Keep Living

In a lonely town in a lonely world, it's hard to remember why we live. But one will find out why and how she will deal with it from a highly unlikely source.

“Don’t come any closer,” she whispered, though her soft voicee was still echoing for a few yards away, where a boy younger than she was stood, his foot suspended in midair, just as he was about to kick a stone tablet, proof of his previous successes scattered about him. Upon sight of seeing her, he started to visibly shake in fear. He knew he was in trouble when she came around, the sorrowful, silent guardian of the cemetery.

 

     She took silent steps closer to him, a ghost in black as she stared him down with unemotional eyes. “I understand the pain you’re feeling,” she murmured as the boy’s tremors seemed to increase in pace. “But it does not give you any right to disgrace the dead. Your parents are gone, Jeremy Sachert, but they accepted their fate to save you. The dead - especially the one you were just about to disgrace - saved you, saved me, saved us. And you…you repay them with this,” she had stopped, and now used the debris on the ground to emphasize her point, as with a twitch of her fingers, the rubble was surrounded in neon green light as it levitated on the ground.

 

     Her before-stoic green eyes slowly came to life, anger clearly displayed across her features. “You are absolutely not the only one suffering without the plague. You are not the only one who has come to the realization that although we don’t have those monstrosities on our faces, we go through our share of pain, perhaps even more than the Tainted. We suffer. We’ve lost.” With a violent swing of her arm across her chest, as if she were preparing to slap him, Jerry cringed, awaiting the pain of impact, but was only met with the crunching of stone, not the snapping of his bones.

 

     He opened his eyes and saw that the girl had repaired the tombstones, name legible and all, as if they’d been interred only a few minutes ago. Reluctantly, he fearfully turned towards the girl again, eyes wide with his tears dripping from them. “I…I don’t know what else to do, Kallen,” he sputtered.

 

     Kallen Cyalus, youngest of the noble line of witches residing in the small town, stood their quietly. Looking at the grave she had just saved from Jerry’s leg, however, her harsh, beautiful features softened. A long silence passed by, the wind lightly tussling her light brown hair. “Neither do I,” she finally whispered. She now wore a look of sympathy, a sad smile crossing her features before she spoke, “Tell you what; come over and have dinner, spend the night even. We’ll figure out what to do together, okay?” She tried to make her smile more sincere, brighter, and it seemed to have worked.

 

     Jerry’s brown eyes widened, a purely happy smile soon following, making Kallen think that her efforts were worth the while. “Okay! I’ll go ask Gramps and Gran.” She watched half-heartedly as he ran off, but she was still glad that she’d made someone happy that day.

 

     Because she wasn’t so sure she would be happy ever again.

 

     Tears suddenly spattered on the untouched, unnamed grave - the only unnamed grave in the entire cemetery - as she fell on her knees, sobbing. “I don’t know what to do,” she cried, “You were the one who always knew. And now…you’re gone!!” Looking up, her tears dripped downwards with a vengeance as she silently asked why this precious treasure, now buried, had been taken away from her so suddenly, so unfairly. She found the celestial beings up there too silent, too cruel, and bowed her head in submission, shouldering the pain poorly, and letting it all pour out from her.  Supported by her knees and her palms clutching the cold morning earth, she let out her last broken, quiet plead. “Come back…”

 

     A strange sensation suddenly surging through her, Kallen dared to look up, her tears suddenly ceasing as shock replaced grief. Her family’s trademark neon glow was emitting from the tears she’d spilt on the grave, a strange mist spurting from them.

 

     The mist began taking on an outline, obviously of a young man, but only as she looked up further to get a better perspective did its arms and legs begin to take form. Her eyes widened considerably. This isn’t happening…how could this be happening…? she thought. Soon a hand protruded from the arm as the mist-figure’s features began becoming clear, skin and bones soon visible in a transparent envelope of green mist. The mist’s arm lowered - exactly how he’d bend his back - the hand to her face, the other arm elegantly tucked behind the back.

 

     The way he always used to.

