The Price of Living Immortality

HARRISON

I was hitting another club tonight. I know longer kept track of the days or the time. There was darkness, and there was light. I was aware of that much. Everything else was a blur that reminded me of the one who I couldn't get out of my head. The one who had run away. The one who had taken my cold, dormant heart with her.

I was in agony right now. No, I don't mean because of her. It was fucking karaoke night at this godforsaken bar, and these wasted humans couldn't carry a tune worth shit. After sitting around, letting my eardrums bleed out, I took a stand. Maybe I could make things better.

The DJ looked at me curiously, but I payed no attention. I wrote down my song on a piece of paper and handed it to him. He looked at it and then shrugged, and indicated that I should step up to the mic.

There was a computer screen in front of me, that would scroll through the words of the song in a few second. I didn't need it. I hopped up on the bar (which was the classy stage set up for the singers) and grabbed the microphone.

It all came naturally now. The music began and I started singing

I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing
Just prayed to a god that I don't believe in
Because I got time while she got freedom
Because when a heart breaks no it don't break even

Her best days will be some of my worst
She finally met a man that's gonna put her 1st
While I'm wide awake she's no trouble sleeping
Because when a heart breaks no it don't break even

What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you
What am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and your okay
I'm falling to pieces
I'm falling to pieces

They say bad things happen for a reason
But not wise words gonna stop the bleeding
Because she's moved on while I'm still grieving
Because when a heart breaks no it don't break even

What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you
What am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and your okay
I'm falling to pieces
I'm falling to pieces
(One still in love while the other ones leaving
Because when a heart breaks no it don't break even)

You got his heart and my heart and none of the pain
You took your suitcase, I took the blame.
Now I'm trying to make sense of what little remains
Because you left me with no love, no love to my name.

I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing
Just prayed to a god that I don't believe in
Because I got time while she got freedom
Because when a heart breaks no it don't break even

What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you
What am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and your okay
I'm falling to pieces
I'm falling to pieces
(One still in love while the other ones leaving
Because when a heart breaks no it don't break even)

I put the mic back in the stand and walked out of the bar, followed by a deafening -albeit drunken - standing ovation. I didn't want to hear any of this. I just poured my heart and soul out to a bunch of damn strangers. Little did any of them know how true it was. And I hated myself for it almost more than anything. If there was anything that I hated more, it was the one who made me feel this way.

Everything would be so much easier if I didn't love her just as much.

JOANALIE

I was in the car with my dad, my knees curled up to seat as I sat in the passenger seat, holding my head in my hands. I didn't understand what I was listening to. Just as I was about to ask my father what was going on in Chicago, I started hearing him. I heard him singing. It was a beautiful song. I couldn't understand though. What was happening? Where was he? What had I done?

My dad was speaking to me. He was worried. He wanted to know what was wrong. I looked up at him, tears coursing down my face. His face was contorted in concern, and I didn't want to make him feel worried about me. I tried to gain my composure on the outside. I tried to look as if what I'd just heard didn't affect me. I think my dad believed me.

"Joan, are you alright?" he asked me gently. I nodded my head. He was looking at me still. He wasn't paying attention to the road. I was frozen in my seat. I would have had plenty of time to react, but I just couldn't. I watched in horror as my dad continued to drive toward a car that was speeding toward us from the opposite direction. A huge tank-like van that our little car didn't stand a chance against. I looked toward the windshield, trying to get my dad to swerve out of the way.

I felt useless. Why didn't I just grab him and jump out? Why didn't I take the wheel myself? Why didn't I do anything to stop this tragedy? None of that matter when the van crashed into us. My dad jolted forward, constrained by his seatbelt, the airbag deploying only after the windshield had shattered and flew into our faces. Our car flipped over once, then twice. We stopped moving , and I saw my dad. He was barely breathing. His face was full of blood.

I popped the airbag with my fingernail and began to unbuckle him. He needed a hospital. Now.

Then, we were rammed into again. The fucking van was still going after us. It crashed into the car on the driver's side. My dad was crushed. The life snapped out of him. There was no more hope. I screamed, and ripped a hole through the ceiling of the car. This was not happening. I was going to throw that van to kingdom-come, I was going to heal my father, and everything was going to be just fine!

The black van was sitting there, motionless. All windows were tinted. I sensed no living presence inside it. A strong power was emanating from the whole thing, and I was frightened. I knew this was not an accident.

I flew over to the van, and slid under it on my back. I braced my hands and feet against it, and pushed with all my might. It went soaring a hundred yards threw the air before landing, completely destroyed a football field away. I followed it, and wrenched open the car doors. Just as I suspected, there was nobody inside.

However, there was an immense amount of circuitry. It was all wires and electrical equipment. Like a robot car or something. It didn't have a mind of its own though. I was one hundred percent positive that Chicago had not been taken over by robot invaders. This was the work of immortals. Greater or Lesser I couldn't be sure.

The most pressing matter at the moment was my father. I hurried back over to our totaled car. I was still crying. My father had just died. The last lifeline I had to my past. I should have protected him. I could have gotten ourselves to safety. I could have prevented that crash. I could have done anything else but sit there and let it all happen. I didn't know what had come over me.

I picked up the mangled body of my dad, and transported back to my old house. It wasn't hard to unlock the powers hidden in the recesses of my mind, in the state I was in. So emotionally distraught, that the dark mental fortress stood no chance against me.

Devlin was waiting on the doorstep, having suspected that something was wrong. Damn straight something was up! My father had just been killed by an electronic car . . . and I'd watched it happen, as if in a dream; standing helplessly by the sidelines. The difference was that this was not a dream. And I was not helpless. I failed him.

"What happened to him, Joanie?" he whispered. I couldn't speak. I only lowered my mental defenses for a fraction of a second, to project the memories of the last ten minutes at him. He took my father from my arms.

"Devlin, can you do m-me a favor?" I asked, barely audible above the silence. He nodded his head meaningfully, as if to say anything.

"Will you bury him in the backyard. Be gentle with him, please," I chocked out. I couldn't believe what I was saying, but it had to be done. I couldn't bear to look at him anymore, and he was beyond being brought back to life. His heart was done beating. I could have bitten him. That wouldn't have done any good though. The only way a person can become an immortal, is if they are turned while they're still alive. All hope was lost for my father.

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