Author: Okay. So…it's almost over, but I'm probably gonna write a seaqual to it. Hm. yeah. Most likely. Well…I hope you enjoy the chapter and give me some reviews!

Chapter Fifteen

Momoko was in her room, kneeling on the floor, her elbows leaning on the bed, and her hands folded tightly against her head. "Jesus," She choked out a whisper. "Help me. Please. I really do love Hajime—even though he is a pervert—but I don't want to anymore. He loves Satsuki, and I don't want to lose her friendship. I don't want all of these mixed and confused feelings. I want to be able to forgive my friend, but it's just so hard. And I need you to help me, Lord. I really do. Amen"

"Hi, Momoko."

The girl twisted around to see the ghost girl standing in the doorway.

"I heard you praying." Zoë said. "And I'm sure that Jesus will answer. I know how it feels to lose the one you love, but if he isn't the one God has planned for you, you'll find someone else."

"Well, what about you? You haven't found anyone else to love."

Zoë flinched. "That's…not true." Her voice was barely even a whisper. "I met someone two weeks after Rene went crazy, and I fell in love with him. I knew that we were made for each other. I loved God, and he loved God. We wanted to be together. Forever. But one day he was found dead in his bedroom. He supposedly committed suicide, but I knew that that wasn't true. He had been murdered. By Rene."

Momoko stared at her. "Then how can you still love him?"

"Because that's what love is. Jesus didn't have to come to die for us, but He did because of His love. God forgave us, and He wants us to forgive others. He wants us to love others as He loved us."

"But it's just so hard. It feels like there's a hand wrapped around my heart making me do what I don't want to."

"There is a hand. It's Shin. A demon from hell. He's trying to shake your faith in Jesus Christ. Don't let him win."

"Why would God allow this to happen to me?"

Zoë sat down nest to Momoko. "Have you ever read the book of Job in the Bible?"

"Mhm."

"Well, this is a test of faith. Shin is trying to make you deny God."

Momoko was silent.

"Try to forgive Satsuki, Momo."

The girl nodded, and Zoë stood up to leave. "Good-bye." she whispered.

The thought had occurred to her that she should have told Momoko while she was there, but she had wanted the girl to forgive Satsuki before she found out that she was dead. She wanted her to care before she knew that it was all over. But she was sure that it would break her heart even more.

Zoë walked swiftly down the street until she found where Hajime was still talking to Keiichirou. Telling him to be brave and strong. She walked up to them and Keii instantly latched onto her leg. "Bring Satsuki back. Please bring her back."

The ghost girl wrapped her arms around his trembling shoulders. "I'm sorry, Keii. I'm so sorry. But I can't bring her back. I don't have the power to raise the dead. I can't do it. But…if you have faith in Jesus Christ I know things will work out. They always do."

Hajime didn't even bother looking at her. His heart was too shattered. "Satsuki wasn't a Christian. So, you're saying that she's gone to hell?"

Zoë blinked back tears. "This is hard on me too. If not harder—."

"Harder?!" The boy whirled around the glare at Zoë. "We were in love! And you're just a stupid ghost that decided to show up and ruin our lives. And now she's dead. And it's all your fault."

She couldn't hold the salty liquid back anymore. It trailed down her cheeks till it dripped off her chin and onto the pavement. "That's exactly what I meant."

"What?"

"I'm sure you've never felt guilt before, Hajime. Well, at least not the deep heart wrenching guilt you feel when something terrible happens, and you know that it only happened because you got involve. You'll never know what that feels like. You're not like me. You never will be. Unless…unless…" The ghost girl's eyes widened with horror and she took shaky steps backward.

"Oh no. What have I done? What have I done?"

At that she turned around and ran down the street. Never looking back.

Rene was watching from in the distance, and when he saw Zoë run away he knew that she had finally figured it out. So, he followed her. Waited until she finally stopped fleeing and collapsed onto the hard ground and sobbed into her knees. Then he walked over to her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. She buried her face in his chest and began to let out heart wrenching sobs.

"There, there, Zo. Everything will be all right. You'll see. Don't worry." Rene whispered into her ear.

She shook her head. "No. I've ruined everything for them. Their whole lives. I…I…I can't do this anymore. I want to die."

The boy sighed and pulled his friend closer. He ignored the biting pain of her fingernails as the dug into his skin and only concentrated on her uncontrolled weeping. She finally pushed herself away and turned away as if ashamed of her childish behavior. She gulped at the air then shook her head finally deciding that her act was foolish.

"Zo, please talk to me."

