[ 43 ] 2014

-

"What are we doing here and why are you covered in dirt?"

-

Harley trusted Ashton, which was why she didn't question him and waited until eleven at night before she tried to sneak out of her house. She had the wooden cross Ashton had given her and stuffed it into her red duffel with the words St. Genevieve's Cheerleading  on the side. In addition to that, she had packed some extra clothes with her. Something comfortable for Calum to wear because he had been buried in a suit and she wanted him to be warm. She also packed a few snacks because it had been days since he'd last had a meal and she thought he might be hungry. Last she packed her Diamond Rose and a regular gun as well, in case she might need it to ward off any intruders. She had taken the gun from her dad's study. Arthur kept both supernatural and human weapons with him for every occasion. 

She tossed the bag off the balcony and it landed in the driveway with a light thud. Next, she climbed over the side of the balcony and grabbed a secure vine which she used to climb down. Arthur and Harleen were in their room on the other side of the house and had most likely not heard her. But as she made it down to the driveway, she was met by the front door opening. Both Billy and Cindy were there, Billy with a baseball bat in hand and Cindy standing behind him. Her bright blue eyes peeked out at Harley Quinn.

"Geez Harley," The newest addition to their household said, gripping her chest in fear. "We thought the house was getting robbed or something."

She was then met by a question that came from her brother once he relaxed and set the wooden baseball bat down by the front door. "Where do you think you're headed off to at this hour? Mom and Arthur will be worried."

Harley coughed awkwardly and straightened herself up. Her eyes darted to the red duffel at her feet, and she thought that she might as well tell them the truth. Billy already knew about her abilities and maybe it was time for Cindy to find out as well. Maybe they could help her get to the cemetery next to the school, and who knows, maybe having another two people present for the ritual would help Calum's chances of coming back to life. Maybe if God saw that there were people who really cared about him, she would grant him his life back. It was worth a shot. "I'm headed to St. Genevieve's Cemetery to see Calum." She started to explain to them without getting into too many details. "Someone came to me and said God is letting Calum come back to life."

Her brother's face instantly turned into a look of pity. "Oh Harley..."

"Wait, lets hear her out." Cindy said, more willing to listen to anything supernatural. Even thought Billy had seen it with his own eyes, he was still a skeptic. Cindy hadn't seen anything yet and she was still a believer.

"I have to get there and place a wooden cross on his tomb at midnight." Even as Harley said those words, she realized how crazy it all sounded. She wasn't sure if she could trust any of it anyway. It wasn't that she didn't trust Ashton, she did. She just didn't want to get her hopes up and then have them crushed before her very eyes.

To her surprise though, Cindy was on board and offered to give her a ride in Billy's car. Billy decided to go with them, bringing his baseball bat for protection. This town, and their lives, were intertwined with so much weird stuff that he wasn't even sure what he needed to protect himself against--fantoms or real human beings. The three got into his car and he started the engine. He then drove them down to St. Genevieve's.

They arrived within minutes and had to climb up over the stone and metal gates that protected the cemetery. Since it was part of the school and the church, it usually closed early around five in the afternoon. They had the priest and a few nuns living on campus. But their building was on the very back of the property and there wasn't a chance that they would see the three teenagers trespassing nearly at midnight. As Billy helped Harley and Cindy climb up first, their eyes struggled against the bright headlights of a car that was pulling into the parking lot.

Harley cursed under her breath, thinking it to be the police, or a security guard. But there was a sigh of relief that escaped her lips as she saw Niall and Andrea emerging from Calum's black Camaro. Arthur had done all he could so that the two blondes would be able to keep the house, and they'd most likely be getting the Camaro too. Not that it actually mattered anymore. If everything went according to plan, Calum would be back with them by the next morning. His aunt wouldn't be getting any of his money anymore.

Andrea crossed her arms over her chest, shooting Harley a playful glare. "I can't believe you guys went out without us."

Niall seemed more hurt as he nodded in agreement with her. "Yeah. Whatever it is you were planning, we're so down."

From the other side of the big metal gates, Harley rolled her eyes at them. "I literally just got informed about this opportunity I couldn't pass up, and I didn't exactly have the time to extend a formal invitation to everyone." But she knew what they meant. They had all grown pretty close and were like family. They were hurt that whatever she was doing, it did not include them. With her hand, she beckoned for them to climb over the wall and join them on the other side. The two blondes did just that.

The group of five now walked expertly towards the grave that had the name Calum Thomas Hood on it. Harley felt a knot in her throat and she felt Andrea drop a hand on her shoulder, giving her a light squeeze. Harley placed her hand over Andrea's before she pulled her phone from her pocket and looked at the time. It was eleven thirty five at night. Only twenty five more minutes before she would be seeing Calum again. 

She knelt down where her duffel was, which Billy had been carrying until they reached the grave and she pulled the zipper open. She got the wooden cross out and placed it over the tomb where Calum laid in his resting place. Everyone watched with confusion but didn't dare say anything. She knew what she was doing and they all just stood around, waiting to see what would happen next. Harley was silent for a few moments until she said to them, "Ashton told me to do this, and to wish for Calum to be back with us with all my heart at the stroke of midnight. God will grant this for him."

