The End That Never Was
Chapter I
"Daddy, I won't be late. I promise."
Vince McMahon sniffed pointedly into the phone, "Yes, and the last time you said that you were so late that I had to reschedule. You are not messing up another shoot for Raw Magazine."
The girl sighed indignantly, "That's not fair! The fan belt on the Mustang went!"
"I mean it, Kalli. Don't be late."
The girl grinned, her voice playful, "All right, Daddy. Whatever you say." She asked warmly, "Don't you think you're fussing about this just a tad too much?"
He was silent for a while and then he told her all seriousness, "My little girl is debuting in the WWF at last, Kalleasto." His voice was warm; "I want it to be perfect."
Melting where she stood, the girl gushed, "Daddy..."
"I..." Awkward, but determined, Vince told her softly, "I'm proud of you, Kalli. I tried so hard to dissuade you from becoming a full time Wrestler. I cut you off at every pass for such a long time..." He shook his head to himself; "You have no idea how hard it is, trying to take away your child's dream even if you think you're doing what`s best for them." His smile danced into his voice, "But you fought hard, Kalli. You earned your shot. And I know you'll make good on it." He repeated meaningfully, "I know you will."
Despite herself, Kalli whispered sappily, "I love you, Daddy."
A beep sounded on the phone and the girl sighed as her father asked, "What was that?"
"I have another call coming through..." She told him sadly.
"Well, that's okay honey. I'll let you go anyway." He was evidently still smiling as he spoke, "I'll see you at Raw, Kalli." He paused and then told her, "I love you."
The girl giggled happily, "Bye Daddy. See you on Monday..." She hung up the call and switched to the incoming one, "Hello?"
"Hey Baby."
The girl grinned at the sound of her boyfriend's voice on the other end of the phone, "Matty." She asked sweetly, "What are you doing calling me?"
His voice warm he told her, "I wanted to see if Dad ended up going to Jeff and Beth's for dinner."
"Uh huh," the girl nodded though Matt could not see the gesture. "He left about half an hour ago. Told me not to wait up." She told him devilishly, "And I thought, seeing we'd have the place to ourselves, I might go jump in the bath..." She giggled sillily, "Get all soapy and wet..." She asked naughtily, smiling wistfully, "Will you be much longer?"
Rustling could be heard through the phone, "Can I have two of those, please?" He stammered into the phone, "Uh, I'm sorry baby, what was that?"
She sighed, "I asked how much longer you'd be."
"Not long," he told her, "I have two more stops and then I'll be home, so say, 20 minutes, maybe half an hour."
"20 minutes?" Kalli whined. The sound of a cash register could be heard and she asked suspiciously, "What are you up to, Hardy?"
He chuckled, "You'll see when I get home, McMahon."
The girl pouted, "Ooohhh..." She growled, "Well, then hurry up and get home already!"
"I will! I'll be half an hour I promise!" He asked softly, "You want me to come wash your back, huh?"
Surprised that he had actually heard her when she had mentioned the bath, she giggled in response, "Uh huh. But if I wait in the bath for you I'm going to get all pruney."
Matt's smile could be heard in his voice, "I'll still adore you anyway, Kalli."
She laughed, "You'd wanna." She asked softly, "So I'll see you in 20?"
"30..."
"20..."
He sighed, "25."
She grinned, "Deal."
"Okay. You be waiting for me in that bath, you hear me?"
Her melodious giggle continued, "Just for you, Matty." She whispered playfully into the phone, "I love you, baby."
He whispered back, "I love you, too." He hung up the phone, the line going dead in Kalli's ear. She grinned, putting the receiver back in its cradle and then moving over to her dresser. Kalli slid the drawer out, searching through it for some underwear. When she found a pair to her liking, she tossed them over onto the bed where they landed beside her pyjama pants and her favourite, tattered white Singlet from the night before.
She slipped the drawer closed, her gaze falling on the Raw script that lay on her dresser. In four days, Kalleasto McMahon would make her long awaited debut in the WWF. She smirked excitedly, content in the knowledge that the Women's Division was going to be altered forever by her appearance in the storylines. She and Stephanie had gone over everything in meticulous detail and if they could just keep their father at bay, the sexist gimmick matches of old would become a thing of the past.
