The Freeing Blood

Chapter 19

“Is she going to be all right?” I heard a familiar male’s voice ask. It almost sounded like Nick.
“Holy crap, bro, I think her finger just twitched!” Aaron informed everyone with a little too much exuberance.
“Shut up, bro! You’ll scare her yelling like that!” Zak snapped. I heard the sharp sound of a smack.
“Ow, dude. Now I have a headache,” Aaron grumbled probably rubbing his head from where Zak hit him.
My eyelids slowly fluttered open to gaze up at the white popcorned ceiling of my bedroom. Zak was sitting to the right of my on the side of the bed; his hand gently holding mine. Nick and Aaron stood next to him gazing down at me, a wide smile stretching across their faces.
My gaze flickered around the room in search of Mary or Luke, but neither of them were anywhere to be found. I slowly sat up in bed, but fell back against the pillows when the entire room started spinning.
“Here let me help you, babe,” Zak offered scooting closer to me on the bed. He slid a large, warm hand beneath my back and assisted me in sitting up without becoming too overly dizzy.
I rewarded him with a warm smile and brushed my hair away from my face. My gaze flew up to Nick and Aaron.
“Hey guys,” I chuckled. Once I had gotten situated against the wall, Nick and Aaron pushed Zak aside flinging their arms around me in a group hug.
“Hey!” Zak huffed pulling himself to his feet after being shoved onto the floor.
“We’re so glad you’re ok!” Aaron sobbed into my shoulder. I hesitantly pat him on the back; his dark, scraggly beard making my neck itch.
“Um, thanks you guys,” I half chuckled in confusion. Why wouldn’t I be ok?
“Are you feeling ok?” Nick inquired pulling back to stare directly into my eyes. I nodded.
“Now that you have confirmed she is alive and in one piece…could you guys PLEASE step away from my GIRLFRIEND?!” Zak growled as he grabbed a fistful of each of their shirts and yanked them off me. Nick and Aaron stumbled back, colliding into each other before regaining their footing. Nick brushed himself off and straightened his clothes while Aaron made a goofy face behind Zak’s back.
I bit back the laughter at seeing his face. Zak took his position by my side; his hand stroked lovingly down my face before cupping my chin and gently tilting my head up to meet his gaze.
“I love you,” he whispered covering my mouth with his in a soft, passionate kiss.
“I love you,” I smiled. My brows scrunched together in curiosity. “But where is Mary? Luke?” I questioned.
I watched as the three men exchanged glances at my question. Zak gripped my face gingerly between his hands; his blue-grey eyes were locked on with mine.
“What all do you remember, Aerolynn?” he asked quietly, the fear clear in his voice.
“Um, well, I chased you to the cliff…then in order to bring you back to the surface of your own mind I fell backwards off the cliff…and then…” I crinkled my nose as I went deep into thought. There was a large black hole after that. “Then…I must have been saved because the next thing I remember is extracting the darkness from you and officially executing it by using the power of light I had stored inside my own body.” I shook my head. “After that I got tired and everything went black. I woke up here in my bedroom to you three stooges,” I joked wondering why everyone looked so frantic.
“You mean…you don’t remember anything from the time you fell off the cliff up until you saved me?” Zak asked slowly.
“Zak, what’s going on? Why are you three looking back and forth at each other like something’s missing?” Now I was beginning to grow frantic. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal that a part of what I remembered was missing. I just assumed Zak saved me after coming back into himself. Was I wrong?
“Aerolynn—”
“Allow me to explain,” a soft feminine voice spoke up. Our eyes flew to the corner of the room over by the window where Mary stood. Her face was devoid of any emotion unlike it normally is; her unique hazel eyes darkened into a deep brown. They almost resembled the color of Nick’s eyes.
Mary floated over to my bedside and sat down to the left of me. The bed should have shifted under her weight the way it had under Zak’s, but with her being a spirit…she was weightless.
“It’s not uncommon…this sort of thing,” Mary said looking towards Zak.
“I just don’t want her to have to relive the memory,” he whispered. I glanced back and forth between them. What were they talking about? Relive WHAT?
“Unfortunately, it is necessary for her to remember. If she doesn’t, then she may not function the same as the days wear on,” Mary sighed.
“But—”
“Trust me, Zak, I don’t want this either ok?” Mary snapped at him.
“Would somebody please explain to me what in the hell is going on?” I hissed angrily; the focus of my anger being on Mary.
