Chapter Text
He stood in a red forest, looking towards and spotting a nearby pond with a slightly darker shade of the same color. Yet somehow more comforting than the red orange fire he was so used to. He must have died then......but it's different than he imagined.....is this hell? It's......not causing him any pain at all. All of those poor souls are finally put to rest, he can be at peace. Evan, Elizabeth i’ll see you soon.....
He looks around more, walking into a clearing, and spotting a darkened figure sitting by the water, a fishing poll in hand from the looks of it. That brings backs a memory, fishing with William when he was a kid. He hated it, always giving William trouble and complaining about the bugs eating him all over.
As much as he hates the man now he wishes he would have been kinder....... maybe he would have....no he wouldn't, that man's not capable of love. It's also the reason they never went often, his attitude. Only another reminder of his past mistakes, ones he would give anything to fix. He still misses him, even with as much hatred and pain even looking at his father causes, he still misses his dad......no matter how often he repeats it, it won't change, even if that desire is often more tempting. It's not that he was a good son either.
"Would you truly give anything to be able to change the past?" a sudden voice rings out, startling him. It came from the figure in front of him still facing away as he continues to fish peacefully. He suddenly realizes he had a question for him. Can he trust him? Does he even want to?
He's not sensing any hostility from him, he's gotten good at that. Choosing to reply despite his own doubts, he wants to answer with a yes but before he could he was suddenly next to the apparently old man with a fishing rod. He stays silent in shock. Was he just teleported?
“A sacrifice will have to be made, are you willing.”
"Sacrifice? What kind? Does this mean he's getting a chance to start over? Why is HE the one getting the opportunity? He has so many questions it's overwhelming.
“If you’re told, none of what you choose will be final, actions will repeat, you won’t be able to change anything.” Ok, yeah... understanding that is easier, but he doesn't have to like it. All he knows is that he died in that trap his uncle asked him to make. Not that Uncle Henry knew it was him. He would never have let him otherwise, he's the only adult that truly loved him in the end. He knows he should be in hell and yet he was being giving a chance to start over? He hopes he can change his Uncles and Charlie's fates.......he has to do that much....at the very least.
“I always come back” his father's voice rings out, burning in his ears. His Father better be dead, but there’s no way of truly knowing is there? Besides if he’s not in hell then someone must have survived, is that why he was granted this? He's still alive, freely able to kill now that no one's there to stop him? No... that's wrong he wouldn’t let himself die intel it has completely ended and every soul his family hurt is put to rest, but if he can’t fully kill his father then his will to change his past only grows stronger.
“I’m willing.”
“Your pain will be made anew, body shaped and molded to die, your life on the verge of nothing. Your future, present, and past, will be locked to your own fate. A soul will guide you, one filled with hate and anguish, voice only to you, grow, change, live, die, and be happy or nothing will ever change.”
He wasn't able to process what any of that meant. He body glows, before he could fully react the old man grabbed his hand tight, the first real movement me made, it should have scared him, but all it did was comfort him. His eyes closed and nothing else was said as darkness took ahold of him, the next thing he knew his mind went blank and a sense of familiarity took hold.
He almost though he was in hell for real this time, looking up at the extremely familiar ceiling. He had so many memories of it. Most bad, some happy…... should he be doing something? Oh that’s right, he almost forgot what that mysterious man had said, he almost wonders if he just dreamed it, and if this is really his personal hell.....if that we're the case he wouldn't feel..... normal.
He can feel the warm bed, was his body always this hot? He can't remember, far to used to his rotten corpse. Was his chest this tight as well? He didn’t realize it at first but the bed seemed to cling to his skin uncomfortably. Completely forgetting the normal feeling of things, he almost wished for his rotten body back. As he tried to sit up, he failed miserably. He's sick isn't he? Great....just his luck to immediately get stuck with the flu.
"Are all Afton's this pathetic? I can't believe I'm stuck with you." Michael would scream if he wasn't used to ghostly children hovering around him. He looks towards the new voice, his neck aching.
The kid had black hair, and glowing red gold eyes. She was floating next to him glaring harshly. He might not care for a child calling him pathetic but it's not like he can fight her right now, and it's not an unusual event really.....not that he actually would hurt a child willingly....not anymore, at least he thinks he wouldn’t.
Is she what the old man meant by a soul will guide me? One filled with.....oh she's one of my father's victims isn't she....no wonder she hates me. Of course that doesn't stop my immediate annoyance at her. She doesn’t seem the type to care about anyone's feelings. It does makes sense now at least. Plus now he’s wondering why such a rude child has been chosen to help him.
