Forever

The night before...

The worst part about silence is the fact that you are absolutely alone. Even if it’s a room full of thousands of people, your thoughts are all you have. The only sound is that of the same voice which nags you every second of your life.

You’re a freak. Don’t make her suffer. You don’t deserve her. But you love her. Go back to her. Show her how much you love every part of her body…

I actually physically slapped myself when that particular line rang out in my head. Those were precisely the ones I hated to be alone with. I know I was a sinner, but never had I ever stooped as low as the night I’d poisoned her dreams. Sure, I came to the beautiful revelation that we had to be together, but not in the manner I would have preferred. Anything but my perverted mind would have sufficed. It wasn’t right to think about her like that. Of course, if the time arose, then I’d eagerly think away, but until then, should it ever occur in the first place, I had no right to fantasize about her. That’s just what I’d come to understand. She was so perfect; I had to be as close to perfection as trash like me could just to be near her, and sexual lust was not the way to do it. Clearly, I would never achieve true perfection, not even close, but I could clean myself up so that I was at least in the ballpark.

These were the thoughts that I heard over and over; the thoughts which said the absolute truths through a mask of self-righteousness and ridiculous dreams. The rain that began to pour down on me was like a gift from above to kill the silence. Although, I much preferred her voice to be the tonic to my loneliness. Listen to me! Fuck, I was drowning myself. In what, I don’t know. I changed because of her. The way I think, speak, move…it’s all different.

I’d been driving for days. I asked around when I first left to find that I was in Texas. I had no idea where in Louisiana that she lived so my first instinct was to go to the town she’d resided in when I’d been with her. The problem was that she no longer lived in that house. I knew this because when I came back, her room was entirely different. Even so, I made the trek in order to investigate from the locals.

I looked like shit by the time I actually reached the damn town and that was, for once, a bit of a concern. I needed to talk to somebody to find out where she could be, but if I looked like death, then there was a very little chance I would even be acknowledged. On any other day, that would mean jack shit, but I had zero energy. I’d sucked myself dry as I straddled the borderline of insanity and there was absolutely no fucking way any of my mind tricks would be effective at that point.

I parked in some abandoned lot and settled in the seat, figuring the best way to handle all of this was to sleep. Trying to calm myself down inside from all the underlying excitement of seeing her again, I watched as the thick droplets of rain sloshed against the windshield. I never liked rain. I thought it was annoying as fuck and did no good. Sure, it naturally waters the Earth, but like I gave a fuck if this damn planet dried up and burned.

Scratch that, I gave a huge fuck. As long as Marilyn was there, I would make sure that everything was as colorful and full of life as possible. I would give her whatever she wanted, and if I knew my babygirl, she wanted utter loveliness. I smiled at this thought. I was obsessed with the feeling of being in love. I wanted nothing for her but happiness and for each and every day of her life to be beautiful, like she was.

Maybe I didn’t hate the rain so much. I wondered then, as I fiddled with the bottom of my white button-up, if Marie had the same rain coming down on her as I did. Would the same cloud that currently pelted the little shit town I was in hit her window like it did mine? Was she thinking about me? I couldn’t wait to find out.

I had stared at the water for no more than fifteen minutes before I knew it wasn’t possible for me to sleep or even rest my mind. My gaze shifted up to the rearview to meet with dead, drained eyes from years upon years of isolation, yet I knew that behind them stood excitement and love and every beautiful thing that came with it. I was ashamed of myself, like usual, but at that moment, the menacing purple under my lower lids did not reflect my happiness. The paleness of my usually tanned face was a lie to my anticipation. I supposed it was just that state of mind I had put myself in. I hadn’t realized it, but my mental stability and overall wellbeing had progressively deteriorated from the moment I penned the last word on that fucking pink paper years prior and it was the last few days of being away from her that the results of the decline really showed through. The only thing left that truly looked like me was the vivid green of my irises. Yet even they had dulled some. They no longer were lit like neon, but instead held an intense forest shade. What really made them lackluster compared to usual was perhaps the chronic shadow that had coveted them.

