Immortal's End

Gone. (28.)

[Oak.]

She slumps over, her body laying lifeless on the cold floor beside Darien. I manage to shove Lin off of me, diving to her side.

"No... no, Eva?" I pick her up into my lap, the smooth silk of her kimono tickling my skin. She can't be dead. She can't be. I refuse to believe it. She can't leave me. Not like this. Not when we were so close to the end, to our happy ending. "Eva, wake up... please. We'll get married tomorrow, you just gotta wake up." I plead, desperate for her to open her eyes. "We can have our happy ending, you'll be free of this place, we can run away. Anywhere in the world, we can go. You just gotta open your eyes..."

"Oak..." Lin walks over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"She can't leave like this. This can't be the end." I stroke her cheek, cradling her head. "She can't be gone."

"Is she..." Daveed starts to come closer, but I growl in interruption.

"Take another step, and I swear to god I will make you regret coming anywhere near her to begin with. You messed with the wrong woman." I glare at him coldly. "Your ass is getting arrested and you're going to get the fuck out of our lives."

"I didn't think she would do that." He continues, fidgeting with his jacket.

"No, you didn't, because you don't know her! You tried to make her love you when you could have just been happy being friends with her as you were!" I yell, tears welling in my eyes, threatening to fall. I fight them, though, picking my lifeless love up from the floor. "You abused her when she was content loving you as part of her family! When she finally let her guards down, you took her and tried to break her! TWICE. You disgusting shit, you never deserved any kindness she has shown you. You don't deserve the blessing of her presence. You don't even deserve to be here right now!"

"Oak, calm do-"

"Lin, don't you dare tell me to calm down. If this was Vanessa..." Eva's head rests against my shoulder, just like every other time I held her. She looks like she's sleeping... My heart shatters at the sight.

"Take her upstairs. We'll put her to rest properly later." Lin sighs, walking over to Darien to help him up as he comes around. Daveed stays put, his eyes following me as I take my fallen star away.

Each step feels like a mile, every stair becomes a mountain to climb. All the times I've carried her up these stairs... I never imagined it'd be like this. She looks so peaceful, so content.

"Open your eyes..." I plead quietly. Maybe this time she will. "We'll have your dream wedding. Darien is okay now, he can still walk you down that aisle. I'll find you a ring that can barely match you in beauty. We'll rent the highest rooftop we can find, and get married there. Then, we'll hop a plane and fly anywhere in the world you want to go."

I lay her on her bed, her body sinking into the soft mattress as it always has.

"Please... call me Bear one more time..." The tears I had been fighting for so long finally surface, rolling down my cheeks as the heavy sobs rake through me. I hold her hand tight, her skin feeling cooler already. I just can't believe it.

I can't believed she's gone.

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*Meanwhile*

[Lin.]

Daveed stood by patiently as I helped Darien up.

"She didn't do what I think she did... did she?" Was the first question he asked. He had the same look of horror Oak had.

"That depends. How do you feel?" I say calmly, handing him a bandana to dry his face. The red started to recede from his cheeks, like a fever had broken.

"Peachy. Like nothing happened to my theatre. Though, I feel oddly at home here, which is the concerning part." He furrows his brow, glancing to Oak as he walked away with Eva.

"Then yea, she did what you think she did. What happened to her?" Daveed asks, interrupting the conversation. Darien gives him a sour glare, but answers anyway.

"She gave me her connection to the Richard Rodgers in exchange for mine. Our physical forms cannot handle the extreme damage the theatres can recover from. The Lunt-Fontanne can be repaired. Delicate organs? Not so much. Her body was already weakened by copious amounts of alcohol, drugs, and aggressive abuse, so, I imagined it overtook her quickly. The pain did not linger." His eyes look sad as he reflects on his words.

"She sacrificed herself so you could get that second date." I chuckle dryly, earning an equally dry laugh from the other two men.

"That she did. She gave me a chance at my happy ending too. I shall not waste it. In fact..." Darien turned to Daveed swiftly, nailing him in the gut with his fist. I even wince the sound of contact. Man, that must have hurt. "Might as well start now."

"Jesus fuck! Okay! I get it, I'm a shit human being. Enough punching me!" He groans, doubled over as the wind got knocked out of him.

"Heh, pathetic." Darien chuckles, before turning back to me. "Shall I secure him somewhere until the law enforcements are available again, Sir Lin?"

"Yea, sounds good. I'll go check on Oak. He's probably shutting down." I nod to him, and he grabs Daveed's arm, leading him away. I take out my phone.

To: HamFam Group Chat
If you've seen twitter, you might have seen that the police were here at the RR and the LF across the street was burned.
Oak and I are okay, Darien is okay. Eva is not. She gave herself to save Darien, her only true family. Please don't poke Oak for a while, he's grieving heavily.
Daveed is going to be arrested for everything he's done, including the fire. Even he feels shitty for his actions.

Pipspeak: Oh my gosh

Rengelica: Please tell me your joking.

CookieMonster: I will be right there.

BennyWashington: Same, already out the house.

Antman: Pip, Renee, can you come over? Jazz is losing it bad over here.

OdomJrSir: This can't be happening...

Groffindor: I thought she couldn't... She can't have.

The messages keep flooding back in from the entire crew. Offers of prayers and condolences, asking what they can do, calling out support to each other.

It's going to be a long night.

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08/28/17

Shut up, I'm not sobbing uncontrollably with Oak. You are.