breath" started instantly, the guitars seeming to scream along with her soul, and her soul immediately connected with the music. Melody had to smile at the irony: She was the spirit of music, believed that all kinds of music move the soul, and the only music she could really connect with was torture-chamber music!

Hold on to me now
You know I can't stay long
All I want to say was "I love you,
And I'm not afraid."

Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms?

Holding My Last Breath!

Melody began to wish that she was able to play along instead of only being able to sing along. Suddenly, she felt the violin at her back suddenly begin to extend itself, and the bow at her side disappeared. When she brought the instrument in front of her, she no longer held a violin; now, she held a sleek, white electric guitar, with the outside borders outlined with indigo flames. A small dial allowed her to choose between different uses for the guitar.

"Nice!" Melody commented, struck completely immobile at the discovery of her new powers. Well, she suspected that she had always had them, but she had never accessed them until now.

Melody stood stock still for the nearly the entire remainder of the song, but when the bridge started playing, she was inspired into action. Switching the dial to the musical note symbol, she began to play along with the music, playing the song perfectly, despite never having learned how to play the song on guitar.

Say goodnight!
Don't be afraid.
Calling me, holding me as you fade to black!

Holding My Last Breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured life, it ends here tonight!

Melody felt slightly better when she was finished playing. A noise from behind her caught her attention, and when she turned she was startled to find Laurel there. The twelve-year-old seemed to be looking directly at the music spirit, and on her face was a look of excitement and wonder.

"So you like Evanescence, too?" Laurel asked. "That was one of my sister's favorite music groups as well." Melody smiled sadly, and was about to answer when Laurel said, "Please, come out. I just want to get to know you."

Melody's heart sank. Her sister still didn't believe in her. Laurel left her view, but Melody could still hear the twelve-year-old tramping about the house, trying to find the spirit. Oh, if only she knew that the very spirit for which she was looking was right in front of her eyes!

Laurel left the house as the sun started to go down. Melody decided to walk her home and then start her patrol of the city. "Laurel, I wish you knew how much I want to really speak with you again. Please believe. I miss you."

The walk to the Matkins didn't take very long – even though they lived much farther away than the Newels. Melody stopped at the steps and watched as Laurel walked through the door and began chatting with her new foster family. She could hear strains of the conversation through the open windows; Laurel was mostly talking about the fact that her old house was now haunted, and she suspected that the spirit doing the haunting was Aria's. Melody heard Annabelle laugh and say that any spirit was a vengeful spirit, except for the Guardians.

Melody brought her hand to her lips and then placed the same hand on the ground, blessing the house. Other spirits could still enter the house, but it would be a bit of a challenge now, unless the spirit entered with the sole purpose of protecting the residents. Turning away, she slung her guitar over her shoulder and began patrolling the streets.

The patrol for this night was mostly uneventful, but that was unless a person didn't count the moment when she thought she saw the two men, but they were gone before she had a chance to follow. After that, she had been more on her guard, but nothing else jumped out at her. Mildly satisfied, she headed home when the sun rose.

When she entered her room, she noticed that she had neglected to turn off the CD player before she started her patrol, since she had been taken by surprise by Laurel's intrusion. "Whisper" had just started, and Melody brought her guitar around and began playing.

Catch me! As I fall.
Say you're here, and it's all over now.
Speaking to the atmosphere
No one's here and I fall into myself.

This truth drives me
Into `madness;
I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away.
If I will it all away!

This song was slightly more therapeutic than "My Last Breath" had been, but she still felt unbearable agony ripping its way through her soul. The instrumental bridge made her feel the best she had ever felt since becoming a spirit, and she began rocking out to the guitar, playing it better than she had ever been able to play as a mortal; allowing the torment she constantly felt to fully come through and play for her.

Don't turn away!
(Don't give in to the pain!)
Don't try to hide!
(When they're screaming your name!)
Don't close your eyes!
(God knows what lies behind them!)
Don't turn out the light!
(Never sleep, never die!)

As the last notes faded away, she heard a gasp behind her. Laurel stood there, her hand over her mouth in shock. Melody froze when she realized that Laurel was looking directly at her. The music spirit remained silent, not daring to hope that if she spoke, Laurel would hear. And then Laurel spoke; only three words, but Melody doubted that she three words would ever be more welcome:

"Who are you?"

A/N: So what did you think of that cliffie? Evil, or neutral? The songs in this chapter belong to Evanescence and Yimura, with respect going to Lindsey Stirling for doing her violin cover of Yimura's "River Flows in You." Oh, and the design for Melody's electric guitar is the same as Ember's, the music ghost from Danny Phantom. In fact, Ember was my inspiration for Melody.