Anyway, I twisted the ignition only to find that it wouldn’t start. Being my usual, angsty self, I stomped out of the car and kicked it so hard it flipped over. I was literally on the outskirts of town, but it still annoyed me. I couldn’t remember much about how to get to her old neighborhood, so the fact that I’d have to find it on foot was a drag as well as the fact that the sky was pissing buckets. Even still, I decided to go for it. This decision paid off, as I only took me a couple of tries to relocate her old street.

When I passed the enormous beige structure, I had the urge to walk up its path and enter. She wasn’t there, of course, but it didn’t stop an electric jolt to shoot through my veins. She’d touched that building. Her fingerprints were all over it.

As weak as I had become, my eyes watered; however, I shook it off, reminding myself that I needed to stop letting my emotions get the better of me. Deducing that her neighbors would be my best bet, I reluctantly stepped away from the former Harper residence and shuffled up to the home beside it. It looked far drearier, despite the brighter colors. Everything but Marie meant nothing.

A few raps on the large door were all it took for a short woman to open it and smile warmly at me. I recognized her. She’d been over to have tea with Marie’s mother countless times. Funny enough, some seven years ago, I wanted to lay her. She didn’t look much different, despite that she had gained some lines. After all this time, she was still beautiful, and she couldn’t be more than thirty-five. Even so, I had no desire for her anymore.

“Can I help you?” She had utter concern written all over her face and before I had a chance to answer her, she scoffed at the situation and ushered me inside. “What are you even doing out there in that rain? Get yourself in here, you poor thing!” She was always an extremely gracious woman. She had no idea that she’d just let a cold-blooded mass murderer in her home. All she cared about was the fact that I was out in the freezing rain. For once, my heart was warmed at her kindness. To be completely honest, I tended to take selfless acts from others as mockery or I just found them annoying, which often resulted in the person’s death. I was surprised to see that I actually appreciated her care. “Come sit down,” she dragged me into her living room, which was scattered with children’s toys. She must’ve had a child. “You look so tired, boy. Let me fetch you something dry and maybe a glass of hot cocoa?”

“I’ve never had hot cocoa,” I replied truthfully. In fact, there were a lot of things I’d never had. I didn’t taste what my harbors tasted and I would spend years at a time with them. Alcohol was my main consumption for a very long period, with perhaps a few sweets and shit here and there…as well as raw humans and animals, but that’s another topic altogether.

“What on earth? I’ll get you one right away!” The look of determination on her face made me laugh as she shot up from the bluish colored couch, but I had really only come here for one reason. I’d have liked to be back out as soon as I could.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but all I need is to ask you a couple questions and then I gotta run.”

“Nonsense, this will only take me a minute. I will answer a thousand questions if you just allow me to do this for you.”

There was a glint in her eyes that made me shrink into my seat and nod. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but whatever it was, it was fucking sad. The whole aura of this home was gloomy, as if a lot had been lost.

I pondered that thought for a while, trying to figure out what might’ve made it like this. It didn’t take me long to spot a picture of a man in uniform, another person I recognized from years back, that was perched high on a shelf with a folded flag proudly beside it. My heart sunk.

The same feeling I’d always had when I thought about something happening to Marie outside of my control washed over me lie a ruthless wave. She lost the man she loved. She was here, all by herself, forced to live on because she had a little one to take care of. He was gone, really gone and there was nothing that she could do to bring him back. I was sickened by the thought of losing Marie to death. I’d be just like this woman without her. I would have to suffer on because…well, because I couldn’t fucking die.

She would inevitably kick it one day. Even when I finally held her in my arms again, I’d only be able to do so for a blink of time in my eternal life. There wasn’t a magic potion I could give her to make her immortal and I sure as hell couldn’t just bite her like they do in those fruity movies. She would have to go eventually, hopefully after decades upon decades of happiness, and I would be left alone. Again. As I always had been.

“Young man, are you all right?” the woman’s soft voice inquired, breaking me from my trance. “I brought you some dry clothes. They were my late husband’s so I hope you don’t mind. The bathroom is just down the hall to the right—”

I regretted it a split second after when I saw her face, yet I stupidly blurted out, “What’s it like to lose the one you love?”

