The Rift

Chapter Forty: Thank You

Here we are at chapter forty of this damn book, but luckily we're nearing the end of this dark chapter of Haven AND HEADING TO AN EVEN DARKER ONE

jk. but maybe

-Nick

(Eli POV)

No one could have predicted what happened today, yet I still blame myself for letting certain things happen.

I should have killed Nathaniel a long time ago when I had the chance, back when I was still among his ranks and he trusted me. I hate myself for actually letting myself obey Nathaniel just last year, and the 'Angels of Darkness'? Really? What a fucking joke.

I stand in front of the bathroom sink after enjoying a well-needed shower, only bothering to put on a fresh pair of boxer shorts. I stare at myself in the sweating mirror, rubbing a hand over the rough, stubbly surface of my cheeks and chin. I should probably shave, but then again I think I would look cool with a full beard. My hair is getting pretty long as well, the back of it almost reaching down to my neck. I'm starting to look like a Latino Steven Tyler, except my hair's not quite as long as his.

My thoughts about my appearance are interrupted by a frantic knock on the bathroom door.

"Who is it?", I ask whoever's outside the door as I pick up a clean pair of black colored pants that I set on top of the toilet lid, not bothering to grab the shirt beside it.

"It's Evan!", I hear the familiar voice almost shout.

I roll my eyes as I finish pulling on my pants, then I walk over and open the door, asking Evan in an annoyed tone, "What?"

"It's David", Evan says, clearly out of breath with a faint smile across his face, "He woke up."

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After throwing on the rest of my clothes, I literally run out of the house and I don't stop running until I finally reach the infirmary, yanking open the entrance doors and jogging over to the room where David is resting.

"Woah!", Emma holds out her hands in a surprised motion when she sees me, stopping me from going inside the room.

I come to a halt, catching my breath and asking her, "David...Is he-?"

"He woke up a short while ago but he's sleeping right now", Emma cuts me off but still answers the question I wanted to ask, "He's going to be okay."

I walk past Emma and gently push open the door, peering inside the room and seeing Grace sleeping next to David on the hospital esque bed with a dim light above their heads, her arm laying across his chest. I breathe a loud sigh of relief knowing that we're not going to lose anyone else on this day.

I rest my hand on the wooden door, feeling almost euphoric now that I washed off whatever blood and dirt was on my hands.

"He had us all scared...didn't he?", I ask Emma, avoiding her gaze.

"Yeah...", she softly answers, "He really did."

In that moment after Emma tells me that, I realize how close I was to losing someone else who was close to me. I already lost Sarah a long time ago, and I don't even want to think about how many people we've lost in the past week.

I remove my hand from the door and look back at Emma with tears beginning to fill my eyes.

"What? What's wrong?", Emma asks, stepping toward me and grabbing my hand.

I sniff deeply, trying to hold back the tears, "I just...I couldn't watch any more people die today..."

I lean forward and bury my head down in Emma's shoulder, god she's short compared to me. I feel her wrap her arms around my neck, hearing her softly utter my name and telling me that everything's okay, granting me just a little comfort and warmth in these extremely dark times.

I don't want to lose her, nor anyone else while I'm here. It just can't ever happen again.

(Anna POV)

Sitting at the dining table in what was once DJ's apartment, wearing one of DJ's old tank tops, I stare at the silver engagement ring on my left hand underneath the light of the pendant lamp, a newly opened bottle of vodka in my other hand.

I lift the bottle up to my mouth and take a sip, feeling the burning liquid run down my throat followed by a euphoric sensation.

Why did I ever think that I was going to truly be happy for the rest of my life?

Why?

I've never had a break in my life, everything just kept getting thrown at me and I was sick of it. I always had only myself to look out for, at least most of the time besides the rare boyfriend. The relationships never lasted long, of course.

Then, the dead started to walk and the world was made anew, but I was still a lonely bitch.

Then I found DJ.

With him, I was happy, I was...warm. Now he's gone, and there's not a single goddamn thing I can do about it.

I hear a knock at the door of the apartment, surprised to hear it since it's...fuck, I don't even know...midnight?

"Anna?", I recognize Bella's voice calling from the hallway outside the apartment, "Can I come in?"

"Door's unlocked", I call out to Bella, using my hands to slide the vodka bottle side to side on the wooden table. Bella steps inside and shuts the door behind her, slowly walking over and stands just a few feet away from me.

"How are you...feeling?", she timidly asks, fiddling with her hands in the front of her winter jacket.

"Well...my soon-to-be fiance bled to death in the street, so...", I grumble, playing with the almost half empty bottle of alcohol as if it were some toy. The strangest thing about this moment is that I don't feel like crying anymore like my body is already tired of grieving and just wants me to move on, but I can't. Not yet.

"I'm so sorry...about DJ", Bella says, "If there's anything I can do..."

"There's nothing you can do", I growl without making eye contact with Bella, "There's nothing that any of you can do."

She's a nice girl, and I wish I wasn't so rude to her just now but I'm drunk as hell and unable to fully control my emotions.

"Okay", Bella shakes off my hostile remark and awkwardly shrugs her shoulders, "You're in a lot of pain right now and I understand-"

"Oh, don't give me that 'I know what you're going through' bullshit, Bella. What do you know about pain?", I whip my head to my right to stare up at her as the rage inside of me almost makes me fall out of my chair.

Bella, with a stare that can kill, says to me while rolling up her left sleeve, "I know this much."

Just below her left wrist are maybe seven rows of very faint scars, no doubt made by a blade of some kind. They look old enough to conclude that they're not from any time recently.

"You...cut yourself?", I ask Bella, not very sure what else to say or ask.

"A couple years ago, yeah", she answers, rolling her sleeve back down, "It was just before everything went to shit...I had a really rough patch when my mom died and I was bullied for basically no reason, and it was just a difficult time for me. I didn't exactly want to die, but I didn't want to live either, so...yeah."

"Well...shit", I give a slight chuckle. Not because of what Bella explained to me, but because of how awkward I feel, talking to a teenage girl while drinking my sorrows away.

"DJ was a good man", Bella assures me, "I know he loved you very much, but if you really want my advice...don't let the pain win. I wasn't strong when I was younger, but I know that you can beat this, Anna. There are other people here who care a lot about you, and they'll always be there for you, no matter what. DJ...DJ would want you to be strong for him."

I don't even realize that I'm crying until a tear rolls off my cheek and onto the dining table.

I wipe my eyes and look up at Bella from where I sit, then I whisper two words which I haven't said in a long, long time.

"Thank you."