 

     Kallen took the hand without hesitation, but forced herself looked down as she dusted herself with her free hand. She didn’t know what to expect of the figure. Could it possibly be…? Only when she was done did she finally look up, but as a result, she nearly doubled over in shock.

 

     There was his face. His body. His warmth. It was all here, right in front of her, like she’d only seen in her dreams now. His smile - a content, gentle smile - was on, as it had been all the time. Even as he left her, the smile remained on his beautiful face. His icy blue eyes were staring at her with something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She thanked whoever was watching over her for letting the feeling return, even though for a brief moment, as it was bound to be.

 

     Though hesitant, she was eager, and brushed her fingers through his brown hair, as she always used to, as she missed doing every day. “It is you,” she finally breathed, tears springing from her face anew. Tears of pure euphoria.

 

     Still slightly surrounded in the neon glow, he tilted his head, and his smile grew as he cupped her dainty, princess-like chin with his strong fingers. “You still haven’t realized, then, my dear?” he asked in his youthful, suave voice that reminded her of rich purple silk flowing from a golden chandelier.

 

     A bit shocked at his question, Kallen let her guard down and let her face contort with confusion. “Realized what?” she murmured, somewhat dreading the answer.

 

     “What to do, now that I’m "”

 

     “Don’t say it!!” she shrieked. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he did her waist, squeezing him tightly, only to make herself miss him more. Her stomach churned, feeling sick at the thought of not being surrounded by his energy again. The energy that used to give her an actual will to live. “Please…” she whispered, shuddering slightly. “Please…don’t say it.”

 

     Sighing, he rubbed her back gently; this was going to be hard on the two of them. Especially Kallen. Although he had already reluctantly accepted his fate, she hadn’t. And knowing her stubborn nature, she probably wouldn’t without his natural strong-worded convincing. “Love, I’m gone. But you’re still here; and I’d die again if I could make sure its stays that way. So it’s up to you now. Kallen, keep living. Keep laughing, keep smiling, keep loving, the way I remember you being.”

 

     “But it was only because of you!!” Kallen insisted. “You made me happy, you made me smile. How could I do it without you?” Her life had been so boring compared to when they’d met, when she was a sullen little girl and he already a content young man. Before they’d met, she had had to force herself to smile. She knew it. He was the whole reason life had seemed to be worth living. And he was gone. She couldn’t let him leave her again. “I’m not happy without you.”

 

     He merely shook his head calmly. “No, Kallen. You were happy, you made yourself happy. You were happy before we met - don’t try to think that your life was miserable; it was lonely, but it wasn’t all that bad, Kallen. And now you have more people around you to give you as much love as I did. Keep living, my dear. Don’t be afraid to keep living. Our future together - as much as it pains me to say it - was probably not meant to be. So, even if you do forget me in your newfound happiness…please keep living.”

 

     His image was beginning to fade, she noticed. Her eyes widened considerably as her expression turned to one of utter horror. No! No, I can’t lose him!! She cried out his name, pleading him more desperately not to go. On as her pleads went, he still was fading, with his content smile on his face. Like he wanted to leave; no, he didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to. Fate was something no one could get out of, but Kallen refused to believe it. He was nearly completely gone, but his form was still here, in her arms, but she felt no warmth this time. “I…I love you!!” she finally cried.

 

     The fading stopped.

 

     In fact, it regressed, and he was more visible.

 

     He stood there, frozen, eyes widened and for once he had lost his cool disposition. His mouth hung agape, and his eyes had started to water. Not once, in his time alive, had she said those words. He would say them frequently, like he could never want to rid their taste on his tongue. And she would just smile, blush, and maybe look away. She had never said it back; she would prove her love time and time again, and he would never doubt it. But those words meant more to him than anything at the moment. Standing there, frozen in time, they only lingered in each other’s gaze for a few flitting moments. “That was all you wanted to say to me, wasn’t it?” he asked quietly.

 

     “Yes,” she murmured, her eyes suddenly gaining some life into them. He noticed this with curiosity. Was she…was she gaining the Will?