She didn’t respond, but just watched me with those sad eyes, and I could tell she saw my mirrored pain. Out of shame for asking her that tender question, I stood up instantly and looked at the ground before shuffling up to take the bundle of dryer warmed clothing with a mumbled thank you. I felt her heavy eyes on me as I followed her earlier directions to the washroom.

Feeling like I was placing clothes made of lead onto my body rather than a plain t-shirt and sweatpants, I hurried to change. I would’ve been absolutely fine in the soaking attire I had on, but I knew she just wanted to take care of me…Like she was desperate to tend for anyone who she laid eyes on.

I didn’t blame her.

I silently entered the living room once again to find her staring at the photograph. Her pink pajama pants swirled lightly as she spun to face me and wordlessly took the dripping bundle straight from my hands. I went to protest, but she gave me that same, sweet smile and walked off. The sound of a clothing dryer was heard faintly down the hall prior when I sat back down and stared at my hands, the steaming cup of ‘hot cocoa’ a blur on the seemingly distant coffee table, like a camera out of focus.

“It hurts,” I jumped a little bit as her soft voice spoke behind me, “and sometimes I wish I could end it all to be with him, but I can’t.”

Just as I had thought.

“You don’t have to tell me this. I was rude to ask—”

“No, love, I can see my answer means something to you and I’m very much willing to share.” She came and sat beside me. “I dream about him every night and in these dreams I often see myself in his position at his time of death. No one knows exactly how he died, but he suffered three gunshot wounds, the final and fatal one being in his head,” she whispered the last part, “which means he felt the other two before he was free from pain. This easily haunts me the most. I would have preferred him to die quick and painlessly, but he didn’t.”

“I’m so sorry,” my voice cracked. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. If anything, I feel sympathy for you. Something haunts you, too. Something terrible that no one of your age should ever know.”

If only she knew I was millennia older than she was. “I’ve always been tough. I’ve seen a lot, but don’t feel bad for me. I’m all right.”

She gave me a skeptical look but asked further, “Then why don’t you look like it?”

I was silent for a long moment before I dared to whisper, “I fell in love.”

“That’s a joyful thing! What could possibly ruin that?”

“I lost her because I’m no good for her…but I’m going back. That’s why I came here.” She met my words with a quizzical look. “Do you remember the Harper’s?”

A light flickered in her eyes and she smiled. “Absolutely! They were wonderful people. I was sad to see them move.”

“Do you happen to know where they went?”

“I’m not sure of the address, but they moved down to the New Orleans area. I guess they needed a change of scenery. I don’t blame them, that poor baby.”

“What? What happened?”

A look of remorse and sympathy clouded her eyes, “Their sweet Marilyn wasn’t healthy, honey. They were looking for a new start after all the troubles she faced here.”

“W-What kind of troubles?” I didn’t really want to know the answer; I could sense that I wouldn’t like it one bit.

“She’s the one you’re in love with, huh?”

I nodded fiercely in response and quickly grabbed her hands in my own as I turned my body to face her completely. “Just tell me what it was, ma’am.”

She hesitated, her mouth undecidedly shifting back and forth from a sad smile to a frown until she scrunched up her nose and finally spoke, “She was trying to kill herself, love,” my heart stopped, “I don’t know what got her like that, but every time she’d come back from the hospital, it was only a few more days, if that, until she’d try again. I walked in on her trying to hang herself. I’ll never forget that.”

“When was this?” My voice was weak and I could feel the horrified yet sorrowful look my face. I was struck with every single negative emotion I could ever feel when I heard the words from her mouth.

“Probably some six or seven years ago now. She was so young.”

I choked and bit my trembling lip. My down cast eyes began to water. She tried to commit suicide over losing me. Any other reason wouldn’t have made sense. If no one knew what came over her, it was entirely my fault. “I’m the reason.”

“Shh, I’m sure it had to do with something else.”

