3,626My second story! Yatta! Though first Katekyo fic. So... be nice? *cheesy grin*
I hope you enjoy this story! (And oh, I don't own Katekyo. My art skills just aren't awesome enough for it to even be a possibility.) I really do hope you all enjoy this though. Truly.
So stopping my blabbering and starting with the story, please enjoy. ^_^
I died.
I died a tragic and momentous death.
And I was staring at a dwarf that seemed intent on dragging me to who-knows-where.
But now I'm getting off topic. I shall now try to answer the question that must be floating around your minds (or it should be, now that I've mentioned it).
How did I die?
Well, I remember it very clearly, which is understandable as it was only three hours ago, (I'm surprised I'm not in a shock induced heart attack really…)
It was a normal school day. The clouds blocking the sun and the people milling around trying to look cool (apparently it was a high-school trait) with me being typically loner in the classroom. Yes, I know, who does that these days? I mean, hanging out in the classroom at lunch?
Moving on though, I was a normal human being. I had a normal nose, normal mouth, two eyes, four limbs and a whole normal brain.
But that was the deal with me. I was too normal. My hair was the exact shade of grey (I was always called granny) that blended in with the background, my eyes were grey, I wasn't tall or short (normal height, ha), fat or skinny and my skin was the normal pale.
It sucked. With me all being grey and pale, it was like I was a shadow or something. I guess I was always the side character, the one who supported the main character at important times but was never important by being me. The person who was forgotten after the important moment had passed.
That, sadly, practically described me in a nutshell.
But I'm getting off topic again. And to answer the question of how I died, I must introduce my best friend (though, thinking about it now, she was more like my only friend).
If I was the side character, then she was the main. She had it all, rich, pretty (more like stunning), graceful, smart, and the worst part of it, nice.
Well, nice to anyone who didn't shove a love letter in her face.
When that happened (which was pretty often really) she would push it away with a slight wrinkle of distaste on her nose and a fake smile fixed firmly in place. Then the gaggle of people who permanently surrounded her would immediately start to gossip about the newest young man who had the misfortune of giving her the love letter.
She knew as much as I did that they surrounded her for the status that everyone craved for some reason. That is, except me. She was the school queen after all.
So now you all know that I was normal, and I was the best friend of the school's most perfect queen. Insignificant little me had become her friend in primary kindergarten, and we had stuck together ever since. Me because she was the only close friend who understood me, and her because she knew that I was the only person who was her friend not because of her looks and social ladder.
So now that introductions are over, I shall proceed.
On that particular day that I died, I remember it was a cloudy day, though there was still light. The clouds had looked a little heavy though and I remember that I had thought that it would rain anytime soon...
'Alice!' I hummed a response as a guy approached me with a pink letter in his hands. He reached my desk and fidgeted. 'Weeeell... can you give this to Amanda?' He thrust the letter to me.
'Why? You know she rejects every single one anyway.' I stated bluntly, not even bothering to look up from my book.
'But at least when you give it to her she'll at least look at the name of the giver!' the poor, deluded guy protested. I sighed and massaged my temples.
'Ok, just put them on the pile on my desk.'
'Pile?' He questioned. Then he looked over my shoulder to see the stacks and stacks of letters on my desk. His face fell. 'Are they all...?'
'Yup. All love letters to Amanda.'
He internally struggled for a moment then put it on the pile and ran away, yelling over his shoulder that "he owed me one".
I just shook my head and kept reading.
I was pretty used to it already. I didn't attract attention, and all the attention that I would get was because of Amanda, caused by Amanda, or getting pushed out by Amanda in her (many failed) attempts to make me more social.
It was troublesome.
If I could be left to my otaku-ness and her to her social-ness, wouldn't that make the world flow easier? I flipped the page of the science text-book and kept reading about stuff that I didn't actually understand (being my own nerdy self).
Then the bell rang, and the students slowly filed into the grey room, the grey light filtering through the windows from the grey sky.
I remembered it was a very grey day. Kind of reminded me of myself.
