Chapter 17

The Confrontation

At first, Ember just stood there, starring strait into Zack’s eyes. Then, with an angry cry she grabbed her guitar with both hands by the neck and swung it with all her might at his head. The blow connected before Zack even had time to blink, not only knocking him to the ground, but partially shattering the guitar.

“HOLY CRAP!” Johnny, Danny, and Vlad exclaimed together. Kitty was equally shocked, but let completely speechless.

“YOU LEAVE ME TO DIE PREGANT, ALONE, AND HOMELESS AND THE FIRST THING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SEE ME IN THE AFTERLIFE IS HI EMBER!?” She shouted. “YOU MISERABLE LITTLE BASTARD!”

“Guess I had that coming…” Zack groaned, still partially stunned from the blow. A few drops of Ectoplasm fell down from a gash on his forehead.

Ember rolled her eyes. “You think!?”

 “Ember—your guitar!” Kitty exclaimed in shock.

“It’s fine, it can repair itself.” Ember told her. To everyone’s surprise, the large, dented, and partially shattered part of Ember’s guitar popped out and repaired itself with a crunch, like someone banging out a dent on a can’t

Zack slowly stood up, clutching his forehead. “Ember, I know you’re angry at me but--”

“Angry at you!?” Ember interrupted.  “Angry at you!? That doesn’t even BEGIN to describe it! I loved you with all of my heart! When we got pregnant, everyone turned their back on me because of what I did, but not you. You were still there for me. You even agreed to help raise her—yes, it was a girl. I thought to myself, maybe, just maybe it could work out. Maybe we could be a family…and then out of nowhere you stabbed me in back! You dumped me like a coward and left me to die! The worst part is you didn’t just abandon me; you abandoned your daughter too! I was so anguished that I burned myself to death! Do you have any idea how tormenting it was to die like that!? Do you know what the worst part of my death was? It wasn’t the unbearable scorching heat, it wasn’t the god-awful searing pain. The worst part of my demise was not only knowing that my poor unborn daughter was dying with me, but actually hearing her barely developed scream of agony as she died. After a died it took a while to remember what happened, but after everything came back I was in such a blind fit of rage that I went back to the living world to find you. I wanted to make you suffer every ounce of pain you caused me…and a small part of me still does. I was unable to find you, but in my anger I killed innocent people. Because of that I was erased from the memories of everyone who knew me.”

“Not everyone.” Zack corrected. “I’ve never been able to forget what I did.”

“Good. I never want you to. I can’t even describe in words just how much I hated you, but I know now revenge won’t put my heart at peace. Many people have told me that I have to forgive you, but I don’t know if I can Zack. What you did to me is…absolutely unforgivable.” Ember told him as she cried.

Her words drove deep into Zack’s heart.

“Do you think I never felt any remorse for what I did?” He asked. “Do you think that I just up and went on with my life and forgot about it?” Zack asked, tearing up himself. “I couldn’t even believe what I said to you that day even while I was saying it. After I left you I sat in my car from the longest time, key in the ignition, but my hand refused to turn the key. I ran back inside the hotel to apologize and take you back, but it was too late—you were gone. I should have gone looking for you then and there, but I didn’t. I drove home, thinking you’d never want to see me again. After you died there was no way to describe how guilty I felt. After your dad slugged me I felt so humiliated I couldn’t even face my own parents. I ran away. I started driving and didn’t stop. I didn’t have a destination; I just wanted to get as far away as possible. I finally ran out of gas in the outskirts of some down named Dimmsdale. The people there were nice, but they all looked really weird. I didn’t have any money for gas so I just abandoned my car. I literally lived in a box by a dumpster, homeless and hungry for two weeks. I was forced to beg for money on the streets so I could get food. I spent those two weeks trying to forget what I had done and wishing that I could be someone else. Then, one day I found a pistol in the trash can of a bathroom in a fast food restaurant. I took it back to my box and looked down the barrel. Normally people are afraid when they’re staring down the barrel of the gun, but the only thing that came to mind as I looked at that gun was--”

“…a way out.” Ember finished, realizing that he too had done the unthinkable.

“You killed yourself too…” Kitty breathed.

“Yeah.” Zack continued. “Next thing I knew, I was in the Ghostzone, in the largest graveyard I had ever seen. I met Clockwork there. He explained that I was dead and trapped in the ghostzone because of my unfinished business. It took a while for my memories to come back to me, but once they did, Clockwork told me I was not allowed to see you. After that, ironically enough, I found that I had the power to shape-shift. I had gotten what I wanted. I was able to become whoever I wanted, but it didn’t stop the pain. I decided that since I was trapped here I might as well get to know the place, so I explored it. I flew around and saw more places than you could possibly imagine. During that time talk started to go around about a boy who was half-ghost. I investigated and found out that the Ghost-boy was my nephew. I wanted to talk to you Danny, but I was too humiliated. If everyone had somehow forgotten who I was, I thought it was better that it stayed that way.” 