“No…I left her even though I knew how much she loved me. I was so stupid. I didn’t even realize how much she means to me until recently.” My hands were placed over my eyes. “It’s all my fault and I hate it.”

A sense of uncertainty radiated off of her like sunlight; it was clear she didn’t know what to say to me. The soft touch of her fingers met my forearm in a feeble attempt to soothe, but I violent smacked it away. Her whole body drew back from me in a fear, but I was too emotional to care.

I say emotional because I wasn’t just sad. I was getting more pissed as I thought about it, and me being me, this anger was not something that should be agitated. My hands began to shake as tension built up in me until I bolted to my feet and stormed over to the tall, rounded window. I didn’t even process how beautiful the view was as the sun fell beneath the horizon. I was too caught up in my pain. How could she do that to me? The one thing I stressed when I left is that she kept herself safe. If she had succeeded, I might as well have stayed and collected the years myself as terrible as the thought was. I wasn’t safe for her, but clearly she had become a danger to herself as well. I couldn’t even picture my baby in such a dark state. I was supposed to be the suicidal one.

“What if she had done it? What if she had died?” I growled through furious tears and snapped my head around to glare at the woman, though not because I was hostile towards her, but because she was just the only responsive thing to look at. Otherwise I would have probably chucked the first thing in arms reach and with my strength, the object could be anything in that room

“I-I’m sorry…I know y-your very upset, but I have a sick child upstairs and she’s j-just gotten to sleep before you arrived.” My eyes instantly softened in the slightest, yet I was still unfathomably upset and my gaze remained quite hard. Still, I didn’t move. “Please come back and sit. I’m sure she’s safe now. Everything will be all right.”

It took a moment of soft-spoken persuasion to return me back to the plush couch, but when it was achieved, she shakily patted my hand before going to reheat the long-forgotten cocoa. I shamelessly watched her ass as she walked into the kitchen.

Upon her return, I had pacified myself enough to think clearly, and I was assaulted by the sweet smell of the chocolate drink, in which actually seemed quite appetizing. I hadn’t the ability to get Marie off of my mind, and I recalled the fact that she had not had this drink once, per my recollection, during the years we were together. I found that odd, because it seemed to be rather popular, but then again, the Harper’s lived in a bit of a bubble.

She handed me the mug carefully, as if not to aggravate me. I assured her I wasn’t a danger currently. “Don’t worry ma’am. I’m just a little hurt,” a lot hurt, really, “I only needed to let off some steam. I’m not going to hurt you or anything,” I chuckled darkly, but she caught it as playful and sat back down beside me with a smile.

“You know, I have no idea who you are, but I’m glad you came. It gets lonely sometimes. The little one is sick upstairs, like I said…she gets sick a lot. I’d best go check up on her in a while…” she paused for a sizeable moment. “You’re not a psycho killer are you?” her jade orbs squinted in cute way.

My similarly green eyes matched her expression devilishly, “And why would I tell you?”

For some reason, I hadn’t the heart to actually lie to her, so I worded myself in a way to direct away from the truth. The reality was that I indeed happened to be a psycho killer. I was a murderer.

I was a murderer.

My mask of sly confidence crumbled for the billionth time as I watched her. It was as if her glistening eyes reflected the images that she’d seen, particularly the one which included my baby stringing herself from the ceiling. It was an overwhelming sight.

“Oh my god…” I breathed, the horror plastered back to my face.

“What? What is it?” Our hands were once again together as she leaned forward intently to see what was wrong.

“I could’ve lost her. She could’ve been gone forever and I would never have even found out.”

Understanding almost poured from her eyes. “It’s okay, honey. She’s still alive, I presume. I’ll bet I would’ve heard wind had it been otherwise.”

“I know she’s still alive. It’s just a disgusting thought because I would have been her killer, in a way, if she wasn’t. I hate to think that I pushed her to those extremes. I could never hurt her… ever.”

“I believe that. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about her. That’s how my Frank and I were.”

“So, what I am feeling then is absolutely love?” I whispered, eyes flicking back and forth at hers.

