To Be Obscure

| CH. 39 - [A D R I F T]

I watched from the balcony of a dream that didn't exist, attached to a memory that'd never happened. With care, I was moved from the garden and carried within the manors. I was taken deep inside the basements, away from the Sheriff that stormed inside. The Evergreens remained true to their stance, their word, and beliefs, and fought the law as they entered.

Seventy-five died that night; the rest escaped—gone, like ghosts in the night.

Victor and Charlotte kept me within a bunker beneath Lucifer's statue—a place Abigail had intended to use in case of emergency. It served us well—or, them well, I should say.

I slept for months. Gone. Drifting. I was aware, yes, always aware, but never able to express it. To me, it mattered not; what mattered was their freedom. Charlotte was free from the binds she'd found herself in and young Rosie, free to be the teen she longed to be. Victor, still addicted to the bottle and cigarettes—as always—found peace with the strings of a violin. Nathan, the man who solved my obscurities, lived. His eyes glowed like the rest of us; the age slowly left. The time I spent dreaming away within memories that weren't my own, he'd awaken from the illness that slowly devoured him. He, and everyone else held prisoner by Abigail's lies.

It wasn't until Summer of the following year that I found the strength to creep out of bed. No one knew, for no one was awake. It was midnight—no, 3:15 A.M. The witching hour stirred me out and free from my coma.

I was thinner, lighter, and cursed Charlotte for not cutting my hair. Yet, that wasn't important; not as important as the real air that touched my skin. The sound of street life and cars of the present time revived my senses. I leaned against a balcony—a real one this time—and looked out, down at the city streets. Long gone was the small town I hid within, and the street lights of a City I hadn't seen in over six years welcomed me.

In minutes, I became one with the air, the moon, and the stars. I ran my tongue along my lip and breathed in the toxic air. To live, eternally, without death— no matter the pain inflicted—was my unending curse. No—this illness. My Disease.

I almost laughed as I leaned my bare chest against cool steel, but a hand touched my back. I didn't turn because I knew; because I could smell her, hear her, feel her, a mile away. I simply spun and grabbed her, and searched her glowing, bright eyes with my own.

She asked, "How'd you sleep?"

I kissed her. My God, she was as delicious as ever. "Like Hell was empty."

She laughed. "Now, what's that mean?"

Charlotte led me back through the doors and into the condo everyone shared without me. Lights flicked on from adjacent rooms and voices followed; a cat scurried by my feet.

I ignored them, pulling Charlotte back to me, her chest against mine. I looked into her eyes once more and prayed to His Lord Almighty that it wasn't a dream.

I knew it wasn't, but nightmares were always so real to me.

"Well, are you going to answer me?" she asked as she bit lip.

I smiled, sinking with her and the world I longed to stay within. "Did you miss me?"