The Fetchers

I watched curiously as the large group of people sat in the living room of the house- the furniture had been pushed back and on the table was a box big enough for a playing board. There were seven guys and five girls, four of the guys obviously were brothers- a set of twins and the other two just older and younger. Obviously all of these people were famous, well, to me at least. Four of the guys were the musicians, one was just the younger brother to one of the musicians, and the other two were techs for the band. And two of the girls were twins. The five girls were either wives or girlfriends of the band members. But one of the girls wasn’t anymore- her fiancé had died. I know; I was still alive before he died. He helped me, still does. I sat on the leather chair in the corner of the candlelit room, watching everyone who seemed nervous.
“Alright, let’s get this stupid shit done,” One of the guys said. I recognized him to be Matt S. Brian opened the box on the coffee table and pulled out an Ouija board, making my eyes widen slightly. Shit, they’ve noticed. Brian set the board up with the small glass mirror in the center.
“Alright, so we all place a finger lightly on the rim of the glass and ask questions with intervals,” Jason, one of the twins, instructed everyone. Those who could reach the board put their fingers on the mirror.
“Is anyone here?” Val, Matt’s wife, asked clearly. With my mind, I moved the center-piece to “yes”.
“Holy shit!” Gena squeaked.
“Do you mean any harm?” Johnny asked. I instantly moved the mirror to “no”.
“How many spirits are here?” Lacey asked.
“Say two,” Jimmy, the other spirit, told me as he walked in and sat on my lap. I moved the piece to “2”. Everyone gasped when the number two was covered. Those who had enough guts to talk did.
“What are you two?”
Male. Female.
“How old are you?” Jimmy and I couldn’t answer.
“How old were you?”
“You first sweetheart,” Jimmy told me softly and I nodded sheepishly.
14.
“Is this the female or male?”
Female.
“Oh my god, so young…”
“What was your name honey?” Val asked sweetly, sounding like a mother. I had to move the piece to each letter now.
B-L-A-K-E
“What happened to you?” Zacky asked.
A-R-S-E-N-I-C. F-I-R-E.
“So, someone set your house on fire?”
Yes.
“Why?”
P-Y-S-C-H-O-I-C. A-S-S-W-H-O-L-E-S.
“Did anyone else die with you?”
No.
“What was your full name?”
B-L-A-K-E M-A-R-I-A C-O-R-S-E-N
“I remember hearing about that in the news… Poor girl.”
“Blake, honey… is the other spirit willing to talk with us?”
Jimmy instantly answered “yes” before Leana, his previous fiancé, could finish speaking.
“Oh my god…”
“Is this the other spirit now?”
Yes.
“Was your name James Owen Sullivan?”
Yes. J-I-M-M-Y. T-H-E R-E-V.
“Can you speak aloud?” Matt Barry asked.
Yes. P-E-R-F-E-R-A-B-L-E-Y. Matt Barry immediately pulled out a recorder to record everything.
“Jimmy?”
“Yes?”
“Oh my god…”
“Jimmy, we all miss you.”
“I miss you guys too.”
“What happened Jimmy? That night?”
“I overdosed on accident. Fucking dumbass move.”
“What was it like when you first ‘woke up’?”
“It was like an out-of-body experience. I saw myself lying in the hospital bed with everyone around me,” Jimmy choked and I immediately wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his back.
“Do you see everything as if you’re still alive?”
“Crystal clear as if I’m walking around.”
“Who is this Blake girl?”
“She’s was fourteen and lived two streets over from me. She only had a couple friends, one was nineteen and the other fifteen when Blake died.” I cringed.
“Who killed Blake and why?”
“Neither of us really know who exactly. Blake was bullied a lot for being rebellious like us when we were young. Course, she didn’t do as much of the stupid shit, but she didn’t like being controlled. We think it was some of those people who bullied her.”
“We? So, you’re friends with this girl then?”
“Yeah, she’s like another little sister. Only, really little.” Jimmy stood up and switched positions so that I was sitting in his lap now with his arms around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder.
“Blake, sweetie, can you talk to us too?”
“Y-Yeah,” I stuttered out shyly.
“Honey, is everything Jimmy has said about you true?”
“Mhmm,” I hummed.
“Can you tell us a little more about what happened?”
“I was sleeping in my room, which was on the second floor. My door was closed and my stereo just so happened to be playing the Nightmare album. The smell of smoke woke me up and I screamed when I saw fire underneath my door.” Jimmy kissed the side of my head, hugging me tightly when everyone gasped. “Whoever started the fire had barricaded my door and window while I was out cold. I coughed until my floor collapsed and burning wood landed on me.”
“Oh my fucking god…”
“What happened to your parents?”
“They were divorced when I was five. I lived with my mom, since I was closest with her. I would spend my summers with my dad. She’s alive though, she moved to New York when I died, I think. My dad’s over in England somewhere, fucking prick never came to my funeral. He was too busy with his slutty new wife who I swear isn’t legal yet.” Everyone chuckled at my statement but I thought it was true.
“How did you and Jimmy meet?”
“I was crying at the park and Jimmy found me. He’s like the big brother I’ve always wanted but never had. Fuck, he’s acts like a better dad than mine, which if you think about it, that’s fucking shitty. You’d think my own dad would’ve tried to keep a good relationship with me, but no! ‘Britney this. Britney that. Oh sorry honey, Britney and I were busy.’ I swear, that bitch is probably just gonna divorce him for all his money unlike my mom did. At least they had a mutual agreement,” I sighed
“Blake, shush sweetheart. I think they get that you hate your dad and step-mom,” Jimmy told me calmly, kissing the side of my head. I huffed childishly, loud enough to be heard by the living who chuckled at my reaction.