“I would say, based on experience…Y’know, we’re pretty alike,” she squeezed my fingers, “I’m just torn that someone as young as you is so troubled.”

“I’m older than I seem, ma’am.”

“Are you? I can’t see it.”

“Then look closer.” Ironically enough, I didn’t realize just how close we were both looking at the other until my eyes shut and our lips met. I’m not sure what had been going through my mind at that moment, but I didn’t pull away when I realized what I was doing. After a mere stutter of thought, she had ran her small hand up my chest and to my neck and I reveled in how good it felt after driving myself nuts for the past several days. I nearly deprived myself of the real world and for me a woman’s touch was something of a wake-up call. Just as our intimacy had begun to deepen, I was also reminded of what had caused me such mental distress.

You’re a damn idiot, I thought to myself after I practically flew to the other end of the couch. Her eyes were wide and sad and it broke my heart because it looked just like Marie’s when she’d truly seen my face, maybe not quite as horrified, but alike all the same. My apologies were rushed, “I’m sorry, that was a terrible decision. I’m in love with Marilyn and I don’t want you to get the wrong idea—”

“Just stop, it’s fine. I’m sorry, too. That was my fault as much as yours. We’re both upset, and perhaps it was the fact that this is probably the first time I’ve been alone with man in the last five years that drove me to be so careless. My heart will always belong to Frank. I’m just empty. I should know better than to foolishly seek out relief.” Her eyes watered. “Forgive me. I am ashamed that I took advantage of you.”

“No, no. Don’t be. I basically instigated it. I understand.” I omitted that she was naturally attracted to me because of things considered metaphysical. “If anything, I took advantage of you. Marilyn is still breathing and I could’ve just waited for her to find solace. It’s not you’re doing at all.”

“You never drank your cocoa.” Her voice was monotone.

I hastily grabbed it from the short table. “It’s still warm.”

“Very well. Would you like a pillow and blanket?” I gave her another look of protest and her expression warmed in the tiniest bit. “No, don’t give me that. No way in hell am I letting you go back out in that weather. You’ll freeze to death in that rain. Stay until the morning, New Orleans is only a few hours away. I’d rather you go back to your girl with a well-rested face then the zombie-like one you’ve got now,” she laughed.

I decided she was right, but I still refused for her to get me anything. I was able to regulate my body heat to match the environment; if it got cold, I’d easily adjust. The lone exception was if I was ill. Sickness couldn’t truly affect me, but like anyone else, I was not entirely immune for some weird reason. Anyway, the sound of retreating footsteps told me she had left the room after she reluctantly accepted, despite the fact that she was blatantly unsatisfied with my response.

Staring out the large window, I began to reflect on a lot of shit, which was never a good idea when it came to me. As was easy to tell, my mind was a restless thing. If one simple idea was placed in it and I was given time to myself, my head would spiral around it and analyze every possible aspect of the concept. It was quite annoying, given that I had so much time. Being immortal, it would’ve been extremely nice to have a steady, calm thought-process. But no. I had to obsess over everything.

That’s just it; I was obsessive as fuck. If I liked something, I really fucking liked it, and if I loved something…well, look at how I felt about Marilyn. Even worse, if I didn’t like something, I hated it. I fucking loathed it and everything having to do with it. I was toxic to myself. The fluid in my body was poisonous and as blood in the brain is essential, toxins were my equivalent. Hell, I had “anxiety and panic attacks” that were more like violent spasms of the goddamn mind that could supposedly allow me to communicate with my family. However, in retrospect, I began to think that that episode in Marilyn’s classroom was just a forewarning that I had created in my own head. I was really quite convinced that it was truly my father due to the precision of his voice, but it just didn’t add up. Because of that, I wasn’t really afraid to allow them anymore, other than the fact that I just downright abhorred them. I’d had a total of three since I left Marilyn.

After a long while of contemplating whether or not I should share the fact that I had kissed another woman to Marilyn when we were back together, I finally fell asleep.

I still hadn’t taken a single sip of the hot cocoa.



