Chapter Thirty-Seven

In front of me stood two people. My aunt was one. My breath was trapped in my throat as I looked at the familiar tan skin covered in black tattoos and full of muscle. I felt like I was hallucinating as I looked up to his green eyes. His black hair was a mess around his shoulders, small curls forming in its wavy appearance. Had I died? Was I being reunited with Jason? I couldn't move or breathe for a long time and everyone seemed concerned.

"Blake?" My aunt reached for me, causing me to snap out of my trance and back away.

"Are you playing a joke on me?" I let out a hysterical laugh.

"No, Honey. We aren't." She looked at me in a commiserative way. I stepped back to the door.

"Yes you are! He DIED in my arms!" I shouted angrily. "He is GONE, Aunt Mary! And now you're playing a joke on me because I missed his funeral!"

"Sweetie-"

"No! No...." I shook my head as I went for the door. My heart was shattering more and more. "I... I can't believe you'd do this. I lost my best friend and my fiancé at the same time. Why are you doing this to me?" I stifled a sob, reaching to open the door. The man approached me. He looked like Jason, but I knew he died.

"D-Don't come near me!" I pressed my back against the door. "You're not Jason! You're not Jason!" He didn't stop. He came right up to me, extending his arms towards me. My legs buckled and I slid to the floor, trembling. He caught me, drawing me into his arms. I could feel his radiating warmth and it felt familiar.

"Let me go." I wept softly. I couldn't pretend that this was Jason. I knew it wasn't in my mind even though my heart told me that it was. "Let me go!" My arms were pinned between the two of us as he hugged me. I tried to push him away, but he held me firmly.

"It's me, Blake." He spoke in my ear gently. I tensed up as I heard his voice. It was deep and calm. "Don't fight me. I didn't die. I was struck with lightning and it brought me back."

"You're lying." I whispered.

"I proposed to you on our graduation day with fireworks. You begged the teacher to pair us up in school and we have known each other for four years.... I died when we went to Japan after a fight with a man in a bug suit." He told me. I whimpered in his arms. "Lilah the otter brought me home with an entourage. When I came to, I was on a leatherback's shell." I pulled away from his loosening arms, looking into his emerald eyes.

"Two weeks later, I was healed enough to be able to walk. By then, your aunt and uncle believed you were dead. I refused to believe it and scoured the ocean for you everyday." His dark eyebrows twitched and a smile played on the corner of his lips.

"Jason?" I murmured. He nodded and the feeling of exhaustion washed over me. "You're... you're really alive."

"I am." The edge of his mouth lifted slightly. Part of me still didn't believe and my vision started blur.

"Oh my god." I felt myself go limp in his arms as I fainted.