 

     As her eyes became more and more animated, he smiled; yes, yes she was. He leaned in, and whispered in her ear, “I love you, too,” before he pressed his lips against hers. And they lingered there as well, tears spilling down each other’s faces. A wind rushed about them, and suddenly neon green light surrounded both of them, before he was lifted to the air by an unseen force, still holding onto her hand. She was on her tip-toes when he said, “You’ll remember what I said, right? To keep living?”

 

     She nodded. “I promise I will. I promise.”

 

     “Good,” he said, before sparkling lights began to form at his feet; as the light rose up, the body part where it had just covered was gone. His body up to his knees was gone as he grinned. Not his normal small smile, but a full, shining grin. “I love you. And remember!” He let go of her hand, and he suddenly turned into a burst of light, flying upwards, almost reaching forty feet before the lights seemed to drip downwards like fireworks. Like the fireworks he had shown her how to make before he had left her. The sigh was something that brought a great sadness to her heart, as she still stayed there, on her tiptoes.

 

     And at the same time, it gave her a bright, strange grin as she caught the remaining sparkles in her hand, kissing them gently before letting them drift to the unmarked grave.

 

     “Keep living. Right.”

 

{~|~}

 

“There we go,” Kallen said as she tucked in Jerry in velvet red covers. Such luxurious belongings were commonplace to her and the rest of the Cyalus clan, but Jerry was absolutely in awe of it. “Are you comfy, Jerry?” she asked gently.

 

     He nodded vigorously. “More than I’ve ever been in my life. Thanks, Kallen, for everything. But…I have a problem.”

 

     Finishing folding him up in his temporary bed for the night, Kallen sat down next to him, curling her knees inward so that she could fit in the little space beside the young boy. “What’s troubling you, then?”

 

     “How do we deal with it? Deal with all the pain?” he asked innocently, tears suddenly forming in his eyes. “You having fun with me at your house was the happiest day of my life since Ma and Pa died. But how do I deal with it for the rest of my life?” The questions brought a strange twitch of a smile to Kallen’s face, and a dreamy look crossed over her features.

 

     She looked off into space, her neon eyes sad, but happy all the same, confusing Jerry to no end. “I ran into a friend today, a friend who I haven’t seen in…in a while. He told me to keep living.” She looked at Jerry, her eyes now absolutely gleaming. “Even if they’re gone, we’re still alive, and although we still hurt, we need to keep living. Don’t be afraid to be happy again. Don’t be afraid to love again. You understand?”

 

     Jerry bit his lip, trying to run the idea through his own mind. His features softened with awe as he realized the exact meaning of what she was saying. “So…don’t forget them, but allow yourself to smile?”

 

     Kallen let out the largest string of laughs she experienced in a long time. “Exactly, Jerry, exactly. Now go to bed, okay? It’s late.” She ruffled his hair gently and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Sweet dreams.” He returned her courtesy, and she smiled and began to walk out, in a lavender blouse and black jeans she hadn’t worn in a long time. The black was still there, but slowly she’d move onto her regular denim. Slowly. She was just about to exit to the remainder of the Cyalus Glow Manor before she heard Jerry again.

 

     “Thanks again, Kallen, for helping me.”

 

     “You’re welcome, Jerry,” she called, before she closed the door and looked onwards in the hallway, seeing a young man standing before her, smiling happily while casually tilting his head to the side. Kallen smiled sadly, but winked at him cheekily nevertheless. “And thank you, for helping me.” His smile widened, and he disappeared, leaving her alone in the hallway.

 

     The grief was still hurting, but living would make it better.

 

Author's Note

Again, another story whose characters I took from another weird dream. There're now two whole worlds bottled up inside my head. That's nothing but pleasant, right? Right.

I'd just like to read what you have to say about it, is all. I only wrote it for pure enjoyment.

Reviews

[shweyi]

it is a bit sad, but i could relate it to my life, and i loved it :) thanks :)