Out of the Darkness

134

"You're going to die. Nothing lives forever." She just laughed at me and motioned towards the open door again. "I am FOREVER. Leave child. NOW, while I still feel like being nice." Her eyes turned hard and flashed red. I turned and walked out the door, without another word. I just didn't know if I had gone willingly or if she had made me. The concrete door closed behind me, enveloping me in darkness. I didn't even have a flashlight. Sam had them both and he and Ash were nowhere to be found. Damn it. I held my hand out on the wall, so that I could follow it. Before long, I saw the familiar white light in the distance. Keeping my hand on the wall, I started to run. My head pounded and became foggy, blurring my vision again, but I ignored it. I was almost there. Just a little further. I just prayed that Sam was on the other side to meet me. I dove into the light, and everything went dark again. What happened? Was I stuck in this fucking demon realm? Was she lying about allowing me to leave? "Colby, I will SMACK you again, if you don't WAKE THE FUCK UP NOW!" Sam's voice boomed in my ears, causing my head to sear with pain. "Oooww, not so loud," I grumbled, cracking my eyes open. I was disoriented, not sure where I was but seeing Sam's face gave me comfort. I was lying down. That much was clear to me. Could I sit up? I tried to brace myself up on my arm, but pain shot up it and it collapsed under my weight. "uugghh holy shit, that huuurrt," I groaned again, closing my eyes. "Come on, we got you," Sam said. He and Ash hefted me to a sitting position, then took my arm in his hand. "Colby, you need to see a doctor for this. We need to go." "For what?" I mumbled, looking down at my arm. Now I could see it. "What the..?" "When you got bitten in the other realm, it happened to you in this realm. I told you that would happen," Ash replied. That's right. I was at Ash's place. We had just went through the dream realm and the demon realm to figure out what was up with Anna. I hung my head, thinking about her. "Are you okay? Is your arm hurting? Do you need to lie back back?" Sam was hovering over me like a mother bird. "I couldn't save her," I mumbled, choking back an onslaught of emotions. Anger and hatred for Lilith, fear that I wouldn't be able to save Anna, the loss of being so close to her and being unable to do anything, and relief that I had made it out of that horrible place. "What happened after we left?" Sam asked, sitting on the bean bag next to me. "You had Anna. The witch said that we could leave. Did you try to bring her through?" I shook my head slowly, so that I didn't get sick or lightheaded again. "No. Lilith said that she would die if I brought her through, with no body to attach too. She can come on her own, but she needs the attachment to Lilith to stay as a spirit. If I had forced her out, the attachment would've been broken." I heard the words come out of my mouth, but I had no clue how I knew that. It was true though. That much I did know. "So, there's another way then. Don't lose hope. We will figure this out. I promise," Sam replied, hanging his arm around my shoulders. I nodded, but it was really hard for me to see a way to help her right now. I had tried everything that I knew but nothing was working. This was way out of my experience level. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help. If you guys need me for anything, just give me a call," Ash said, helping me stand. Sam laughed, while holding me up with one arm. "Why? So you can not answer?" Ash cracked a grin and shook his head, before leaning over towards a small table against the wall. He picked up a pen and a post it pad, then scribbled something on it. "Here's my personal cellphone number. I will always answer." "I thought you didn't do technology," I said, out of breath. Standing was actually taking a lot out of me. "I don't," he replied. "But sometimes people are more important. Only a select few have this number. Come on. Let's get you to the car." He ducked under my other arm and we started hobbling out of the room. "Wait!" I cried, stopping so fast that they almost pitched me forwards. "Damn it, what?!" Sam said, frustrated. "The doll. Anna's doll," I said, trying to turn around. "Stop. Stand still. I will retrieve the doll," Ash said. We waited for him to grab her, then walk back over to us. He tucked her under his other arm, then ducked back under mine. When we finally made it to the car, I was grimacing with every step that I took. Pain was rocking my entire body, and I noticed that my bleeding arm was also dripping the same black goo that had been in the other realm. "Well, that can't be good," I groaned, as they dumped me into the passenger front seat. "Please keep me informed on your arm, and let me know if I can do anything to help. Here, take this." Ash pressed something into my palm, before turning to Sam. "It's a healing salve. Totally organic and works on almost everything. Hopefully, it'll help his arm. Help him apply it 3 times a day, until no longer needed. It should speed up the healing process, and eject any foreign, dark poisons from his body." "Okay," Sam replied, looking over at me. I gave him a half grin, and stuck out my tongue. "You gotta take care of me." He rolled his eyes at my childish behavior and smiled. "Don't I always? This won't be much different. I still think you should go to the hospital though."