The thunderous pounding in my head was excruciating and my body felt sticky. My blurry eyes shifted down to find myself lying in a puddle of blood, and based off of the ruthless strike of pain in my side, the ever familiar red liquid was my own. This was odd enough as it is, given that injuries didn’t last long on me. But alas, the amount of fucking blood I was practically bathing in would prove to say that I had been bleeding for a while. It was a tad bit unsettling. To top it off, I heard annoying dripping all around me, but it wasn’t light drips like water; it was thick and heavy.

Exasperated, I quickly laid back down on the leaf-covered ground. A sharp cry of pain erupted from me when the action irritated the searing wound just above my right hip. Used to having all of my injuries heal quickly, I was caught off-guard. It had been a very, very long time since I’d felt such a sustained affliction. Suddenly, the scars on my back began to sting in reminiscence.

Cussing in the process, I fumbled to my feet. The ground seemed to be shaking and the world began to spin as I pressed a shaky hand against my stomach in hopes to stop the bleeding. My disorientation sent me to stumble about, catching myself often on trees, judging by the feeling of rough bark digging into my palms and the blurred, towering pillar-like shape of them, that is. Panting and leaning my entire weight against the wood, I forcefully blinked my eyes a few times to regain some of my clear vision. However, I wasn’t at all pleased by a single drip on the top of my head. I tilted my face up to see what could possibly be fucking pissing itself on me, but was startled when another drip hit the top of my cheekbone, just under my left eye before I could get a good idea of where it came from. Smelling it and recognizing the scent as dead blood, I hesitantly dabbed my fingers into the bead of liquid, pulling away to find a dark red smear on my skin. Disgusted, as decaying blood was low and gross and only the weakest of my kind feasted on that shit, I moved from under it as fast as I could.

Curious as to what filthy thing had been bleeding onto me, I cut my eyes up at the estimated spot to find a woman in a white dress hanging high from the ground, except the white was no longer white in the front, but a deep crimson. Her dress was dated and beautiful, admittedly even more so with the splash of color and in looking at it, I suddenly felt like I must have been in another time period, but the hoodie and jeans I wore said otherwise. All the same, I admired her still figure. I was familiar with her face, but I couldn’t quite place a name. As my acute sight cleared, I saw what seemed to be an intricate pattern carved into her décolletage, but more noticeably, her throat had been slit so that the noose was just holding her body by a thread, practically. Had I not been in so much pain, I’d probably have enjoyed the sight a bit more. Bored already, I began to turn away until a title for this mysterious corpse hit me. My head jerked back up to see it again, my eyes wide and a scowl of revulsion contorting my face. It was Madame Tate, that French slut I had killed, like, two centuries ago.

Abruptly, I spun back around, not wanting to look at the freakish re-occurrence of one of my many victims, one I had also fucking loathed more than most. Once again, the sharp movement elicited a cry of pain from my throat as the jerking quality of it shifted what felt like a bullet inside of me. I inspected my surroundings after letting out a hiss only to find myself beneath a canopy of menacingly tall trees, hundreds upon hundreds of lifeless bodies strung up to their ruthless branches. The forest faded into a thick fog, yet I could see the outlined silhouettes extending on further. They were all hanging…and lots were dripping that foul fucking blood. Repulsed and though I would never admit to it freely, quite frightened, I stayed as far away from each tree as I could, despite my weakness. I couldn’t stand the putrid stench of rot as it seemed to increase every second I was there. The dead themselves seemed well preserved, but I knew better. My exaggerated senses were well aware of their time of death, some being so long gone, they had no smell at all.

The faces of those that I could see were features that I knew, I just couldn’t fucking remember their names or why I was even here. And then it finally it me…literally. I had been backing up a few steps as I stared, dumbstruck at the terrible scenery when my head collided with something. It felt very much like legs so, given the circumstances, I almost flew from whatever it was, greatly abhorring the thought of even touching the bastards. When I met the eyes belonging to the body, I gasped loudly. They were dark, and wide, wide open and looking right at me. I knew those big, scared eyes well. Like any of my other harbors, I had forgotten him before, but seeing him up close again was enough of a hint. And if it wasn’t, the knife wound in his stomach was.

