Shadowed Heart
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2005
- Location
- Your kitchen floor
I don't plan on making a new thread for every chapter of my story... But I've decided to for this one only because every post in Chpt. One was by... me.
Eh.
Here goes.
Chapter Two
A TALL, HANDSOME LOOKING YOUNG MAN popped his head into the tunnel. “Oh Mason, check it out, I found it!” May felt ready to rip her heart out, could they hear how quickly it was pumping blood throughout her body? She got chills, and she was pretty sure that her hair was standing on end. “What’s your name? Are you alright cutie? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost…”
“I’m… Samantha…” she faked a smile, she tried a fake laugh too, and it didn’t seem as convincing, she simply squeaked loudly and shut her eyes tightly in embarrassment. Suddenly two strong arms pulled her out of the other side of the tunnel, and she screamed, unconsciously. “What are you doing!?” she screeched as the arms dropped her on the ground at their possessor’s feet.
“She’s cute…” the man nodded. Not smiling inexorably like in the bad guys in the movies. He had dark circles around his eyes and he was tall and lean. “What should we do with her? The cops are doing scans tonight; one of ‘em was following us earlier after we left…”
“Save her for later…” another man shrugged. May was terrified… She jumped up on instinct and took off. She ran and ran, hearing the men calling after her, and eventually stalking quickly behind her, immediately right behind. She didn’t bother trying to decipher the mix of threats and meaningless provocative and profound words and phrases being dubbed to her. As she tried to run faster, her calves burned, her feet begged her to stop, and her lungs threatened to collapse; and to take her with her. But it wasn’t her lungs that caused her to collapse… It was a sharp chilling pain in her right arm that made her fall, face-first to the ground.
“Dammit Cody!” an unfamiliar male voice sounded angry; probably the man that hadn’t been speaking… May howled in pain. The man that seemed to be their leader dropped to his knees, and held up her face with his right hand. He looked pained. “Rebecca?” He stared into her tender eyes. “No… Of all the places… all the people…” She wanted to say something, to tell him that she had her mistaken for somebody else, but she hoped that maybe he loved Rebecca, and would save her; and May was almost certain that he would as he stared at her for more than just a few seconds.
“Mason!” his expression stiffened. “Get her in the truck, now!” he took control again, still intimidating, even in his rather vulnerable condition. Another pain in her arm, and she felt herself being picked up. As she lay under a blue tarp in the back of the truck, she wondered who these people were, and she wondered about the boy from earlier in the day too. She tried to think of what his name might be. Something wonderful, like Jason, or maybe Eric… So she couldn’t think of anything wonderful right now, but she would. She began having a mental conversation with him.
“I miss your voice,” she said out loud after a couple minutes of private talk with him. She shivered. Was it the cold? The pain, maybe? Or possibly even the fact that she was talking to herself that caused her body to tremor. She didn’t converse with him anymore; she closed her eyes, and tried to die. She was in vast pain, and couldn’t help but wish for it. As she was lifted out of the truck, she hoped that the men had taken her somewhere to kill her without possible witnesses. They put her down… The ground was cold, but she didn’t open her eyes. It hurt to breathe… She allowed death creep up on her, and she found joy in it, as the pain began to disperse, and her body started to go numb.
“Get her a blanket,” A now familiar voice demanded. She tried to tell him that she was not Rebecca, now she didn’t want to be saved. But she couldn’t find her voice. She hoped that maybe he’d be too late to save her anyways. She felt the blanket being placed over her quaking frame, but no immediate warmth was found. A piece of paper was tucked under her wrist and she heard a very loud noise, followed by what sounded like the truck racing away from her.
She heard voices, alarmed voices and blabbering soon after, people picking her up and putting her back down several times, trying to talk to her. She never answered them, though. The only thing she said was “Lou,” in an attempt to get her name down, to hopefully notify her family of her death eventually. She refused to talk after three or four times; it felt like she was holding her breath every time she spoke, and she couldn’t do it anymore.
“Lou,” shouted a nurse into another’s ear, she said Lou.”
“Is that her name?” the other asked, confused. “That doesn’t help… It’s a boy’s name, first of all, and there are a ton of people named Lou.” May was tired of being moved so many times and felt as if she’d explode if it happened again. “It might be her last name, I’ll check it, and you do get Dr. Hanson, please.” It was quiet for awhile. May wondered what was happening, she refused to open her eyes, her eyelids felt too heavy, substantial weight was holding them down with restless dark hours filled with nightmares and being tormented every time she tried to relax. She waited for only a minute, though, until she heard a male voice speaking quickly, stipulating things with strange names, and asking a lot of questions.
“We don’t know who she is?”
“No, Stephanie is trying to find out who she is.”
“She looks awfully familiar,” the male voice said again, the doctor, May assumed.
“I thought so too,”
“Where did you find her?”
“Somebody left her outside the kitchen door, they left this too,” May couldn’t see what it was, but her guess was the paper that she was left with. “I’m not sure how much it is, but it’s a lot.”
“A responsible criminal, at least,” May felt a sharp pain inside her wound and winced. “Ah, she’s conscious,” May opened her eyes, but snapped them shut quickly when the light flooded into her pupils. “Who are you?” the doctor asked.
“Lou,” May croaked again.
“She’s said that before, and that’s where Stephanie went; to look for her information.”
“I found this,” the other female voice came into the room, at the perfect moment, her heeled shoes clicked loudly, as if to announce her arrival. “The only females with the last name of Lou within a forty-five mile radius are: Juliana Lou, Bethany Lou, and Christine Looue… I wasn’t sure about the spelling so I don’t know which ones could be her.”
“What if she doesn’t live in a forty-five mile radius?” the other nurse articulated, sounding annoyed.
“Mom…” May grunted. Bethany Lou was her mother, and Anna was her little sister… Why wasn’t her name there?”