The high pitched babbling increased from the hallway.
Gaaaaaah, get ready for the bubble-heads... Three... two... one...
'And, you know, like, I totally think her nails are like the ugliest things on Earth!'
'I know right? And she has such good hands as well, such a waste. Don't you agree, Amanda?'
'Yup,' said the bored voice of my friend. She would've rather sat next to me, if only I didn't scowl at her when the people trailing her babbled incessantly (which brought on a rather bad mood) so she went and sat in the cafeteria like everyone else.
That's how nice she was. She sacrificed herself to meaningless chatter for forty-five minutes so I could have peace.
'Oh look, its nerdy Alice.' A panicked look fluttered on all the faces of Amanda's female stalkers.
'Shush! Don't say that about Alice! She's Amanda's best friend. Remember?' Amanda just sighed and sat next to me, trying to ignore the people behind her who were fighting for the other seat next to her.
'And why can't I sit next to you again?' She groaned out and flicked her silky red hair, her heart-shaped face in an exasperated type of expression. I grinned.
'Because you're a lovely best friend? Anyway, here.' I dumped the love-letters on her. 'Yours.' She groaned at the pile and flicked through them.
'Not interested, you know that.'
'I know. But they went to all the trouble, why don't you look through them?' All the guys in my class turned around and gave me a thumbs up. I raised an eyebrow at them and turned my attention back to Amanda.
'Nah, if I did then I'll need a whole hour or something.' The faces of the guys fell. I shrugged. At least I tried. 'Can you please hold them for me? I don't want daddy knowing this, and I don't want to waste all the paper...' She trailed off, looking hopefully at me. Her "friends" from lunch, hearing Amanda's request joined in.
'Yeah, please?' They chimed, looking at Amanda for approval. I sighed and put my textbook away.
'Whatever makes you sleep at night.'
'Yay!' Amanda cheered and threw her arms around me. All the guys in the classroom immediately looked at me jealously...or probably (trying) to look down her cleavage. I slouched and looked out the window with a bored look on my face.
Yup, normal day, normal day.
The teacher walked in and clapped her hands.
'Ok, boys and girls, today we're doing trigonometry.' We all groaned, and she grinned. 'I know you all hate it, but you still need to learn it. So heads up and listen!' I looked up and complied, because I liked the teacher.
Not trigonometry. I swear that maths was made to torture us high school students who still didn't have a choice on choosing not to do it.
So, with the teacher trying to elicit some enthusiastic response from us and us all trying to not fall asleep, the day passed by normally.
Everything was normal on that day. So when the normal bell rang to signify the end of the normal day, I slowly packed up, yawning my head off from the (normal) class. Amanda gave a quick wave, muttered that her chauffeur would make a fuss again if she didn't go down now and quickly speed-walked down the stairs. I waved after her and lugged the heavy school bag onto my back. Then I slowly walked down the stairs, holding the stacks of love letters in my arms. There was so much, in fact, that I nearly couldn't see.
It didn't help that I didn't have a plastic bag either.
So I walked down the stairs, muttering a 'sorry' to the people I bumped into, walked down the hallway, out to the courtyard which led to the exit of the school.
I had previously mentioned I was grey right? I had always thought my grey hair was a symbol of specialty since I didn't know anyone else with grey hair, until I realised how washed out it was. Unlike Amanda's vivid red, or the delicate natural blonde, it was just that.
Grey.
Just like the grey school uniform, the grey pavement, the grey sky, it was all grey. And I realised I wasn't anything special at all. Just normal.
I shifted the letters in my hands and walked out of the school, trying to look over the top of the letters. Then I slowly walked down the pavement, looked both ways (as best as I can anyway, with those letters in my face) and carefully stepped onto the road.
One of the letters dropped onto the road.
Now, you would think "Ah, this is why she dies right? Dropping a letter onto the road and trying to pick it up...'
Actually, no. I just left the letter on the road. It was going into recycling anyway. So I just stepped over it as I kept going.
