Dead Love

Time's Up

A:N/ Now revealing the LAST chapter of Dead Love. It has been a good ride. Everyone who has stuck with me through this, thank you. I loved writing these characters and will miss each one of them. Once you finish this chapter, tell me if you guys would like an epilogue. Enjoy.

Emmit stood there for a while, jaw slack in disbelief...in denial. His head spun with unclarity, having no real grasp on the situation. He ran a hand down his face, wondering if what he saw was real. But when he looked back down at her arm, the mark was still there, taunting him.

Grace was bitten.

The truth rained down on him like stones. In that particular moment, he knew he still possessed some type of emotion, because he felt his heart tear. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as his insides knotted.

After a long, discomforting silence, Emmit's anger-filled eyes met Grace's uncertain ones. "How?" was all he could manage to choke out.

Grace gave him a calculating look before shaking her head. "Look, Emmit, it doesn't matter,"--She reached a hand out for reassurance, but Emmit stepped back, feeling no need for sympathy. She was the one dying, not him. He already went through that phase months ago.

Her eyes were glossed over with hurt. Emmit couldn't understand why. They should've been full of fear. Fear of what she'd become as soon as the infectious drug kicked in.

"Do you understand the severity of what's going to happen?" Emmit snapped. "You'll die, Grace! And when you come back, it'll only be a part of you. You'll walk this earth with no other intent then to kill!"

Grace shook her head. "No," she whispered, "I won't."

Emmit stared at her in bewilderment before laughing insanely. "Yes, you will!" he shouted. He was pacing now, running his hands through his hair. Stopping, he looked again at his beautiful friend, wishing there could've been something more for them. "You have no choice, Grace," he said more gently this time. "That's the curse of this epidemic. There's no cure, just death. You can't reverse it once it's happened. I'm sorry."

"I don't want to reverse it," Grace said.

Emmit's expression warped into one of horror. "What are you saying? You want a meaningless life?"

Grace shook her head, took a breath, and stepped forward. She smiled sadly at Emmit. "I don't want to come back." Emmit opened his mouth to say something, but Grace held a hand up, restraining him from doing so. "I want you to kill me, before this plague does."

Time, along with Emmit's brain, stopped. He stiffened in disbelief of the request. A rush of wind swirled past the two, making everything colder. Even the tension in Emmit's bones.

"What?" Emmit question, allowing the anger and emotion to seep into his voice.

"You said it. When I come back, I'll have nothing left. No emotion. No brain. I don't want that."

Emmit shook his head. It was logical what she wanted. No one deserved a life of nothingness. However, Emmit wouldn't be the one to kill the one girl he tried so hard to protect. He couldn't. "I can't," he mumbled. "I can't."

Grace reached out for Emmit's hand and he allowed it. He looked away from her as she did. She held his hand in both of hers and smiled. "You can," she whispered. "And you will."

Emmit's looked over at her, ambivalence inscribed in his features. "Grace, I can't kill you." He shook his head. "I love you." He pulled his hand from hers and recoiled. Emmit turned his back to her. "You can't ask that of me."

A vail of silence covered them.

"If you love me," Grace eventually spoke, "you'll hear me out."