Tonight The World Dies

Chapter 22: Avery

The wind blew a gentle breeze, rustling the prominent green leaves on the trees, and causing the birds hiding within them to chirp, calling, singing to one another. The air smelt fresh: fresh from the arrival of spring, and fresh due to the vast expanse of water standing before me.

I opened my eyes, turning to see the familiar makeshift fireplace that we'd built, neatly decorated with pebbles from the lake that Val and I had put there. The logs we'd pulled out from the surrounding woods still sat perpendicular to the fireplace, the tops of them lightly worn away from where our asses have sat on them time and time again.

I smiled.

This was home.

"I can see why you chose this place." A familiar voice said. My heart fluttered: I thought I'd never hear his voice again. I turned in time to see a lanky figure appear out from the trees. My smile grew.

"Jimmy." I breathed, rushing forward to envelope my lost friend in a tight hug and breathe in his scent. His arms instantly wrapped back around me, squeezing me tighter than life itself. "You have no idea how good it is to see you." I said, pulling away and staring up into those crystal blue eyes of his. The last time I'd seen them, I'd been saying goodbye to him, unknowingly forever; I never thought I'd be able to stare back into them again, regardless of whether or not this was real, it felt real, and that was all that mattered.

"I wish I could say the same." Jimmy replied, shuffling round me to go stand by the lake. My gaze followed him, eyebrows furrowed, confused as to what he meant. Jimmy pulled a cigarette out from his pocket and lit it with his lighter, taking in a drag before blowing the smoke back out. The wind blew the smoke in my direction, filling my nostrils with the acrid scent.

But, it was a smell I was all too familiar with.

Marlboro.

Brian's favourite brand.

My heart pounded in my chest.

Brian.

He wasn't here...as in he was there and I was here, with Jimmy.

Brian's name crossed my lips in a faint whisper and I turned to Jimmy, suddenly not too pleased about where I was. "Am I...dead?" I asked, my voice shaky.

"Not yet." Jimmy answered. "That's why I'm here, because it's the only time I'll be able to contact you."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I noticed that the birds had stopped singing in the trees, and the cool breeze had ceased, leaving the atmosphere feeling hot, humid and...abandoned.

"You're in a place of hope and no pain. We all have one, and this is yours." Jimmy said, waving a hand toward the lake. "Do remember what happened?" Jimmy asked as he continued to stare out toward the lake.

"I was...in a car crash. Brian found out about the kiss between myself and Matt, and he...he lost control." I said regretfully, suddenly realising that Brian would be blaming himself for this, and the guilt he'd be feeling right about now would be overwhelming...and I wasn't there to make it better. "But, he knows...I told him. It's not his fault." I said, taking a step toward Jimmy. He turned to face me, his face sorrowful. It was such an alien look to see on him that it almost made him unrecognisable.

"You told him you loved him. Not that it wasn't his fault."

"Same difference." I scoffed, thinking it over. "But that's all that matters, as long as he knows that I love him, no matter what, then he won't blame himself. Please, Jimmy, tell me he won't blame himself." I begged, tears stinging at my eyes. If I died, the guilt would consume him. I couldn't leave him...not now.

"You know Brian as well as I do, if not better," Jimmy pointed out, "I think you already know the answer."

"No, no, no." I muttered, dragging my hands through my hair as my knees buckled beneath me. "No, I can't leave him!" A pair of hands grabbed hold of my shoulders, I looked forward, seeing Jimmy crouching before me. He was wearing a leather jacket...but it wasn't his. It was one of Brian's: we'd lost it when we moved, and I remember how bummed Brian had been when he couldn't find it. We'd looked everywhere, even tried to find another one, but we never found it, nor another one like it.

"Then fight, Avery!" Jimmy told me, looking me dead in the eye. "You're strong enough, fight this, and go back to him."

"How?" I pleaded. The wind had picked up, causing my hair to whip into my face.

"You know how," Jimmy said, removing one of his hands from my shoulder to place it over my heart, "when you love someone enough, you know how: you laugh when they laugh, cry when they cry-"

"-hurt when they hurt." I added with a weak smile.

Jimmy smiled. "Yes! That's it! Think about that!" He told me, and I did. I closed my eyes and focused on every good memory that I'd had with Brian...and then I focused on the bad: the arguments, the sadness. Anything, and everything came flooding back. But it was all good. Because it was everything to me and everything that made me love him.

After a moment, the wind died down, and the calm, peaceful atmosphere return to the lake. I reopened my eyes; Jimmy still sat, crouched in front of me, with one of his infectious smiles on his face, and I couldn't help but smile back at him...but then I saw behind him: everything was beginning to disappear and fade into black.

The smile on my face faded. "It's...it's not working." I said, frantically turning my head as I saw more and more of the world before me disappear into nothingness.

"No, it is!" Jimmy said, leaning forward to plant a kiss on my forehead. "Trust me." He said with a wink and a smile before he, too, was gone, and I was thrown back into darkness.