“A lot of times…the light…it…well, whenever it explodes outside of the body the way it did with yours, it tends to wash away ANYTHING bad,” she explained.
“Meaning?” I urged.
“Meaning that not only did it wash away the darkness you had taken inside you, but it is very likely it washed away any bad or tragic memory you recently lived.”
“So you’re saying my memories are gone?” I gasped, tears collecting in my eyes.
“No, the light just merely pushes your tragic memories to the back so that you are more apt to remembering the GOOD ones instead of constantly falling back on the bad ones. All of your recent tragic memories are still living inside your mind, they are just stored away until you yourself remember them or have someone help you awaken them,” she clarified.
“So then how is it that she remembers you? Weren’t you a tragic memory?” Aaron blurted out not really thinking about the way the sentence was worded.
“I may have been at first,” Mary began taking no offense to Aaron’s choice of phrasing. “But her memory of me did not end tragically. Not only that, but that memory happened over four months ago. The light does not affect memories that have already been ingrained into the mind, only the more recent ones that haven’t really had the chance to take effect.”
“Like—”
“Yes, Nick,” Mary growled shooting him a glare. “Exactly like THAT one.” Her sharp tone of voice combined with that cutting glare shut Nick up very quickly.
“What tragic memory am I missing? And where on Earth is Luke? He should be right here beside me!” I snapped feeling the hot, angry tears sting the corners of my eyes as they threatened to fall. Why were there tears collecting? I was angry not sad. So why did the mention of Luke hurt my heart so much?
“Just know that we are all very sorry, Aero,” Mary quietly apologized.
“What do you—?” My question was cut short when Mary touched a single finger to my head. Inside, it felt like a river that had been blocked off for ages had finally burst open. The memory of Zak leaving again, of the conversation I had with my brother, of Zak’s past and how he obtained the darkness, but that is not what made the tears flow silently down my cheeks.
The very last memory that came crashing down upon me was of Luke. It had been him that had saved me from my fall. It was him that had helped push me back onto the cliff. It had been Luke that gave his life for me so that I could save Zak. Mary pulled her hand away as Zak wrapped me in his arms and tucked my head close to his chest. The soothing pounding of his heart beneath my ear should have calmed me. It should have made me relieved that I had saved him and he was alive and well….but….it didn’t. All I could think about was Luke.
No longer would I be able to call him up in the middle of the night to do random things with me. I wouldn’t be able to see his charming, flirty smile anymore when I entered the pizza shop to start work. His deep, throaty laughter would no longer ring in my ears and warm my heart from the joyous sound. Those baby blue eyes would never gaze at me longingly from the corner of his eye every time he thought I wasn’t looking.
He had been my protector—my shield—from the bad and the ugly. His large body had wrapped around mine in a comforting hug whenever I would feel like the world was against me. He had been there beside me when I had to send my brother off to be deployed overseas; his large, calloused hands gently gripping mine as tears had sprung from my eyes while watching my brother board the plane and wave goodbye. He had been my everything: my best friend, my boyfriend, my lover, my guide, my shield, my partner in crime…my hero. Now he was gone. It almost didn’t seem real. How could he just decide to leave me so suddenly? I wanted to hate him for what he did; I wanted to hate him for leaving me…but I couldn’t bring myself to hate even a single tiny bit of him or what he had done. He had done what he knew was right. There had been no way both of us were going to be saved and he knew that. I had even known that, but I just denied the fact. I hadn’t wanted to think about him leaving me. Not yet. Not when I still needed him around. He was—IS my best friend.
'I will always love you.'
The memory of those words made the first sob surge forth from my mouth. Once that sob was released, there was no stopping the cries that came afterward. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as the tears kept pouring from my eyes. I grabbed onto Zak’s arm, clenching his long sleeve tightly in my hand. I could feel my nose growing swollen and red from the endless crying; my tongue tasted salt as tears dripped into my mouth. There was no stopping this pain I felt deep inside my heart. It felt like someone had stabbed through my heart with a sword and then slashed off a huge chunk of it. I wasn’t prepared for something like this in my life to happen.
Vaguely I felt another pair of arms wrap around me from behind holding me tightly. I lifted my head just enough to gaze into honey brown eyes, the same color as my own only brighter and less filled with tears.
“Mason,” I mouthed not able to find my voice through the sobs. My heart tightened in my chest when a tear fell from his eye.
“I’m sorry, Aerolynn. I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He buried his face into my hair and held me tighter.