She shook her head. "There's nothing to say. Why didn't you warn me? About what would happen I mean? I didn't want to curse anyone else like we're cursed. It's cruel. You should have told me."

Rene laughed slightly. "You forget that we were trying to kill each other. You wouldn't have believed me."

Zoë shook her head again. "But…but…they'll all lose their families. They'll all lose the ones the love. They'll all be doomed to wonder alternate worlds for all eternity."

The boy threw back his head and laughed. "Is that how you look at all of this?"

She glared at him. "Of course. Why do you consider it vacation?"

"No…but…they will have each other." Rene replied then as an after-though: "More than I can say about us."

"What?"

He gave her a shaky laugh before scrambling to his feet and somehow found immense pleasure with the rocky ground.

"Rene!" The ghost girl cried also climbing to her feet. "What are you saying?"

Hajime and Keiichirou walked down the street together towards the Miyanoshita residence. The young boy was broken and scared. He didn't know what to do without his sister. He didn't know what to tell his father. He didn't know if he could go on anymore. Not with both his mother and sister gone.

The sun was quickly disappearing behind the horizon, and the sky was stained with color. The wind could just barely be heard whistling through the trees as they were soon shrouded with darkening shadows that blotted out all light.

As the house came into view, Hajime stopped dead in his tracks. Momoko was standing in front of the house, and when she saw the boy she ran over to him.

"Hey, Hajime! Where's Satsuki! I have to talk to her."

Both boys looked at her then at each other, at a loss for all words. Momoko grabbed Hajime by the collar of his shirt. "Hey! I asked you a question? Please! I need to know! I know I've been acting like a jerk, but…I have to talk to her. It's real important!"

"Momoko…"

"No! I don't want any excuses! Tell me where my friend is!"

Keii shook his head and turned around to race away.

"Keiichirou!" Hajime yelled, and the boy froze in his tracks. He slowly turned around tears spilling out of his large eyes.

"Hajime…" Momoko continued to insist. "Where—."

"She's dead! Alright!"

The girl stopped her ranting and stared at him as if he had just grown another pair of limbs. "What? No…you're lying. Satsuki can't be dead! She's only a teenager! She can't be dead!"

Zoë stopped when she saw the group of thee people ahead of her. She knew that Momoko had finally learned of Satsuki's death. She watched as the girl shook her head back and forth trying to deny the truth, and the ghost girl found herself wishing the same thing. And wishing that she had never come here. It was her fault that the teenager had been killed. It was her fault that everyone she had encountered here would be sucked away to different worlds just like she had. It was all her fault.

When Hajime saw Zoë walking towards them, he couldn't help the wave of hate that washed over his body. He blamed her for what happened to Satsuki. And he would never forgive her. Not as long as he lived. He would always hate her, and that's what he wanted.

Momoko glanced up then ran over to the ghost girl. "Did you know?" She demanded. "Did you know that my friend was dead?"

"Yes."

"Then what was up with your preaching? If I didn't know any better I would think that you're trying to turn me away from God. You knew this would happen didn't you?! You knew Satsuki would die! This is all your fault, Zoë!"

Suddenly, Rene was standing between them. He glared at Momoko who returned the expression with just as much hate…if not more. "No. I was wrong." She hissed. "It wasn't Zoë's fault. It was yours. Because you poisoned Satsuki's mind. This is all because of you."

He blinked at her, momentarily stunned, and then an icy smile crept across his face. "Oh really? Well, I happen to recall that you're the one who told her to go to hell."

"Wha—."

He gave her a sharp cold laugh. "You're a fool, Momoko."

Her hands curled into fists by her side. "Rene, you are a monster, and I'll never forgive you."

Zoë pulled the boy backwards until he was right in front of her. Her eyes were filled with solid determination. She placed her hand over Rene's heart then in her whispery voice said, "Satan is at work here. He's pulling you apart. Just think, boy. Don't say irrational things. Close your eyes and think. Listen to your breath. Listen to your heartbeat. Your pulse. Listen to me."

He did as she said and everything went eerily still. Rene bit his lower lip then squeezed his eyes shut tighter as if they would spring open any moment. He swallowed the lump in his throat then let his eyes drift open. "It's useless, Zo. I can't feel Him."

"You're not trying hard enough. Listen. Hear the wind. The birds. Their creations of God. Just listen. It's proof enough of His existence. Isn't it? Just listen."

"All right, all right. You already said that, but I'm just not you. I don't see this earth the way you do. I never will."

"God wouldn't accept you anyways." Momoko hissed at him. "You're too dirty. Not just tainted. Polluted. Filthy."

