Out of the Darkness

159

"I'm agreeing to go with you, brother, but I'm not agreeing to getting myself killed. Or to letting you get killed. If anything goes down, I will drag you from that house, kicking and screaming. Or I'll just punch your lights out, and carry you." I laughed and settled down into my bed. "In your dreams." "Try me," he replied, with a grin. "Goodnight, Colby." "Night, Sam," I answered. After he closed my door, and I was sure that no one else was going to interrupt me, I dared to close my eyes. "Anna," I breathed out, not really expecting her to answer. "Are you still around? Can you hear me?" A slight breeze blew through my otherwise still room, followed by the citrusy scent that I loved. "Yes," her quiet voice floated on the breeze. "Did you hear anything that we were talking about?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed. "No. I left. I went outside," she answered. I felt my bed shift, like her solid form had sat down on it. "I thought you couldn't leave without your doll." "I can't completely leave, but I can go more than a few feet," she giggled. I opened my eyes, instinctively, just to see her laughing face. She was lying next to me, her dark hair shining in the moonlight that was peeking through my window. There was a smile on her face, that automatically lifted my mood. Despite my arm hurting, despite the impending doom that I knew was coming, I felt better with her next to me. It didn't make any kind of logical sense, especially when I also knew that she could be unintentionally working against me. She could lead me straight to my death or getting my own soul enslaved, as hers was. It didn't matter right then. Only her smile did. She smiled shyly at me, and looked down, letting her hair shield her face. She let her fingertips drift over my injured arm, avoiding the wound itself. There was an instant relief to the pain, causing me to let out a sigh. There had been no relief since I had gotten the injury. Now, it felt like it had never happened, like I was healed. She removed her fingers and the pain shot back up my arm, making my body rigid, as I groaned. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" she asked, hesitantly. I nodded, and raised my good arm so that I could brush her hair behind her ear. "I'm better with you here," I answered. She sighed and lay down next to me, carefully so that she didn't brush my injured arm. Her head lay gently across my chest, so that her hair was brushing my chin. Her sweet, citrusy scent enveloped my senses. We lay quietly for a few minutes, just enjoying each other, when she finally spoke. "You know, we could be together. We could always do this. All you have to do is say yes." I didn't say anything at first, just let her words sit in the empty air. "Don't you love me, Colby?" she asked. We had never said that. We had never proclaimed any kind of feelings for each other, simply because we both knew that it couldn't work. She was a ghost, and I was alive. The only way that it would be possible was if I died and became a ghost, or she somehow came back to life. That was impossible, and I wasn't ready to die. I thought about it a little more. I was going to die anyway. There was no way to stop the spread of a demon infection, so unless I became incredibly lucky within the next few days, I would die. There was no guarantee that I would be a ghost though. I knew God, and I trusted in my faith. I wouldn't become a ghost. "It's not possible Anna," I finally replied. "We can't be together." "But we can," she insisted, bringing her head up so that her chin rested on my chest and she could look at me. "There's a place that we can be together. On the other side. No one would ever be able to break us apart. We would always be young, and have whatever our hearts desired. We could be together always." I felt panic bubble up in my chest. Yes, I thought that I was falling in love with a ghost, but was I ready to say fuck it to the rest of the world and be with her. Was I ready to leave my world behind, leave my friends behind? Leave Sam? No, I wasn't ready for that. I didn't know if I ever would be. So, I didn't say anything, once again, and just stared into her green eyes. She leaned up and pressed her cool lips to my warm ones. It was like I had already died and went to Heaven, finding all that I could ever want, in her. She moved her lips and tongue expertly against my own, a dance of give of take, where we both accepted it all. When we finally broke apart, she sighed and rested her head on my chest again. "I love you," she said quietly. I answered her. I answered because what was the point in lying? I would be dead soon, and it was now or never. "I love you too," I said, pressing  a kiss to the top of her head. I closed my eyes, and settled into the darkness. I needed to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a helluva day. Listening to her unnecessary breathing, and feeling the weight of her laying against me, helped lull me to sleep. My dreams were full of black demons, white coffins, and a secret walkway behind a blinding white door. Anna was there, just out of my reach, with Lilith cackling at my attempts to reach her. My arm throbbed again and again, making it hard for me to keep walking. "You'll never get her!" the witch cackled. "She will always be mine, Colby Brock, and you're well on your way to becoming mine, as well. You're marked as mine. There's no going back now!" "What do you mean, I'm marked?!" I screamed into the darkness, running towards the light that was so far away. I knew that if I could reach that white door, then everything would be okay. I heard her foul laughter pressing in around me. I screamed in pain, as my arm tightened with a fresh jab of torture. Her laughter seemed to get louder, and satisfied in a way. "How is your injured arm doing? It looks quiet painful." I fell to my knees, as the pain got worse. I cried out, grabbing my arm and holding it to my chest, as I looked around in the darkness.