The women's division would be led into a new era by the WWF Divas.
And ultimately, Women's wrestling would never be the same again.
The girl clapped her hands, giddy like a schoolgirl with her sheer anticipation for it all. It was going to be perfect. Everything was going to be perfect. She moved over to her bed, picking up her clothes and heading down the hall into the bathroom. It was only early yet, but with Gilbert out for the night when Matt arrived home, the twosome would have the house to themselves.
She stepped into the bathroom, resting her clothes on the towel rack and then leant over the bath, dropping the plug into it and turning on the water. Her head swam for a moment when she straightened, but she shook her head, shaking away the queasiness that came with it. She undid her button up jeans, sliding them from her body, about to move to close the bathroom door when she realized she had left her Singlet on the bed. "Dayum," she cooed, moving out into the hall in her tiny T and panties, stepping brightly back into the bedroom.
When she went to bend over slightly to grab the Singlet from the plush satin bed covers, her head spun again and she gasped, tumbling forward, landing half on the bed, half on the floor. She slid to her knees, grasping her head, a wave of nausea passing through her.
She wanted to think it would pass like it always did...
But pain was spreading through her quickly, her head aching, her mind screaming at her, and though she struggled to her feet, fear was gripping her. Her heart pounding faster and faster, she whimpered slightly.
Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong.
Kalli hurried around the side of the bed, her eyes on the phone. As she reached for it with trembling hands, another sharp shot of pain broke through her and she collapsed, her hand tangling in the cord and tearing it from the bed side table. It landed on the ground with a resounding thud, the busy tone ringing in her ears.
Tears welled up in her eyes and she sobbed softly, "Matty..." She reached toward the phone, but her vision blurred and she could only barely make the shape of it out. Her breath came raggedly and she sobbed again, more terrified than she had ever been in her life. "Matt..." Her fingers wrapped around the receiver, but the strength to pick even that up was leaving her.
She took a deep breath, and another, and another...
Then the McMahon Heiress collapsed, her breath a quiet wheeze that faded into nothingness.
~*~
Chapter II
The front door of the house banged open, Matt Hardy stepping through the door with an armload of groceries, his keys held precariously between his teeth. He paused to bend over the table just inside the door, letting his keys drop down onto it. The bang echoed down the hall and when he paused to listen to it, he could make out the sound of running water from the open bathroom door. He grinned.
Honestly he had thought she would be out of the bath and sulking in the bedroom by now. He had been a lot longer than originally intended thanks to a chance encounter with Mrs. Helms at the Grocery Store, and if he knew Kalli at all, he doubted she would wait that long and get that pruney when he was late...
But if she had, he wasn't about to complain, now was he?
Moving in the opposite direction, he stepped into the kitchen, dropping the groceries down on the sink. He looked through the bags long enough to retrieve only the items that needed to be kept in the refrigerator. The fresh strawberries and the can of whipped cream, and some milk and cheese he had picked up that had been on his Father's shopping list on the refrigerator door.
So it wasn't much of a surprise really, but whipped cream and strawberries could be fun, couldn't they?
He slipped off his jacket, dropping it onto the back of one of the kitchen chairs and heading out to the hallway. As he neared the bathroom door, the smile that had not left his face since he had spoken to Kalli on the phone deepened all the more. "I know I was an hour longer than I said I`d be..." His warm voice trailed away as he pressed a foot into the carpet near the bathroom door, a squishing noise filling his ears. He paused, looking down as he came to a halt, his second foot pressing into the carpet. Small beads of water rose up in it for a moment under his weight before settling back down.
A feeling of dread filled Matt in that moment that he could not describe, the colour draining from his face, his very being unsettled. "Kalli?" He whispered softly, stepping around the corner into the bathroom doorway. His jaw dropped at the sight before him.
The bathroom floor was flooded, water still flowing over the sides of the empty bathtub. He stepped inside, splashing across the slippery tiles, turning off the taps before hurrying back out into the hall. He paused a moment in the doorway again, "Kalli?" He called out, his voice panicked, "KALLI?"
