Gone

Chapter III

   I wake up with silence cutting into me like knives. My previous nightmare has not helped me get accustomed to living with Death, or Ty as I should call him. Every night they seem to be the same.... 'he' shows up, seeming to call me to him. As I make my way toward him a strange darkness grabs a hold of me and pulls me back, away, away, away. I wake up screaming then pass out again in tears.

   Early that morning, I wake up screaming and Ty is sitting there on the edge of the bed. He sees the tears running down my face and, without a word, opens his arms. I flop into them in a bleh kind of manner. I bury my face in his shoulder and cry out every tear I have in me. He doesn't let go of me until I have definitely stopped crying for the moment.

   "Are you okay?" He whispers in my ear, even though no one is around to hear it.

  "I'm fine," I lie.

   "I know you aren't."

   That is enough to send my finally clear eyes back into a blur and that is how we spend the rest of the morning, in a sad, wet heap.

   Around two in the afternoon, I finally lift myself from the clutches of my comforter and slide across the room on my socks. I scramble down the stairs and somehow Ty beats me to the bottom even though he started way after I did. I go into the kitchen and start to fix something for breakfast, or maybe lunch. I pick up the bread and Ty comes and picks it out of my hands, "What would you like, dear?" he asks.

   "For one, You can call me Elisi, none of this 'dear' stuff. Second, peanut butter toast sounds good," I state then add a please onto the end.

    I walk over to the counter and sit on the bench, which is too high for my short legs to reach the ground. My dark hair creates a shield around me and I can only see straight in fron of me. Ty works so quickly I don't even have time to process what I am doing before I am half way through my toast and he is sitting next to me.

   "I would like to draw you sometime..." he whispers.

   I blush, "Why would you want to do that?"

   "I'm pretty sure your face is perfectly symmetrical."

   "And that is interesting?" 

  "Completely."

   "Okay, well, if I had something better to wear I would be fine with that."

   "I think I can fix that." 

   He grabs my arm and carries me up the stairs and into a room only filled with clothes. He tells me to choose something then come down when I'm ready. After I'm sure he's gone, I walk around the room, running my fingers along the fabric. Almost everything is black, but every once in a while I find something gray or white. I end up in a white blouse, a pair of tight gray leggings, and little black flats. I brush my hair out with my fingers and brush my teeth. I look at myself in the mirror for a long time before going back downstairs.

   I walk into the living room and Ty stands up to welcome me. He sits me in one of the kitchen chairs and has me look out the window as he works. I hear the scratching of charcoal on paper and time passes in strange amounts. In one moment it feels like each second could easily be a minute, and others don't even feel like seconds. Sooner rather then later, Ty finishes and shows me his picture. The girl is not the one I saw in the mirror, her dark, glossy hair and flawless skin look like they are meant for some goddess.

    As if he could tell exactly what I was thinking, he leans down just to my ear and whispers, "That is what you look like to everyone else. Why don't you see yourself like that?"

   "I-I--I don't--- I don't know," I stutter.

   "Open your mind, you are beautiful."

   I turn to him and give him a quick kiss on the tip of his nose,"Thank you."

   "Now we move onto you Derek Sahe."

   He grabs my hand and pulls me into the study, "This," he points to a place, "Is where he is. Because of what he did in his first life, he was sentenced to one year or so of punishment. You can save him though if you can beg the guards to free him, and I can help with that"

   "Great..." I whisper.

   "Actually it is quite easy, you just fly--," He cuts off," Wait, you can't fly.... We will have to take the hard way then--"

   I cut him off, "We? You don't have to come, you know."

   "Yeah, but I don't know what I would do with myself if you got hurt, you have suffered enough in your first life to have to suffer more because I wouldn't come with you."

   "Okay then."

   "Then we are in agreement and we leave tomorrow. You should probably get some sleep."

   "Thank you. Good night," I turn to walk up the stairs,but turn on my heel as I reach the first step. I race over to him and peck a quick kiss on his lips. I turn again and race up the stairs into my room and close the room quickly and carefully.