“Ages?” the doctor questioned.
“Juliana, thirteen; Bethany, forty-two; and Christine, twenty-six.” It was quiet for a minute and then the doctor spoke again.
“Are you Juliana? Margaret, call the number on Juliana Lou’s profile and ask about her!” May wanted to speak, she actually wanted to, but her voice was lost. She tried to open her eyes again but they wouldn’t budge. Her body began to shut down. For the first time, she noticed how cold she was. She listened to the three people in the room with her shout at her until the voices became dull, and her body eventually just gave up.
“Are you familiar with an Isabella Rebecca Jones?” May heard whispering.
“Oh yes,” May got extremely excited. It was her mom! “That’s May’s biological mother.” What? May sat up and stared at her parents for a dramatic effect. Her father looked at her, with tears welling up in his eyes. “Bill, are you okay?” May yawned, hoping to gain attention from her parents or the doctor. Her father actually looked away. Was her face ripped apart? Was she a ghost? Why wouldn’t they pay attention to her!?
“Mommy!” May threw her arms open for a hug, but her mother just heaved herself into her husband’s arms. “Don’t cry! I’m okay now! I’m sorry that I left you!” My started crying… Well, she tried to, but they tears didn’t come. She stood and walked over to her parents, pouting and staring at them. She turned and looked at her bed and nearly died. Or at least, she would have, if she hadn’t already been dead.
“What the Hell!” she cursed and ran immediately to a mirror. She didn’t see anything at all. She looked back at her body, lying on the army issue cot, they were in a dark back room at the hospital. She stared at it for a long time, hoping that she were dreaming… But it felt too real. She tried to cry again, but again, the tears wouldn’t come. She looked back at her parents and ****ed her head in confusion. She hadn’t noticed before, but her parents had timers over their heads. She swiped at the neon green numbers, counting down over their skulls. A great number loomed over her mother’s head, and one drastically smaller than hers was counting down, getting smaller and smaller over her father’s. “What is that…?” She asked the doctor, pointing to the digits. There were numbers over his head too. She stared at the numbers for a moment more and then decided that she couldn’t be heard. She tried to open the door, but her hand swiped through the shiny silver handle and she groaned. She walked straight through the door, and a great deal of stairs faced her outside of it.
“Late Ward?” She raised an eyebrow when she turned back to read the sign on the door. Late… For the deceased. She was dead, she really was. She began climbing the stairs, fascinated the her feet did not touch the ground at all, but hovered not even an eighth of an inch over the ground. She walked and on the way up she was encountered with two tall, muscular men, carrying an elderly woman on a cot down the stairs. May stood off the side, allowing them to pass. She noticed numbers over their heads too, and then looked at the woman; there was a series of zeros in the place where numbers were for everybody else. The timers wre counting down, to their deaths. She suddenly became worried about her father, his numbers were no where near as high as the men that had just walked past, and they didn’t seem to be much younger than him.
She flew up the stairs, literally, finding a bit of joy in the experience. She couldn’t feel the wind press against her face, though. She walked straight through the door at the front of the hospital, too. It was raining, it was dark. She didn’t feel the rain pour onto her, nor the cold that should be beating her skin violently. She wanted to cry again, but didn’t even try this time. She watched the car fly by her, and even knowing that they couldn’t not hurt her, she ran across the street, at the crosswalk, and even waited for the light. Without even realizing it, the first place that she was to her house, and straight through the front door. She looked around, for the first in some time, aside from the kitchen and her bedroom, that she’d seen earlier that night… She glided around the main floor of the house, until she saw her little sister sitting in a chair at the kitchen table, she was just staring at the table.
“Ana,” May whispered, quiet enough that even if she could hear her, she wouldn’t have. May got closer, and noticed that Ana wasn’t staring at the table, but a piece of paper, folded in half on the table. On it, it said, in neat print, “Juliana, we found her,” Ana closed her eyes, understanding that if they were using her full name, that something serious was going on, took a deep breath, and opened it. There was a note inside, in the same writing.
May knew that they already knew that she was dead when they wrote that… Ana was fragile, though, she’d die if… No, she wasn’t gonna think about that.
“Ana,” she whispered, gliding gracefully to her sister’s side. She looked up, staring straight ahead and finally turned to face May. She didn’t look surprised at all, so May’s hope that maybe Ana could hear her quickly diminished.
“You died,” Ana’s eyes filled with tears. “You died and I couldn’t even say goodbye.” She looked more angry, than surprised. “You said you’d come back when things were better, but you never came back and things got better!” she screamed at her older sister’s ghost as she began to cry.
“I don’t know Ana, I never knew that things were better…” May couldn’t cry, even though she knew she wanted to. “You know how stubborn I am, I was trying to make a point!”
“You didn’t even come for me, not at all, I would have left with you!” she stood up quickly, knocking the chair behind her over and running out of the room. May rolled her eyes after standing alone in the kitchen. Did Ana not understand that May was not made of matter, and could go directly through everything? She didn’t want to become a nuisance. She replayed the days in her head. So much had happened in such little time. It couldn’t have been more than twelve hours since she got to the park. She heaved a sigh and then remembered something. She thought about it for awhile and then went up the stairs, announcing herself before entering Ana’s room.
“I’m coming in Ana, whether you like it or not,” she walked through the door and looked at Ana, just sitting on her bed, not holding anything for comfort, not crying, rocking back and forth, or any of the other cliché things that she might have done once she saw her dead sister. “You’re getting mad at me for not coming back, but you know… You might have been there when I died.” Ana looked at her, puzzled, but she didn’t say anything. “You weren’t really at Lauren’s house, were you? Mom and Dad were looking for you when I died, I bet. You would have all been at home when the hospital called, and you might have been at the hospital when I died.” May said all of this matter-of-factly, even though she knew that she had died before they had even called her family. She groaned. She decided, after she’d already done it, that she didn’t want to guilt her sister. “I’m sorry…” she didn’t know if she should tell Ana what happened, or not.