The girl's eyes widened with shock when Zoë's hand slammed into her face. She stared at her completely stunned that the ghost girl would hit anyone, then in a shaky sob dropped to the ground, tears biting into her skin. She tried to dash the salty liquid away with the back of her hand but the attempt was futile and only resulted in making her cry even harder. Zoë knelt down beside her and pulled her into her arms. "I'm sorry." She whispered in her soothing voice. "I didn't mean to give you false hope, but I wanted you to forgive your friend. And if you knew she was dead…it wouldn't have been possible. Please understand."

Momo nodded her head and wiped at her eyes again. "I just wish…I just wish…I…" She broke down into strangled sobs again.

"There, there." Zoë cooed. "It's okay. Don't worry. Everything will be all right. Let the tears spill, Momoko. Let your emotions out. It's worse to hold it in."

In between sobs Momoko managed to say, "I just wish my words to her hadn't been about how much she deserved hell, because now that's what she has. She didn't except Christ as her Savior, and it's all my fault."

"No…no…don't say that, dear. It's not your fault. You're only human. You can't make people change their minds."

"Yeah." Hajime hissed. "No one can make me change my mind."

Zoë glanced up at him and was shocked in the hate that flooded his eyes. She had never seen him look at anyone like that before and it frightened her. She climbed to her feet, her eyes still fixed on the boy. "Hajime? What…what…"

He turned away. "Shut up."

The ghost girl stared at him in shock. "What?"

He whirled around. "You heard me! Shut! Up! And go back to where ever you came from! No one wants you here anymore! All you do is cause pain! Satsuki is dead because of you and your stupid crazy friend! And you don't care! I haven't once seen you cry! Not since the entire time I've known you! You haven't shed a single tear! Because you never cared, Zoë! You never did! Even though Satsuki loved you like a sister, you still let her die! If your God is so powerful, why didn't he save her?" The boy's voice had finally fallen to a whisper as he fought back his emotions. "Why didn't he send angels to bring her back out of the pit of hell? And why did that demon go after her and not you?!"

"Hajime—."

"No! Shut up!" He turned away again his whole body shaking.

Momoko placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Look, I know how you feel, but…doing this won't help at all. Zoë's not to blame."

He gave a cold laugh. "Yeah. You're right. It's your fault!" He pushed her away from him and ran down the street without ever looking back.

Momoko stared at him torn between running after him and staying there, but even if she had chosen the former her feet would have still been rooted to the ground because of what he had said to her. It's your fault. It's your fault. Her fault. Her fault.

"My fault."

Zoë sighed and tried to pull the girl closer but she pushed herself away. "He's right." She said, brokenly. "It is my fault. If I hadn't made such a big deal about Hajime breaking up with me. If I had only been more Christ-like. But I was being too selfish, and now Satsuki's dead because of me. All because of me. That demon used me to attack her. He possessed me. I killed her. I did."

"No…"Zoë said, but Momoko didn't hear her because she too had run off.

Rene sighed and shook his head. "Well, I guess it's just you and me now."

The ghost girl's head snapped up. "What? Where's Keii? He was just right here."

"Probably went off with Hajime. That guy is the closest thing the kid has to a sibling now. Don't worry, Zo. We can leave this place now. Where's your necklace?"

"My necklace?"

"Yeah. You know, the silver cross that you always wear. The one that can bring us back and forth between worlds. The once you gave to Keiichirou to protect him from me. That necklace."

She stared at him blankly still not seeming to comprehend. She shook her head. "I haven't seen it since you kidnapped Keii."

Rene turned away. "Yeah. That stupid kid still had the necklace. He wouldn't let go of it until…until Satsuki took it from him. She must have had it. She…we have to find it."

"Why?" Zoë hissed out between clenched teeth. "What's the use? I don't want it. We don't need to travel worlds anymore. We can just let either fate or death take us. Either is fine with me." She squeezed her eyes shut tight against the emotional pain that swept across her body. She bit back a scream then stumbled away from her boyfriend's embrace.

"Zoë—."

She shook her head back and forth desperate for him to just go away and leave her alone to die, but she also wanted him to pull her into his arms and hold her until he couldn't hold her any longer. She wanted to hurt him and she wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to kill her and wanted him to let her live. With him. Forever.

"Zoë…"

"Please, Rene, don't. I can't bear it any longer. Please don't try to save me. I just want to die and nothing you say can make me change my mind."

To be continued…

Author: Well, that's chapter fifteen. Hope it was good. Chapter sixteen is gonna be real…weird…and most likely short cause I just want to end it and start up on the next story. Which will probably be better cause I'll have more cross overs and stuff.