Oh, MAN. Don't get me started. I know I haven't updated in forever but there were reasons. My computer was REAALLY old (okay, like 7 years) and it's a desktop and it's technically my parents computer, and we had to replace it because it was loaded with viruses. That's why I haven't updated yet. Boatloads of things had to be re-installed or whatever on this new computer and luckily I didn't lose any of my writing.
My Girl Wednesday, thanks for the review! I'm glad that you liked the ghost story aspect because I was worried that would make this fic too weird. (What? A ghost and some wrestlers? Is futo on crack?) And I agree, Cena steals the show kind of, he's so ridonculous. LOL.
Grazie mille Hera619!
Emono, alethea293, thanks!!!!
And to all of my reviewers that review every single chapter, I LOVE YOU!!!
Chapter 20: Sylvia
Day Six at the Haunted House
Batista treated and bandaged Rey's arm. It was late in the afternoon now and Sylvia looked like she was still bursting with energy. She was bouncing up and down and then rocking back and forth on her feet, waiting for Rey to get finished.
When his bandages were finally ready, Sylvia grabbed his gloved hand and yanked at him to follow her.
Rey stood up and walked carefully, tiredly after her. Batista followed closely, guarding his friend and love interest.
Just as they were standing in the living room downstairs, Rey thought to ask Sylvia where they were headed.
"Baby girl…we're going back outside, aren't we?"
Sylvia nodded.
"Into the woods?"
The apprehension in his voice was audible.
Batista frowned, "Rey, you don't have to go if you don't want to."
Rey shook his head.
"Why did you disappear and scream out there?"
Sylvia looked at him desperately, wanting to talk, but unable to.
Rey went and got Punk's notepad and pen. He sat down exhaustedly onto the couch.
"Please write down why you left me and then screamed like that the other night."
Sylvia took the things.
Papa killed Mama.
Rey started at the forwardness of the message.
Batista came and sat beside Rey, tucking his arm around his shoulder. Rey felt comforted by this.
The luchador went on. "And…is she…is your mother out in the woods?"
Sylvia gulped back tears and nodded, but she still wrote.
Mama's buried out there in the trees.
Rey shut his eyes and covered his mouth.
Batista squeezed Rey's shoulder. "It's okay, Rey-Rey," he whispered.
Rey nodded, encouraged. "I…I am so sorry, Sylvia."
Sylvia smiled sadly up at him.
"But why did you scream, sweetheart?"
I ran too far ahead. Papa wandered around the woods every night before you made him go away tonight.
"So your father was out there?"
The girl nodded.
"Did he hurt you?" Rey asked, his voice flooded with worry.
Sylvia smiled sadly and shook her head.
I ran. I am sorry I had to leave you.
Rey shook his head. "Oh no, baby girl. That's all right. Dave here came and got me. I was safe. I'm just happy that you weren't hurt."
Sylvia nodded.
"Is your mother…she was why you wouldn't pass away, wasn't she, Sylvia?"
The girl's face streamed with happy tears and she nodded, glad that someone finally understood.
"Your mother was murdered and even after you died, all you wanted was for people to know where to find her…" Rey choked on his voice and failed to blink back all of his tears.
Batista's eyes were wet too, but he cuddled Rey.
Rey wiped his eyes and swallowed. "Thanks, Dave."
Batista nodded silently.
"If we find your mother, will you be able to rest, Sylvia? Is that all that we have left to do?"
Sylvia nodded finally.
Rey nodded. "All right. I can we can do that for you. Dave, could you grab a flashlight and something to mark the trees with?"
Batista got the flashlight but was at a loss about the other request.
"Like what?"
"Like a marker. Like a white marker. Jeff always carries a pencil bag with colored markers in it on trips."
Batista sighed. "You know all our secrets, don't you?"
Rey smiled softly. "Maybe."
Batista found a white paint marker. "This looks like it'll do the job."
Rey nodded.
"That's perfect. Let's go."
Sylvia led the way.
They walked outside and went to the edge of the forest.
"The lady on the stairs really was her mother, wasn't it?" Batista whispered to Rey, not wanting Sylvia to hear a discussion over her mother's murder.
"I hope we're right to think so," Rey whispered back. "That would explain a lot if she was."
Rey was tired but he seemed to be animated by something that often did keep him going on the road or during a match. Rey had endurance beyond physical endurance. He could continue a wrestling match long after even someone much larger than himself (such as Batista) had to quit.
Batista marked the trunks of every tree that they passed on the left side of him. Finally, after walking for what seemed like an eternity, Sylvia came to a halt. She looked around and checked some landmarks. She was in the right place.
She pointed to the ground at a certain spot. It was covered in leaves just like everywhere else. Rey knelt down on all fours and started to brush the piles away. Batista lit the flashlight and held it up so Rey could see. It was getting dark in the forest under the shade of all the trees and in the fading light of dusk.
Rey cleared a huge oval of dirt free of leaves, always being led by Sylvia. She walked around the edges of the grave and when he came to her feet he knew he could stop brushing.
Rey sat back and looked down at it.
"Mama," Sylvia mouthed.
Rey nodded, understanding.
She took his hand in hers and tugged at it.