"Ugh! Are you really just going to ignore me? Please tell me your not shocked just my seeing me? Or are you just afraid of ghosts?" He finally sits up, she definitely seems to be a missing child.
One father killed…..she’s my responsibility to save to......
"Afton! I'm taking to you?!" She flys into his face, annoyed he raises a brow at her, but the girl continues her rant anyway.
"For heavens sake! I already regret this.....Did the old man even tell you anything at all?!" He sighs deeply, brushing a hand through his hair.
“He told me enough.... I think. All I know is I’m suppose to fix things......my choices...my father's choices....to put it all back together....." The girl smiles wide, cockily if he might add. "So he didn't tell you everything, good. I'm sure you'll figure everything out..... eventually I'm your guide after all.... I'll help. Even if I hate you afton." How comforting of her....he thinks she's a tiny little bi-
She glares again. He's going to hate being around her so so much. He wanted to ask what she knows exactly, but he has a feeling she won’t tell him anything anytime soon. His chest gets tighter to.... he's starting to feel worse from just being around her.
"how helpful will you be exactly?" He looks at her again, she's looking around his old room. She laughed at his face, not answering him. and he sunk back down onto the bed in defeat. He suddenly remembered he doesn't actually know her name.
“What’s your name anyway?” he asks, fully annoyed,
“Cassidy." She smiled creepily at his, poking his old stuffed animals on his dresser. He forgot why he even kept them.
Wait? Cassidy?.......great...just great out of all the souls the one who hated his entire family the most was suppose to help him save them? Is this a joke? What in the world was that old man thinking? If he ever meets with him again he’ll give him a piece of his mind, he swears! And who makes a child guide someone down the road of salvation anyway?! Even more so when said child went through an extremely traumatic event because of that person's father murdering them to death?! It’s extremely appalling to him...
"Afton? Your family's been waiting for quite a bit now?"
“It's Michael." He grumbled.
"Whatever, does it look like I care?" She looks at him like he's the stupidest thing on earth.
He gets up, steading himself, shouldn't he be struggling to walk? His old body definitely felt different?
"Afton? What are you doing?" He looks at her concerned.
"There downstairs right?..... who's down there right now? Do you know?" She looks at him quietly for awhile.
"Just two small brats. He left awhile ago now." She said that last part hatefully. Not that he can really blame her.
Of course she goes silent when it comes to him, she probably expected to be in close proximity to him anyway....no need for him to be concerned for her. He understands her to that extent, he hates his father for treating him differently than his younger siblings, and he hates him more for how much pain he's caused.
The door creaked open quickly, he looked over only to turn even more white than he probably was at the moment. He hasn’t seen her sense he died…..Elizabeth his baby sister....
“Mikey? Are you up? Daddy already left for work and I’m hungry?”
Oh, he forgot how much he had to take care of his little siblings. Something he hated in the past, he's happy to now. Elizabeth gasps in worry, does he look that bad?
“Mikey! You look sick! Should I call daddy?” His eyes grow concerned.
"No...no Beth. I'm good. Be down in a sec." He glared at the floor, why was he getting angry now? His body feels heavy and more suffocating than before, but he’ll manage. Cassidy doesn’t seem interested in following him or just in him in general anymore, he’ll try and talk to her again later. Right now he needs to get his baring’s and take care of his siblings.
Getting down the stairs was more of a struggle than walking, but by the time he finished going down he believed he could manage now, if a little sluggishly. Entering a room the felt reminestant now than anything else. The kitchen, a wooden table, usually set for three but can handle five or six. Pictures hung up of the fridge from each of us. Everything neat and organized on the kitchen counter, just how is father liked it.
He finally walked further in, stopping as he witnesses Evan, sitting down at the table, a familiar plushy in hand, he looks at it harshly, making him flinch. He was about to correct his action but his chest tightened even more painfully. He cluched his chest tightly coughing harshly.
When he lifted his hand he saw blood, he paused, what was happening to him now? He tried to wipe it onto the back on his his shirt but Evan seems to have seen it and immediately burst into tears. Elizabeth started speaking but he couldn’t hear her, his chest grew even tighter, his vision blurred. He tried to say something anything at all, but he couldn’t, everything went silent in his ears and he plummeted to the floor.
He saw Elizabeth run towards the phone, Evan just stood there, tears running down his face as he hugged his plushy even tighter it's eyes glowed sliver now. How did he not notice the hidden camera sooner than he did?
Cassidy floats down calming, staring at him emotionless. Then suddenly she smiled.
"Don't worry afton, you won't die"