“Nobody forgot about you. Even though Ember’s memories were blocked for the longest time, some small part of her never forgot you, and your parents put out a search warrant for you, but you could never be found. ” Danny explained.

“Guess that doesn’t surprise me. I didn’t have my ID or anything on me, and on top of that I had gotten really thin and looked like crap. I probably didn’t look like any of the pictures my parents had of me.” Zack said. “Anyway, not too long ago Clockwork came to me and told me that I was no longer forbidden to see you. He told me exactly where you were, but instead of bringing me to you, he brought me to the Realm of the Far Frozen. He said that it was where I needed to be. After he vanished I wondered around for a while, but when I heard the Far Frozen coming, I transformed into the first person who came to me. For whatever reason, it was Eli Fenton. I was still a stranger to them, so they captured me and brought me before Frostbite. I told them I was related to you Danny, but they still kept me locked up because they didn’t completely believe me. That’s when you came. Once you confirmed that I—Eli Fenton—was related to you, they released me. Danny told me that he was helping you, so rather than reveal myself I simply continued to play the part of Eli Fenton. The rest…well…you know.

“You coward.” Johnny insulted. Zack could only look down at the ground in shame.

“Well, I’d love to stay around and watch the fun unfold, but now that I’m off that dreadful rock I think it’s time to start planning my revenge.” Vlad declared, transforming into his ghost form. “So long Daniel. I’ll be sure to tell your father that I’m back!”

Vlad shot out a few blasts of ecto energy toward the group. Danny reacted quickly, blocking them with an energy shield. As he did so, Vlad flew off.

“I wish Vlad Plasmius was back on the asteroid my Dad stranded him on!” Zack shouted.

Vlad stopped and turned around in the air, realizing that he had forgotten about Desiree.

“So you have wished it, so it shall be!” Desiree declared emerging from her bottle and snapping her fingers.

“Oh, cheese heads…” Vlad grumbled in defeat. He vanished on the spot in a poof of smoke.

“Thanks.” Danny said.

“No problem.” Zack replied.

“Don’t think that changes anything.” Ember told him coldly.

“Anyone have any more wishes?” Desiree asked.

“A ton…” Zack remorse.

“You know you two seem to have quite a conflict going on…why go through all that pain when you could simply wish it all away?” Desiree tempted.

Zack and Ember had never thought of it before. All their pain, all their suffering, all of their heart break could be undone. Everything could go back to normal. With one wish, they and their friends could live again, free from the ghostly nightmare of their afterlife.

Ember started to speak. “I wish…I wish I never met--”

“No.” Zack interrupted. “Ember…yes, we could wish it all away, but, somehow it doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. It’s like Clockwork said. We have free will, the freedom to make our own choices, but we have to deal with the consequences of those choices. As horrible as it was, what happened between us happened. Wishing it all away would be taking the easy way out—the cowardly way out. I failed you and our daughter in life, I took the cowards way out and hid, and what’s worse is that even after all of that, instead of owning up for what I had done, I took the cowardly way out again and ran away. My fate was the same as yours. But I’m done being a coward Ember. One way or another, this has to end, but not that way.”

Ember paused. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” Desiree told them. Without another word, she went back into her bottle.

“I understand if you can’t forgive me. To be honest, I still haven’t forgiven myself. But, at the very least, please let me apologize to my daughter. If you at least give me that, I’ll leave you alone. You won’t ever have to see me again.” Zack pleaded.

“That’s easier said than done Zack. I was only a little under four months pregnant when I died. Danielle’s ghost body couldn’t maintain its own form.” Ember explained.

Horror flashed through Zack’s eyes. “So…she’s…she’s gone?”

“No. Clockwork helped me save her. I had to bond her with someone else. So her soul would survive.” Ember told him.

“Who did you bond her with?” Zach asked.

Ember turned to face Danny.

“A deal’s a deal, Danny. You helped me find him, so I’ll share my final memory with you.” She told him. “But surely by now you’ve figured out who I bonded my daughter’s ghost with.”

Danny paused to think, and then it came to him. His eyes widened as he looked down on himself. It all made sense. The truth brought up many questions, but it all made sense.

“Me…” He realized. “You bonded her to me…she’s my ghost half!”

“Kind of ironic when you think about it, huh?” Kitty commented.