An Eternity of Hope

Chapter 2

She walked up to the door and took out her set of keys, hopefully the locks hadn’t been changed since she’d left, but luck was on her side and the door unlocked to allow her entrance. The room she entered was dark and dust coated everything, in fact she almost missed the person sitting in the chair staring blankly at the wall.

            “What has happened to you?” She whispered as she walked closer to him.

            The man flinched as he heard her voice and slowly turned to look at her, confusion crossing his face. “…Jaylyn, is that really you?”

            “Adam, you look terrible. What happened?”

            Instead of responding he stood up shakily, allowing Jaylyn to see how gaunt he really looked, like a living personification of death. She backed away slightly; unsure whether or not he would be mad at her for staying away for so long, though part of it wasn’t entirely her fault. To her slight surprise though he merely brushed his hand against her face as a dazed expression crossed his face, as if he couldn’t decide if what was happening was a dream dug up from his own delusions or if it were actually real.

            “Adam, when was the last time you ate… or slept?” Jaylyn asked as she took in his features, in all honesty she had never seen him look this terrible.

            “A month or so ago… perhaps…” His voice was rough from lack of use. “I can’t remember.”

            Jaylyn frowned. “Are you trying to kill yourself? I thought you were smarter than this.”

            Adam shook his head to clear it a bit. “This isn’t a memory… I must be having another nightmare. So pathetic of me.”

            Jaylyn could tell he was mentally insulting himself worse than what he was saying out loud, the way his eyes clouded over, his one tell tale sign of it. “Come on, let’s get you some rest before you go crazy or something.”

            “Jaylyn… what is it like to truly die?” Adam asked as she guided him to his room.

            “Painful… then… I felt absolutely nothing. Nothing but peace, in all honesty I hated it. I missed this, I’m glad I finally came back.”

            “Will you visit me often in my sleep?” Adam questioned as he glanced at her. “Are you here to guide me?”

            Jaylyn shook her head. “Adam, you are awake. This isn’t a dream.”

            “You didn’t come back… It has been two months.” Adam collapsed on the bed and Jaylyn watched his eyes flutter closed as his lack of sleep caught up to him.

            “I had things to take care of.” Jaylyn opened a desk drawer and took out a gun. “And it looks like I have something else to take care of now too.”

            Adam’s eyes flashed with realization as Jaylyn pointed the gun at him, though he still questioned her motive. “What… what are you doing?”

            “You’re not in your right state of mind at the moment, I’m going to heal you faster than time can. Then we can have a real talk.” Jaylyn didn’t wait for his response as she pulled the trigger and watched him disappear a moment later. Now all she had to do was wait for him to return.

            It took an hour before Jaylyn registered the door opening and Adam’s footsteps walking towards the bedroom where she was currently standing by the window and watching the night slip away. When she heard him stop, she finally turned around to face him, fully prepared to be lectured about what she’d just did and to fully explain herself.