OH.
MY.
DOG.
What the heleck?
I haven't updated in forever!
I am super sorry!
Well, after the school play (and passing out on stage, giving 'break a leg' a whole new meaning)
and between a drama movie that's due and trying to mantain my C average in Honors English (which is impossible I swear)
And that that other high school crap...
I've been busy.
I lost track of how many reviews I've gotten since like three weeks ago, so...
Time for another mass thank you!
THANK YOU!
And here, resurrected from the dead (just like Jesse) I give you chapter 20 of. 21.
That sounds weird...
Ok, shall we try this again?
Chapter 20 of the story 21.
Yay! Chapter 21 is almost here!!!
Love ya'll!
-Autumn-
Maybe this is waht dying feels like. Am I dead? Am I dead? Am I dead?
Ok, maybe I just turned into a broken record...
...which wouldn't surprise me at all since I can't feel my feet...legs...arms...hands...body...
OH MY FREAKIN' CHICKEN! SOMEONE'S DECAPITATED ME!
Wait, isn't that when your head is cut off? So, what do you call it when your body is cut off?
Dembodiement?
That can't be right.
I don't even think that that is a word.
Disembody?
Dearmify.
Debodyify.
Delegmentify.
Yeah, none of those are words.
Diembody is, I think.
Gosh, leave it to me at the time of my death to be actually questioning how the hell my killer killed me.
Wait, someone's coming...GET BACK! I CAN SO DO...aboslutley nothing considering that my body parts aren't connected to me anymore.
Well, this sucks.
"Susannah?" Came that voice. "Susannah?
"Who are you?" I managed to croak as I lifted my hand up to push my bangs out of my face. Wait, I moved my arms...
I HAVEN'T BEEN THE VICTIM OF DEBODYFICATION!
"Give me your hand." The calm voice said. I couldn't see anything, due to the fog/darkness, so I wasn't about to give this guy my hand. For all I knew, he could be a murderer...or Micheal Myers...or Lord Voldemort...or Tom Cruise...
So sorry, possible fruitloop, me don't trust you.
"Susannah, you can trust me." The man said.
"Ok." I said, giving him my hand and letting him raise me up.
What?
WHAT?
SUSANNAH WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?
Now Mr. Cruse is going to take you back to his home planet where his baby came from! YOU ARE GOING TO BE EATEN!
But he wasn't Tom Cruise, as I soon found out, because this man was infact human. And pretty cute too. Wait, I know why he's so cute.
He smiled, "Hello, querida."
Oh my holy catfish.
Just as I was about to tell him not to call me that, he took my arm and twisted it painfully behind my back.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." He hissed him my ear.
"Querida? Susannah?" I felt someone shake me genlty. I opened my eyes to see Jesse and Cee staring down at me with scared looks on his face. "Are you alright?"
I sat up as Jesse moved his arm around me. I was panting and gasping for air. "Querida, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Jess." I said, trying to smile at him reassuringly. It must have come out kind of weird since his face (and Cee's) looked even more scared. "I'm fine, I swear." I said again, trying to hide the 'asylum patient' face I had just given them.
I laid back down. Jesse put his hand on my forehead and said, "Get some rest ok?" I nodded, and he leaned down and kissed me. I smiled up at him as he said, "Love you."
"Love you too." I said with a smile.
" 'Night Cee." He said, walking past her. She smiled as he left and came to sit over beside me.
"Suze, are you sure you're ok?" She asked me.
"Yeah, just had a bad dream is all." Even though I knew I had fainted. That was a good one, Suze. Real smooth.
I rolled over and closed my eyes, trying not to think about what the next day would bring...
I walked down that dark, hallway. It scarily reminded me of the Shadowland. I took a deep breath as I neared my destination.
'Mrs. Mary-Elise Smithson'
Oh, God, please don't let me cry and break down. I know I've been bad before, but please.
But I guess even He can't get in the way of human emotion.
As soon as I saw her, tears sprang to my eyes. She wasn't the same. She was still beautful in every form of the word. I smiled as I remembered the shirt she had that read 'Grandma Hottie'.
Her cheeks now looked of marble instead of their natural rosiness. I knew, under her closed eyelids, that her emerald eyes weren't shining with life anymore.
I reached down and grapsed her hand, dropping it immediatley as soon as I felt how cold it was.
Frozen.
Dead.
