Afterlife || irwin

[ 42 ] 2014

[ 42 ] 2014

-

"She told me I had been a good son when I was alive, and even as a ghost throughout those fifty years. She wanted to make up for the suffering I endured here. So she granted me a favor. She said it could be anything I wanted."

-

Harley was in her bedroom when she saw the woman leave over a half hour later. She wondered who she was, or what she wanted. But she had no energy to make an effort to find out. Billy and Cindy had invited her to watch a movie in his room, but she also did not have any energy for that. She only made it downstairs a few minutes later when Harleen called everyone over for dinner because she knew they would not let her skip out on it again. Billy and Cindy started eating immediately. Cindy was definitely eating more now that she didn't always have people watching her and judging her like she did at school and at home. She was gaining a little bit of weight, but it suited her, and it drove Billy absolutely crazy. But he loved her just the way she was, or every way that she would be.

Harleen ate in short bouts, every once in a while looking towards Arthur and Harley who hadn't even begun to even fathom the thought of touching their food. Harley wasn't hungry, and neither was her father. Both of them would probably have to be mind controlled by Harleen into eating something. 

Since Arthur had empathy powers, it was more difficult for him to eat. Because of that, he had lost a lot of weight and because he was so tall, well over six feet, it was much more noticeable on him. His clothes were getting a bit too loose on him, and he had started holding his pants up with belts when he hardly had that problem before. As he had entered the dining room that afternoon, Harleen had greeted him with a hug and a kiss. But she had immediately started fussing a bit sadly that he was losing so much weight. She tugged around the waist band of his pants, biting her lip and he awkwardly kind of swatted her hand away, hiding away the receding muscles of his body under the material of his shirt. There were also deep circles under his eyes from his lack of sleep, which Harleen also tried to help by mind controlling him. But it usually only worked for a little while.

He spent most of his time sitting at the table rubbing the stubble on his face, not really knowing what to do with his hands since he didn't really want to eat. Or more like he wanted to, but he physically couldn't. His body had already reached a point where his empathy towards his daughter was so great that he was rejecting food.

Billy and Cindy finished up their food and excused themselves with sad smiles. Billy knew about their powers, but Cindy still didn't. He wanted to keep her away from that until Harley was ready to explain things to her. If she was going to be a part of their family, she would have to learn about them and understand that they weren't normal humans. As soon as they left, Harleen left her seat and walked over to Harley, crouching so that she was at eye level with her daughter who was still sitting down. The seventeen year old was staring blankly at her plate of food. "Sweetheart, you have to eat something." Harleen said with a sigh, and concentrating all of her energy on that command, she bore her eyes into Harley's. "You will finish your entire plate of food."

Harley nodded her head slowly and began eating silently. Harleen straightened up and walked towards Arthur next. Doing the same thing, she placed a hand on his shoulder and crouched down beside him. He gave her a side glance, looking so tired, and he bit down on his lower lip because he knew just what she was about to say. "Love, you have to at least try to eat something. I made your favorite."

He sighed and gave a shake of his head. "I really can't."

"Please..." She begged, and that was all she had to do to get him to comply.