Salvation

“Thanatos,” she said, testing the word out; scrunching her face as she did. A ghost of a smile curved the corners of my lips as we walked down the secluded little path.

“Thane is what I’m usually called,” I said. A slight breeze picked up, making her shiver as she attempted to keep up the pace beside me. I held her hoodie I had been carrying out to her; she shook her head and smiled at me softly. I pursed my lips and furrowed my eyebrows. She was odd.

“Thane. Hmm, it suits you,” she replied to me, making my eyes skirt towards her. I was about to say something but stopped myself. She was observing the world around her, completely entranced by it all. The longer she enjoyed her time here the better.

“Your basically death right?” her question caught me off guard and made me choke on the air I was breathing in. She looked at me expectantly, ignoring my gasping as I regained my composure.

“I am death. There’s no basically about it.”

“Don’t you have any magic powers?” She looked at me out of the corner of her eye as we came to the end of the narrow path and to a large paved road. I took advantage of the momentary distraction to think of an answer.

“I’m assuming by magic powers you mean like flying and teleportation?” She nodded. “Yeah, well, it’s kind of like my punishment. I don’t get to use anything substantial until this job is over,” I said as I looked down the road, craning my neck trying to look for a car.

“Oh.” Her voice was low and strained. I looked back at her quickly and realized my mistake.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” I started to apologize to her, but I didn’t know what else to say because this was just another job, and she knew it. I couldn’t hold her eyes any longer. Shame flooded my eyes and body. I looked away from her watering mossy eyes.

I felt nauseous and uncomfortable. I rubbed my hand over my smooth head and was soon filled with another sort of nausea as I felt the rugged scar that wrapped around my head. My hand dropped and I looked back over to her. She was looking away from me—down the road, towards an oncoming car.

“Dahlia,” I spoke her name softly as I walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her. I didn’t know why I did it, until she looked up at me. “Stop crying. There’s going to be a car here soon.”
She nodded and sniffed while subconsciously leaning into me.

A tiny red Volvo sped into view down the road a few minutes later, making Dahlia sigh in relief. I tried to remain stoic as she left my side, but shivered slightly as the cold breeze slipped past my leather jacket and caressed the patch of heat she had created from leaning into me.

“Here they come!” she moved closer to the road and jutted out her thumb.

“What are you doing?” I asked incredulously.

She turned back to me, her hair beginning to sway wildly in the wind. “It’s what they always do in the movies,” she replied before smiling broadly at me.

The sound of a car engine grew closer and louder. She began to rock on her feet in anticipation and I stepped closer to her and the road, waiting.



“I can’t believe they passed us!” she stomped on the ground in frustration, making the corners of my mouth twitch.

“Well look who you’re with,” I said.

“What?” she said. I rolled my eyes.

“You know what, Little Bird,” she scrunched her nose at my nickname and I shrugged. She rolled her eyes this time and began to pace.

“What do we do?”

“Walk?” I suggested, before adjusting myself to sit down beside the black top. I looked up at the sky. Judging by the sun it was only around four. The wind was still blowing at a decent pace causing the small amount of fallen leaves to blow past us.

“Do you know which direction the nearest town is in?” she asked hesitantly. I looked over to her and quirked an eyebrow.

“What kind of question is that?”

She threw up her hands, clearly frustrated. I smiled at her. “I don’t know! A normal one? Have you ever been around here before? And stop smiling at me,” she huffed.

My smile widened as I got into a crouching position before rocking to my feet. I dusted off my hands before leaning down and retrieving her gray hoodie.

“Dahlia,” I said to get her attention, she was pacing again. She looked over at me irritated. “Put this on, and lets go.”

She grumbled as she complied. I took a deep breath and let it out as I looked at the sky. It was going to storm soon, and the temporary paradise would soon turn into an unwelcome nightmare. I slouched out of my leather jacket I had been wearing and held it open for her. She stared at it, confounded.

“I have my hoodie,” she protested, eyes flickering up to meet my dark ones.

“It’s going to storm. Take it,” I demanded. I took half a step forward and she stepped back and shook her head.

“You need it.”

“Damnit, Dahlia just take it! I’m already dead!”

Her eyes widened slightly at my voice and as if it never occurred to her that I was dead. She stepped forward and slid her arms into the jacket before allowing me to fasten it around her.

My hand went down to hers, and I grabbed it. I tugged her in the direction that we needed to begin walking. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she looked at me and our conjoined hands. I pulled her towards me, wanting her closer to me.

I don’t know why I was acting this way, or why I was allowing myself to.



We walked like that for a while. Hand in hand, side by side, in silence. The sky began to darken quickly telling Dahlia what I already knew—that a storm really was coming.

“I hope we get there soon,” she said lightly, trying not to sound worried. I knew she was. I could feel it coming off of her in waves. I took my hand from hers and put it around her waist pulling her into me.

“We’re almost there,” I said, trying to comfort her. I knew I should be acting differently. I couldn’t.

The sound of thunder contradicted me, and made Dahlia jump.

Fuck. We began to walk a little faster, but there wasn’t much we could do. My eyes searched around for shelter. I may be dead, but the beautiful breathing girl next to me was not.

“Come on,” I moved to grab her hand again before starting to run.
Rain soon enveloped us, drowning out the sound of our ragged breathing and frantic footfalls.

“There’s a house right up the road! We’ll stay there for the night!” I yelled over a particularly loud clap of thunder.

She nodded, but I doubt she heard me.

A small cottage was making its way into my view, but I doubt Dahlia could see anything yet. I gripped her hand tighter and pulled her faster. She began to stumble and I swore. We stopped. “I’m sorry,” I said as she panted for air. I looked between her and the house. Her small body was shaking slightly as her diaphragm struggled to pull in an adequate amount of air. I pushed her too hard, and she wouldn’t be able to run anymore for tonight.

“Dahlia, I’m going to pick you up.”