Gone.
I closed my eyes, then ran out of that room. I brushed against someone as I did so. I ran into the empty Girls' Bathroom and locked the door.
"Susannah?"
"Go away." I muttered, ignoring the mascara stream rolling down my face.
"Let me in." He said a minute later.
Knowing he wouldn't give up, I opened the door, letting him in.
"Oh, querida." He said in a soothing voice, bringing me to him. I sobbed uncontrollably as he did that knowing I was leaving tear stains on his suit. He whispered soothing words to me in Spanish as he stroked my hair.
"Oh, gosh, Jess." I said pulling away to look in the mirror. "I thought I could do this, but I can't."
He looked at me through the mirror and said, "Mi amor, no one expects you to." He took a deep breath and said, "Querida, as long as I've known you, you've always been so hard on yourself. Just because you're The Mediator, doesn't mean you're not human, and doesn't mean you can't cry."
I smiled at him as I tried to repair my damage on my face. He wrapped a strong arm around me as he said, "You look gorgeous."
"But then again, I always do, right?" I said as tears rolled down my face.
"You do." He pulled me back to him and said, "You're not alone, ok?"
I nodded against his chest as he kissed me lightly on the head. After a minute, he said, "We should get going?"
I reluctantly nodded as he took my hand and lef me out of the girls' bathroom.
Paul, who was standing with Cee just a few feet away, gaped at us as we walked out of the bathroom.
He opened his mouth to speak (something sex related, I'm sure) but I interrupted him saying, "Oh go find acid and peel your face off."
I took Jesse's hand again and led him outside.
I twirled the orchid around in my fingers as the preacher said the final words. I glanced over at Father Dom. Turns out, he and my granny were best friends when she went to the Academy. Heh, go figure.
His blue-gray eyes were glazed over with tears as he watched the preacher say the final word, "Amen."
I had been chewing my lip, but now I was letting my tears flow as I watched the coffin get lowered. Jesse pulled me to him, and I buried my head in his chest, not wanting to ever come back up.
I did, look up I mean. I watched my mom cry over the grave as people walked away. Andy came over to her and put an arm around her.
I tossed my white orchid on to her grave and said, "I love you."
The pink flowering tree that her grave was under started showering the grave and me in pink flowers. I smiled, letting myself think that it was her doing that.
From underneath the trees, we watch the sky
Confusing stars for satellites
I never dreamed that you'd be mine
But here we are, we're here tonight
Jesse walked up to me and said, "I told Cee and Paul that we would meet them later." He knew I had another place to go. I hadn't told him about that, but in his usual way, he read my mind.
I smiled up at him and said, "Thanks."
"No problem." He said, lacing his fingers through mine.
I took one more look at my grandmother's grave. I hadn't seen her ghost since she died. I wasn't too scared, but I was still upset.
I kneeled down to her grave and whispered, "Please, come back. Just once."
Singing Amen, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I'm alive
Jesse wrapped an arm around me as we walked down the path leading to a place I hadn't been to since I left for Carmel. I looked up at the statues of Jesus and angel. A chill went down my spine for some reason. Jesse, noticing this, wrapped his suit jacket around me. Then, he started fiddling with his tie, as if it had been bothering him.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw what I had been searching for.
"Do you want me to wait for you?" Jesse asked me, quietly.
"No." I said, truthfully. "Come with me."
He nodded as he put his arm back around me and led me to the grave.
Here Lies Peter Simon
I out the last of the two orchids I had on his grave. The picture on his grave smiled back up at me.
"I should be happy that he moved on." I whispered. "Gosh, I sound like such a bad person."
Jesse laughed and said, "No, you don't."
I came back to stand with Jesse. I pulled his jacket tighter around me. Even though it was April, it was still chilly.
Jesse stared expressionless down at the grave as if he was thinking. I leaned into him, and his arm automatically went around me.
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
We'd see the day when nobody died
"I'm ready." I whispered to him. Jesse nodded, and we began our long walk back to his car.
We made it just in time, because as soon as we got in, it started raining. I looked outside the window as the rain drops fell, looking at my reflection through the window.
Why haven't I seen her? I asked myself.
Because she moved on. Another voice said.
Jesse walked around the car, and up to my door with the umbrella so I wouldn't get wet. I won't lie, I wasn't actually thrilled to be here. Not in my granny's house.
