Beyond (Niall Horan) (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty Three

Mariana's POV

I slowly open my eyes after the room has been completely silent for more than two or three minutes. I look around the room, noticing the two demons cowering in...fear?

What is happening?

I hear heavy breathing and turn to see my brother, looking off in a certain direction. I'm not sure if his heavy breathing is caused by pain or if it's caused by something else. I slowly follow his gaze...

And gasp.

There are two more ghosts in the attic now, an older looking man and an older looking woman. The man is glaring at Stephen and Lukas and the woman lets out a relieved-sounding sob as she runs (floats?) over to Niall, taking him in her arms.

"My baby!" She cries, holding Niall close to her, "my baby! Thank God you're safe!"

"You," Niall's father commands, pointing at Stephen and Lukas, "you will leave. Now. You will never bother my son, or this poor, innocent family, ever again. Do you understand me?"

Stephen and Lukas nod, their red eyes wide with fright. Normally, I would find a situation like this, in which somebody has the 'bad guys' quivering in fear, completely humorous. But instead...I'm completely confused.

"What's going on?" I whisper to Eric. I notice that all of his bleeding has stopped...and the injuries that covered my parents and me are gone, too.

What the fuck?

"Niall's father was a priest," Eric whispers back, keeping his eyes trained on the demons. "He became a priest after Niall died and they moved back to Ireland. So, I tried summoning them here. I didn't know it would work...but I guess it did."

"How the fuck did you find all of that out?" I whisper.

"Remember when we went to the library for my assignment? Yeah, I didn't work on that too much," Eric snickers. I glare at him, but laugh a little bit.

And then...suddenly...I feel light.

I gasp as I turn my attention back to the Horan family and realize that the two demons are gone. Niall has both of his arms back and is sobbing in relief. His mother is still clinging to him, with a huge smile on her face. And his father is smiling at us.

"Thank you for bringing us to our son," Niall's father tells us, bowing his head. "We've been looking for him for years and could never find him."

"Eric's the one you need to thank," I laugh, punching my brother in the arm. "I guess his procrastination when it comes to doing his homework comes in handy sometimes."

"Yes, well, thank you, Eric," Niall's father smiles, "Now that we have found our son, we can all successfully cross over to Heaven."

Wait...what?

"You're...You're leaving?" I gasp, looking at Niall with wide eyes. He looks down again and nods.

"I need to go with them, Mariana," Niall whispers, "I hope you understand."

I nod, even though a lump has formed in my throat and I can hardly breathe. "I-I know. You f-found your family. You need to be with them."

I look up at Niall comes over to me. He materializes as he grabs my hands, rubbing his fingers over my knuckles.

"We'll be together again soon, alright? I promise you." Niall mutters, kissing me briefly on the lips. I feel the familiar cold chill go down my spine as I nod, squeezing his hands.

"I know," I whisper as I finally let him go, "Go. Be with your family."

Niall nods and smiles at me, tears in his eyes. He turns, and goes back to his parents, who are both waiting with open arms.

"Wait! Niall?" I suddenly call out, remembering when we first met up in the attic. Something happened up there, and I don't remember what. I blacked out and when I woke up, I was back sleeping on the living room couch.

"Yes, Mariana?" Niall asks gently as he turns to look at me again.

"A couple weeks ago...that night in the attic...what happened?" I ask him, my voice shaking a little. To be completely honest, I had no idea what he is going to say.

Niall looks confused for a moment or two, but then his face suddenly lights up in realization. "Oh!" Niall exclaims. If he weren't a ghost, I swear he would be blushing.

"What happened, Niall?" I ask curiously.

"When you came up I, uh, accidentally touches you," Niall laughs, still looking embarrassed. "It was nothing major, you had just come up the stairs and my hand accidentally grazed against yours as I was materializing. You were so surprised that I could touch you...heck, so was I...that you passed out. It was hard, but I summoned up enough energy to carry you down to where you were sleeping. I didn't want to put you back in your own bed because I heard you arguing with your dad and I knew that you would be even more freaked out if you woke up close to the attic."

"Oh," I mutter, forcing a little laugh as I blush. "That's all?"

"Yeah," Niall laughs, nodding.

"Okay," I reply, still blushing. "Thank you, Niall. For letting me know."

"No problem," Niall smiles.

Before we can fall into a sad, awkward silence, Niall's father speaks up. Putting his hand on his son's shoulder, he asks, "Are you ready to go, son?"

"Yeah," Niall smiles, looking up at his parents. "Yeah, I think I am."

Niall's father smiles and his mother hugs him again as they all turn to face one attic wall. At first, I'm confused because nothing's happening. But then...the wall gives away to reveal a bright path...leading up into Heaven.

I hear everybody gasp, as I'm not the only one simply amazed by what is unfolding right in front of my very eyes.

"Amazing," I hear Dad mutter. I also hear a soft crying and, though I don't turn around to see who it is, I can safely assume that it is Mom.

The Horans each join hands, with Niall in the middle. He looks back at me and grins. I force a small smile in return...and watch as they take a few small steps into the bright pathway.

They continue to walk down the pathway for a minute or two, and then they fade from sight. As soon as they're all gone, the pathway closes up again and the attic is, once again, filled with darkness.

We are alone.

One more chapter, and then the epilogue! Finally! Comment and vote if you want!