𝑺 𝑨 𝑳 𝑽 𝑨 𝑻 𝑰 𝑶 𝑵 (18 +)

𝐏 𝐑 𝐎 𝐋 𝐎 𝐆 𝐔 𝐄

Death.

It was an unavoidable part of life but Ezra hadn't expected to lose his father to it so soon. Sitting amongst a plethora of friends and family he sat and thought of all the things he wanted to say and do with his father before he passed but it was no use. The hole in his chest had already been carved. He was strapped to a table, metal restraints tearing into his skin waiting for the life-altering procedure to begin. They'd given him no anesthesia when he'd gotten the news. Instead, they pulled out scalpels carving their way to his chest until grief filled the entire room.

The pain was unimaginable and as he watched his still-beating heart lie next to his father's body he felt something new. Empty. Like he sat in a room void of any light or color. There was no sound, no ambition, no future. All he felt was indescribable pain. All he saw was an empty space that seemed never-ending. All he could do was scream until his voice went mute.

So many people tried to comfort him that day. Even his brother's girlfriend Sage. He despised Sage. Their dislike for each other was mutual but on the day of his father's funeral, Sage put all of her weapons away. She found him in the back of the church going over his note cards in an old storage room and knocked three times before pushing the door open.

The last person Ezra expected to see was his brother's girlfriend but he was too distraught to strike up an argument with her. Or wonder why she'd sought him out instead of staying by his brother's side.

"Hey," she breathed out. Scoping their surroundings, she leaned her back against the wooden door and smiled at him. Ezra always thought she had a nice smile. Freckles kissed almost every inch of her skin and she'd never let you forget it. She used to get bullied as a kid for them—Ezra often poked fun at the supposed sun-kissed spots on her skin but he had no real qualms with them. He'd never tell her or anyone else for that matter but he thought they were beautiful.

However, they were nothing compared to her eyes. Complete heterochromia. Such a rare condition and Ezra was blessed to meet the one percent. Brunette hues mixed with auburn—the other, a deep shade of brown with hints of amber. He always looked straight into them when they were bitching at each other. Sage none the wiser.

"Hey," he mumbled back still trying to wrap his head around his father's death. It felt unreal. Wouldn't feel real until they covered his casket with dirt. Until he texted his phone and the messages turned green.

"Kind of a gross place to be hiding out don't you think?" She turned her nose up at the old cleaning equipment. The room smelled rank and it was making Ezra's head hurt that or the pounding in his head was a result of a few tears that escaped him before she arrived. He didn't like people watching him cry. The last person he wanted to see at his lowest was Sage Green, the woman that made his life a living hell for the past two years.

He was exaggerating, but Sage was a handful. Always nagging, always in everyone else's business but her own. From the moment they met, she'd decided she didn't like Ezra Lincoln. He was snotty, entitled, arrogant, self-centered, a womanizer the list could go on and on. She was like a bad cold, hard to get rid of, and expensive to treat. She got on his everlasting nerve but his brother loved her dearly, so for that, he'd put up with her.

"What do you want Sage?" His tone sounded harsher than he'd intended. He knew she meant no harm but he couldn't help himself.

"I meant to find you earlier but you were the first one to leave the house. I know we haven't always gotten along but I couldn't go through the entire day without talking to you Ezra. I'm so sorry about your father. He was so wonderful, that's something both of us can agree on. If there's anything you may need, I'm here." She extended a hand and Ezra considered taking it. It didn't matter who it was, all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and cry into her shoulder to muffle the sounds of his heart breaking.

His tears would mix with the pomegranate shampoo she liked, turning her straight hair curly. She'd pressed it for the funeral but he always liked it natural. She was a natural redhead down to her brows. Beautiful. The most obnoxious, aggravating, soul-sucking, person in the world.

"Thank you, but shouldn't you be with my brother right now?" though the smallest part of him wanted her to stay.

"Nick found comfort in a bottle of vodka," she laughed, "there is no talking to him right now."

Ezra knew how his brother got whenever he had a drink. He was mean—no cruel. His brother Nick was cruel whenever he got to drinking and he hated that Sage saw that side of him. That she had been the recipient of his anger. He didn't drink often, but when he did he went all out. Ezra feared that by the end of his father's funeral, his dear brother would have to get his stomach pumped.

"Right, he hasn't said anything to you has he?"

"You mean like call me a bitch and tell me to leave him the fuck alone?" She smiled and ran a hand along a wrinkle in his suit, "relax he didn't say any of that to me. Well, not in those exact words. He's grieving so I won't bitch at him too much but I also don't want him to cause a scene, if you'd—"

He wished she'd just stop talking. He knew what she was going to ask and normally he wouldn't mind setting his brother straight but he had too much on his plate this afternoon. He'd been the only one who actually volunteered to speak at his father's funeral. With so much left to say the only way he could stomach the war inside his head was to let it all out. There was no way he could muck up the speech he'd practiced countless times to remember a new one to give to his older brother.

"You know what, forget it. I'll figure something out. Hopefully sometime before he curses out everyone in the church."

Sage laughed, but she hadn't found anything funny. She was holding it together just like Ezra was. He could see that—he knew how much his father loved her. His whole family at that. She was at every Christmas party, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and birthdays. Actually, Ezra couldn't think of a time when Sage wasn't at the house. She was never with Nick though. Always off helping his mother in her garden or teaching his father how to tune a guitar.

He hated how well she fit into his family. Mostly because he was the only member of the Lincoln household she didn't get along with.

"I'll talk to him Sage, don't worry about it," he assured.

"Are you sure? It's really no problem, I shouldn't have even asked you if I'm being honest. That reminds me, will you be singing this afternoon?"

The question shocked Ezra. Out of all the countless friends and family he'd spoken to this morning none of them had even thought to ask him that. The answer however was one he hadn't liked. Ezra would've loved to sing at his father's funeral but Nick shot the idea down. He wasn't fond of his brother's hobbies and didn't feel like it was appropriate to dilute their father's funeral with the promotion of his band.

It wasn't a band. At least not yet. If he could play all instruments himself he would but that just wasn't practical. Ezra didn't want to sing some flashy song at his father's funeral. He wasn't trying to impress anyone or steal the spotlight. All he wanted to do was share one final moment with the man that raised him. The man that told him to chase his dreams until his feet bled.

"No," and he kept it at that. He didn't feel like explaining and he hoped she'd just accept that as answer enough.

"Oh," she paused her hand hovering over the doorknob. "Well, I for one would've loved to hear it."

He hadn't known where it came from but a single light turned on in the empty void. He reached a hand out to touch it just to confirm that it was real—static shooting through his fingertips to the place his heart should've been. A beat started. Slow and rythmic shamelessly matching the pace of her breathing. Before he could diagnose the feeling any further the light flickered. The ticking in his chest slowed and the void grew cold once more.

He'd have to leave the light off.

Who knew what would happen if he let her in?

Welcome to

• Salvation •