Ah, but that letter. That evil, evil letter got blown a few centimetres right under my foot.
That made me slip and fall to the ground.
It was then that it had happened. A car screeched around the corner and ran towards me, clearly speeding.
Then BAM! it ran straight into me.
It wasn't like in those movies, where they would conveniently look to the side where the car was going to hit them, the eyes widened, the scream and the sick thump which, you know, meant that the character would probably go to hospital. And into a coma where the boyfriend/girlfriend would hold their hands praying to wake up.
But unfortunately, this was reality. It was like
Walk, slip, fall, screech, BOOM. I never realised what hit me.
Literally.
Besides, I didn't have a boyfriend.
...But that's beside the point.
Soon, the letters were all over the place, and the driver of the car had this "oh shit" expression on his face. He stopped, so at least it wasn't hit and run.
Don't worry, I won't blame you, driver. I'll just laugh in your face when you need to pay my life-insurance.
But anyway, you know how at the start, I told you that it was a tragic and momentous death?
Sorry, I lied.
Just another normal-ish car accident.
I can't tell you about the time from the accident to the hospital because it was mostly like
PAIN! painpainpain... etc.
Though I do remember snatches. Like through the pain it was more like
Painpainpainpainpainpain-STOP STARING AND PHONE SOME – painpainpain –FRIGGIN HELP ALREADY! - painpainpainpain...
So, soon enough, I was groaning in an ambulance roaring down the road at full speed, leaving the police to clean up behind.
Fun, real fun.
Someone put anaesthetic on me (I think...) because the pain stopped and black edges started appearing the edge of my vision.
I do remember something like rushing down the hospital corridor, into a room where they cut up my school uniform for easier access.
And all I could think of, when I slipped into unconsciousness was how my mom would be so angry that the school uniform was ruined. And how weirdly unembarrassed I was about the whole thing of my shirt open for the world to see.
I guess hospitals just get to you.
I had this really weird 'out of body' experience where you float over your body and you watch everyone working around your body like ants over a potato chip.
It was weird, to say the least. Not the least alarming. It was just morbidly fascinating.
If spirits could turn green, I would've definitely. It was my body they were working on after all. Who wouldn't get disturbed? That's where the morbid comes from. And I was just going with the flow, waiting for me to go back into my body and forget about all this.
Until the most alarming comment came from one of the doctors.
'Shit, we're losing her! Defibrillator!'
'Her heart is still not working!'
'Again!'
'Unresponsive!'
I wasn't the brightest student in my grade for nothing. I knew what that meant, even if I didn't understand the medical jargon they were spouting. (My marks were the only thing not normal about me, and I was a bit proud of it. Very proud of it, in fact).
I trembled (could I tremble if I'm dead?) as the severity of the situation hit me.
I was dying here. Or technically dead, if the looks of things told me correctly.
So what was I? A ghost? I thought those didn't exist!
I watched my body like a hawk, waiting for the doctors to stop buzzing around it and let it tell me that I was dead.
Dead.
Dead.
I never thought it would happen to me this early you know? Death doesn't seem like a part of everyday life anymore, for us young ones in developed countries. Yeah, you hear about death, but you just don't connect it to your own normal life.
And a car crash. Of all the ways I thought I would die, I never thought it would be by car crash.
So I was just there, shocked (can ghosts be shocked?) until I heard a hysterical sobbing noise from the other side of the door. I floated through the door (definite proof that I wasn't solid right now) and saw my whole family.
Even little Emily, who was only three years old. My little sister was cute, with those little eyes and those hands which always waved around innocently. I always spoilt her. I wouldn't be able to see her grow up anymore, if what was behind the other side of the door was true. And for some reason, the thought hurt. I looked at the person holding her hand.
My little brother Jack (who liked to be called JK -pronounced Jay Kay- because he thought it sounded cool) who was looking shocked and disbelieving about the whole thing. He was twelve, he understood the situation perfectly.
He wasn't stupid.