Benjamin.

These were my victims. These were all the souls I had collected… heartlessly murdered creatures that had met their fate by my own hand. I was struck speechless as the vast, seemingly endless even, amount of collections I had made. I should feel proud, but I didn’t. As to why not, I wasn’t sure at the exact moment.

And as if to answer my thoughts directly, it was just about then when I heard a female crying. They were tears I had not heard very many times as I had always sought to prevent them, but tears effective enough that I recognized their sound right away. Of course, I needed to go to her. In no way was I going to allow my baby to be another one of these birdfeeders. “Marilyn,” I wheezed and roughly pushed Benjamin’s scrawny frame out of my way. I had no idea where to go, as her voice carried all around me, no particular direction being specified. Aimlessly, I tripped forward, gaining enough on my feet that my step could at least be downgraded to severe limping.

I almost fell a few times and had the displeasure of shoving a few more low-hanging bodies out of my chaotic path as I came across them, but it wasn’t all that long until I’d gotten a glimpse of a shorter, flowing, and light pink nightgown. I couldn’t see the figure perfectly, but the milky skin and long almost-white hair confirmed it was just the girl I was looking for as she slowly began to climb up what seemed like and had the high possibility of being a tree, but I couldn’t know for sure. My eyesight wasn’t sharp enough just yet to see into the fog anywhere past her ghostly shape. By the time I’d even gotten close so that I could confirm, she’d already reached a branch nearly fifteen or so feet high and was sitting, her shoulders shaking as her stifled sobs continued. My eyes locked onto the slipknot dangling before her, identical to every other one that held the souls captive here and I cried out, “No! Don’t!” She didn’t hear me and her hand reached out shakily for it, but she couldn’t reach. In trying to grasp it, she had unsteadied herself and she squealed when she had to catch the trunk again so she didn’t fall to the rustling leaves below. “Baby, come down. You don’t have to do anything, ok?” Once again, I wasn’t acknowledged, whether she actually heard me or not. “Wait, no. I’ll come get you, don’t move, all right, babygirl?”

I brushed aside my injury altogether and had begun to run to her when my body was thrown back. My temporary flight of sorts was joltingly ended with a loud crack against another tree.

“I don’t know why you think you’ll do her any good,” stated a male voice, “I mean, you’re the reason she’s here, are you not, asshole?”

Rubbing my head, I followed the sound to see a young fucker walking up to me self-righteously. I spit out a tiny bit of blood in my mouth from biting my tongue and snarled, “Who do you think you are, you piece of shit?”

“The name is Charlie, but you’d have learned my name soon enough. I’m saving Marilyn…from you.”

I got up to attack him, my ever-bottled anger boiling over, but he once again pinned me back. The invisible force restraining me was so strong that my feet were firmly planted on the ground, yet no weight was put on them as his control held my body up completely. “Let go of me!” I growled at him.

“Nah, I like being in control. You’re weak, so more fun for me.”

“You’re sick. If you think you are ‘saving’ Marilyn, you are failing miserably as I can clearly fucking see her trying to hang herself and you’re doing jack shit to stop it!” I screamed at him as my eyes once again landed on my princess, on the brink of suicide.

“Oh I won’t let her do it, Strychnine. I’m going to take good care of her. Though, you are indeed proving my point. If it wasn’t for you, I would have already coaxed her back down. But no, you had to walk your annoying self into the picture and compromise everything. Well, no not compromise. Just delay. All the same, you are in my way.”

“Shut the fuck up. You’re no better than me. Don’t pretend that you are.”

He laughed outright at that. “If only you knew…oh wait, you do! Who’s the one really pretending, Strychy-boy? You’re nothing and I’m something. I can give her a normal life. I can take her to meet my family and I can go to dances with her. I can make love to her without being afraid of accidently eating her. And best of all? I can marry her and father her children. Can you do any of that? I’m capable and more. So back the fuck off, you freak…you fucking loser. You might have her in her mind right now, but I’ll get her. She’ll realize how worthless you are and choose the most reasonable man,” he mocked. “You’re absolutely in the right about wanting to off yourself, Strychnine. The whole world would be better without you.”