I walked in, and immediatley saw people I really didn't care to see.
Ok, there my family...I should be...
But my grandmother had, get this, 12 brothers and sisters. My family isn't exactly what you would call small.
After countless aunts and uncles, god parents and cousins came up to me, my mom walked up and hugged me.
"How you holding up, sweetie?" She asked me in a hoarse voice as if she had been crying.
"Oh, just fine." She pulled back and looked at me, skeptically. "Mom, I'm serious. I have Jesse."
She looked over my shoulder at Jesse, who was (shocker) talking to Paul. She hugged me again and said, "I couldn't have asked for a better boy for you, Susie."
I smiled up at her, holding back tears. I hugged her again and said, "I love you, Mommy."
She laughed and said, "I love you too."
After more hugs, I walked up to her room and pulled out an old photo album. I sat on her bed and blew the dust off of it.
I heard a knock, and looked up to see a very hot looking Jesse standing at the door.
Hot as in hot...like temperature...well, and looking it too.
Since he became, for a better word, 'alive', his gorgeous long, silky curls became long enough for him to pull back, and I'm guessing on the way up the stairs, he had undid his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt...
...if only I wasn't so sad...
I smiled at him, and he came in and laid across the bottom of the bed, looking at the book. I turned the page, and saw that it was a bunch of old baby pictures of me.
"Aw, Susannah! You were so cute!" Jesse said in a voice that you would use on a little kid. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile.
I flipped the page again to pictures of me when I was about three...four...kindergarten...Jr. High...
"I don't remember this picture." Jesse said, handing me a picture that appeared to be of me in front of the Mission.
"It's not." I said. "It's my grandma."
"Wow, that's really weird." He said, looking down. "I mean, it look's just like you."
He was right. Everything from her smile, her hair...everything.
"Look at this." He said, handing me another one. I looked down and saw that it was a picture of her, Dr. Slaksi, Ricardo and-
"Is that Father Dom?" I shrieked. It was! He had his arm around her with a very flirty look on his face. "Who knew he was a hottie?"
Jesse looked disgusted as he looked down.
I did too, and saw a picture. Dr. Slaski and my grandma were in front of the Mission by a sign that read 'Class of 1958'.
Something was wrong.
"Look." I said, handing it to Jesse. He took it from me and said, "Oh my gosh."
What we saw was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. A regular picture of them, but behind them was Ricardo. And above him was what looked to be the Shadowland. But just part of it, like the dimensions collided or something.
"That must have been when he tried to spilt their souls." Jesse said, voiceing what I had just been thinking,
"Yeah." I said, putting it down.
He rolled over and looked at me, "Madam what's-her-face-"
"-Zara-"
"Whatever. She said your grandmother couldn't move on until the part of her soul that was in you moved on."
"What are you saying?" I asked him.
"Well, what if we...shifted?"
I got what he was saying now. "Yeah-" I agreed, "-back to their time and stopped Ricardo from splitting their souls in the first place."
Jesse nodded and said, "Yes."
"I'm rubbing off on you, cowboy."
He sighed as he closed his eyes and said, "That's what I'm afraid of, Susie-Q."
"Don't ever call me that again." I hissed. He laughed right up until I hit him with a pillow.
"So, boss. When you do you want to do it?" He asked me, leaning up on his elbows.
I stared out into the darkness that was outside the window, "Tomorrow. But we have a little stop to make first."
"Where would that be?" He asked me, sitting up so he was right beside me.
"Time." Was all I said.
"The fourth dimension? Why on earth would be go there?" He asked me, clearly confused.
"To save your sister."
Singing Amen I'm alive
Meh. Not much of a cliffie, huh?
I'm actually pleasantly surprised about how this chappie turned out.
Funny how that happens, huh?
Well, you know what to do.
Review and you shall recieve the turning point of the story!
Ok, Jess. Do you mind reading this in a completely cool and sexy announcer voice?
Jesse: Cool. (clears throat) Coming soon to a theater-
Me: -computer-
Jesse: Yea, that. Coming soon to a computer near you...
CHAPTER 21 of THE STORY 21!
Me: Dun dun dun... Thanks, Jess!
Jesse: No problem, querida.
Me: XX (faints)
Anways, I LOVE YOU GUYS!
XOXOXO
-SASTMJ
MWAH!
Oh, and happy Easter Eve!!!