“No… I’m sorry. If I’d been where I told them I’d be… If I’d been honest…I… I would have been there… I probably wouldn’t be hallucinating!” She fell back into her pillow and moaned. “I’m so stupid!”
“No Ana! I was just trying to make you feel bad! No, I’m sorry!” she’d gotten used to the idea that she couldn’t cry for some reason, but it still made her even more upset. “You’re not hallucinating… And I died before the hospital even knew who I was…” It was the weirdest thing that she’d ever experienced, not being able to feel the hot moisture run down her face. “…What do you mean if you’d been honest?” Ana glared at May.
“Why are you purple?” May ****ed her head. “You’re purple… you’re like…” She just stopped at that, picked up a pencil and her sketch pad, and began to draw. May just waited; Ana did this a lot. When she couldn’t explain something, she drew it. She was talented, a very good artist, and usually her drawings showed exactly what she was talking about. When she’d finished the drawing and had colored it in, she turned the paper at May. It looked exactly like what she’d looked like the last time that Ana had seen her… Not like what she’d looked like when she’d died. May concentrated on the other details, though. Her entire body looked like it was made up of electric energy, and it was purple, indeed… At least how Ana saw it. Then she realized, her arm did not hurt at all, no pain, and she could move it. She lifted it up and down several times, marveling at it. She also realized that she really was purple, something that should have been hard to miss, but apparently, she had. She did not look at Ana again; she just stared at nothing, thinking. She was dead and she was a ghost… It was a hard concept to absorb. Soon, though, she heard Ana speaking to someone.
“Hi,” she said sweetly. “My parents-” she frowned. “Yes I know… No… She’s dead, Aunt Cali.” She looked back at May. “No… But I know… Yes I’d like to go… Okay I’ll see you soon… I love you too.” May smiled at Ana.
“Everything is alright though, Ana, you know that, right?” Ana just smiled back, and the doorbell rang. May was befuddled. Aunt Cali lived about ten minutes away in driving time. “That can’t be her…” May frowned.
“I don’t think so, but we’ll find out, I guess,” Ana opened her door and May followed her. Ana looked through the peephole. “It’s two scary men…” she whispered. May burned a hole in the door with her gaze.
“I’ll bet,” she poked her head through the door only enough to see the men. She had to look up to see their faces. “Don’t you dare open the door,” May threatened her sister’s hand on the deadbolt.
“Why not?” Ana gave May a snooty look, but pulled her hand back. “It’s not like they killed you.” May just stared at her; her eyes mocked every word that Ana’s moth had released. After a moment of staring, something in her brain clicked. “Oh my God…”
“Don’t you dare,” May repeated, crossing her arms. She was feeling really tired now. “Please just go to bed, Ana,”
“I’m going to wait for Mom and Dad,” she walked back into the kitchen, fighting her urge to open the door and punch the men in the face. May watched through the door until the men eventually left a thick envelope on the pouch. May wondered if she could sleep, she wouldn’t be surprised if she couldn’t, seeing as she couldn’t cry; a very annoying trait. She lie on the couch, fascinated once again that she didn’t not touch the couch at all, but hovered just barely above it. But then, to her surprise, she drifted to sleep. May slept, unaware of what was happening around her. Her eyelids were clasped shut tightly, yet she slept so serenely.
She slept peacefully for the first time in a long time that night, not drifting in and out of sleep, not waking up to the cruel heat or to the destructive sweat-provoking nightmares. She didn’t know what happened with her family the night, or what they did with her body, not even what happened with the men that had showed up to her house, she didn’t know if she cared, really, she was at peace with the world for a small amount of time and that was good enough for her. She dreamed the strangest, extraordinary, uncanny, blissful, and finest dreams all at once; she dreamed her entire life… at least, she relived parts throughout the whole thing; fast-forwarding past the terrible or ordinary things. She relived the best moments in her life in her sleep, ending with the night she ran away from home, and then the night that she was murdered. They must both sound like terrible nights, but it’s not the end of the night that was filled with joy, but before the facet… She wondered if she were to always be doomed with terror after a happy moment. It was a happy dream though… Nothing terrible happened. It was like her life’s bad instants were dispersed and the entire thing was condensed into about two years.
She awoke smiling. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Ana watching her; but she saw someone else, unfamiliar. There was a woman was right in front of her; holding a child and trying to bit things up from the floor. May looked around a bit more; blinking sleep from her transparent eyes. She looked around; the unfamiliar surroundings caught her by surprise. It looked like her house, only with different furniture and boxes everywhere. Apparently, it was a house in the neighborhood, just not the same one… So it must have the same layout. It was rather interesting though. She looked at the stair railing; there was a long scratch across the wall right over the long wooden cylinder against the wall. This was her house… Her sister had carved into the wall with a fork once when she was only about two. May blinked and rushed up to where her room was. Of course it was still there… She examined the door. It was been replaced and there was a brand new handle. She walked in and noticed the gray-blue paint was gone. There was a new coat of light green paint, still shiny and wet… May wished she could smell it… She knew that paint wasn’t the best smell, but she missed being able to smell anything. The hole in the wall had been fixed, she could see where it was at, even with the new coat of paint. She turned and looked at the carpet, there was still a faded pink stain set in the carpet; next to where her dresser once was. She shuddered. She walked back downstairs and looked around.
The doorbell rang and the woman put the baby in a crib set up against the wall at the end of the stairway. She opened it and smiled widely, thanking whoever was at the door and stepping to the side.
A tall man came into the house with three small boxes stacked onto one another in his arms. “Where do you want then, Jess?” he asked, sounding exhausted.
