BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.

He was relieved to see her gather courage upon speaking with him. Having another pair of eyes to focus on. “Yeah, I can.” Snow muttered in a half sigh, considering how to approach this predicament. “How long’ve you been like this?” Perhaps he should have paid better attention to the news. There was always a chance that new ghosts in town would be the result of dead pool murders.

“A few days,” Ella explained, relieved to have found someone who seemed to want to help, someone who was kind, despite being a stranger. The calm way he approached the situation gave her the impression this wasn’t the first time he had met a ghost. Perhaps he could bring her answers. She could only hope. “A few days, but my family think I’ve been missing for a couple of weeks.” She swallowed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be a bother, just-- I don’t know what’s happening to me, my family,” she paused, lifting her hand to brush her fingers over her cheek, “they still think I’m coming home. They’re hurting so much.”

“Wha–” Laurel questioned. “I, so you, you died?” she asked. “Who attacked you? Why?” She bit her lip hard. “Am I the only one who can see you?” Maybe it was because she was a werewolf.

The questions from her friend were questions Ella had been asking herself. Slowly, she was beginning to put the pieces together. It wasn’t a simple process, but the ghost had to figure it all out for the sake of her loved ones. “Yeah,” she eventually replied, tearing her gaze from Laurel for a moment, sucking in a deep, shuddering breath. She didn’t seem to think Ella was crazy for thinking she was dead, and that was a start. “A vampire. A vampire killed me. But I think so, nobody at home can see me. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you, Laur. I’m so scared.”

taylor had been walking home from being in town all day when she heard the quiet words before she was slightly knocked off balance soon after. holding out her hands out she shook her head looking around for a moment, “don’t apologize, it’s all good i’m fine no harm done.” she said as she wiped her hands on her pants before looking down at the barking through the fence her eyes meeting its right away, “maybe you should stay away from the frightful animals.”

The reaction had Ella fighting back her tears, wrapping her arms around her own waist as she distanced herself from the animal. “They, um. They don’t seem to like me very much,” she told her with an attempted smile, leaving off the ‘anymore’ that wanted to follow. Her expression wasn’t particularly convincing, the need to cry only continuing to build in her chest. “Who are you? I’m Ella. It’s - um - It’s nice to meet you.”

This was certainly not the first time Snow had witnessed the presence of a ghost. After 150 so years the vampire made an effort to simply ignore most till he had no reason to, but this one was different. Not drifting with purpose and a lonely stare. Instead standing confused and just about terrified. Unaware of the ground no longer beneath her feet. Should he not intervene, the sounds of her gasps and soft crying would not end anytime soon. “Don’t worry about them.” Snow announced from behind the woman, eyes filled with humility and curiosity. “It’d be best to back away from the dog–wouldn’t wanna give ‘em a heart attack.”

The man’s words were met with a shaky breath as she processed precisely what was happening, staring at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. There was still so little that she knew about what was happening to her, and it came as a surprise that he even knew that she was there. After a moment, she took a few steps away from the poor dog, then turned her attention back to the man standing in front of her. Speechless, she brushed a strand of hair out of her own face, trying desperately to pull herself together. Then, she spoke. “You can see me.”

Laurel turned when she heard the familiar voice. She didn’t expect Ella to be standing just a few feet from her. She took a harsh, shaky breath out, as she stared at her best friend. “El?” she questioned. Tears brimmed her eyes and stung to escape. For two weeks, she has been trying to deal with her grief of Ella. There had been been posters put up and everything. Her heart pounded. “How?”

Ella’s words got caught in her throat, head spinning. For a moment, she almost echoed the question. How? How could Laurel see her? “I-” As she cut herself off, she ducked her head, unable to bear the sight of Laurel so upset. Too many people were crying over her right now. “You see me, how can you- I...” How was she supposed to tell Laurel that she was dead? She would either think she was going crazy or be heartbroken. Laurel had already lost too much. But the only other option was to lie, and that wasn’t an option. She valued Laurel too highly to ever do that to her, even while Ella was such an emotional wreck. Clearing her throat, she attempted to pull herself together. For Laurel. She wanted to close the distance between them and pull her into a tight embrace, but that would be pushing her luck. “There was, um. I was attacked.” This time, her words were quieter, slower, and her hand reached up to brush her fingers across her own neck. “Please don’t cry. It- It’s okay, I’m okay.”

A lump formed in Ella’s throat as her eyes locked on her best friend. For her, it felt like only a few days since she had last seen Laurel, but listening in on her family had taught her that she’d been “missing” for two weeks now. Dead, and none of them knew. Thinking she wouldn’t be seen -- her family had been oblivious to her presence, and no one else had appeared to notice her -- she closed the distance between herself and her friend, arms wrapped tightly around her own waist. Although not expecting her to hear, she had to try. “Laur?”

It’s me, SJ! Again! This is my precious, sad, ghost baby, and unlike Ev, she’s super lovely and sweet. She only died recently, so she’s still figuring everything out. More below! And like with Ev, don’t be afraid to hmu if you wanna plot!

Trigger warnings: death, murder, bullying,