The Element: A Shift in the Water (Completed)

Chapter 54- Holy Moly

My love has concrete feet
My love's an iron ball
Wrapped around your ankles
Over the waterfall

Everly

Never have I ever feared my own death.

Not really.

How my life was going to end was not something that concerned me. I had only hoped that in the end, I would be happy. That, somehow, the monster who had tormented me my entire childhood would be gone. And I would have a moment of peace.

That's all I ever wanted.

Until Zeke.

After I felt the embrace of his once-in-a-lifetime love, death began to scare me. It became too real. Too finite. Because, in the end, I did watch my monster get destroyed ... but
unlike what they show in movies, I didn't experience flashes of my life as my breathe faltered. I only saw Zeke, my family, and my friends. A torrent of sweet memories rushed past me, and no matter how hard I tried to hold on, they slipped away.

Leaving me with the look of torment in my lover's eyes. The last thing I witnessed was his fear and his heartbreak.

"Everly."

My eyes pop open at the sound of my name and I find Doc, standing by the pool underneath the Magic Springs waterfall. This place has revealed its true, magical identity. As if it's been baptized in silver glitter, everything — the rocks, trees, water, and sky — sparkle with the refraction of light from millions of tiny diamonds.

Reaching out to touch the glimmering bark of a nearby tree, I catch a glimpse of my hands. They're like a vapor of my once solid form, as if I am a ghost.

Joining Doc at the edge of the water, I kneel down to stare at my wraithlike reflection. "This isn't what I expected."

"It rarely is." Doc sighs, bending to pick up a dark, smooth stone and throwing it towards the waterfall. The rock kisses the surface of the pond several times before being swallowed, disappearing beneath the water. "A stone may skip a long way, but it will sink eventually." He looks down at me. "Such is life."

"So, I'm dead."

"No." He smiles. "You, Everly Anderson, are still very much alive."

"But—"

"Your body is absent of life. This is true. But that is just a vessel. Who you are ... what you are ... is right here." Doc holds his hand out for me to grab.

"But how?"

"You were shot by a dragon-scale bullet, Everly. A fatal wound to shifters."

"No. I mean ... what is this place? Why did you bring me here?"

"This is the Veil. It's what separates the physical world from the ethereal. The place where the Creator pours His magic."

"I thought the water from the springs—"

"The water, like your body, is just the vessel. It delivers magic throughout the physical world. Thereby keeping everything alive. Without the Veil, there'd be chaos."