“Just anywhere, thank you. I’ll have James put everything away when he gets back,” she smiled and took one of the boxes from his arms as he stumbled around clumsily, trying to put the boxes down. “Thanks for your help, but I can get the rest myself,”
“No, no,” the man bent over to set the boxes down and grunted. “I’ll have Jonathan come to help you…” The woman simply smiled and nodded. After the man bounded out of the house she transported the box in her arms to the kitchen counter and began going through it. There were countless picture frames inside. She picked out a couple of them and placed then on a bookshelf just outside the kitchen; next to the couch. She smoothed out a seat on the couch and sat down, a heavy sigh escaped her and she involuntarily closed her eyes.
May examined the pictures; there was one of the baby that the woman, Jess, she presumed, was holding in a very attractive man’s arms, and one of Jess and the man together in snug looking winter clothes; a wonderland of white just behind them, and then a couple more of people that May didn’t recognize at all.
Jess looked very young, in her early twenties, maybe. May stared at her for a moment, and she was just about to wonder about her family when she heard a baby’s cry. Jess was gone before May even turned around, caressing the baby lovingly in her arms. May realized that she must be a very devoted mother… Even though she would probably have a very clingy child the way she rushed to its side every time it made a noise. May walked into the room and suddenly realized why the baby had just barely cried out instead of immediately after it was put into the crib. There were two people standing in the doorway. It was him.
“Hey Jess,” she waved and smiled at him. “This is Kendra,” he motioned at the girl standing behind him, and holding to his arm with an iron grip, almost afraid. “She’s a little shy…” he grinned at the girl and she stuck her tongue out at him. “What did you need help with?”
“Oh! Thanks for coming over Jonathan,” So that was his name! May was overly excited. She finally knew his name! It sounded wonderful, simply because it was his name. She walked to him and didn’t even bother talking to him. She just stared at him; and for a second she thought his eyes flickered in her direction.
“Not a problem,” she smiled. “You have a dog?” he pointed to a water dish behind May. She sighed in relief. He must have been staring at the dish; at least she wouldn’t make him seem crazy, too. She wondered what happened to Ana… Did she ever tell her family that she could see May? And speaking of her family… What happened? Why did she wake up here? Was she sleeping for years? She moaned. She didn’t know.
“No, a cat,” Jess shrugged, as if to hint that she didn’t want to talk about it. “But, if you’d like to help, the boxes are all in the back of the truck. She pointed to a moving truck on the curb. Jonathan just walked off, and Kendra followed. May watched him hand her a small box, and get a couple of boxes himself. Maybe he was his little sister… His girlfriend, even, possibly… She sighed. What could have been; if only she’d told him how she felt that night… But it was just a crush, not a big deal… But why was she still thinking about him. Maybe she was just dreaming. Had she fallen asleep at the park and just dreamt her death? It didn’t feel like a dream… She looked at Jess and the baby, and noticed the numbers. They weren’t there when she first saw them… She longed to know more about what was going on. She felt like a girl that was having her first period without attending the maturation program or getting ‘the talk’ from her mother. She examined at number over the Jess’s head, and then she noticed the number over the baby’s head. It was almost the same as Jess’s… only seconds more. May was puzzled… But tried not to read into it; she didn’t think the numbers were accurate… at least she tried to believe that. They had to be wrong; according to them, Jess and the baby both only had a matter of months to live.
May looked back out the front door to Jonathan and Kendra; and was surprised by the man that came quickly up the porch steps, carrying a large box. He dropped the box on the first available carpet space and nearly ran to Jess and the baby. It was the same man that was in the pictures May had seen about a minute ago. She hugged them both tightly; kissing Jess firmly on the lips.
“Sorry I’m late Jess,” she frowned. “Donald screwed up some of the plans and I had to resolve the issue.” He perked up immediately when he looked down to the baby. “Hello my little Jasmine,” she kissed her forehead and turned back to the door. “It’s getting dark, and there are still some boxes out there- the kids out there and I will finish soon, okay?” Jess nodded. She wasn’t very talkative, May decided.
“Hey Jess,” Jonathan’s voice rang like a bell in May’s head. “Could Kendra sit in here with you for a little while? Her arm is still recovering…” Jess just nodded, again. Jonathan steeped outside, pulling the girl in behind her, she just glared at him from behind, but smiled when he turned around to talk to her. “I’ll be done in a few minutes, there’s not much left to bring it, ‘kay?” She made a face and looked away. He frowned at her, glanced at the water dish again and walked outside. May stepped away from the dish, wondering if he could actually see her or not. But then she noticed something, a reflection? Her reflection! As she went to move away from the water, ironically, she saw herself. She looked just as she had the night she’d died. But not the way Ana had drawn her in her room… She became more and more frustrated whenever she thought about anything.
Jess sat down on the couch next to Kendra. Kendra smiled sweetly at her; May didn’t even bother with the number over her head.
“It’s a nice house…” Kendra said. Jess nodded.
“Yeah, it was actually surprisingly cheap,” she shrugged.
“Do you wanna know why?” Kendra grinned malevolence was written all over her face.
“There’s a reason?”
“There’s an entire story,” Kendra’s smile only got wider.
“Okay, sure,”
“The room at the top of the stairs,” she began, crossing her arms. “The girl who lived in there was murdered.” Jess stared at her, her eyes got wider and her breaths got shorter.
“In my baby’s room?” she glanced at the tiny life bundle of life in the crib.
“Oh no, she was murdered at the park, but there were rumors that her parents beat her in her room.”
“Oh no…” Jess looked destroyed.
“I mean, it’s great that you got the house so cheap, but I would never-”
“One more box!” Jonathan declared loudly, setting down a large box and sprinting back outside.
“I mean… I would never live in a haunted house,” Kendra finished a couple of seconds after Jonathan was out of site.
