Hi everyone. Well this was the last part of chapter 31 but as that chapter was SO long I've made it into chapter 32. So you get two chapters in one day. I hope you enjoy it
Chapter 32
Lottie stared at the sight of herself dead on the ground with Steve begging her to get up. This was something she never thought possible could happen.
"What's going on?" she asked confused and felt someone take her hand. She turned and realized it was Christopher.
"It's alright, Lottie. You're safe."
"Safe?! I'm dead or at the very least it looks like it! This can't be happening!"
"Then how do you explain this conversation?"
"The last remnant of my mind going into overdrive as my brain shuts down. You are an electrical current taking human form." He laughed at her words.
"You really have an answer for everything don't you? I was right picking you."
"Pick me?" she asked confused.
"The feeling in your gut that stops you in your tracks? All me."
He guided her by hand a few feet away to make room for the paramedics. She watched Steve reluctantly let go of her body and paramedics started to work on bringing her back. Kate and Ted had to hold Steve back.
"You caught my attention as soon as you arrived at the AC-12 building. You stopped in the pouring rain to look at my plaque. No one does that. The way the light hit your hair through the rain, it made me think of Gwen. So I chose you. You said yourself that you didn't know why you looked me up. Now you know," Christopher explained. He dropped her hand making Lottie turn her attention back to him and away from Steve. It was only then she realized that he had taken her to the oak tree several metres away at the end of the garden. When she looked back she could see the paramedics doing chest compressions on her body but she could no longer make out faces clearly with the distance. Christopher gestured for her to sit on the bench with him.
"Is that why you're here now?"
"Partly, the other reason was to help you move on. I thought it would be nice for you to have a familiar face. It was more than what I got." She felt a stab of guilt thinking of what Christopher had gone through in both life and death.
"I am so sorry for what happened to you." He held up a hand to stop her.
"You can't change the past Lottie. You can't save me anymore. You never could. I was long gone, but I would be remised if I didn't thank you for what you've done for my sister. I've thought of Gwen constantly for forty years."
"Have you never tried to contact her like me?"
"I can't. My body is here held in place by the roots of the weeping willow." Christopher and Lottie both looked off into the distance where a few acres away they saw the weeping willow. Lottie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Nicholas had kept Christopher then all this time. "I have a crown of Forget Me Nots. Crazy isn't it? I can go to AC-12, I can attach myself to you, but I can't go home without my body. The laws and limits of this world I'm still learning after all this time. I can see you have a question to ask me."
"Several actually," Lottie corrected him, making him smile.
"Well best start with the first then."
"Why did he keep your hand?"
The smile faded from Christopher face. "He always said that he loved my hands. My long fingers meant I was good at piano and … other things. Killers keep trophies, his was just a bit different. Over the years watching him live his life like nothing happened, I realized that he was preserving my fingerprints and my ring that could be worth something. I was a fool to fall for him."
"To quote Pride and Prejudice, 'we are all fools in love'. I know what you did for him. That you found out he was doing the robbery, which you tried to stop it. You both ended up shooting the other three robbers and he took off in the car in the alleyway." Christopher looked down with shame.
"I never wanted to turn corrupt. It killed me to destroy the documents and lie to my superiors. But I loved him. And Liz, my best friend, knew there was something going on and I couldn't tell her. That's when the headaches and the dreams started. That's when everything started to spiral and that's when I knew he was doing something to me. I started recording everything I could remember and I realized he was giving me pills all the time. He was trying to kill me. So I wrote the resignation letter and sent it to Gwen. I was planning to fake a family emergency meaning I had to get away and not come back, send in my resignation and leave it to the law to decide my fate. But he doubled my doze that final night and smothered me to death. Then he buried me under the willow which he constantly paints. It's his living trophy."
Lottie, reached over and squeezed his hands making him look at her. She saw the tears in his beautiful clear blue eyes. "I'm sorry that your great love ended the way it did."
"Me too," Christopher sighed. "By the way, Alex is a gem. And rather cute. You got lucky."