No reply came and Matt Hardy began to shake, his throat tightening around every breath that passed into his lungs, fighting him as he tried to keep calm. He moved down the hall, casting tiny looks into each room he passed until he got to his bedroom door. The soft lull of the busy tone filled his ears, but asides from one of Kalli's Singlets on the bed, the room appeared deserted...
Somehow, though, Matt Hardy knew it was not.
His shaking legs carried him into the room, and slowly he rounded the Queen Size bed, his eyes falling on the girl, laying in a heap, the receiver still clutched in her hand where she lay. "Kalli!" His fear filled shout echoed through the bedroom and he rushed forward, thumping to his knees on the floor beside her. Her long hair was strewn messily about her where she lay, face down on the carpet. Matt barely managing to breathe at all now, he rolled her over, tearing her into his arms, the receiver falling from her grasp and bouncing redundantly down onto the floor. "Kalli... Kalli..." Her eyes were clenched closed as if she were sleeping, but no air passed through her slightly parted lips, still a warm shade of pink from the lipstick he had lay in bed and watched her apply earlier in the day.
He pressed his fingers gently against her throat, waiting with baited breath...
But there was no pulse to feel under the soft skin of her throat. "Oh God..." His voice was tight, quiet, barely audible at all, his tone filled with the panic consuming him. "Kalli, come on." He took hold of her wrist, as if he had been checking her throat wrong, his fingers pressing against her cold skin.
"Jesus... Jesus..." Tears welled up in his eyes as he lay her back, "Come on, Kalli. Come on, come on... You're not gonna do this. You're not gonna do this." He took a gentle hold of her chin, parting her lips slightly further to check her airway, tilting her head back. He took a deep breath and then leant forward, breathing into her.
As he straightened, he folded his hands together, pressing them over her heart, pushing down, "One One Thousand, Two One Thousand, Three..." He moved his lips back to hers, breathing into her a second time before starting again, his hands nestled against her heart, "One One Thousand, Two One Thousand, Three..." A sob broke through him and though he could barely draw breath, again he pressed his lips to hers, crying out as his hands moved back to her chest, "Come on, Kalli! Come on, damn it! Come on!"
On and on he went, breathing into her with all the strength he could muster, his hands pressing down into her, desperate to bring back to life a heart that had stopped beating over an hour ago. Her body moved beneath his frantic pounding on her heart...
But it would do no good.
On and on he struggled until he could barely draw breath into his lungs.
A horrified scream broke from his lips, and Matt could think no more.
He lifted her back into his arms, cradling her tenderly, his lips pressing against her forehead in soft kisses as she whispered to her over and over again. "Wake up, Kalli. Please wake up. Please." He sobbed softly, his heart breaking, shattering beyond recognition as still he pleaded, "Come on, Baby. Wake up. I know you don't wanna sleep... I know you don't wanna... Please... Please... Come on... Come on..."
But all the pleading in the world did not change anything.
Her pale features rest easily in a peaceful slumber, her limp body snuggled loosely into his arms, his grip on her tight.
If he let her go, she would be lost to him forever...
And so Matt Hardy would never let her go.
He clutched her to him, his fingers in her hair, his eyes clenched together as the world closed in around him, the dark settling in, an eternity waving to him from a distance he knew he would never reach.
She whispered playfully into the phone, "I love you, baby."
He whispered back, "I love you, too."
Just an hour and a half ago.
Just an hour and...
"Come on, Kalli." He shook her roughly, her head snapping back, her long hair touching the carpeted floor beneath her. "Come on..." He sobbed desperately, air leaving him and refusing to return as the deep sobs continued, coming faster and with more antagonizing fury as he begged the woman he loved over and over again, "Please wake up. Please wake up. Please... Please..."
And though her body moved easily in his arms under the force of his desperate shaking, the moment he paused her limbs would rest limply about her, her head still hanging back, her eyes never fluttering, not even for a moment.
He bundled her up into his arms again, her face pressed gently into his neck as he rest a hand in her soft , mousy brown hair, his free hand hooked around her, keeping her upright. "No..." He whispered into her forehead between kisses, "No..."
He rocked her softly in his arms, cooing to her gently, pleading still.
But she did not wake from her deep slumber...
She would never wake again.
~ The End ~