“I don’t like you,” May stated grimly, glaring maliciously at the girl that she knew already, was pure evil.
Eh.
Here goes.
Chapter Two
A TALL, HANDSOME LOOKING YOUNG MAN popped his head into the tunnel. “Oh Mason, check it out, I found it!” May felt ready to rip her heart out, could they hear how quickly it was pumping blood throughout her body? She got chills, and she was pretty sure that her hair was standing on end. “What’s your name? Are you alright cutie? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost…”
“I’m… Samantha…” she faked a smile, she tried a fake laugh too, and it didn’t seem as convincing, she simply squeaked loudly and shut her eyes tightly in embarrassment. Suddenly two strong arms pulled her out of the other side of the tunnel, and she screamed, unconsciously. “What are you doing!?” she screeched as the arms dropped her on the ground at their possessor’s feet.
“She’s cute…” the man nodded. Not smiling inexorably like in the bad guys in the movies. He had dark circles around his eyes and he was tall and lean. “What should we do with her? The cops are doing scans tonight; one of ‘em was following us earlier after we left…”
“Save her for later…” another man shrugged. May was terrified… She jumped up on instinct and took off. She ran and ran, hearing the men calling after her, and eventually stalking quickly behind her, immediately right behind. She didn’t bother trying to decipher the mix of threats and meaningless provocative and profound words and phrases being dubbed to her. As she tried to run faster, her calves burned, her feet begged her to stop, and her lungs threatened to collapse; and to take her with her. But it wasn’t her lungs that caused her to collapse… It was a sharp chilling pain in her right arm that made her fall, face-first to the ground.
“Dammit Cody!” an unfamiliar male voice sounded angry; probably the man that hadn’t been speaking… May howled in pain. The man that seemed to be their leader dropped to his knees, and held up her face with his right hand. He looked pained. “Rebecca?” He stared into her tender eyes. “No… Of all the places… all the people…” She wanted to say something, to tell him that she had her mistaken for somebody else, but she hoped that maybe he loved Rebecca, and would save her; and May was almost certain that he would as he stared at her for more than just a few seconds.
“Mason!” his expression stiffened. “Get her in the truck, now!” he took control again, still intimidating, even in his rather vulnerable condition. Another pain in her arm, and she felt herself being picked up. As she lay under a blue tarp in the back of the truck, she wondered who these people were, and she wondered about the boy from earlier in the day too. She tried to think of what his name might be. Something wonderful, like Jason, or maybe Eric… So she couldn’t think of anything wonderful right now, but she would. She began having a mental conversation with him.
“I miss your voice,” she said out loud after a couple minutes of private talk with him. She shivered. Was it the cold? The pain, maybe? Or possibly even the fact that she was talking to herself that caused her body to tremor. She didn’t converse with him anymore; she closed her eyes, and tried to die. She was in vast pain, and couldn’t help but wish for it. As she was lifted out of the truck, she hoped that the men had taken her somewhere to kill her without possible witnesses. They put her down… The ground was cold, but she didn’t open her eyes. It hurt to breathe… She allowed death creep up on her, and she found joy in it, as the pain began to disperse, and her body started to go numb.
“Get her a blanket,” A now familiar voice demanded. She tried to tell him that she was not Rebecca, now she didn’t want to be saved. But she couldn’t find her voice. She hoped that maybe he’d be too late to save her anyways. She felt the blanket being placed over her quaking frame, but no immediate warmth was found. A piece of paper was tucked under her wrist and she heard a very loud noise, followed by what sounded like the truck racing away from her.
She heard voices, alarmed voices and blabbering soon after, people picking her up and putting her back down several times, trying to talk to her. She never answered them, though. The only thing she said was “Lou,” in an attempt to get her name down, to hopefully notify her family of her death eventually. She refused to talk after three or four times; it felt like she was holding her breath every time she spoke, and she couldn’t do it anymore.
“Lou,” shouted a nurse into another’s ear, she said Lou.”
“Is that her name?” the other asked, confused. “That doesn’t help… It’s a boy’s name, first of all, and there are a ton of people named Lou.” May was tired of being moved so many times and felt as if she’d explode if it happened again. “It might be her last name, I’ll check it, and you do get Dr. Hanson, please.” It was quiet for awhile. May wondered what was happening, she refused to open her eyes, her eyelids felt too heavy, substantial weight was holding them down with restless dark hours filled with nightmares and being tormented every time she tried to relax. She waited for only a minute, though, until she heard a male voice speaking quickly, stipulating things with strange names, and asking a lot of questions.
“We don’t know who she is?”
“No, Stephanie is trying to find out who she is.”
“She looks awfully familiar,” the male voice said again, the doctor, May assumed.
“I thought so too,”
“Where did you find her?”
“Somebody left her outside the kitchen door, they left this too,” May couldn’t see what it was, but her guess was the paper that she was left with. “I’m not sure how much it is, but it’s a lot.”
“A responsible criminal, at least,” May felt a sharp pain inside her wound and winced. “Ah, she’s conscious,” May opened her eyes, but snapped them shut quickly when the light flooded into her pupils. “Who are you?” the doctor asked.
“Lou,” May croaked again.
“She’s said that before, and that’s where Stephanie went; to look for her information.”
“I found this,” the other female voice came into the room, at the perfect moment, her heeled shoes clicked loudly, as if to announce her arrival. “The only females with the last name of Lou within a forty-five mile radius are: Juliana Lou, Bethany Lou, and Christine Looue… I wasn’t sure about the spelling so I don’t know which ones could be her.”
“What if she doesn’t live in a forty-five mile radius?” the other nurse articulated, sounding annoyed.
“Mom…” May grunted. Bethany Lou was her mother, and Anna was her little sister… Why wasn’t her name there?”
“Ages?” the doctor questioned.
