"I…" I want to tell her not to worry about it. She's already done more than enough for me, but she's right. I can't say no right now. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
We say our goodbyes, and when I hang up, I stand in the threshold of the apartment.
I remember when I first got this place. We were so scared we wouldn't get it because James's credit was terrible, so all we could use was mine, but we did.
I thought that day was the beginning of a new chapter of our lives, and I never thought the end would get here so soon.
But now?
Now it's time for me to set out on my own, to start over somewhere else. Be someone else. Someone I can be proud of, someone I love wholeheartedly.
I close the door, and the lock slides into place with finality. Then I get in my car, toss my ring into the cup holder, roll down all the windows, and drive.
Nothing may have worked out the way I wanted it too, but that can't last forever. And even though I don't have a plan and I can barely breathe from the terror coursing through my veins, one way or another, I'm going to make this work. Because for the first time in my life—I'm choosing me.
3
Creature
Time has no meaning here. No steady flow or form. But it's all I've had for centuries, time and the echoes of the living.
For eons, I have remained motionless. A statue in truth as well as form. Void of all dreams or desires. I simply exist to absorb the sounds of the world, resigned to the hollow existence I deserve.
But lately, something... lingers at the edge of my consciousness. A flicker. A pulse.
At first, I wanted to ignore it. I have before. It's not the first time some piece of humanity brushed against me—guilt, grief, need, hope—emotions so strong that eventually, even I, in my slumber, can feel them. But they all fade, leaving me alone in my abyss once more.
But this?
It glows. Insistent in its vibrance.
Every moment it shines brighter, like sunlight filtered through stained glass. A soul that gleams so brilliantly it makes me ache and fills me with a feeling I never thought would work its way through my chest… need.
I can't see her. Not yet. But I feel her. Every night she draws closer, her presence brushing against my skin, her phantom caress stroking me into a frenzy.
I long to know her, touch her, hear her voice. Breathe her in until her essence fills every part of me, until I know her scent as well as my own.
For the first time in my life, I crave something—her.
But I can't reach her.
Days bleed into weeks as I try to shift, to break through the stone, to fly to her, but it's been too long.
My wings ache to unfurl. My claws twitch beneath the stone. Every part of me strains toward her. But I constructed my self-made prison too well, and I can't escape, not yet.
But I will.
I will.
Nothing can stop me from meeting her, my sunlight, my precious dawn. I’ll come for her and do her bidding. My goddess, my place of worship, my sole devotion, my everything.
Should she have prayers, I will answer them. Should she have dreams, I will ensure they come true.
She has awoken me, and no matter if I am blind, deaf, or dumb, if my wings and limbs are ripped from my body, I will find a way.
She is calling for me, searching for me, and I will always come when she calls.
4