"Yeah I did. I really did … will I ever see him again?" she asked softly. All he could do was shrug in reply. "Are you real or my imagination? Don't fob me off saying that I've already asked this, I want to know from your prospective."
"Alright, you've entered my world and I have entered yours. Worlds can exist in the multiple places at the same time. Besides, imagination becomes art, books, films and your beloved music. Are they real?" Before she could respond he reached out and stroked her cheek gently. A strange chill ran through her body. "Is that real?" he asked before punching her hard in her good arm.
"OW! Fucking hell, that hurt!" she said in shock before rubbing her arm at its new sore spot.
"So I am real then." She turned back to Steve who was now stood being comforted by Kate as CPR continued.
"Which means I'm dead," she said quietly and reality set in. She was gone. She began to breathe quickly with panic and she brought her hands to her mouth. She leant forward feeling like she was going to pass out causing her to slip off the bench to the floor. Christopher realizing this slowly knelt to the floor with her and held her in a warm embrace.
"Oh, Steve. I'm so sorry." She cried into Christopher's chest.
"It's ok, Lottie. I'm right here. You're safe with me." He rubbed her back as he held her. After a moment she composed herself but Christopher still held her in his arms. 'Did he used to hold Gwen like this?' she wondered.
"You are one special kid Lottie, genuinely. You see people; hear them when they don't have a voice. You need to keep seeing and hearing them."
"You make me sound like one of those fake psychics on TV". She pulled away from him and quickly dried her face with her hands. "What the fuck can I do now?"
"You can decide your path."
"I don't understand. Surely this is my path."
"It doesn't have to be. I'll do you a solid if you do me a solid. I can send you back but it has to be your choice and it is a onetime only offer."
"How?" she asked confused.
"I know you are sixteen and think you are all grown up but there are some things you can't learn yet and I wouldn't burden you with."
"What do you want in return then?" she asked
"Please, tell them where I am. Send me home. I want to be at peace," his voice quivered as he spoke.
"I'm not going to start to see dead people am I?" she asked making him laugh.
"No, far from it. Just do me a favour if you go back. Keep your brilliant eyes and ears open. There are millions more of us lost souls in the darkness waiting to see the light. You can join us or you can help us. Make your choice."
"How long has it been?" the paramedic doing chest compressions asked out of breath. Three paramedics had been working on Lottie with no change. She had bandages on her, wires attached to monitors and a mask over her face which a third paramedic was using to get air into Lottie's lungs.
"Fifteen minutes," said one of the others looking at a portable monitor.
"Vitals?" the first paramedic asked. The second didn't reply which said it all. The first panted from doing CPR and then stopped.
"What are you doing? You can't stop!" Steve demanded.
"We've gone on for longer than we should. I'm sorry. She's gone" the third paramedic explained before taking the face mask off Lottie. She and the second paramedic moved out of the way but the first stayed when she was out of breath from 15 minutes of chest compressions.
Numbness ran through Steve's body which took his breath away. He couldn't react or even think. He knew what he had to do. He walked over and knelt down next to her by her torso, his feet beneath him. He went out to touch her when the first paramedic grabbed his wrist stopping him.
"You can't. She's classed as evidence now."
"I don't give a flying fuck. She's my sister." Steve wasn't usually one to swear at complete strangers but he knew Lottie would have approved. The paramedic looked at Ted who with a tilt of his head indicated she should back off. She let go of Steve's wrist and stepped away. He took her right hand in his left and stroked her hair softly. Her hair was crusty with dried blood but that didn't stop him. "I'm sorry. I thought you were safe with me but I was wrong. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." He said feeling fresh tears come to his eyes. He brought her right hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles before holding it close to his chest and humming You Are My Sunshine.
Kate and Ted both had to look away. The sight of Steve so broken hit them both more than they thought it would. Kate had to wipe away silent tears. Then a sound came that no one expected. The vitals machine beep once, twice, three times.
"What the hell?" Kate asked saying the words everyone was thinking. The second paramedic looked at the monitor.
"She has a pulse. How is that even possible?" he asked. Suddenly Steve was moved aside as the three paramedics went into action and rushed Lottie to hospital.