The Things We Do (Under Editing)

A Promise Kept

Dawn was tinting the sky when I opened my eyes again. Someone was leaning over me, but I didn't have the strength to react. Instead I closed my eyes again and took stock of the options:

    1. I was dead, the light was actually hellfire, and a demon wanted to make sure I was awake so that my torture had greater effect

    2. I was dead, I'd miraculously made it into heaven, and there was an angel watching over me.

    3. I was somehow, even more miraculously, alive

I'd consider reincarnation, but most newborn babies don't immediately find themselves looking at the open sky.

"Are you ok?" The voice sounded worried, so that probably meant it wasn't a demon. "Phantom Banshee?" No angel would call me that and still let me into heaven.

I started mentally listing off other afterlives and the chances of me ending up there with someone concerned about my wellbeing. There weren't very may with a reasonable chance. My only option was to open my eyes and check.

It turned out to be a horrible idea. As soon as I tried, it felt like someone had decided to drive a metal stake into my head. Though that feeling was probably already there and I hadn't been conscious enough to notice.

I rolled over and puked, emptying my stomach of what little was left in it after the last time.

When I dropped back to my previous position, I managed to take a better look at who was leaning over me. I found myself staring up into the bright blue eyes of Anna Gray, the eyes that matched Storm's.

"What are you doing here?" My voice scraped through my raw throat and I winced. I didn't have the strength to be surprised at her presence, but I still felt like I should question it.

"I came to look for you. You saved me, so I wanted to make sure you were alright." This kid was a saint. "What happened to the other one?"

In a rush, everything came back to me, and my eyes darted around, searching for any sign of my attacker. "I don't know." The silence was awkward as I tried to calm myself. Every move felt like I was dragging myself through Hell. I ended up lying on my back, staring at concrete above me, watching the darkness slowly creep back into my vision. When it had nearly succeeded in drowning me again, Anna spoke.

"Why did you save me anyway?" So that's why she came: for answers. "You kidnapped me earlier, so why save me now?"

I could barely see her through the blur in my vision, but I remembered how she'd reminded me of Seth. They both seemed smaller than they were, and yet stronger than they had any right to be, refusing to cower when everything said they should. I'd wanted to protect her because of that resemblance, but now it wasn't Seth she resembled, but me. I could see myself in the way she picked herself back up after every trial and demanded answers for what she had been put through.

I smiled slightly, hoping with everything I had that the worst was behind her and she never had to end up like me.

When I finally answered, my words slurred and my raw throat butchered the rest of it, yet the girl seemed to know what I was saying.

"I made a promise that you wouldn't be hurt because of what I did. I owed that person my life and he asked for yours in return."