deathly love

Chapter 22: Could It Be?

"Asher, darling, open your eyes. It's me." The sickly sweet voice only made me clench my eyes tighter. I balled my hands into fists at my side. I was scared to open my eyes, to see what kind of place had unfolded before me after my death.

"Sweetheart, open your eyes. Everything will be okay, my love. Everything will be fine. It's all over now." The voice sounded so reassuring, so caring. I knew that it wanted me to open my eyes and look. But that made me not want to even more. However, the voice was so entrancing that I couldn't help but look. The place that I was in was a room. It was dark and shadowy, cloaking everything within it in darkness. There was a strange odor in the air, and I gagged at the smell. "Turn around," I heard the voice say. "Turn around. Look at me, darling." Slowly and cautiously, I began turning, but I kept my head lowered. When I got turned all the way around, I could see the outline of shoes on the floor, the outline of legs as they went up.

"Look at me, angel." I tilted my head up ever so slightly, afraid of what I might see. I saw the outline of a torso as I went up; arms, shoulders, a neck, and then I saw the sillouhette of a head. There seemed to be a faint glow around the head. I wondered if this had been the light that I had seen when my eyes were shut.

Slowly, the light faded away and the features started to come into focus; those ocean blue eyes, the pale, smooth skin, the lips of a god. A shaky breath escaped my mouth. I thought that Heaven was supposed to be bright and glorious, but here it was dark and shadowed. And I wouldn't have had it any other way than what I was going through right in that moment.

I reached my hand up ever so slowly and stroked the face of the figure. Then I grabbed it's dark hair between my fingers and twirled it, examining it. Finally, I touched the plump, red lips. They felt like clouds. I drew in a sharp breath. "Damien," I whispered. The figure nodded and held his hand out to me. I stared into his eyes, and even in the darkness, they shone like a sun.

"So this is really what the afterlife is like. It is glorious, afterall." Damien Figure laughed. "This isn't the afterlife, Asher," he said. His voice was even like a symphony to my ears. "Then where am I?" I asked Damien Figure. "I am dead, so you have to be fake. The real Damien is still alive." It laughed again. "I am alive," it said. "How can I be dead when you're alive?" I asked it, still holding my hand to its face.

"Asher," it said as it stroked my face with its thumb. "You aren't dead. Look." Damien Figure pointed to the ground, and I suddenly found the source of the strange smell. Vex was on the floor, his blood in a large, messy pool around him. Even in death, he was perfect, maybe even more so now. He looked even paler, and his lips were the color of the blood streaming down them from his mouth. My entire body shuttered at the sight, and I buried my head in Damien Figure's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me, and we stood like that for several minutes.

Finally, I looked up at him, into his eyes. "So that shot, it was you?" Damien nodded. "You shot Vex?" Damien nodded again. "You--killed him?" He nodded once more. I just shook my head and stared at the scene in front of me.

I had caused this. If I had stayed home and not followed Kristian today, then Vex wouldn't be dead. But if I hadn't followed him, then someone else, someone innocent, could be killed at the hands of him instead. I felt relief, but under that was the emerging feeling of imense guilt.

But I was alive and breathing, and so was Damien. He was the real, true, alive Damein. I grabbed him in my arms and pressed my mouth to his tightly. The feeling of pure bliss swept over my entire body.

As I looked around, I noticed that there were two more bodies on the ground. It was the girl and Luka. He had killed them all. He had killed his best friend, his past love, and someone he didn't even know, all for me. Now I realized that he really did love me, more than anything. And I loved him more than anything. And he was right: it was all over.

But suddenly I noticed that Kristian wasn't at the scene. "Where is Kristian's body?" I asked Damien. His head dropped a little. "He got away, but I have a feeling that he won't be back. I think that he is out of our lives forever." I smiled. "At least we can finally move on," I added. Damien smiled and nodded, leaning down to kiss me again. When he pulled back, he looked a little worried.

"What is it?" I asked. He looked me in the eyes. "What if they catch me?" he asked. "For this?" I said. He nodded. "Damien, how could they catch you? It's an abandoned warehouse." "But what if they do?" he asked. "I don't feel right about this. I think that they will find them, and find out that it was me."

I gulped. "What are you saying, Damien?" He stared at me. "We may only have a little time left together," he said mournfully. I managed a smile. "Then let's make the most of it."