Coz why not

Lantern

Don't judge meeeeeeeeeeee
//
I watched as the golden light flowed out of his mouth, flying away in the air. It floated towards the thing that had killed him. But when I looked up I didn't expect to see the womanly embodiment of a demon holding an open box. When the gold light had finished flowing into the box, she closed it.

It was made of dusty, old glass with a handle at the top, one that you could hold the box with. It was almost like a lantern in the way that it illuminated the dark room, light shining on his inanimate features. I could still see the dark circles under his eyes that had begun to show years ago when everything he loved had died.

I almost threw up. What was she going to do with that? I stared at the cold, lifeless body of the boy I used to know. My eyes pricked and tears began to spring in my eyes.

"Dylan?," I whispered brokenly. A began to clench my teeth to hold back tears.

His eyes are still open, I thought with agony.

His beautiful brown eyes were wide open and staring into the great abyss of nothingness that was death.

"Do it," I said. I didn't look away from him as I said this. I wanted him to be the last thing my weary eyes saw before they finished seeing. Finished seeing forever. He was never coming back. I couldn't save him anymore. I'd run out of time.

"Do what, sweetie?," it replied in a voice so sweet and innocent that it made me want to choke it. But I wouldn't do that. I couldn't look away from him. I dropped to my knees in front of his dead carcass and let a few tears escape my eyes.

"You know," I whispered scathingly. "Kill me, too." My voice broke a few times but I could not care less at that moment of people saw me cry. If it saw me cry.

"He's not dead." Its voice would have seemed pleasant and comforting to others, if they didn't know it. But I did. I did know it. What it used to be, anyway. The one that helped us out whenever we needed it, no matter how high the order was. She - now it - would always be there. But not anymore. All she would be there for now was the destruction of happiness.

"Are you serious?," I said angrily. "You think I'm that stupid? He's gone, you disgusting thing. I don't wanna hear that crap about him living on in our hearts, you bitch."

"You're wrong. His body is dead, not living anymore. But his soul is in this box. It's a nice little box. If it's a good soul, it's like having a little lantern."

"What?," I said. Dylan's soul? I just wasn't going to believe that and get my heart crushed again. "You're lying, you stupid son of a bitch."

"I'm not. Goodbye."

"What?" For once, I looked up. And it was gone. The embodiment of a demon was gone without a trace. But the lantern thing that it said contained his soul remained, laying on the cold, damp concrete floor.

I sat there and let a piece of me cry itself out next to him. It took so much longer than I thought it would. I eventually got up, wiped my eyes, took one last look at his dead body and left. With the lantern.

<<<<<<<< about one and a half years later >>>>>>>>

I just had no idea what to do with it. I had so many questions. Why did she leave it with me? Can I get him back with this? Has he been conscious of the time he's been in there? Is it even really him or just some sick joke the thing thought would be funny?

So many questions and. Not. One. Goddamn. Answer.

I sat in the old corridor of the run down building, staring at it in the fading light. I noticed that it - the lantern - glowed brighter at some points and faded a little at others. I had a few theories about this.

The first was that he was in there fighting and when he was winning over the adversary which was threatening to crush him, he would grow brighter. And when the enemy gained the upper hand, he faded. The second was that it was just some weird trick my eyes were playing on me, or maybe it was just some malfunction. I didn't know much about soul-keeping, I had no idea if that was even possible but I had always had exceptional eyesight. The third and most likely, was that the amount of light depended on my mood. When I was uplifted, it would glow bright as any star. But when I was depressed or sort of out of it, it would stay dim and un-invading.

It was pretty dim now, acting in accordance with my unhappy mood. As I stared at his for the millionth time, I just thought about him. About Dylan.

It had become easier and easier to think his name. Now, so much later, it started to feel like everything that had happened, every single thing that ever involved him, was just something that my mind had conjured up.

But I just didn't know anymore. Since my mother had kicked me out, I'd been doing slightly better, on my own, but everything started to feel unreal. Like I'd just dreamed up all of it.

But I knew I didn't. I couldn't have. I wouldn't be able to dream up someone who was as amazing as Dylan could be. And his terrible faults, I couldn't just make them up either. But, somehow, his faults had made him better. I just didn't know what to believe anymore.

So, I would always just....... Stare at it, with no way of knowing what to do. I would figure it out. One day, I promised myself, I would find the answers that I was seeking. I would find them.

And I continued to tell myself this, every night, but I never did anything about it.

For five years.
-
I bolted upright, sweating profusely and gasping desperately for breath. Who the hell was Dylan?