Page 66 of Between

The Between.

Mindlessly, I found myself carrying her to my bedroom. I swung open the door, walked through the room, and headed to the bathroom.

Her favorite room.

I refused to flick on the lights as we entered the bathroom. More than enough natural light was filtering in from the clouded skies, bouncing off the leafy trees, illuminating the room in a subtle green hue.

I walked to the bathtub and turned on the water, keeping Celeste in the balance of my arms as I did so.

The water was perfectly warmer than normal, just as she liked it.

As the tub was filling, I kneeled down on the floor, letting Celeste rest on my thighs. I pulled out the vial from my pocket and opened it.

Celeste’s head tilted back as she slipped out of consciousness. I could see the heartbeat in her throat, as faint and slow as it may be. Her body was giving up the fight.

I pressed the small glass container next to the knife that still protruded from her stomach. Her blood pooled out of the wound, and I was able to catch enough to fill half the vial.

I placed the lid back on and held the tube tight in my palm.

Lifting her back up, I stood to my feet and looked at the tub. It was half filled. I slipped off my shoes and stepped into the water.

Warmth surrounded my ankles, but I couldn’t feel it. All I could feel was the numbness flowing through me, overtaking me as I remained in the Between.

I moved to sit in the water, the levels rising from our added volume. I turned the faucet off.

Rain continued to tap against the window in a soundtrack to the last moments.

Red water moved in wavesagainst the porcelain as her blood curled in an instant mixture.

She rested against me, my arms still cradling her as I stared at her face.

It was not too long ago that we were in this exact position. But now, the flower petals that floated on the surface were replaced with streams of blood, and her soft-spoken words were replaced with shallow breaths teetering on the brink of finality.

“Caius…”

“I know. I do, too.”

Leaning forward, I kissed the three that lined her face. My lips lingered on her cold skin as our clothes soaked in the warm water.

“I love you,Meum Caelum.”

My Heaven.

As I spoke those words, I could feel her exhale her final breath under my kiss. Her skin stilled, her lips froze, and her light pulse stopped. The ache in my throat grew heavy at the permanence of it all.

She was gone.

I couldn’t bring myself to pull my lips away as my arms remained around her in a temporary tomb. I was in a state of denial, and I wanted to be in this moment forever. I wantedherforever.

Life doesn’t play out the way you want it to.

But death can.

Finally tearing my lips away from her, I gathered the strength to look at her. She was lifeless, she was cold, she was limp, but she was still so fucking beautiful.

The sight of her ripped me to pieces. My insides felt like they were torn apart by a chainsaw, never to be fixed again. With her soul gone, I no longer had life.

What’s a soul?

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