Harsh Realm

Part 8

“And when it’s raining, raining hard, that’s when the rain will break my heart.” –One Tree Hill, U2

Part 8

        “Sage!” I shouted.

      I took the stairs two at a time as I ran up them to my room. I walked in, only to find Sage fast asleep on my bed. One of her arms was hanging off of the side, and she still had a book in her hand. I had no idea how she was holding onto it while she was sleeping, but there was a lot of things I didn’t know now days.

        I didn’t want to wake her, but I had no choice. She’d kill me if I didn’t. Even though I was already dead, I knew Sage could find some unthought-of way to kill me all over if she really wanted to.

        “Sage?”

        I shook her shoulder gently. Sage groggily opened her eyes and looked up at me.

        “Yeah?” She responded groggily.

        “Come on, it’s raining!” I exclaimed, already backing up toward the bedroom door.

        “Really?” She asked.

        She’d said it like she had just been given the best news of her life, and didn’t totally believe it.

        “Really!” I said, throwing a windbreaker at her from my closet. “Now come on, before it stops!”

       Sage was definitely awake now, and moving at lightning fast speeds to put on the jacket and her black pair of flip flops.

        You might be wondering ‘What’s so great about rain?’ Well, it hadn’t rained one single time since we’d been there. We’d almost started to believe that rain didn’t exist at all in the Harsh Realm.

        I was from Portland, so naturally I was used to the rain. But I’d never thought of it as anything special… until its absence started to weigh down on me. A person can only stand so much sunshine in a place like this, where sunshine is the farthest thing from mind. Sage told me that she’d always loved the rain, or more appropriately, the smell of it. She said it reminded her of one of the best moments of her life.

        I sprinted down the stairs, not bothering with shoes or a coat and ran out the front door into the rain. Sage followed a couple of seconds later.

        For a moment I just stood there, feeling the rain hitting my face. It wasn’t the type of rain that was cold and unpleasant, it was warm and welcoming. It could make anybody who hated rain just for the fact that it was cold, love the rain.

        It didn’t surprise me when I opened my eyes that Sage had kicked off her flip flops and thrown the windbreaker off to land somewhere in the yard.

        She was spinning in circles with her arms outstretched, and her face pointed towards the sky. She looked so free spirited, like if all she had to do the rest of her life was spin in circles in the rain, she’d be perfectly content.

        Suddenly Sage stepped in a mud puddle and it surprised her, stopping her from spinning. Her back was to me as she stared down at her mud covered feet, so I took the opportunity to go behind her and pick her up, spinning her around in circles while I laughed at her weak attempts to get me to let go.

        By the time I placed her back on her feet we were both laughing senseless, too happy and wrapped up in the moment to care about our sopping wet hair and clothing.

        I was dead, and I had never felt more alive than I did in that moment.

        So I didn’t think twice when I looked down at Sage, into her green eyes which held galaxies unknown to me, tucked a strand of her long honey colored hair behind her ear, and leaned down to kiss her. For once I was glad to be there – with her. Every worry and every question faded away as I closed my eyes, only a couple of inches from her lips. But the sound of her voice stopped me.

        “I can’t do this, Nate.”

        I opened my eyes to find her staring straight at me. She looked like she was about to cry any second.

        “Do what? Kiss me?” I asked, gently moving my thumb across her cheek to try to soothe her.

        “Any of it!” She exclaimed, tears finally spilling over and blending in with the rain drops already on her face.

        “Sage, what are you talking about?”

        Sage pulled away from me and backed up a bit.

        “I hate lying to you,” She said defensively, “but you just keep badgering me with all of these questions all the time.”

        “Well I’m sorry that I can’t remember anything, and that I got put here with absolutely no knowledge of what happened to me! How dare I ask questions, right?” I yelled sarcastically, slightly pissed off.

        “I didn’t ask for this, Nate!” She shouted hysterically. “I didn’t ask to remember! To be completely honest, I wish I didn’t remember!”

        A humorless laugh escaped my mouth at how pitiful she sounded.

        “Well, since you do, how about you tell me the truth now, huh?”

        I walked towards her, but she backed up with every step I took forward, shaking her head and seeming to cry more. It was still raining heavily, so I couldn’t tell the difference between the tears and the raindrops running down her face.

        “Please Nate,” She begged.

        “Who killed us?” I asked, expecting to get an actual answer this time.

        Sage didn’t answer me. She kept quiet and stared at me.

        “Sage?” I prodded.

        “Nate,” She pleaded, “please just let it go!”

        I was right in front of her now. I gently put my hands on her shoulders, and bent over to where our height was even. I looked right into her eyes, and calmly repeated myself.

        “Who killed us, Sage?”

        When I started talking she had looked off into no particular direction, not wanting to make eye contact, but at the sound of her name she redirected her attention to me. Guilt was practically seeping from her eyes when she softly whispered,

         “You did.” 

******

OMFG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG! Don't hate me lol. What are you guys thinking??? 

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[Dedicated to larry-loves-lashton because she leaves amazing comments, and she dedicated a chapter to me in her fanfic. Check it out.]