Number 667

Chapter Twenty-Four

Vivian looked around.
"Maple!" She called. "Down here!" Was the reply. "Bring a ladder! Hurry!"
Vivian trusted Maple.
So that's exactly what she did.
As she was beading back with the shiny stainless-steel stepladder, it started to rain.
But Vivian didn't care.
She laughed at the thought of trying to will herself not to get wet from the large raindrops that were pouring down.
She had just saved people.
She, Vivian Long, had just saved generations of future children.
She smiled.
She entered the house with caution, dodging the dribbles of rain splashing down from holes in the roof. Then she lowered the ladder in carefully, making sure not to hit Maple with it. They didn't need another injury to add to their long list.
Vivian heard Maple conversing in whispers with one person - or rather, many people - and then she came climbing up.
With a crown following behind her.
Children, teenagers, adults, the elderly, every size, almost every age. One thing that Vivian noticed was that none of them were under eight, or so it looked.
They were all dirty, skinny, and well enough looking like they hadn't smiled in a long while, which was probably true.
But they were all smiling then.
•
Carrie breathed in the cool, humid air, relishing the feeling of the rain on her freckled face. She felt unclean. But now she felt cleansed.
Everything was fixed.
Well, almost everything.
Where was Jackson?
And then, in a flash of lightning, she saw him.
•
Maple helped everyone up, grabbing the dirty, oily hands of the crown and pulling them up to ground level. She smiled in the thought.
"These," she started. "Are all the children that the creature captured. Some of them... Well..." Vivian stopped her. "I understand." She said quietly. "We'll hold the proper burial after we get them," she gestured to the many people in the room. "To their proper places."
Then they went outside.
•
Carrie smiled at the spirit kindly. "You were looking for Carrie, weren't you?" She said softly. This spirit seemed so... Confused.
The ghost nodded. He had dull black hair - well, it was dull because he was a ghost - pale skin, and light brown eyes.
He was Jackson.
Then Carrie Joshua left the body of Carrie Pippin, and they were one and themselves.
Carrie's heart melted and her face softened.
"Jackson,"
"Carrie,"
And in a flash of light, they were gone.
Together forever.
And that, Carrie realized, was why she had the visions. Ever since she had moved, ever since she had gotten closer to Jackson, they were gone.
And now the world was right again.