“Juliana, thirteen; Bethany, forty-two; and Christine, twenty-six.” It was quiet for a minute and then the doctor spoke again.
“Are you Juliana? Margaret, call the number on Juliana Lou’s profile and ask about her!” May wanted to speak, she actually wanted to, but her voice was lost. She tried to open her eyes again but they wouldn’t budge. Her body began to shut down. For the first time, she noticed how cold she was. She listened to the three people in the room with her shout at her until the voices became dull, and her body eventually just gave up.
“Are you familiar with an Isabella Rebecca Jones?” May heard whispering.
“Oh yes,” May got extremely excited. It was her mom! “That’s May’s biological mother.” What? May sat up and stared at her parents for a dramatic effect. Her father looked at her, with tears welling up in his eyes. “Bill, are you okay?” May yawned, hoping to gain attention from her parents or the doctor. Her father actually looked away. Was her face ripped apart? Was she a ghost? Why wouldn’t they pay attention to her!?
“Mommy!” May threw her arms open for a hug, but her mother just heaved herself into her husband’s arms. “Don’t cry! I’m okay now! I’m sorry that I left you!” My started crying… Well, she tried to, but they tears didn’t come. She stood and walked over to her parents, pouting and staring at them. She turned and looked at her bed and nearly died. Or at least, she would have, if she hadn’t already been dead.
“What the Hell!” she cursed and ran immediately to a mirror. She didn’t see anything at all. She looked back at her body, lying on the army issue cot, they were in a dark back room at the hospital. She stared at it for a long time, hoping that she were dreaming… But it felt too real. She tried to cry again, but again, the tears wouldn’t come. She looked back at her parents and ****ed her head in confusion. She hadn’t noticed before, but her parents had timers over their heads. She swiped at the neon green numbers, counting down over their skulls. A great number loomed over her mother’s head, and one drastically smaller than hers was counting down, getting smaller and smaller over her father’s. “What is that…?” She asked the doctor, pointing to the digits. There were numbers over his head too. She stared at the numbers for a moment more and then decided that she couldn’t be heard. She tried to open the door, but her hand swiped through the shiny silver handle and she groaned. She walked straight through the door, and a great deal of stairs faced her outside of it.
“Late Ward?” She raised an eyebrow when she turned back to read the sign on the door. Late… For the deceased. She was dead, she really was. She began climbing the stairs, fascinated the her feet did not touch the ground at all, but hovered not even an eighth of an inch over the ground. She walked and on the way up she was encountered with two tall, muscular men, carrying an elderly woman on a cot down the stairs. May stood off the side, allowing them to pass. She noticed numbers over their heads too, and then looked at the woman; there was a series of zeros in the place where numbers were for everybody else. The timers wre counting down, to their deaths. She suddenly became worried about her father, his numbers were no where near as high as the men that had just walked past, and they didn’t seem to be much younger than him.
She flew up the stairs, literally, finding a bit of joy in the experience. She couldn’t feel the wind press against her face, though. She walked straight through the door at the front of the hospital, too. It was raining, it was dark. She didn’t feel the rain pour onto her, nor the cold that should be beating her skin violently. She wanted to cry again, but didn’t even try this time. She watched the car fly by her, and even knowing that they couldn’t not hurt her, she ran across the street, at the crosswalk, and even waited for the light. Without even realizing it, the first place that she was to her house, and straight through the front door. She looked around, for the first in some time, aside from the kitchen and her bedroom, that she’d seen earlier that night… She glided around the main floor of the house, until she saw her little sister sitting in a chair at the kitchen table, she was just staring at the table.
“Ana,” May whispered, quiet enough that even if she could hear her, she wouldn’t have. May got closer, and noticed that Ana wasn’t staring at the table, but a piece of paper, folded in half on the table. On it, it said, in neat print, “Juliana, we found her,” Ana closed her eyes, understanding that if they were using her full name, that something serious was going on, took a deep breath, and opened it. There was a note inside, in the same writing.
[FONT="]Juliana, we are at the hospital… We’re with May, call Aunt Cali and she’ll bring you down when you get home. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Mom and Dad.[/FONT]
[FONT="] [/FONT]
“Ana,” she whispered, gliding gracefully to her sister’s side. She looked up, staring straight ahead and finally turned to face May. She didn’t look surprised at all, so May’s hope that maybe Ana could hear her quickly diminished.
“You died,” Ana’s eyes filled with tears. “You died and I couldn’t even say goodbye.” She looked more angry, than surprised. “You said you’d come back when things were better, but you never came back and things got better!” she screamed at her older sister’s ghost as she began to cry.
“I don’t know Ana, I never knew that things were better…” May couldn’t cry, even though she knew she wanted to. “You know how stubborn I am, I was trying to make a point!”
“You didn’t even come for me, not at all, I would have left with you!” she stood up quickly, knocking the chair behind her over and running out of the room. May rolled her eyes after standing alone in the kitchen. Did Ana not understand that May was not made of matter, and could go directly through everything? She didn’t want to become a nuisance. She replayed the days in her head. So much had happened in such little time. It couldn’t have been more than twelve hours since she got to the park. She heaved a sigh and then remembered something. She thought about it for awhile and then went up the stairs, announcing herself before entering Ana’s room.
“I’m coming in Ana, whether you like it or not,” she walked through the door and looked at Ana, just sitting on her bed, not holding anything for comfort, not crying, rocking back and forth, or any of the other cliché things that she might have done once she saw her dead sister. “You’re getting mad at me for not coming back, but you know… You might have been there when I died.” Ana looked at her, puzzled, but she didn’t say anything. “You weren’t really at Lauren’s house, were you? Mom and Dad were looking for you when I died, I bet. You would have all been at home when the hospital called, and you might have been at the hospital when I died.” May said all of this matter-of-factly, even though she knew that she had died before they had even called her family. She groaned. She decided, after she’d already done it, that she didn’t want to guilt her sister. “I’m sorry…” she didn’t know if she should tell Ana what happened, or not.