“Well, I do. That’s why I lived with my mom,” I grumbled.
“Do you guys have anything in common? You and Jimmy?”
“We both play the piano and drums,” Jimmy said.
“I play the guitar as well, but, I suck at whatever instrument I play,” I said, making everyone chuckle again. “No! It’s true! Little patience and instruments don’t mix.”
“Yet you can read for hours without stopping…” Jimmy faded off.
“Not my fault I’m a book worm who had As and Bs without trying…” I said and poked my tongue out at Jimmy, causing him to poke my side and me to squeak.
“What was that? Blake, are you okay?” Zacky asked me before anyone else could.
“Perfectly fine, Zacky. Jimmy just poked my side when I stuck my tongue out at him,”
“So, you do know our names?” Brian asked.
“Mhmm, everyone in this room. Even though I’m dead, I’m still a fan of Avenged Sevenfold. I know who the Barry brothers are and who was dating who.”
“Really now? Well, let’s see if you’re correct…” Matt S faded off cockily, trying to make the night turn to a fun side.
“You’re Matt Sanders, M. Shadows, lead singer and song-writer. Brian Haner. Jr., Synyster Gates- the only one with a completely different name, lead guitarist. Zacky Baker, Zacky Vengeance, rhythm guitarist. Johnny Seward, Johnny Christ, bassist, also called Short Shit and the youngest, most picked on of the group. Matty Baker, Zacky’s younger Brother. Jason and Matt Barry. Jesus fuck, three Matt’s,” I said, making everyone laugh. “And there are the girls. Val Sanders, Matt’s wife, but her maiden name is Dibenedetto. Michelle Haner, Brian’s wife, twin of Val. Gena Paulhus, Zacky’s girlfriend. Lacey Franklin, Johnny’s girlfriend. And of course, Leana McFadden, Jimmy’s fiancé. I know who Jimmy is obviously- Jimmy Sullivan, The Reverend Tholomew Plague.” Everyone was dead silent after I said everyone’s name effortlessly.
“Feeling cocky now, Shads?” Jimmy asked Matt S, making everyone burst out laughing.
“Why are you two stuck? Not in the afterlife?”
“Because we don’t want to be,” I said.
“What?! Why not?!”
“Because then we couldn’t see everyone we love.” Jimmy explained.
“There might not have had a lot of people I love, but I wanna make sure my mom and couple friends don’t kill themselves.”
“Same here. And I’m glad I didn’t move on because I was able to talk to you all tonight, and you got to know Blake a little bit,” Jimmy added, poking my side a little, making me giggle happily.
“I’m glad that Jimmy didn’t move on right away, because he was there for me. Since we’ve both skipped the offer of going to the afterlife right away, we’re stuck for awhile.”
“Because we get to help those who die from anything. We get to help them get closure and move on.”
“We’re like Fetchers,” I stated.
“What the fuck is that?” Johnny asked, making me giggle.
“The Fetch is a book I read when I was in fifth grade. These people died before they were supposed to and now they go and ‘fetch’ those who’ve died from whatever- pre-death or post-death. The Fetchers is what those people who get the other spirits are called,” I explained.
“Oh…”
“Yup.”
“If you guys take a picture of the leather chair in the room, we could try to show up in it,” Jimmy told everyone.
“I got my camera!” Lacey said, pulling out a small camera from her purse. She turned it on and aimed it at the chair Jimmy and I were sitting on. His arms were still around my waist and his chin was still on my right shoulder.
“One, two, three!” Lacey called and snapped a picture, the flash from her camera making my eyes blurry for a moment.
“Oh my god…” Lacey breathed, looking at the picture.
“What?! Did they show up?!” Brian asked quickly. She nodded.
“Jimmy looks the same and Blake, she’s adorable,” She said, making me blush, before she showed everyone the picture.
“So, what happens now?” Leana asked timidly.
“Baby, I love you so much, always know that. But I want you to move on,” Jimmy said directly to Leana, who sniffled and nodded. Gena hugged her tightly. “I love you all to the point I thought I couldn’t love more than I did without exploding,” Jimmy said, causing everyone to chuckle. “Blake and I will always be around until we get another offer to the afterlife. But, we’ll probably just deny it again- we’re going to continue our lives though we’re dead.”
“I never got to meet you guys in real life, but even I’ll be watching over you all with Jimmy,” I told them, making them smile sadly.
“Whenever you want to talk to either of us, just say our name and we’ll hear ya,” Jimmy informed everyone.
“We all love you- both of you,” Matt S. told us.
“And we love all of you,” Jimmy and I said at the same time.
“I think we should stop for tonight, all of us need some sleep,” Val stated motherly.
“Goodnight guys,” Matty Baker, who hadn’t really spoken tonight, told Jimmy and me.
“Goodnight!” Jimmy and I sang happily. Matt Barry turned off the recorder as Brian put the Ouija board and mirror piece back in the box. I blew out all the candles and giggled when everyone was shocked.
“Blake, was that you?” Jason asked, knowingly it seemed.
“Possibly, maybe, perhaps,” I said, focusing my energy to speak loud enough for the living to hear. Everyone chuckled and I smiled.
“I like your family Jimmy, they remind me of the family I always wanted,” I told him, thinking I was just speaking to him.
“You got us now Blake, welcome to the family honey,” Matt S. stated and I grinned.
“See you guys later,” Jimmy said and we disappeared, ending up back at the park. We were lying on our backs in the grass, looking up at the stars. My head was resting on Jimmy’s chest and his arms were protectively wrapped around me. I looked up at him and saw him looking at me, making us both smile.
“Welcome to the family Blake, though it’s weird,” He said, making me chuckle, and kissed my forehead.