"Maybe if we all do it too, your request will be stronger." Andrea thought aloud, which was the same thought Harley had earlier. Harley nodded in agreement with her.

They waited the remaining twenty minutes in silence and Harley felt her heart race in anticipation as she heard the church bell tower ring loudly at the stroke of midnight. She closed her eyes tight, as did everyone else who was there with her. She wished on it with all her heart and she felt an energy. Her blue eyes opened to see the different colored auras radiating off the other shifters. Hers blue, Niall's yellow, and Andrea's pink. Billy and Cindy could not see it, as they were only human. But Harley could see it and she watched in awe as their auras fell into the earth where Calum's grave was.

A minute passed, then another, then another. Soon five minutes had passed and Harley felt her heart sink and her eyes sting with tears that were threatening to escape. 

She felt a sense of powerlessness and she felt stupid for thinking something like that would work. Perhaps it was just a big test God was giving her. To prove what? She didn't know. But as time ticked on, she was starting to think that she really wouldn't see Calum again. 

Harley turned towards her friends. Andrea's expression dropped into one of disappointment. "What now?" She asked, and it was a genuine question.

The way that Harley had explained it to them earlier, Calum was supposed to be alive by now. But as it was nearing ten minutes past midnight, the hope was waning from each and every one of them. 

Harley's hands were shaking now and she was finding it more and more difficult to keep from crying. She fell onto her knees by his tomb and lowered her head, letting her tears spill onto the soil below. What could she tell them if she didn't understand herself what was happening? All she wanted to do now was to lay down by his tomb and cry. She couldn't believe she had been so gullible. Was the spirit who had visited her that night even Ashton? Maybe it was someone else just messing with her. There were so many thoughts running though her mind.

Just as she was about ready to get up and admit defeat, she was startled by a hand popping out from beneath the soil. It had caught her so much off guard that she fell back onto her backside and her eyes widened in shock. The hand was reaching out desperately, waving around as though asking  for help and she recognized it immediately. It wasn't a human hand. It was Calum's robotic hand that he had gotten after they went back in time and he lost it.

Harley was so much in shock that she didn't react right away. But Niall and Billy did. The two of them hurried to his rescue and dug him out, pushing dirt away with their hands. By the end of it, they had so much dirt under their finger nails they could probably grow flowers in them. But neither of them cared. Calum was Niall's friend, and as much as Billy didn't understand what was really happening, he knew that it had something to do with their powers. They had finally gotten enough dirt out of the way to allow him to sit up and he started coughing uncontrollably, spitting out bunches of soil at a time. 

When Harley came to her senses, she hurried over to him and threw her arms around her boyfriend, crying. "Calum! I can't believe its really you."

He slowly drew his arms around her, his arms were stiff from lying in a morgue and then a coffin for a few days. There was a stinging pain in his chest, right above his heart, which was where he assumed the wound that killed him was located. Though it was probably healed because he did not feel a gaping hole in his chest, he knew that there would always be a little stinging pain in his chest that would never go away. Just like his new metallic hand. There were things that just couldn't go back to how they used to be. 

"Welcome back, mate." Niall grinned at him, slapping his hand down on Calum's shoulder cheerfully.

"Thanks." Calum said absently, feeling as though there were something heavy on his body. He was tired, it had been an exhausting trip from the afterlife to the world of the living. He was glad to be back, but he just wanted to go to sleep. Looking around, he saw that part of his friends were there. Only the hunters were missing from this big reunion.

Also looking around the cemetery with confusion, Cindy and Billy looked at each other and then at Calum. "What are we doing here and why are you covered in dirt?" Cindy asked the boy who had been buried six feet underground just moments earlier. 

Harley turned towards Cindy. "What do you mean? I thought I explained this to you when we got here." Perhaps, she thought, they were so tired that they thought this was all a dream and they had just snapped out of it. 

But Cindy gave a shake of her head. "Billy and I were just at your house watching movies and now we're here."

That was when it dawned on Harley and the other shifters. When Calum came back to life, all memories of him being dead had been deleted from the minds of the other humans. But since Harley, Niall, and Andrea were special, they still remembered everything that happened before. They remembered Calum being dead, and they remembered going down to the cemetery at midnight to revive him. For Cindy and Billy, all of that had been erased from their memories and Harley wasn't sure if she'd have to explain it to them later. That also meant no one else in town who was human would remember any of it happening.

As she looked to the tomb stone, she noticed that it was blank. 

But none of that really mattered to her because Calum was alive, and it was all thanks to Ashton.

-

i was going to try to write two updates tonight, since i havent written for this store in a while. but im so tired. so i'm just going to sleep now and writing another update in the morning. i felt like this chapter was kind of rushed to be honest, but i wanted to post something.

please tell me what you think. and there's only nine more chapters left of this story. thank you all so much for reading and supporting this series. im very excited to start the new one.

which i hope you all like.

thank you!

-clary