“No… I’m sorry. If I’d been where I told them I’d be… If I’d been honest…I… I would have been there… I probably wouldn’t be hallucinating!” She fell back into her pillow and moaned. “I’m so stupid!”
“No Ana! I was just trying to make you feel bad! No, I’m sorry!” she’d gotten used to the idea that she couldn’t cry for some reason, but it still made her even more upset. “You’re not hallucinating… And I died before the hospital even knew who I was…” It was the weirdest thing that she’d ever experienced, not being able to feel the hot moisture run down her face. “…What do you mean if you’d been honest?” Ana glared at May.
“Why are you purple?” May ****ed her head. “You’re purple… you’re like…” She just stopped at that, picked up a pencil and her sketch pad, and began to draw. May just waited; Ana did this a lot. When she couldn’t explain something, she drew it. She was talented, a very good artist, and usually her drawings showed exactly what she was talking about. When she’d finished the drawing and had colored it in, she turned the paper at May. It looked exactly like what she’d looked like the last time that Ana had seen her… Not like what she’d looked like when she’d died. May concentrated on the other details, though. Her entire body looked like it was made up of electric energy, and it was purple, indeed… At least how Ana saw it. Then she realized, her arm did not hurt at all, no pain, and she could move it. She lifted it up and down several times, marveling at it. She also realized that she really was purple, something that should have been hard to miss, but apparently, she had. She did not look at Ana again; she just stared at nothing, thinking. She was dead and she was a ghost… It was a hard concept to absorb. Soon, though, she heard Ana speaking to someone.
“Hi,” she said sweetly. “My parents-” she frowned. “Yes I know… No… She’s dead, Aunt Cali.” She looked back at May. “No… But I know… Yes I’d like to go… Okay I’ll see you soon… I love you too.” May smiled at Ana.
“Everything is alright though, Ana, you know that, right?” Ana just smiled back, and the doorbell rang. May was befuddled. Aunt Cali lived about ten minutes away in driving time. “That can’t be her…” May frowned.
“I don’t think so, but we’ll find out, I guess,” Ana opened her door and May followed her. Ana looked through the peephole. “It’s two scary men…” she whispered. May burned a hole in the door with her gaze.
“I’ll bet,” she poked her head through the door only enough to see the men. She had to look up to see their faces. “Don’t you dare open the door,” May threatened her sister’s hand on the deadbolt.
“Why not?” Ana gave May a snooty look, but pulled her hand back. “It’s not like they killed you.” May just stared at her; her eyes mocked every word that Ana’s moth had released. After a moment of staring, something in her brain clicked. “Oh my God…”
“Don’t you dare,” May repeated, crossing her arms. She was feeling really tired now. “Please just go to bed, Ana,”
“I’m going to wait for Mom and Dad,” she walked back into the kitchen, fighting her urge to open the door and punch the men in the face. May watched through the door until the men eventually left a thick envelope on the pouch. May wondered if she could sleep, she wouldn’t be surprised if she couldn’t, seeing as she couldn’t cry; a very annoying trait. She lie on the couch, fascinated once again that she didn’t not touch the couch at all, but hovered just barely above it. But then, to her surprise, she drifted to sleep. May slept, unaware of what was happening around her. Her eyelids were clasped shut tightly, yet she slept so serenely.
She slept peacefully for the first time in a long time that night, not drifting in and out of sleep, not waking up to the cruel heat or to the destructive sweat-provoking nightmares. She didn’t know what happened with her family the night, or what they did with her body, not even what happened with the men that had showed up to her house, she didn’t know if she cared, really, she was at peace with the world for a small amount of time and that was good enough for her. She dreamed the strangest, extraordinary, uncanny, blissful, and finest dreams all at once; she dreamed her entire life… at least, she relived parts throughout the whole thing; fast-forwarding past the terrible or ordinary things. She relived the best moments in her life in her sleep, ending with the night she ran away from home, and then the night that she was murdered. They must both sound like terrible nights, but it’s not the end of the night that was filled with joy, but before the facet… She wondered if she were to always be doomed with terror after a happy moment. It was a happy dream though… Nothing terrible happened. It was like her life’s bad instants were dispersed and the entire thing was condensed into about two years.
She awoke smiling. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Ana watching her; but she saw someone else, unfamiliar. There was a woman was right in front of her; holding a child and trying to bit things up from the floor. May looked around a bit more; blinking sleep from her transparent eyes. She looked around; the unfamiliar surroundings caught her by surprise. It looked like her house, only with different furniture and boxes everywhere. Apparently, it was a house in the neighborhood, just not the same one… So it must have the same layout. It was rather interesting though. She looked at the stair railing; there was a long scratch across the wall right over the long wooden cylinder against the wall. This was her house… Her sister had carved into the wall with a fork once when she was only about two. May blinked and rushed up to where her room was. Of course it was still there… She examined the door. It was been replaced and there was a brand new handle. She walked in and noticed the gray-blue paint was gone. There was a new coat of light green paint, still shiny and wet… May wished she could smell it… She knew that paint wasn’t the best smell, but she missed being able to smell anything. The hole in the wall had been fixed, she could see where it was at, even with the new coat of paint. She turned and looked at the carpet, there was still a faded pink stain set in the carpet; next to where her dresser once was. She shuddered. She walked back downstairs and looked around.
The doorbell rang and the woman put the baby in a crib set up against the wall at the end of the stairway. She opened it and smiled widely, thanking whoever was at the door and stepping to the side.
A tall man came into the house with three small boxes stacked onto one another in his arms. “Where do you want then, Jess?” he asked, sounding exhausted.