My Grandmama was next, hugging my mother who was the one doing the hysterical crying. Her face was filled with worry, and a spark of hope, hoping against all her heart that I would survive I guess. Not much else to be hopeful for (unless she wanted me dead, which was highly improbable). My poor Grandmama had to survive the death of Grandpapa, and watched my aunt die in a hospital just like this one. I hope her gentle soul would be able to take this.
Mom in my Grandmama's arms looked frail and sad. Her sobbing really shocked me. (As if I wasn't shocked enough already). I always thought of her as superwoman. I had never seen her cry before.
Dad was the only one sitting down, continuously raking his hands over his dark grey hair (it was his hair I had inherited, though his had more white hairs in it), the nervous habit I knew he had when he was severely stressed or thinking hard. He had his elbows on his knees, so I couldn't see his face.
A weary doctor stepped out of the operation room, as a replacement rushed in, fresh and ready to go. He talked wearily and took off his doctor's coat for cleaning. Then he put on a fresh one and faced the expectant faces of my desperate family.
I was touched.
I really was. I would've done anything to just walk out of the operation right then and there, but I guess... it was not to be. The doctor sighed and walked towards my little family, stopping next to them so that his voice wouldn't echo down the corridor.
'I presume you're her family?' He said quietly, in a gentle way.
'Yes.' My dad raised his head, getting up and answering. 'Everyone's family here.' The doctor nodded slowly, as if trying to drag the time out, then seeing no point in it when my dad asked the dreaded question.
'How is she?' The raw desperation I heard in his voice made even my little sister, who didn't know what was going on, know that it wasn't the time to make a fuss.
'Her heart stopped.' The doctor said bluntly, though somehow still gentle at the same time. My mother heard it through her sobbing and seemed to collapse inside. Like a tap, she just stopped crying.
Somehow that reaction made me worry even more about her.
My Grandmama's face crumpled, the little spark of hope stamped mercilessly by his words. My brother gave a small jerk, and his face paled. Maybe reality was catching up with him too. I would never know.
My little sister was looking around innocently, not getting why everyone was acting like so.
'But we are trying our best. Many have survived worse injuries than this, and modern technology has made survival rates soar.' The doctor said consolingly. A voice came out interrupting the doctor, not one I was expecting.
'What injuries does she have?' My brother spoke out, his voice only quivering a little. I gave him credit. If I was in his situation, I would've been a shocked blubbering fool already.
The doctor looked at my dad, and he nodded.
'The main injuries were mostly centred around her head, her ribs and spinal cord. Even if she survives this surgery, she might not have full control of her legs, or maybe no sensation at all. Six broken ribs and a broken arm, fractures around her collar bone. Brain damage and some minor injuries around the cranium...' He reeled off.
'Enough. Thank you.' My Grandmama said firmly. He nodded, asked politely if there was anything else we wanted and walked off.
I sat with them, and after half-an hour, the operation sign flicked off. My whole family stood as one (with the exception of Emily who was asleep). The doctors and nurses who walked out saw my family and shook their heads.
What seemed like the head doctor came to my family.
'Your daughter?'
'Yes.' He seemed saddened.
'Your daughter...'
'Alice.'
'Your daughter Alice... did not make it. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. We worked on her even after her heart monitor stopped until we realised it was pointless to continue. We're very sorry.' My dad nodded stiffly.
'It's fine. Thank you for all your efforts. Can... Can we see her?'
'She's already been wheeled to the morgue. We can give your request consideration.'
'No, it's fine. Maybe it's better that way... Do you mind if we stay here a little?'
'No, not at all.'
'Thank you.'
And with that the doctor left, leaving behind me grieving family and me, who was now technically a ghost.
I sat with them awhile, next to Jack. I didn't know what to do after all. They couldn't see me, hear me... I suddenly straightened.
Could they feel me? I've heard of stories where ghosts communication with family straight after death (I never believed them, but what better time than now?) I reached out to Jack and he jolted, and rubbed his arms. I grinned, my fingers still on his skin. Then he blinked at me. And rubbed his eyes, his arm leaving contact with my hand.
