Au where after Neil's death he becomes a vengeful ghost (because suicide is technically a violent death)
He's haunting Welton, because Todd is the person he's bound to. The person that's keeping him on earth, keeping him from moving on entirely. (I assume if it wasn't Todd, though, he'd be bound to the puck crown and kill his father).
At first it's a rather peaceful haunting. Todd's the only one that sees Neil (and since he's having a rough time adjusting part of him thinks he's like genuinely seeing things that aren't there. He does NOT talk about it with the poets, though he does think Neil's nice company. Even though he doesn't say much).
Rather quickly, though, things start becoming more violent. Someone bumps into Todd in the hallway, then ends up dead. Another person spreads a nasty rumor. Dies. You understand how it goes.
All of them die of a gunshot to the head, though the gun is never found. It's clear they're not suicides.
A pair of ghost hunters show, pretending to be FBI. Todd breaks rather quickly when they start asking about Neil, begging them not to lock him up because he swears he's not insane and that he has nothing to do with the murders and and and--
Todd guides them to the grave, but burning Neil's bones does nothing but create an empty, pained pit inside him. He's already been through so much and now they're--
Todd doesn't look or anything. Though he must know Neil should look more or less the same as he remembers, inside the casket. It's only been a week or two.
Back at Welton the murders continue. The FBI guys are still there. They make Todd sit down in a salt circle and draw out the gho- Neil.
Then comes the hardest part. With tears streaming down his face and a lump in his throat, Todd has to say goodbye to him. Has to let him go. To tell him violence doesn't solve a thing and it hurts so much because the Neil he knew would never hurt anyone. He's the one that's made him into... A monster.
It works. For a short second Todd sees the boy he'd fallen in love with. Then there's a light and... Neil's gone.
Turns out, getting to say goodbye doesn't make things easier. Not if this is the manner in which he had to do it. There's even more empty seats in the classroom and those are his fault. There's no doubt about it.
One of the FBI agents tries talking to him, telling him it's not his fault. He knows they're lying.
He doesn't tell the poets. Doesn't tell anyone.
In silence, all alone, he has to live with the fact he made Neil into a murderer. That he's the one person he gets to blame about Neil's memory being tainted in his own eyes.
I imagine the guilt will eat at him until, eventually, he'll confess to the local cops. He's the one that murdered those boys. He's got a motive. No alibi, at least not one that matters after his confession. Besides, cops are dumb, they'll believe him.
And there's not a lie in his confession either. He might not have been one to pull the trigger, but he's the one that made Neil stay there. He's the one that caused all those boys's death.
Him. Todd Anderson. Murderer.
