Catherine knew exactly where Cathleen was taking her, she followed the little girl op the steps on the far side of the cargo hold, that would lead them to the catwalk where more passengers luggage was stacked and where crew members once worked. Catherine could not hold on to the railing, the metal was bone chilling cold under her skin, and could no longer hold on to it. She carefully took each of the whitewashed metal steps up to the catwalk that was at least twenty feet from the floor.
She was scared, she knew that Gil�s dead body was going to be up here, that she was going to have to face the corpse of the man she had spent the last twenty years of her life with, both of them always feared they would get the call at the lab and the body they were going to investigate was going to be one of their own. Catherine stopped at the top of the cat walk, she did not want to go down their, she knew what she would see and Catherine would not want to suffer through it.
�Catherine, I know you don�t want to, but you have to, you can save him,� Cathleen explained as she passed her hand through Catherine�s, �I promise, I would not put you through this pain if it could give you pleasure,�
Catherine opened her clutched hand and stared at the glowing heart necklace that was cupped in it. She looked at the little girl, still not believing that any of this is happening, and slowly walked down the catwalk using the glow of the necklace to guide her in the darkness. She began to see the outline of Gil lying on the catwalk as she quickly shut her eyes and closed her hand to allow the shadow to dissipate.
�I can�t do this, I can�t look at him like this,� Catherine whispered as tears swept down her cheeks, she opened her hand and stared at the necklace as her distraught face reflected to Cathleen as she could see the pain in her eyes and he sorrow in her tears.
�You can Catherine, I know you can, the only way for you to save him is to be with him�
�I-I don�t want you to see this Cathleen, your only a child, you don�t need to see this,�
Cathleen smiled and knelt down to be at Catherine�s eye level, �Catherine, I�m a ghost, I did not only witness death, but have been a victim of it too. I know you think of me as innocent and like your daughters, putting up your protective motherly barriers, but trust me, I have seen much worse then this,� she replied with a small smile that reflected on Catherine�s lips.
�I�m sorry, I can�t tell the difference between real and fantasy any more, it�s just habit,�
Catherine stood up and took a deep breath, she closed her eyes, making a prayer to herself for both her and Gil and their daughters. She slowly opened her hand as the light of the necklace hit the walls and lit up Gil�s lifeless body. Catherine slowly made her way over to her husband, as she went closer she could see the marks around his neck, he had been strangled to death.
Catherine wanted to throw herself on Gil�s body and cry and weep until her body could no longer take it. She wanted to hold his head in her hands and stroke her fingers through his show curly hair, to touch his skin and kiss his lips, but she couldn�t. Catherine instead rigidly knelt down beside Gil, shinning the necklaces small light over his body as her tears kept sliding down her cheeks.
Cathleen stood back a little ways to give Catherine her space with her lost husband. She could feel the sorrow she was suffering through, she understood how much death can affect the lives of lovers. It was powerful, but never as powerful as the actual love they shared for one another. She watched as Catherine gingerly move her shaking fingers through Gil�s damp hair.
�H-how could this ever happen to us Gil,� Catherine�s voice trembled as she could taste the salt from her tears touching her lips, �I never thought that we would ever loose one another like this, this is all my fault, I was the one who wanted to explore this ship, I was the one who wanted to help, and now I�ve lost apart of myself, something that I can never get back from anyone or anything.� She preached as she placed the necklace in Gil�s hand as she placed her own over his.
�I love you so much Gil, I cannot go on without you, Lindsey and Caitlyn will be lost without their father, Nick, Warrick, Sara, Greg, and everyone else, even Ecklie at the lab will dread the loss of such a remarkable man. I need you to come back to me, I cannot go on without you, and I can�t live a happy, content life without you by my side. Please, please come back to me, please,� Catherine whispered as she closed her eyes, holding his hand and the necklace as tight as she could, whispering over and over again I love you hoping that it would bring him back.
Cathleen watched the love bloom between the two of them, a smile was across her face, knowing that this was going to work, that she was going to be able to save Gil through such a powerful emotion. She watched as the necklace began to glow red from their love and work its magic.
Catherine kept her eyes close, not sure of what was happening around her, and scared to actually see what was happening. She kept her mind set on Gil, she kept her mind on warm thoughts that expressed their love they had for one another, hoping that was what she was to do. It seemed to have worked, for she almost jumped right off the catwalk when she felt the slightest touch of Gils fingers move over hers.
�Oh my god, it worked, you�re alive!� Catherine screamed as she embraced her husband who was slowly opening his eyes as if he was awakening from a well rested slumber.
�Ca-Catherine? What happened?� Gil asked as he slowly sat up with his wife still clinging to his shoulders and kissing his cold cheeks.
�You wouldn�t believe me if I told you, I�m just so happy that I did not loose you, I love you so much,�
�I love you to Catherine, did we save them?�
�Yes baby, yes we did, we saved them, and I saved you and now we can all be happy, right Cathleen?� Catherine whispered smiling at the little girl who stood of to the side more thrilled then anyone for the outcome of what happened.
�We have to go, the sun is about to rise and so are we,� Cathleen said with a broad smile across her lips. She was finally going to be able to be with her family and finally be free.
Catherine helped Gil to his feet as they both followed Cathleen back up to the boat deck, out of the darkness within the haunted ship and out to the cool sea breeze air and the beautifully rising sun. The couple could already see the ship was beginning to change in the rising sun light. Starting at the stern the boat was beginning to deteriorate into sparks and flashes that reminding Catherine of a crackling fire as the wood would snap in the heat of the flames.
�What is that?� Catherine questioned as she watched the sparkles rise into the sky and swish in the sea breeze.
�It is us, as the sun hits our now free souls they burst into twinkles like a stars bringing us up to heaven to be with the ones we love. I shall be going soon, you must leave before something happens to you as well,� Cathleen explained as she grabbed Gil�s hand. �You are no longer apart of this ship, you are free like us,� she said as Gil looked at his palm and the burn had disappeared. �Thank-you both so much, I will never forget what you have done for us,�
Cathleen�s small body began to morph into sparkles as she smiled at Catherine and Gil and her body fluttered up towards the clouds. Catherine watched as if it was an amazing firecracker show, gazing at this amount of people�s souls that were flying up to heaven. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.
Catherine grabbed Gil�s hand as they stepped up on to the railing that was around the side of the boat. They looked down, seeing their yacht off to the right and the ocean straight down below. They had not time to go back out the way they came in for this boat was diminishing as well. They looked at one another with a smile and jumped into the ocean feeling their bodies cleanse of the death that encased them before with the salt of the cold ocean.
When the couple rose to the surface for a breath of air the ship had disappeared.
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