PHANTOM SEPILOGUE

CHAPTER 3

I try and remember what the last thing I remember seeing at the cemetery was since it was still dark outside, now I realize it was about 9 o'clock when I finally passed out at the cemetery, and see that it is only 9:04 pm, meaning I instantly appeared here in the in between. I try everything I can, but after a few hours of trying to hit myself against things and find a way to be able to feel, there's no luck. I'm officially numb. Now I know how Harry really felt. He was right though, death should not be glamorized. The one thing I cannot get off of my head is why I'm in the in between in the first place, what kind of unfinished business did I leave behind?

MAX'S POV

I check my watch to see when I can finally leave Mel's and be off my shift. Its 11:52 and I get off at midnight. I decide to clock out early since it will only get later and later, I am planning on stopping by the cemetery to leave some flowers by Harry's stone. I do this often and usually when I have late shifts so no one is there. Harry was my best friend, and he deserved so many more years than he got.

I quickly leave the diner, tossing my apron on the counter, and say goodbye to my co-workers. I stop by a quick-mart at a nearby gas station to pick up some flowers and then continue on my way. The drive to the cemetery feels oddly eerie, this is the latest time I've gone.

I park next to a familiar looking car but become slightly upset that I'm not the only person here. As I make my way up the steep hill to Harry's grave, I spot some coyotes and other wild animals roaming the perimeter which makes me feel uneasy. They seem to be intrigued by something.

I shake off my paranoid thoughts and continue to walk the hill, noticing from my peripheral vision that the animals are backing away. As I reach the top of the hill, I notice a something laying near Harry's grave. I start to feel anxiety at the pit of my stomach, but try and calm myself by saying it is just a dead animal, and that's why the other animals were surrounding. I keep walking, getting closer and closer to the grave stone when I see it. I see Jane's body on it's side, fresh and dried blood surrounding her arm and a bloody key in the opposite arm's hand. Her skin is pale, and there is no sign of her breathing. I drop to my knees and begin roughly shaking her back and forth to try and pull any sign of life out of her body, until I give up realizing I was too late. Confusion and shock rush through my body. I don't know what else to do in this moment except stare at her lifeless body, tears streaming down my face.

Coyotes howling in the distance snap me back to reality and make me start to dial 911. All I can do now is wait for their arrival and hope someway, somehow, Jane will be alright. Minutes seem like hours as I wait for an ambulance and the police to arrive. When they finally do is when everything goes to a blur and is in slow motion. Paramedics with medical supplies rush past me, radio chatter playing all around me, and Detective Whitmore pulling me aside and asking me questions that I don't care to pay attention to.

All I can think about is that I somehow feel responsible. I know I didn't harm her in any way, and I hope the police realize this too. But when Jane came into the diner earlier today, I could tell she wasn't being herself. I should've paid more attention to how she was acting instead of shrugging it off, thinking it was only because of what happened with her parents. I will never be able to forgive myself for letting this happen.

JANE'S POV

I walk around my old house, not knowing what to do anymore. There's nothing for me to do since I'm really dead and won't need to sleep or eat. I didn't expect to get stuck here, the thought never even crossed my mind. My mind wanders to different things I could do to occupy my time, as I start to think how long it will be until someone finds me dead. Those poor people who will be walking to visit a passed away loved one will end up finding my pale corpse lying on the grass. If only Harry were here. Or even Em or Wesley. Having to be stuck here alone for who knows how long is going to be the death of me. A smile makes its way onto my face at the memories of Harry and I making dead jokes about him, which can now apply to myself.