Deicide

February 17 23xx

Silas woke up and sprinted to the bathroom. He barely made it to the toilet in time to release alcohol and stomach acid into the bowl. When he finally caught his breath, he flushed the toilet and slumped back against the wall. The remnants of another dream came back to him, and unfortunately, it hadn't been as pleasant as the first one. After letting Eden yell at him for letting him die, he had watched Eden decay instantly in front of his eyes. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. He couldn't even comfort Eden, because anywhere his skin made contact caused more chunks of Eden's flesh to shrivel and fall away, revealing bone that began to rot and turn to dust.

Thinking of it sent him through another bout of nausea. When it passed, he stood up and brushed his teeth, eyes staying locked on Eden's blue toothbrush.

After he got the taste out of his mouth and throat, he walked into the kitchen, where Howlan was sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee.

Silas considered, but didn't take his own mug. Instead, he opened the cabinet that held Eden's cigarettes and flask, and pulled the flask out. The metal had a design engraved on it, and the leather harness buttoned around it was tan. He unscrewed the lid and smelled the contents, it smelled like something right out of Pakuri's bar. Silas smiled a little, took a sip, and put the flask in his jacket pocket. Or rather, Eden's jacket pocket.

Howlan huffed another small laugh, but his face quickly fell again. He finished off his coffee and set his mug in the sink. "I heard you earlier, you should drink some water. Stay hydrated."

Silas nodded, but made no movement to grab a glass. He sat down one seat away from where Howlan had previously been, still leaving a seat for Eden. He stared down at the empty space.

Howlan reached for the coffee pot when his phone rang. He gave Silas a quick look before making his way to the front door, answering it as he shut it behind him.

Some time later, Howlan came back inside. "They finished the autopsy. His right shoulder was pretty bad, but they're confident it would have gotten better. His side was terrible though, there was intense damage to his stomach, spleen, left kidney, and large intestine. By that time, they couldn't tell if he died from organ failure, internal bleeding, or just blood loss." Howlan sat down in his usual spot. "They also said that there was no way they could sew it back up. They'd need to use a skin graft. I told them it was okay, since he'll be wearing a full suit." Howlan steadied his breathing before continuing. "They also said they noticed something weird, his body isn't decomposing. For whatever reason, there's been no sign of decomposition. I told them it was probably because of the experiments at Sapphire."

Silas nodded, and he felt something in him light up and then dim. It was most likely that whatever slowed Eden's age process was also slowing his decomposing down.

"We can have the funeral tomorrow if we want."

"No." Silas shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, I'm just not- I'm not ready." His chest stung. It hurt to breathe. As soon as Eden was in the ground, that would be it. He had to draw it out for as long as he could. He had to give Eden more time, it was the least he could do.

"The day after tomorrow then?"

Silas hesitated, and eventually his silence became the evident answer.

"We can't just let him sit in that freezer, Silas." Howlan got back up out of his seat and grabbed another mug of coffee.

"I know." Silas sucked in some air, "I guess I just want to give him as much time as possible to work some sort of, I don't know, Eden miracle?"

Howlan frowned. "I think we all are." He took a drink out of his mug, "I think it's time to accept that he can't come back from this."

Silas' breath caught in his chest. His eyes teared up. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. When he was sure he'd be able to speak without crying, he opened his mouth again, "Right. You're right." He nodded. "Excuse me," he whispered, getting up and making his way to the bathroom. He sat down on the toilet lid and covered his mouth with both hands, holding his jaw closed. He breathed out of his nose and tried to stay silent as tears leaked out of his eyes and fell onto his lap. He wasn't ready. He wasn't ready for this to be real. He wasn't strong enough to let Eden go. But he knew that Eden wouldn't want to be left in a freezer until he did start to rot. He knew Eden deserved a proper funeral. He just wasn't ready.