Death Cannot Part Us (5SOS Fanfic) Completed

Chapter 13 ~ 1 Day Remaining

Chapter 13

~ 1 Day Remaining

••Ashton's POV••

I sit at the table, the dim lamp illuminating the dusty book in front of me, it's really late and all week I've been in here. I've barely eaten or slept, all I can focus on is the book I'm reading. Best of all, all the books that have any possibility of helping are in Latin.
'In multis spiritu carere larva sed pauci salvare. Ut expellat a se lumen est opus Spiritus....' I read, the passage is talking about how there are many ways to get rid of a ghost but few to save them. I read further and all I can see is a ritual to banish a ghost into Limbo.

'Argh!' I shout, hitting the lamp away in a fit of anger. It crashes to the floor, glass flying everywhere and the plug ripping itself out of the socket. Standing up, I hit the book off the table, before kicking over my chair and stamping repeatedly on it, until one of the legs snap off.
'Why me!'
'Why us!'
Im so tired, all I want is to give up.

I stand there trembling, my fists clenched and aching, before sinking down to the floor, I sit there in the corner, my head in my hands as I try to keep the tears from flowing. I'm just so tired, it seems hopeless, Hazel has two days left and all of these fucking books are useless!

'Ash?' I hear Hazel's soft voice asking from the door of the library. Quickly I raise my hand, a warm glow comes from it and everything the light touches repairs itself. By the time Hazel has come into view, I'm sitting at the table again, reading that damn book. I can't make myself look weak in front of her, it's nothing to do with being a man, god no, she's been stronger than me since the start. It's to do with being meant to help her, to be strong enough to find a way for her to stay.

I look up at her,
'Hi.' I say, my voice still slightly shaky.
'Are you okay?' She asks,
'I heard crashing.'
'Oh...it was the lamp,' I say, it may not be the full truth, but at least it's part of it.
'It fell off of the table and broke.'
'But it's okay now?....Oh right, powers.'
I smile slightly sheepishly at her,
'Yeah,' I reply,
'Powers.'

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••Hazel's POV••

I walk down the corridor, I've had this horrible headache all day, and nothing I've done has helped, all I can do is deal with the painful thumping behind my eyes.

I'm on my way to Ashton in the library now, maybe he could help. I doubt it though, he's been so stressed lately that his powers are a bit out if sync. I walk through the library door to the sound of splintering wood and cracking glass. Peering around the bookcase, I catch sight of Ashton kicking a chair repeatedly, the lamp has shattered and the book he was reading is on the floor. I see him sink to the floor and I want to go over to him, but I know he wouldn't want me to see him like this. I walk back to the door before calling out his name.

I walk over to him, it looks like nothing happened,
'Hi.' He says to me, there's a noticeable wobble in his voice.
'Are you okay? I heard crashing.' I say, he hesitates,
'Oh...it was the lamp.' He lies,
'It fell off the table and broke.' I wish he'd just tell me, I don't see why he has to lie.
'But it's okay now?' I feign a look of realisation,
'Oh, powers.' I say.
'Yeah, powers.' He replies.

I step forward, wanting to console him and something cracks under my converse. Looking down, I see a piece of glass, I glance up at Ashton and then the whole image around us flickers as he realises. The glamour fades and we're once again surrounded by debris. He thought he'd fixed it, but clearly not.

'It's getting worse.' He tells me,
'The closer you get to Fading, the worse they get.'
I stare at him,
'Why?' I ask incredulously. He frowns at me,
'Didn't I tell you?' He asks,
'Tell me what?' I say, getting worried.
'Well....umm when a Necro falls in love, and then the person they're in love with died or goes or something, they Fade as well....in a way. They die, but don't go over, they don't become a ghost either, they just end.'

My heart drops into my stomach, please no, please don't let this be true.
'Is that why you've wanted to get me to stay so badly?' I ask, my voice trembling.
'What?' He asks.
'Is this,' I say darkly,
'The reason why you wanted me to stay, so you wouldn't die?'
'I-what? No!' He says,
'Of course not!'
'Well it seems pretty likely.' I say.
'Just think, for the past six and a half months, you have frantically been trying to find my cause, or a way for me to stay on earth, and now you only have today and until half eleven tomorrow, you're desperate. And to think that I thought it was all for me, how self-centred could I be?'

He jumps to his feet,
'No!' He shouts,
'That is not the only thing! Yes it may have occurred to me that that would happen, but it's not been the only thing that's made me do this. I want you to live! I honestly couldn't give a shit about my life now, all I want is for you to be happy, but no! I only care about myself don't I?'
'Don't you dare turn this on me!' I shout, before transporting myself to our Clearing.

••Ashton's POV••

Hazel disappears and I sigh, looking around that the mess, I use my power again, this time ensuring that it works. I lean over the book, I lost my page when I dumped it on the ground so I just flick through and land on any page.

I skim read the Latin, and then I see it, a ritual named 'A Sacrifice for the Deceased to Live'. I read all the instructions and the ingredients, they should be easy to find, ground Wolfsbane, essence of Belladonna and Nightlock root, not to mention the blood.

Now all I need to do is find Hazel and apologise. This may not be the solution that we were hoping for, but at least we'll be able to see each other again across the veil when her true Time comes.

I might have to die, but at least she'll live.