He stood up and knelt down in a different location.
"Papa," she mouthed.
He stared at her.
"Dave…Sylvia's telling me her father is buried out here, too."
"My God…" Batista said. "That explains what happened to him. Nobody ever found him, did they?"
Rey looked at his friend. "No, he just vanished. I guess he…" Rey pulled Sylvia close to him and muffled her ears in his hands. "He must have killed his wife, buried her out here…and then killed Sylvia years later. And he ran from the scene and killed himself out here."
Rey was afraid to dig around anywhere near the area where Sylvia had pointed to. He suspected he might find gruesome, old bones on the ground, not far from the cover of the leaves.
Rey spied a rock a little ways away. "Dave, could you pick that up and move it over here?"
Batista obliged.
"How do we mark these?" Batista asked quietly. "We need people to distinguish these as something more important than just rocks."
"I don't know," Rey admitted.
He looked around and saw another rock. Dave went to it and picked it up, grunting a little as he set it beside the burial site. It was about a foot and a half tall, and from the looks of it, quite heavy.
"What marks have you been putting on the trees, Dave?"
"Dashes, like…like on a treasure map," Batista said quietly.
"Then could you put an x on here, please?" Rey requested.
Batista nodded and shook up the paint marker, putting a huge, thick x across the entire rock so that no matter how many leaves piled up on it, part of the white mark would still remain visible as long as the rock was visible. He did the same to the other one.
He clicked the cap back on and looked at Rey.
He had gone over to the ghost girl, who was sobbing uncontrollably at the side of her mother's no longer unmarked grave.
"Sylvia, look at me," Rey said softly.
The girl gazed up at him, her eyes blurry with tears.
"You said you know the story of Hansel and Gretel, right?"
Sylvia nodded.
"Remember how they left breadcrumbs to find their way back?"
Sylvia nodded again.
"That's what we did for your mother. We marked the trees as we walked here and when the police come, they'll be able to follow the trail to her. They'll know how she died."
He took a deep breath to keep himself from crying.
"I don't know if you know this, baby girl, but your body is buried in a cemetery."
Sylvia stopped crying and stared at him.
"And your mother…when they find her, Sylvia, I promise I will tell them to bury her right next to you," Rey said, choking slightly.
There were tears in his eyes.
"All right? You and your mother will be buried together."
Sylvia ran into his legs and he sat down and hugged her.
"Shh…it's okay. It's okay."
Sylvia didn't feel cold all of a sudden. And then she felt lighter and lighter. Batista blinked in disbelief and Rey squeezed his eyes shut, knowing somehow what was happening.
The ghost girl was fading away.
And then she was faded away.
And then Rey felt nothing.
Rey looked down at his empty hands. "She's gone."
Batista looked at his friend sadly.
A tear rolled down Rey's cheek and he didn't brush it away.
"Just like that, she's gone…"
Rey?
It was a little girl's voice, unmistakably. It sounded like bells, bright and glorious.
Rey started and turned around.
Batista gasped.
Before them was a glowing little girl, the same glowing little girl, only now she was whole again. She had her voice back. She beamed a smile at them.
"Sylvia…is that you?" Rey whispered.
There was a woman behind her, a beautiful, tall woman with matching blonde hair and less clear blue eyes. She was smiling as well.
It is me, Rey, the girl assured him.
Rey blinked, surprised to see her again.
"Is this…is this your mother?"
Yes, the woman confirmed.
"Oh. Hello."
The woman smiled warmly at him. I owe you my thanks for returning my daughter to me. And for finding my final resting place.
Rey nodded. "I….um, yes. You're welcome. Of course," Rey smiled. "It was…it was my honor to help you."
Sylvia raced over and hugged him warmly.
Rey bent down again and took her into his arms.
Batista smiled at the sight of them.
He could have sworn that Sylvia had become Rey's daughter in these few days far more than she had ever been the child of her own father.
He rocked her for a minute and realized that she felt much more solid and heavy. She felt real. But she also felt…
Rey slipped off his gloves.
"You're warm now, Sylvia…" Rey said in awe, holding his hand against her cheek. She bent into his touch the same way she had the night he'd covered his palm with the blanket.
He smiled and she giggled.
You have been a wonderful friend, Rey.
He smiled. "Thank you. It's been a pleasure knowing you, sweetheart."
She held his hands in hers.
You have friends in the afterlife, do you not?
Rey smiled sadly. "Yes. I do."
Sylvia hugged him again.
Would you like to tell them anything? I must go soon.
Rey bit his lip and closed his eyes quietly. "Please just tell them that I said hello. And that I love them."
Sylvia's mother nodded. We shall tell them so.
"Thank you so much," Rey said gratefully.
He hugged the little girl tight for the last time.
I will miss you, Rey.
Rey smiled. "I'll miss you too, baby girl. But I will see you again some day."
Goodbye…
The girl came away from him and smiled brightly, stepping backwards towards her mother.
And…thank you.
"Goodbye," Rey whispered.
And then they were gone, fading softly, like the glow of fireflies edging off into the distance.
Rey wiped his eyes.
"Let's go back inside," Batista said quietly.
"Yeah…" Rey nodded.
And they turned to leave.