Death Ch.2 (second half)

The Dark Half is one of my all time favorite books. I sat down slowly reading the next page. Zeik sat down next to me and clicked the tv on. Yes, I know why in the world would I want to read when there’s a tv? Well I like to read. It helps me get away; it’s like a door to another world or dimension. I can get away from anything. Zeik whistled loudly trying to get me annoyed and so far… it was working.
“You know you really suck at that”
“What whistling?” he asked as if he had no clue what I was talking about. “Man I thought I was pretty good”. He sounded a little disappointed.
“No trying to distract me” I answered plainly still reading the book.
“No I don’t I got you to talk didn’t I” he smirked.
“Yeah I guess” I said dully “but I can assure you I’m still reading” I said still looking at the book. He sighed and I shot a glance at him.
“Ha I knew you’d look” he said in triumph. I rolled my eyes and went to the other couch. I sat down slowly and brought my legs onto the nice, soft fabric of the white backless daybed. The light coming from the window shone through making the room bright. He lay down trying to look cute. I couldn’t help but look over there and sigh. He looked at me and smiled. I looked back at my book and read. I don’t know exactly how long I read but Zeik crashed out soon after that. I got up and set the book down. My footsteps were quiet as I made my way into the kitchen. The sun was going down and a slight breeze was coming through the window. I opened the refrigerator and got out some fish. Umm I loved sea foods.
The fish smelled good as I sprinkled it with lemon juice. I turned to wake Zeik but noticed he was staring at me. A wave of surprise took over me.
“How…how long have you been in the kitchen” I managed to choke out.
“Umm since you got the lemon out of the refrigerator” he said coolly.
“Oh” I said setting his plate on the table.
“Do you like cooking” he asked curiously.
“Uh yeah how’d you know” I asked surprisingly embarrassed.
“Well you seemed to be really enjoying yourself when I was there” he said taking a bite of his fish then his broccoli. “Umm” he said enjoying it. I smiled.
“I was going to go to Culinary School but this happened before I had a chance to finish out my life so….” He nodded still eating.
“Why didn’t you finish school and go anyway” he asked pausing and looking at me.
“Well” I said still thinking, “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about it” I said honestly. He nodded understandingly.
“Well what were you going to do” I asked seriously taking another bite of my fish.
“Well I was gonna go to college for art” he said finally. I smiled.
“You like art?” I asked, “like drawing and painting, that kind of thing”.
“Yeah” he said looking at me.
“Wow a hockey playing artist. Now that’s something you don’t see everyday” I said easing the conversation. He smiled and took a part of my fish.
“Ah that’s not nice” I said as he stuck it in his mouth and ate it. He smiled and got up walking porch and sitting down on the steps. I finished up my fish and set down my fork. I set my plate in the sink and walked to the porch to sit next to Zeik.
“Hey” I said sitting next to him.
“Hey” he said back to me. The skies were a mixture between an orange and an almost violet. The white puffy clouds were covering the sky lightly. I looked at Zeik. Was something bothering him?
“Is there something wrong” I asked him concerned.
“Uh yeah actually there is” he said awkwardly.
“What’s up” I asked afraid of the answer.
“Ice” he took a deep breath and looked at me, “I’ve never met anyone like you and I’ve never felt anything like what I feel when I’m with you”. He said
“What are you saying?” I asked my world suddenly dizzy.
“Ice will you marry me” he asked getting on one knee with a silver ring in his hand. I felt short of breath and tried to breath; I swayed lightly and felt his ands support my back as I fell backwards unconscious.
How would you describe god? I was standing on the edge of a cliff looking out into the forest that I overlook. The skies were a mixture of a light pink and a dull yellow. I took a breath feeling the breeze swing my hair. God was no more than the wind, his voice swirling around me.
“Why am I here” I asked quietly.
“To help you see” he said his voice echoing in the emptiness that surrounded us.
“To help me see what?” I asked.
“What you’re doing. I want you to see that no matter what you are in control of your future. Let him die and his soul is Death’s forever to withhold. Make him live, his life is yours to cherish for all eternity” he finished boldly.
“What do you mean by eternity” I asked before I shifted to the state of consciousness breathing rapid, gulps of air.
“Oh my god, Ice are you okay?” he asked not trying swiping the tears that streamed down his face.
“Yes” I answered.
“What?” he asked confused.
“Yes” I said again. Sudden realization swam over him and he hugged me. I wrapped my arms around him and he took me to the couch and made me lay down.
“What happened to me?” I asked.
“You…you died” he choked. “I looked for any sign that you were still here but you were gone” he said his voice cracked. I grabbed his hand and brought it to my lips. I kissed it lightly and placed it over my heart. The light thump of my heart was all he needed to feel.
“I’m here. I will never leave you” I said my voice cracking as I said those words. He wiped my tears away and grabbed the ring he had in his hands when he had asked me. He slipped it onto my ring finger. A perfect fit. It was a beautiful silver ring encircled with little diamonds around the edge and one bigger diamond in the center. I beamed at it. I looked at Zeik his face was filled with happiness and I grabbed his hand. We were in this thing forever.