I heard the soft whispers of Nick and Aaron as they left the room to give us some time alone. I should be happy that I still had the man I loved alive and holding me securely in his arms. I should be happy that it hadn’t been my brother who died for me; that he was here with me safe and sound. But there was no happiness inside my heart at saving Zak, at defeating the darkness, or anything else. The only thing that seemed to fill my heart was desolation and self-loathing. I felt like it had been my fault Luke had died. Had I never fallen back off that cliff, then he would still be alive. He would be here holding me tightly in his arms right now. We’d all be crying tears of joy for saving Zak instead of tears of pain and sorrow for the loss of a great friend.
Even though I didn’t see it, I knew Mary had left. Not just the room, but had gone back up to Heaven where Luke had now made a home. I turned my head to the side just a fraction of an inch; just enough to wear I could gaze out my bedroom window at the fresh morning sky. I must have been out for the night since the sun had been setting when I had blacked out.
My eyes gazed lovingly, yet disgustingly upon the bright blue sky where the sun shone so brightly…happily almost. A bird, a Blue Jay in fact, landed on the window sill and hopped close to the glass. It was rare to see a Blue Jay in these areas especially with it being Fall and close to Winter. I gently pulled myself out of the mens’ embrace and glided over to the window entranced by the bird’s beauty. Now I knew why Luke had found them to be his favorite bird. They had a certain air about them that demanded attention much like Luke himself. The sky blue of the bird’s feathers reminded me of the blue in Luke’s eyes when he would stare at me, a smile on his face all the while. He had told me once that Blue Jays could learn to mimic human speech.
Curious that it had yet to fly away, I unlatched my window and slid it open; the bird stayed firmly on the windowsill.
“Hello, beautiful,” I softly cooed reaching out a finger to brush the tip along the smooth, shining feathers. I found it odd that it was being so nonchalant about being touched.
Then it opened its beak just wide enough for me to hear a sweet sound being sung. I closed my eyes and listened to the Blue Jay’s heartbreaking song. I felt the slightest caress on my cheek. Thinking it was Zak, I opened my eyes with a sad smile only to have that smile fall away as I found myself staring up into a pair of translucent sky blue eyes. Luke brushed a ghostly hand down my cheek; his thumb running along my trembling bottom lip.
“Don’t cry anymore, Aero. It’s ok. I’m not in pain,” he whispered leaning down to press his forehead against mine.
“Lu—” He pressed a finger to my lips cutting off my sob.
“I gave up my life to see you live your own happily. Not spending it crying over some lovesick fool like me,” he smiled.
I glanced behind me to see if Zak and Mason were able to see him as well. They were still sitting on the bed where I had left them watching me through sad eyes.
“They can’t see me. I only made myself visible to you,” Luke informed me.
My eyes turned back to those familiar blue ones.
“Why, Luke?” I inquired so softly I was sure that he couldn’t hear me.
“Because I love you. Words that should have been said long ago, but I was too scared to utter them.”
A fresh wave of tears warmed my cheeks as they dripped off my chin to the floor below.
“Now I can always watch over you…protect you…be with you…” he whispered against my lips. A shiver went down my spine at the electricity that crackled between his spirit and my body.
He moved his lips along my jawline up to my ear. I shut my eyes as he repeated his last, dying words...only he added an extra part.
“I will always love you...now unto eternity.”
When I opened my eyes again, Luke had disappeared along with the Blue Jay. A warm pair of arms wrapped around me from behind; Zak’s chin rested beside my head on my shoulder.
“I love you so much,” he whispered into the same ear that Luke had whispered his goodbyes in.
I leaned into him realizing how much lighter my heart felt; how much the pain had ceased. I smiled up at him placing a gentle hand against his cheek.
“Don’t leave me again. Whatever it is…we can get through it together,” I said to him playfully flicking his nose. He scrunched his nose at the light pain, a soft laughter bubbling out from between his lips.
“I promise.”
I turned around in his embrace and snaked my arms around his neck. I brought his face close to mine, brushing my lips along his before whispering the very words that had been said to me by someone I deeply loved.
“I will always love you,” I breathed against his lips deciding to leave off the last part of Luke’s final goodbye. Those words…they would stay close to my heart and hold a special meaning. A meaning that couldn’t be shared with anyone else…even Zak.
Our lips molded together in a kiss that was filled with passion, with joy at being alive, with relief that the nightmare was over, with sadness at our loss along the way, with longing for what we both wanted in our futures….
But over all of that, our kiss was consumed with the unconditional love that we both felt for each other and nothing, not even a demon itself, could take that away from us.