Chapter 22: Justice Served
The sterile lights of the hospital room flickered faintly as the machines monitoring Jace’s condition beeped in a steady rhythm. Juniper sat by his bedside, clutching his cold hand, her eyes swollen from hours of crying. The doctors had done everything they could. Jace had been in a coma for days, but now, the hope that he would wake up was slipping away with every passing second.
Jace’s face, pale and bruised from the brutal attack by Silas and his fraternity, was still, almost peaceful. The flowers he had been holding that night had long wilted, their petals scattered on the bedside table. Juniper could barely look at them without her heart breaking all over again.
The soft hum of the machines filled the air as she whispered,
"Please, Jace… please come back to me."
But deep inside, Juniper knew the truth. Jace wasn’t coming back—not in the way she had hoped.
Just then, the doctor entered the room, his face solemn. He looked at Juniper and her family, then at Jace’s parents, who stood huddled in the corner, their expressions devastated.
“I’m so sorry,” the doctor said softly, his voice filled with sorrow. “His body is shutting down. There’s nothing more we can do.”
A wave of grief hit Juniper like a tidal wave, her tears falling harder as she buried her face in Jace’s lifeless hand.
“No… no, please… he can’t be gone.”
But even as she sobbed, something strange happened. The atmosphere in the room shifted, and Juniper felt an eerie chill sweep through. She knew it wasn’t just her grief making her feel this way—Jace’s ghost was there.
“Juniper.”
The voice was soft, familiar. She looked up through her tears, her gaze searching the room until she saw him—Jace, standing at the foot of the bed in his ghostly form, watching her with deep sadness.
“I’m here, Juniper,” Jace said, though his voice carried the weight of a goodbye.
Juniper’s breath hitched, and she stood, moving toward his ghostly figure. “Jace…” she whispered, her heart breaking anew.
“Your body… you… you gave up your chance to come back, didn’t you?”
Jace nodded, his ghostly eyes shimmering with emotion.
“I did. To save your dad.”
Juniper’s knees buckled again, but she managed to catch herself, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Why? Why did you do it? We were so close… I needed you to come back. I can’t—”
“I couldn’t let you lose him, Juniper,” Jace said softly.
“I couldn’t let you lose someone you love like that. You’ve already lost too much.”
Juniper shook her head, her tears falling freely.
“But now I’ve lost you…”
Jace’s form flickered slightly, but he floated closer, his hand hovering just above her cheek as he tried to comfort her. “I’m still here, Juniper. I promised I’d be with you until prom night. I’m not leaving yet. Not until I finish what I started.”
Juniper’s lips trembled as she nodded, her heart aching with the knowledge that Jace’s body was gone forever, but his spirit remained—if only for a short time. She wiped her tears, trying to pull herself together.
---
A few days before prom night, Juniper found herself in the school park, sitting beneath the old tree where she and Jace had spent so many quiet moments together. Now, it felt so empty without him there in his physical form.
But as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the grass, something strange happened. A cold breeze swept through the park, and Juniper shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. She stood, looking around cautiously, when suddenly a familiar presence appeared.
Jace stood before her, his ghostly form more defined than ever. But this time, he wasn’t alone. Beside him was a figure draped in dark robes, a skeletal face peeking out from under the hood.
It was Bolliva—the evil reaper who had once been their enemy.
“Jace?” Juniper gasped, her heart pounding. “What’s going on?”
Jace glanced at her, then back at Bolliva, who nodded grimly. “We’re here to get justice,” Jace said, his voice steady. “Silas and his fraternity… they need to pay for what they did to me.”
Juniper’s eyes widened in shock. “What do you mean?”
Bolliva stepped forward, her hollow eyes gleaming. “I’ve seen the cruelty of the living, and though I was once against you, Jace, I now see there is something more important than power. Justice must be served.”
Jace nodded. “Bolliva wants to help us. We’re going to make Silas and his gang answer for what they did. They can’t get away with it, Juniper. I won’t let them.”
Juniper swallowed hard, her mind racing. She had been so consumed with her grief over Jace’s death that she hadn’t even thought about Silas and his gang. They had brutally assaulted Jace, and yet they were still walking free.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
Jace’s ghostly eyes darkened. “We’re going to scare them. We’ll make them face what they’ve done.”
Bolliva’s skeletal grin widened, and with a snap of her bony fingers, the world around them began to shift and warp. The trees swayed unnaturally, the shadows lengthened, and a dark fog rolled in, enveloping the park.
“Let’s pay them a visit,” Bolliva said with a cold chuckle.
---
Later that night, Silas and his fraternity brothers sat around the dimly lit room of their frat house, laughing and drinking like nothing had happened. They were confident—cocky even—that they had gotten away with their crime. No one had seen them that night, and they were sure Jace wouldn’t survive long enough to tell anyone.
But as they sat there, a sudden gust of icy wind swept through the room, making the candles flicker. The temperature dropped drastically, and the frat boys exchanged uneasy glances.
“What the hell was that?” one of them muttered.
Before anyone could respond, the lights went out completely, plunging the room into darkness. Panic set in as the boys scrambled to find their phones, but none of them worked. The air grew thicker, more oppressive, and then… the whispers began.
“Silas…”
The voice was cold, haunting, and it sent a shiver down Silas’s spine. He turned, his eyes wide with fear, but there was nothing there. Just darkness.
“Silas… you can’t run…”
Suddenly, the shadows in the room began to move, twisting and writhing like living creatures. The frat boys backed into the corner, their hearts pounding in their chests.
“Who’s there?” Silas shouted, his voice trembling. “Show yourself!”
And then, out of the shadows, Jace appeared—his ghostly form floating in the air, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. Behind him, Bolliva’s skeletal figure loomed, her hollow eyes fixed on the trembling boys.
“You thought you could get away with it, didn’t you?” Jace’s voice echoed through the room, cold and unfeeling. “You thought no one would ever know.”
Silas’s face drained of all color as he realized who he was seeing. “Jace…? No… no, this can’t be real…”
“Oh, it’s real,” Jace said, his voice dark with anger. “I’m here. And I know what you did.”
The frat boys screamed as the room seemed to close in around them, the shadows wrapping around their throats, suffocating them with guilt and terror. Silas fell to his knees, his hands trembling as he sobbed, “I’m sorry! We didn’t mean to… we were drunk… please, Jace…”
Jace hovered above him, his face unreadable. “You beat me. You left me to die. And now… you’ll face the consequences.”
Bolliva stepped forward, her cold, skeletal hands reaching out. “Time to confess, Silas.”
---
The following morning, the police station was abuzz with activity. Silas and his fraternity brothers had walked in, trembling and pale, and confessed everything. The assault, the cover-up—every detail of their crime spilled from their lips as they begged for forgiveness. But there would be no forgiveness.
They were arrested on the spot, charged with the brutal attack on Jace, and were now facing prison time. Justice had finally been served.
At the hospital, Juniper received the news from a police officer. She turned to Jace, who floated beside her, a tear slipping down her cheek.
“We did it, Jace,” she whispered. “You got justice.”
Jace smiled softly, his ghostly hand reaching out to brush against her cheek.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Juniper wiped her tears, her heart swelling with both sadness and relief.
“I wish you could come back… I wish we had more time.”
Jace’s smile faltered, but he nodded.
“I know. But we still have one last thing, Juniper.”
She looked up at him, confused.
“What’s that?”
Jace’s eyes gleamed with love.
“Prom night.”