After that I don’t know it’s like nothing else happened. The whole rest of the day was a blur. I’m lying in bed as that moment replays in my mind. What had god meant when he said he will be mine for eternity? Is something going to happen? What? Some things you don’t figure out right away and this was one of them. Zeik moves and I look at him sharply. His even breathing was uneven and I couldn’t tell if he was having a nightmare. Something must have changed it because his breathing became steady once again. I turned and looked out onto the balcony. The moon was fully visible in the dark blue sky and thousands of tiny diamond stars twinkled high above the dark night sky.
Zeik was up when I stumbled down the stairs still groggy from sleep.
“Morning sunshine” he said looking at me sweetly. “Tough night?” he asked making fun of me. Oh yeah I hadn’t taken a shower yet. I scowled him as I sat down waiting for him to make another comment. I looked at him momentarily as he set eggs and bacon in front of me. He pushed it forward laying the fork on the plate. I smiled and took a bite. Oddly it wasn’t bad.
“Umm” I said as I took another spoonful into my mouth. I was really running out of food. We’ve been here for almost what a month and I was running low. Yeah I know what you’re thinking we’ve only known each other a month and we’re already engaged. How immature, bla, bla bla, well actually it’s been almost a month and a half cause we spent almost a whole week over in the motel.
“Um where’d you get ring” I asked still eating. He hesitated a second then spoke.
“It was my sisters. She gave it to me before she got on the plane to DC. The plane crashed and well this ring was all I had to remember her by”. He looked at me as if her were afraid what I would say.
“Oh it’s really beautiful” I said both shocked and embarrassed now. He looked at me then smiled. I just found out that the ring I’m wearing belongs to his dead sister and he’s smiling. I set the fork down and stood up; he was leaning on the counter and watched me.
“I’m gonna go take a shower” I said pointing to the stairs. He nodded and walked to the outside door.
“I’ll be outside when you want to start training” he looked at me as if expecting an answer.
“Okay” I said running up the stairs.

I step under the hot beams of water that spray across my icy skin. This had to be a quick shower or else Zeik would be waiting outside all day. I spun around getting all my body and wet my hair. It felt so good. Let’s see I lathered rinsed repeat you know the whole thing. I didn’t know how much time had passed but I grabbed the towel and got dressed.
I stepped outside into the bright sunshine of the midday. Zeik punched the air getting ready. I smiled and bent down to grab the sticks I had laid out for us. I picked it up and weighed it in my hands then threw it at him. He stuck his arms in the way catching it just in time.
“You ready?” I asked throwing the stick back and forth in my hands. He smiled wickedly.
“Yeah” he said balancing it on his hand momentarily then throwing it up into the air and catching it as he stood ready to attack. I smiled back and shot my stick forward inches away from his face. He stood there frozen watching as I pulled the stick back away from his face. I smiled deviously as he stepped forward smashing the stick down as hard as he could toward me. I shot my stick up horizontally blocking his then shoved my stick in his ribs causing him to stumble down. He looked at me innocently. I stared down at him confused but not letting my guard down. He reached for my hand but I pulled back afraid this was one of his tricks. I backed up giving him room to get up. He rose to his feet and looked at me. What the hell was he doing? He grabbed the stick a little tighter and his knuckles were bear almost white. I looked at him ready for the attack but all he did was stand there. I stood up my muscles untensing. He smiled deeply and shot forward. I reacted just in time to block the first hit toward my ribs but the other end hit my head causing me to stumble a little then stand up well enough to fight back. Hit after hit he became more fierce in his fighting, making his shots harder and more precise. He got a few hits on me causing me to bruise but I shot my hand up hitting his nose. I felt the blood gush out all over the dirt and debris. He lifted his head up and pinched his nose. I led him to the kitchen where we got a towel and pressing it tightly over his nose. He stood over the kitchen sink holding the bloody towel hoping to stop the bleeding. I stood nearby watching him, feeling guilty for what I had done. He turned to me seeing the look of grievance on my face.
“Hey look it’s not your fault” he said switching his hands.
“Are you kidding me it’s all my fault. I hit you” I said stepping toward him, my arms crossed. He pulled the towel down slowly making sure the bleeding has completely stopped. He set it down in the sink and walked toward me.
“Look I knew what I was doing. I provoked you and believe me it was the wrong thing to do. I mean look at the consequences” he said smiling gesturing toward his nose.
“No don’t do that” I said angrily “I could’ve killed you. The tiniest bit more strength and right now you’d be dead” I said walking away from him. He took a breath and grabbed onto my shoulders. I shrugged his hand off and walked outside.
“Ice hold on” he said running after me, “okay it was your fault”. My mouth dropped open and I scowled him. “Well what do you expect me to say” he asked exasperated.
“I don’t know” I yelled. “I expect you to be mad and oh my gosh why am I even explaining this to you” I asked storming toward the trees. He ran in front of me and stopped me.
“Get out of my way” I growled.
“No” he challenged. I kept my eyes on him examining him entirely.
“Do you really think I won’t make you move”?
“I wanna see you try” he said taking a step closer to me. I shot out my wings flying high above him. I didn’t look back down and made my wings move low through the trees dodging them hoping to not be seen. My wings were strong and carried me far. I steered through the trees heading back to the house. The moon hung high in the sky now. I wonder how long I’d been gone? I stopped at the clearing in the back. Zeik’s blood stained the dirt and I felt my stomach twist. How could I do that to him? I took a step and opened the door to the house. Zeik was laying on the couch asleep with the tv on Spongebob. I shut the door quietly and crept up the stairs. I switched on the lights in my room and grabbed my suitcase. I stuffed some of my clothes in there making absolutely no noise. I tried to stop the tears that were welling in my eyes but found no way. I sat down next to the bed balling trying to stop the overwhelming hurt that embraced me. I sat silent listening to the outside world mourn and whistle. The wind rushed through the window making a slight breeze. I felt it run through my hair and I listened deeply. Nothing. I got up and continued stuffing things into my suitcase. It wasn’t very big nor was it heavy. I looked at the empty desk and across from me. I walked toward it slowly catching my breath. I felt at a loss of breath. I had to calm myself. Deep breaths. I sat down on the chair and searched for a pen and paper.