He didn’t realize how stupid he was being. Out of every demon he could fuck with, I was the last one to taunt. Playing with the personification of being pissed off was just one bad fucking idea. It only gave me more power.

I broke his hold, which instantly made his eyes wide in fear. The ache in my side faded and I lunged at him. I had him pinned, beating his head into the ground until warm, precious blood made its grand appearance on the back of his skull and the earth under it when a loud, sickening snap rang out, making the entire forest fall silent. “Charlie” wasn’t even dead yet and he made no noise. Not even the wind blew. The only noise was given from a creaking branch and its leaves rustling as if it were bouncing from a sudden weight. Scared, my eyes dragged upwards until I saw two, pink slippered feet swaying back and forth, no support underneath.

I didn’t want to see the face of the newest member to the woods.

I was jolted awake, my body in a cold sweat, when a frantic scream rung throughout the house, “Oh my god! Help! Please! Call 911!”

I rubbed my stinging eyes and sat up, trying still to come to. I blinked a few times and noticed the lack of pain from my side. It was a dream. It was only dream. No matter though, I was now aware of a threat. Someone was courting my girl…if she was still alive.

“PLEASE, CALL 911 NOW!”

Despite her pleas, I did no such thing. I even went as far as to retrieve my pile of clothes, which she had promptly placed on the coffee table beside the damn hot cocoa, and change back into them, folding the sweatpants and t-shirt neatly. I put them right where mine had been. It was then, dazed and completely out of it, that I followed the sound of the commotion and made my way at a generally leisurely pace. When I finally entered the hallway, leading to what I presumed to be the girl's bedroom, I stepped past the threshold to find the woman—I still didn’t know her name—crouching over her convulsing child.

She heard me and whipped her neck to meet my gaze, a question forming on her lips before she noticed the dead look in my heartbroken eyes. Dream or not, I was flustered and ultimately, I felt numb.

The expression she held melted into one of terror. I surely didn’t look like I was going to do any good. Her tears had stopped and she appeared to be frozen at the sight of me. I really must have been in a dark state to have her shivering and paralyzed in my presence while her offspring was obviously suffering.

Silently, I approached them slowly. I nearly glared down at the juvenile as her mother watched in fear. To her surprise, I dropped to my knees before them. Even though her eyes were rolled back into her head and her face distorted, I could see the resemblance. She shared her mother’s dark, chestnut hair and tanned skin. At such a young age, I could even see how her lips would be just as full, too. She was quite the beautiful girl.

At the same lackadaisical pace, I leaned over and rested my forehead to her solar plexus, eyes shutting and my mouth beginning to move as I murmured in a language foreign to any human. Within seconds, she stopped moving and fell utterly still beneath me. The woman beside us gasped, but did nothing to disturb whatever it was that I was doing to have cured her child so fast.

I felt shivers rattling throughout me, spreading violently from my core whilst my skin seemed to increase in temperature at an uncomfortable rate. My eyes, too, began to roll back, but I squeezed them back shut in order to sedate the fever overcoming my body. Positive that I had sucked her pure of sickness, I straightened up gradually. Air was being forced in and out of my heaving lungs with shaking sounds, similar to that of a rattlesnake’s hiss. My eyesight was darkening, yet I knew how to keep myself conscious.

I merely smiled feebly at the stunned woman and got up, knees weak as I shuffled out.

“Wait!” she called, but I didn’t turn around. I wasn’t until I’d reached her front door and had already thrown my shoes back on that a small hand lead me to face her. “Thank you,” she whispered, inspecting my newly feverish condition before wrapping my neck in her thin arms. I did not return her embrace as a seemingly long while passed. It really couldn’t have been more than ten seconds, but I was in no place to judge correctly at the time. “Who are you?” Her eyes finally pulled back to meet mine and she stepped away in the slightest.

I spun on my heels and opened the large door before quietly responding, “Your worst nightmare.”