Latch

Ch. 24: Just Breath

(Y/n) eyes opened slowly as sunlight poured into them. She squinted and covered her face with her arm, then took a deep breath trying to remember what had just occurred.

Dark was gone.

Her eyes opened a little wider taking in what she could in her environment. It was perfect. Sunny with a few clouds, a nice warm breeze, trees all around.

"My soul.." She whispered to herself, "I'm...asleep.."

She sat up with the view of the pond only a few meters away from her. She spotted a man, sitting at it tossing rocks into its waters. It was Mark. She stood up slowly, her body and mind were finally at peace.

Mark noticed her from a distance and dropped his rocks, rushing towards her. "(Y/n)!" He called out.

She smiled and began rushing towards him as well.

They met in a warm and welcoming embrace.

"It's finally over..." He breathed hugging her tightly.

"I know! It's done! He's gone!"

He let go of her and held her shoulders, "I'm so—- so just, unbelievably thankful, (Y/n)..."

She laughed, "I'm just a girl living in LA who just happened to be this weird pure heart thing."

"You're more than just a girl living in LA...You're a hero..."

"You think I could put that on a future resume?"

They both laughed.

"So, why are you here? In my soul?"

His smile turned from excitement to fakeness. He put an arm around he shoulder and lead her towards the pond.

"Uh, let's take a seat near the water, I have to explain some things to you..."

She grew curious and slightly concerned. Mark's soul was stable and well off, but he didn't seem too excited to talk to her now. They both sat down near the water, looking out at it.

He was a bit silent trying to gather words together to explain himself.

"Mark?" She spoke up, "Everything is alright now, right? You're okay! You're free!"

He smiled and pat her leg, "I know, and it's such a relief, but there's a problem..."

"What's the problem?"

"My body is the problem."

"What's wrong with your body?"

"You watch my youtube, right? You know about the surgeries and my medical conditions, all that happy junk."

"Yeah, I'm familiar with it. Sort of, but what's your point?"

Mark sighed. "Part of Dark being a part of me meant that all of that sickness, all my health problems, they disappeared. He kept my body healthy, stable, usable--"

"And now that he's gone your body won't be able to survive on its own."

He took a deep breath and stared at the ground. "So I did the only thing I could have done. I fled. While Dark was being sucked into the jar, I was also being torn from my body. I had a better chance of holding onto it than he did, but I knew what was going to happen so I left..."

"What do you mean you left? You just abandoned your body? So what is your soul asleep right now or something hiding in a corner, I don't understand..."

"I came to the safest place I could..." He looked up at the blue sky then down at her. "Here."

(Y/n) suddenly stood up not believing what she was hearing. "Wait a second. You're telling me that your soul is now in my body with mine?"