Out of the Darkness

137

"I need to do this, Sam. You don't have to do it with me, but as soon as I'm better, I'm doing it," I replied. He shook his head. "There is something horrible in that house, in this situation, and it's already almost killed you. I'm all about helping people but when it puts me in risk of losing you, that's where I draw the line. It's not happening. No." I sighed, heavily. "You can't stop me," I replied. His jaw clenched and I could see the anger in his eyes. "Why? What is she to you? You haven't known her that long, and if you remember, she's fucking dead! You can't save her! You can't being her back to life, so what do you plan on doing?" "I DON'T KNOW!" I yelled at him. "But there's got to be something that I can do. You didn't see where she was. You didn't feel the isolation, the despair, the utter hopelessness that filled that place. There was nothing. Sam. Nothing. The girl that I met there; she told me what the witch did to them. She controls them somehow, keeping their spirits around, just so she can torture them, for some reason. I can't just let her stay in that place. It doesn't matter that she's dead. It doesn't matter that she's a ghost, and that I can't bring her back. What matters is that I can try to help her get out of that horrible place. I can help her move on to wherever she's supposed to go. Can't you understand that?" I asked, my voice pleading with him. He held my gaze, searching my face for something, then sighed. "Okay. I see that I can't stop you, so that means that I have to go with you." "No, you-" "Shut up," he said, cutting me off. "Yes, I do. It's you and me, Colby. It always has been. But if we're doing this, then we're going to be prepared. We need every protection thing that we can possibly get. Spells, sage, stones, crosses, prayer, whatever. We need it all." I nodded, in agreement. "We can get Ash and...hmm, I forgot her name. The other witch, the seer who helped me before. I still have her number. We can get them to help us, teach us," I replied. "Okay," Sam said, chewing his bottom lip. "I guess we're doing this then. Think I should ask Corey and Jake to come too?" he added, with a grin. I laughed. "Yeah, you do that. I can see how well that will go over with Corey. 'No, NO, you guys are crazy! I won't do it!" I mimicked Corey, getting Sam to laugh. "Jake probably wouldn't give a shit. It would be an adventure to him." "True," I said, smiling. Then my smile faded, as I thought of something. "I actually don't think we should ask them. I don't even want you to go. This is going to be really dangerous, Sam. Lilith is powerful. I don't know how she does whatever she does, or what she's turned into now, but she's scary. And she won't think twice about hurting or killing us." The light faded in Sam's eyes, and he cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, sometimes you have to take that chance. When it's worth it. Is it worth it to you, Colby? Is she worth it?" I held his gaze for a minute, his blue eyes staring into my own, weighing my options. Then I nodded. "It is. She is." I didn't know what it was about Anna that kept me hanging on. I knew that there could never be anything between us. Not really. Like Sam had said, she was dead. A ghost. What did I hope to get out of that? "I want her to be safe. To not be a prisoner anymore," I said, quietly. Sam nodded. "Then we'll do our best to help  her. Now, get some rest. We need you strong for this, and we have some planning to do." He took one more look at my bandaged arm, which was already starting to stain the fresh bandages, then stood up. "Do you need anything?" he asked, standing at my door. "No, I'm- wait. Yeah, I do. Would you mind getting Anna's doll from the car. I don't know if she's inside of it, or whatever, but I just want to talk to her. See if she's doing okay, and...I don't know. Reassure her, I guess." He gave me a sad, little smile, and opened my door, to walk out. "Yeah, I'll be right back." When he was gone, I held my arm up to look at it. It was already gross. The black goo surrounded the fresh blood, mixing with it, to make a sort of grayish rust color. At least it didn't smell, I guess. That would have been bad. I felt weak, but I wanted to take a shower, so I swung my legs off the side of the bed. Time to try this again. I stepped down, and pulled myself to a standing position. The world swayed a little, but then righted itself. My legs were weak, but I felt like they were stronger than before. So, I took that first step hoping for the best. To my surprise, and satisfaction, my foot lifted with almost no resistance, and let me take a step forwards. I held onto the bed, for balance, and put one foot in front of the other, until I reached the end of the bed. I didn't have anything else to hold on. The couch was a couple of feet away from the bed. I honestly didn't know if I could do this without something to hold on too. A quick knock sounded on my door, then Sam stepped through. "Colby, what are you doing?!" he asked, throwing the doll on my bed, then rushing to my side. "I told you to get some rest. What are you trying to do anyway?" "I'm trying to take a shower. I feel like ass," I said, concentration on putting one foot in front of the other, as I held onto Sam. "You think you can stand up in the shower, long enough to get clean? With no support?"" Maybe I hadn't thought this through. "How about I help you to the bathroom, and you can get your face washed, and your teeth brushed? I'll even help you straighten your hair, if you want." I cracked a grin. "Thanks, but the face wash and teeth brushing will be enough.