“Just anywhere, thank you. I’ll have James put everything away when he gets back,” she smiled and took one of the boxes from his arms as he stumbled around clumsily, trying to put the boxes down. “Thanks for your help, but I can get the rest myself,”
“No, no,” the man bent over to set the boxes down and grunted. “I’ll have Jonathan come to help you…” The woman simply smiled and nodded. After the man bounded out of the house she transported the box in her arms to the kitchen counter and began going through it. There were countless picture frames inside. She picked out a couple of them and placed then on a bookshelf just outside the kitchen; next to the couch. She smoothed out a seat on the couch and sat down, a heavy sigh escaped her and she involuntarily closed her eyes.
May examined the pictures; there was one of the baby that the woman, Jess, she presumed, was holding in a very attractive man’s arms, and one of Jess and the man together in snug looking winter clothes; a wonderland of white just behind them, and then a couple more of people that May didn’t recognize at all.
Jess looked very young, in her early twenties, maybe. May stared at her for a moment, and she was just about to wonder about her family when she heard a baby’s cry. Jess was gone before May even turned around, caressing the baby lovingly in her arms. May realized that she must be a very devoted mother… Even though she would probably have a very clingy child the way she rushed to its side every time it made a noise. May walked into the room and suddenly realized why the baby had just barely cried out instead of immediately after it was put into the crib. There were two people standing in the doorway. It was him.
“Hey Jess,” she waved and smiled at him. “This is Kendra,” he motioned at the girl standing behind him, and holding to his arm with an iron grip, almost afraid. “She’s a little shy…” he grinned at the girl and she stuck her tongue out at him. “What did you need help with?”
“Oh! Thanks for coming over Jonathan,” So that was his name! May was overly excited. She finally knew his name! It sounded wonderful, simply because it was his name. She walked to him and didn’t even bother talking to him. She just stared at him; and for a second she thought his eyes flickered in her direction.
“Not a problem,” she smiled. “You have a dog?” he pointed to a water dish behind May. She sighed in relief. He must have been staring at the dish; at least she wouldn’t make him seem crazy, too. She wondered what happened to Ana… Did she ever tell her family that she could see May? And speaking of her family… What happened? Why did she wake up here? Was she sleeping for years? She moaned. She didn’t know.
“No, a cat,” Jess shrugged, as if to hint that she didn’t want to talk about it. “But, if you’d like to help, the boxes are all in the back of the truck. She pointed to a moving truck on the curb. Jonathan just walked off, and Kendra followed. May watched him hand her a small box, and get a couple of boxes himself. Maybe he was his little sister… His girlfriend, even, possibly… She sighed. What could have been; if only she’d told him how she felt that night… But it was just a crush, not a big deal… But why was she still thinking about him. Maybe she was just dreaming. Had she fallen asleep at the park and just dreamt her death? It didn’t feel like a dream… She looked at Jess and the baby, and noticed the numbers. They weren’t there when she first saw them… She longed to know more about what was going on. She felt like a girl that was having her first period without attending the maturation program or getting ‘the talk’ from her mother. She examined at number over the Jess’s head, and then she noticed the number over the baby’s head. It was almost the same as Jess’s… only seconds more. May was puzzled… But tried not to read into it; she didn’t think the numbers were accurate… at least she tried to believe that. They had to be wrong; according to them, Jess and the baby both only had a matter of months to live.
May looked back out the front door to Jonathan and Kendra; and was surprised by the man that came quickly up the porch steps, carrying a large box. He dropped the box on the first available carpet space and nearly ran to Jess and the baby. It was the same man that was in the pictures May had seen about a minute ago. She hugged them both tightly; kissing Jess firmly on the lips.
“Sorry I’m late Jess,” she frowned. “Donald screwed up some of the plans and I had to resolve the issue.” He perked up immediately when he looked down to the baby. “Hello my little Jasmine,” she kissed her forehead and turned back to the door. “It’s getting dark, and there are still some boxes out there- the kids out there and I will finish soon, okay?” Jess nodded. She wasn’t very talkative, May decided.
“Hey Jess,” Jonathan’s voice rang like a bell in May’s head. “Could Kendra sit in here with you for a little while? Her arm is still recovering…” Jess just nodded, again. Jonathan steeped outside, pulling the girl in behind her, she just glared at him from behind, but smiled when he turned around to talk to her. “I’ll be done in a few minutes, there’s not much left to bring it, ‘kay?” She made a face and looked away. He frowned at her, glanced at the water dish again and walked outside. May stepped away from the dish, wondering if he could actually see her or not. But then she noticed something, a reflection? Her reflection! As she went to move away from the water, ironically, she saw herself. She looked just as she had the night she’d died. But not the way Ana had drawn her in her room… She became more and more frustrated whenever she thought about anything.
Jess sat down on the couch next to Kendra. Kendra smiled sweetly at her; May didn’t even bother with the number over her head.
“It’s a nice house…” Kendra said. Jess nodded.
“Yeah, it was actually surprisingly cheap,” she shrugged.
“Do you wanna know why?” Kendra grinned malevolence was written all over her face.
“There’s a reason?”
“There’s an entire story,” Kendra’s smile only got wider.
“Okay, sure,”
“The room at the top of the stairs,” she began, crossing her arms. “The girl who lived in there was murdered.” Jess stared at her, her eyes got wider and her breaths got shorter.
“In my baby’s room?” she glanced at the tiny life bundle of life in the crib.
“Oh no, she was murdered at the park, but there were rumors that her parents beat her in her room.”
“Oh no…” Jess looked destroyed.
“I mean, it’s great that you got the house so cheap, but I would never-”
“One more box!” Jonathan declared loudly, setting down a large box and sprinting back outside.
“I mean… I would never live in a haunted house,” Kendra finished a couple of seconds after Jonathan was out of site.
“I don’t like you,” May stated grimly, glaring maliciously at the girl that she knew already, was pure evil.