Take me to the skies

Chapter 8 - Reversed roles

Miles pov

I dropped the flowers, the petals bouncing off the stalk, as I stared at Addison. NO. No No NO

I thought she was dead.

Her eyes as blue as the sky, her brown hair a beautiful cascade around her shoulders, like a waterfall, shiny as ever. She seemed surprised at my reaction and confusion reflected on her face. No, why was she confused? I was supposed to be. Like a competition, my brows furrowed deeper. No, I was supposed to be more confused.Not you. The overwhelming feelings swarmed over each others but one stood out. Sadness. You never know how much you had missed someone until you lose them. With my hands stretched out like a zombie, trying to reach out to her. Just when my hand was about to make contact with her arm, she visibly flinched away and her body shifted backwards. Oh god. She was scared of me. Retracting my hand, I let it fall down my side and looked down at the carpet. I expected her to disappear like all the other hallucinations that I have - but when i looked back up, her eyes were still on me, but this time she talked. "You changed your curtains." She pointed a trembling finger at the curtains that used to be blue, like her eyes, like the sky. Something in me clicked, and trying to contain all the emotions within me, i pointed at the door and growled, "Get out." Addison shook her head and stood up from the bed. "I'm not supposed to." "Not supposed to? The fuck you mean? Get out. Now. Don't show your face here ever again." Addison visibly flinched this time, and shifted positions as if to walk out, but she stayed put. Walking towards her, I wanted to force her up and push her out of here. Addison stumbled back in fear and said something that stopped me in my tracks. " This isn't the Miles I know, I miss the old Miles..." I saw her eyes well up with tears, but I persisted, reaching my hand out to touch her, i moved my hand through her body. THROUGH HER BODY? I stumbled back, confused. If it wasn't a hallucination, or she actually survived ,then what is she? Addison yelled out in pain and doubled over, her left arm clutched tightly around her right. Her whole face was scrunched up in pain and the realisation hit me. Whatever she was, she felt pain at my touch. I didn't want to hurt her. Just then, she started glowing. Yes, glowing. I looked at her as she slowly disappeared in the light. No matter how confused I was, I was sure it was just another hallucination. It was like a last goodbye. Reaching my hand out to hers, I pretended that I was touching her fingertips and she was slowly slipping away. A single tear slipped off my cheek and with all of the strength in my body, I whispered,

"I miss you Addison..."

Addison's pov

I retreated to the corner of the room and closed my eyes. Ignoring the throbbing in my arm and head, I concentrated on the rooftop, the only place I could resort to. "UGH - " I felt the pain double as the light at the front of my eye grew bigger, and the furious Miles shrunk, his voice still penetrating my brain.

Did he just say I miss you?

No, it couldn't be. In the vast world of my imaginations, never would I have thought that Miles missed me, or thought of me like I did of him. Every day, every hour, something reminds me of him and I end up breaking down and the tears start overflowing, out of my control. At this point, it seemed like everything was out of my control. 

"Well it's not." I felt a gentle touch on the top of my head the the pain immediately subsided, the relief quickly washing over me. It felt like I just ran a marathon, the dizziness and the mere recollection just hurting too much. 8940 towered over me, dressed in a casual suit, even without his top hat. His eyes softened a little when he looked at my tear-stained cheeks. "I'm sorry, I truly am." I looked forward, not wanting to engage with him. He wasn't even willing to explain further, or offer other ways of comfort even if he knew what I just experienced. I felt his presence stiffen next to me before he sat down on the bench next to me reached his arms out...

And engulfed me in a huge bear hug.Uhm, excuse me? His grip tightened a little as I felt a ticklish sensation in my brain. He was trying to comfort me. I relaxed a little at his firm hug and let the warmth engulf me. It set me in panic by a little - but I slowly calmed down and the tears stopped coming. Reluctant to let go, i held onto him a little tighter. Been a long time since I've gotten a hug. His hands that were about to release me were placed back onto my back soothed out my shirt slowly. We stayed in the hug for a while before I finally let him breathe, letting go of the muscular arms wrapped around me. 8940 looked down at my teary demanour and soothed my hair down, patting my head in the process. "It's gonna be okay, I promise you." I stared up at him. This wasn't the rough and angry 8940 mentor that I had known - it was like the gentle Miles switched roles with him. He scowled a little at that. Lol. I forgot he could read my thoughts. "Ehhh It's not like I'm completely heartless." 8940 shrugged off the suit jacket he had on, and ruffled his hand through his shiny blond hair, one eyebrow raised at me. "I died once too you know?" He leaned back and stared at the sky. I looked at his dreamy face once and burst out laughing."HAHAHAHAH ALRIGHT ALRIGHT THAT'S KIND OF IRONIC" sneering at me slightly, he ignored my comment and continued, "I had a mentor, just like you, but he was brutal. Wayyyyy more brutal than I am." He gave me a side-eye like I should be thankful.

"Wait so how old are you now?"

"Ehh, I'm not sure of how old EXACTLY, I lost count a while back, but I stopped at around 3000."

"THREE FREAKIN' THOUSAND??? DAMN I'm impressed, you got better skin than me!"

Ghoul 8940 rolled his eyes and turned to me. "In this world, you stay looking like the age you died at, no matter how long you are in this world."

"Soooo, I'll forever be 19?" 

"Exactly." 

I nodded, feeling relieved. I wouldn't want to re-live the feeling of dying again. A question popped up in my mind - "How did you die?" Miles flinched a little at the question, but I caught it - some say I can catch these little things like a hawk. 

"When I was 21, I was on my way to visit my - my mother. She had cancer and my dad was barely managing from the jobs he was taking on and I had to visit regularly to stay by her side as she went through chemo. One day, the chemo just - stopped going. Paused. We all knew deep down what that meant, but I wanted to stay positive. Tell her she stopped chemo therapy cuz she was healing, and that made her happier. She was nurturing, and improving a little day by day. I was so happy - even the doctors were surprised. She always lit up whenever I visited her. But in the end I- I" I felt his body stiffen next to mine, I looked over at him sitting next to me, Placing my hand on his shoulder and patting him slightly. "I heard that she was going through emergency surgery and I - was so worried I drove at 120 over to the hospital and I... I crashed. Things happened so fast and when I woke up - you know the rest." He was shivering and stammering a little, as if recalling these memories were extremely painful - which they probably were. "Do...You still remember your name?Like your real one?"

"Yea. I was a Chris"

"Chris like Christopher?"

"No, Chris like Christos"

"Jeez you got one of those names. The BIG REVEAL kinds. The 'I want a classic nickname but a special name' kinda kid." 

He gave me another glare."Can I call you that?" 8940 nodded. I meant. CHRIS, nodded. I smiled a genuine smile at me and I returned one back.

"Did you ever find out if your mom survived?" Chris closed his eyes and shook his head, almost dramatically. "No, I've always been so focused on these tasks, I haven't-" "So, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Chris shook his head, signalling for me to sit back down. "I think you deserve it." I insisted. After all, I knew he wanted this. He just couldn't bring himself to. "Alright." I was about to protest more, but his sudden agreement to this shocked me. It wasn't very like him to give in this easily. It shows me that he really wanted this. "But you're going to go with me. If you're not finishing your task, you're required to stay by my side." I nodded vigorously and shook my thumbs-up in his face. He chuckled a little and gently pushed my hand down. "Don't know what you triggered in me, little angel. I've rarely ever laugh." I smiled cheekily at him and he grinned exasperatedly back at me and smacked me in the back of my head, causing me to laugh harder.

"So, tomorrow?"

"A deal's a deal."