'I'm seeing things. She's not here anymore. She's dead.' With those words, his eyes suddenly filled up with tears, and started streaming down his cheeks. He put his hands up to his eyes and furiously wiped them, tyring to stop the flow. I gave a startled exclamation and engulfed him in a transparent type of hug. He eyes widened. I still didn't understand how he felt me though.
'I-i-is that you...?'
'Yeah.'
'Why can I see you?'
'I'm a ghost. You can decide if I'm a figment of your imagination or not I guess.'
'So maybe this is all a dream?' He pinched himself and winced. I let go of him and his eyes widened. 'Where are you?' He said desperately but softly, as if he was afraid that if he talked to loudly it would scare me away. I touched his arm again and smiled the brightest I could.
'Here. Duh. As if I would ever leave any of you.' He smiled, his tears still streaming. He wiped them again. The tears had never stopped.
'So you'll be our guardian angel?' I shrugged.
'Nah. With my physical skills, I would probably put you all in more accidents than save you from them.'
'I don't mind.'
'Where'd the annoying little brother go?' I tried to ruffle his hair like usual but my fingers went through his hair. I frowned.
'Hey, if I can talk to you, do you think...' I pointed to the rest. Mother was still shell-shocked, her eyes blank. At least this way... maybe I could shock her out of it. He nodded.
'Try.'
'Gather them all up so I can touch you all.' So Jack obediently stood up and tugged my whole little family into a circle. They went with it, too shocked to protest, even Emily (who had woken up by then). And so I stepped right into the middle of the circle and touched them all, since that seemed to be the way to let them see me.
'Alice?' My mom's eyes lost their blank look and tried to reach for me. But her arm went right through. I stared at the arm and tried not to be too disturbed, thinking at least it was my mom's arm in my stomach and not some random doctor's...
'I'm a ghost now, so listen up. Don't mope, cry, and be depressed. Move on. I'll be waiting for you all when you're all old and wrinkly so that I can laugh at you with my sixteen year old youthful looks. Ok?'
They needed direction right now. So I was giving them one.
They nodded mutely.
'Good. Emily, I want you to take the shake shake snow-globe you like.' She nodded, not quite getting it.
'And the rest of you just get what you need. Bye. Live your life to the fullest, as cheesy as it sounds.'
'Alice... you're not our imagination?'
'Maybe. I don't know.' Then Jack's eyes widened.
'You're fading!' I looked at myself. Not much difference I could see.
'Then bye. I guess I'm getting summoned or something. To whatever's after death.'
'Don't go!' I looked at him as if he was a moron.
'Of course I'll go. Then when you go up, I can greet you sipping hot chocolate. So don't mess up, Kay?' But their eyes had become unfocused, not looking at me anymore and I realised they couldn't see me anymore.
I shook my head in confusion. One minute they could see me, and the next minute they couldn't. What was happening?
Was I really dead?
I shook my head. That was impossible. The pain I had felt was real.
So... I was dead.
Strange how easily lives can be snuffed out, a little detached part of my brain said. The larger part was mostly shocked.
'So you're my newest ward huh?' A gruff voice came behind me. I spun around and saw...
A dwarf.
And this brings me to a full circle, back to the beginning.
Funny how many things go around in a circle huh?
But back to the dwarf.
He inspected me.
'I guess you'll do.' Then he started dragging me. I tried to dig my feet into the floor for my feet to just go through the floor.
'Where are you taking me?' He gave me a look, as if I was dumb.
I was not stupid. It made me miffed.
'For your Judgement of course. To go to Heaven?' He stopped. 'You do want to go to Heaven right?'
I just blinked.
My Heavenly Judgment?
Ok, if that was boring, I'm sorry! TT_TT I need to introduce all the concepts first, so please bear with me! If anything was confusing, please give a review, if you liked it, please review, if you didn't like it... review? ^^ A review solves everything! She'll go into KHR soon...
And thank you for reading this! Hehe...