[OOC: Not intended for posting in.. just thought it would be fun to write that out.. have fun reading, it's a bit long]
So this is what it was like to die.. Chase’s heart was thudding heavily as she watched Jack below her, throwing things at Vito, she rose up into the air, and rose higher and higher, still watching her as though there was no ceiling at all. She knew she was dead.. she had felt her heart stop.. gone an antagonizing couple of minutes with nothing, no sounds, no voices, no breathing, no heartbeat.. not a sound was uttered, and then she started to rise up, able to see Jack and Vito, but not talk to Jack to comfort her, watching as they slowly left her site, and Chase was looking out over Knockturn Alley, and then over Diagon Alley, then over London.. she rose higher, and higher, and still she had no idea what was going on.
It might have been seconds, minutes.. days, months, or even years, but finally Chase felt her body relax, and her feet slowly touched something solid. Chase let out a sigh, the place was familiar, a wonderful place, a place she had been trapped in not that long ago.. but when she had been trapped, it had been a horrible place, with monsters, and explosions.. but when she had been pulled out from the madness, it had become a place of beauty. Chase stepped down into the grass, and glided along, her toes skimming the ground, before she sat down with a happy giggle.
She could hear voices, and every now and then she saw a shadow peak out from behind a tree, and then disappear again. Chase didn’t move. Finally, a voice called out, faint: “Chassy?” Chase slowly lifted her eyes, and found them fastened upon a tiny face, standing by a tree. Chase slowly stood up, and held out her arms. Her little brother came running into them, tackling her around the middle, and as though a signal had been given, the rest of her family stepped out from behind the trees.
They looked sad, and yet happy to see her. All of the hugged her, kissed her, held her tight, before finally her sister blurted out. “How’d you die?” The clearing went quiet and Chase smiled slightly. “The same way you did, kid.. just a bit more.. bloody..” Chase looked down at herself, and realized she was still stained in red. Her shirt was off, she was even missing a finger, and she was completely stained in bright red blood. “The same evil man..” Chase’s eyes slowly found her fathers, and he looked down, before looking up at her again, smiling.
“We missed you Chase..” He said gently and Chase felt the tears welling in her eyes. Slowly, she took in the appearance of everyone in the clearing. They looked happy, secure, well fed, very well groomed, and they all seemed to shine with eternal happiness. Chase on the other hand.. without her shirt, and the blood that poured off of her, she had some sort of dark vibe around her, almost a purplish haze.
“Why don’t I look like you guys?” She asked softly, tears leaking down her face as she realized her difference. Her mom spoke up. “You haven’t chosen yet sweetie..” Chase frowned, before looking at her mom. “Chosen what?” She looked around at her relatives, all of whom looked somewhat tense. “If you wish to stay here.. or go back.. If you go back.. you’ll look as you are now.. not the purple haze.. but the blood… no shirt.. missing finger.. eyes red.. you will look the same way you died..” Chase found herself staring down at her own hands, staring at the missing finger which was still bloody, but not hurting.
“If I stay?” Her mom smiled slightly. “You will look as you want to.. Most people choose to stay themselves at their best looking.. like us.. but you can change to whatever you want.. but once you choose Chase.. you cannot go back.. once you decide if you want to stay or go… you can’t take back that decision. It’s either go back, and live as a ghost.. or stay here.. and live with us..” Chase sat down on the grass, pulling her little brother into her lap, and ruffling his hair, before she hugged him, thinking.
“Will I ever be able to see my friends down there if I choose to stay here?” Her dad grinned and motioned for her to follow him. “I will show you how..” Chase stood up and followed her father into the woods a ways, animals played in peace and safety, never having to worry about no food, or shelter, or predators. Every type of animal.. Tigers, Wolves, Foxes, Squirrels, Deer, even a Giraffe went by once. After a short walk, her father stopped at a small river. “Look into the water Chase..” He said and Chase bent over, looking down into what should have been her reflection. But it wasn’t… she was staring instead at an above view of Jack and Vito. Jack looked like she was screaming something, but Chase couldn’t hear it.
“Watch” Her father said, and touched the water. Suddenly the view vanished, and instead she was looking at Vito.. as though she were looking through Jack’s eyes. “Do you want to hear what she is saying?” He asked softly, his eyes trained on Chase, not the image. Chase nodded slowly, and her father touched the water again.
"You, Vito, get the f*ck out of MY nightclub, or I'll have Aurors in here before you can say your hairline is already starting to recede."
Chase smiled slightly, listening to the dialogue for a second, before her father touched the water, and it fell silent again. “You can look at anybody Chase.. this scene was just there because you died there… you can look at Hogwarts.. your other friends.. Calvin even.” Chase wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and shook her head. “I am not ready for him yet.. I’ll watch Jack a while longer.. can she tell I’m looking?” Her father shook his head. “No.. she cannot, unless she is completely in tune with nature itself… you cannot tell when someone who is departed is watching you.. well, you can tell if you are here.. if another departed person looks for you while you are here.. you can tell, and you can go to them, and talk to them and do what you must.” Chase nodded slowly, and sighed, sitting back in the grass.
“We won’t think less of you if you wish to return to them..” Her father said, sitting down next to her. “No..” Chase shook her head and sighed. “It isn’t that I want to return.. it’s that I wish I didn’t have to leave.. I could have fought longer.. Jack was trying to heal me..” Chase felt the tears wash down her face, but her father moved to her, and wiped them away. “There there Chase.. there isn’t anything we can do now.. because.. whether we like it or not Chase my baby girl… we are dead.. look at this beautiful place.. you need not eat, or drink.. or have a care, you can do whatever you want, go wherever you want, talk to whoever you want.. who isn’t alive anymore of course.. and when you miss your friends.. you may watch them..”
“They will grow older… and I will look like this?” She asked softly. Her father nodded slowly. “Unless you wish to see how you would age.. yes, you can look like this forever.. and forever is how long it really will be..” Chase sighed and nodded. “I want to stay here.. I don’t want to go back as a ghost…” Chase said, and as she said it, the purple haze started to disappear, her finger grew back, her hair straightened, she was wearing her shirt again, and the blood was gone. She was glowing, absolutely glowing, her clothes were patched up, her skin, the scars were gone, she was how she should have been, beautiful and whole.
“Come Chase.. I have much to show you.. this place.. you won’t believe it.. all you’ve ever seen is these woods..” Chase looked around calmly, a feeling of relief had spread through her, and it was as though the pain, anger, worry, and sorrow that had gripped her when she died, fell off her shoulders. “How do I get here again?” She asked, looking around at the trees. “Simply will it Chase, and you will come back here..” Chase nodded and took her father’s hand. “Where is my baby?” She asked softly, and without another breath, a soft giggling was heard behind a tree.
“Katie is quite the spirit Chase.. you would have been proud of her had she lived..” Her father said, smiling and glancing at the tree where the giggling had come from. “I hope I don’t see Jack soon..” Chase said, sounding silly as she said it, but her father nodded knowingly. “I hope the same honey.. I hope the same..” Chase let him lead her out into the meadow again, where she was reunited with her daughter, her family, and taken to where others who were not her family hung out together..
And so ends an era.. of pain, suffering, and longing, with a final burst of joy. Don’t worry, Chase will always keep watch over you.
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