The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal

by Kurtis Eckstein

  I sighed again, uncertain if she was being serious or just teasing me. “Maybe,” I offered.

  She didn’t respond this time, instead resting her lips gently on mine and lingering there for a long few seconds. The intimacy of our faces being so close helped unwind the guilt in my chest a little, and I found myself taking a deep breath.

  As she pulled away, I began thinking back to the recent memory of what happened between me and Heidi – because it felt like a memory.

  Were all dreams like that?

  Unfortunately, I had nothing to compare it to.

  I knew it couldn’t have been real though. Now that my thoughts were more clear, I realized Heidi wasn’t here, and I had never left this room to begin with. I supposed that since they had stayed over for a week after Lexi got hurt, it made me a little confused, but now I was fine.

  Thinking back to how I felt just before I saw Heidi, it occurred to me that I had experienced something similar when we first met Rose.

  “Freya,” I whispered. “What if it wasn’t a dream? What if it was the future? Like when I reacted to that car accident before it happened.”

  She propped herself up on her elbow, her brow furrowed now. “If that’s the case, then it would be strange you haven’t had any other premonitions since that incident…” Suddenly she gasped. “Although you did have a similar experience with your most traumatizing memory – I think that’s why your recollection of what happened to your daughter is so horrible, even after all this time. Because it was like you were experiencing what happened twice, almost at the same time.”

  Instantly, tears threatened to blur my vision, prompting her to continue in a whisper with an apologetic expression.

  Her tone was somber. “Not a very useful ability if it’s not warning you far enough in advance that you can make a difference.”

  She was then silent while I collected myself, seeing that I was trying really hard not to cry.

  Once I was stable again, she continued with a serious tone.

  “But if that is the case, and you have advanced warning this time, then I think if Heidi asks for your help with new piercings, then you just need to turn around and walk the hell away.”

  Despite the lingering emotions, I grinned at that. “Yeah, I suppose I could do that.”

  “I suppose you could do that,” she agreed in a fake mocking tone.

  My smile widened. “I love you so much.”

  She slowly closed the gap between our lips and kissed me gently. “I love you too.”

  11: Confirming Premonitions

  Heidi Stockton

  January 30, 2735 – 12 Hours Later – Afternoon

  Heidi parked her barely used Corvette in the garage and cut the engine. It was actually the vehicle that her sister had bought brand new and tried giving to Lily months ago as a way to ask for forgiveness, only for Lily to decline the gift.

  Which Heidi completely understood.

  It was super awkward accepting such an expensive present.

  But at least Heidi got a gorgeous car out of the ordeal. It was a beautiful pearly white, and the only model that had four seats instead of two.

  But still, even after having taken it out a few times, she felt uneasy about driving it. After all, prior to being unable to drive anywhere for three years, it had only been about a year that her citizen ID had driving privileges. And she hadn’t driven a ton during that time, which meant she might as well still be a brand-new driver, especially when considering how long she went without the practice.

  But today she decided that it was a good day to get out a little.

  Earlier that morning, Freya had called Heidi to ask if she would be alright with staying home today instead of coming over, only to also ask if she could drop Rose off later for a sleepover.

  All within a matter of seconds, Heidi had felt devastated and then elated.

  But that still left her home alone all day.

  Thus, Heidi was just returning from a trip to the mall, knowing she needed to get out more and stop being such a recluse. However, the driving portion really stressed her out, causing her to just put the car in autopilot halfway home. She could have done that anyway, but she felt incompetent not being able to do something very well that was as basic as driving a car.

  Although really, if she was being honest, the whole trip stressed her out since it was the first time she had gone anywhere in public by herself in forever. She was okay with being by herself in general, but being around people by herself gave her anxiety.

  The trip had been uneventful though. No one bothered her, and she got a huge grin from one of the male cashiers, which was nice.

  In the end, she ended up buying some lotion, along with twelve diamond earrings, only eleven of which she intended to use. Four in each ear, two in her bottom lip, and one for her nose. It had been way too long since she had all her piercings, and she decided it was time to put them back in. She especially missed the snake-bites that she had gotten on her sixteenth birthday.

  She just wasn’t looking forward to sticking them in, but knew the pain wouldn’t last long.

  Heidi also bought a cute boardgame that she thought Rose might enjoy, although she was fine with doing whatever the little girl wanted.

  Gathering her two small bags, she headed inside, debating whether or not she wanted to get the piercings over with now or later. At the kitchen table, she pulled out the game for Rose, and then grabbed the lotion, popping open the cap to smell it.

  ‘Piercings now,’ she decided after a moment.

  She closed the lotion, neglecting to put any on since she was going to have to wash her hands anyway to put the earrings in.

  Leaving everything at the table, she grabbed the smaller bag and began heading upstairs, only to pause when she heard her sister’s car pull up. Backpedaling down the stairs, she waited for Lexi to come inside, only for her older sister to squeak when she opened the door.

  “Oh, Heidi. You scared me.”

  “I did?” she asked in confusion. “Why?”

  Lexi sighed. “I forgot you were home. I’m so used to you being at Sam’s place.”

  “Wow, sis. You do realize you’re the one who drives me over there most days, right?”

  “Ugh, stop teasing me,” Lexi complained. “It’s been a long day.” She then paused, knowing her younger sister had ventured out. “How was the mall?”

  Heidi shrugged. “It was alright. I got a game for Rose.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Lexi replied. “She’s staying over tonight, isn’t she?”

  Heidi gave her a more concerned look. “Okay seriously, are you feeling alright? Are you getting enough sleep? I know you’ve been having nightmares…”

  There had been a few nights when Lexi woke up screaming, though Heidi suspected her sister had been having bad dreams almost every night.

  Lexi sighed heavily. “I’m fine. It’s not that. It was just a stressful day is all. Do you know when they are bringing Rose over? I’m actually about to head over there now – I just have to grab something first, but I could pick her up.”

  Heidi shook her head. “Not sure,” she admitted.

  Lexi nodded slowly. “Do you want to come along?”

  She paused to think about it for a moment, before holding up the bag in her hand. “Nah, that’s okay. I actually bought some piercings for myself, so I think I’ll put them in while you’re getting her. Although, you might want to warn them you’re picking her up, so they aren’t leaving right before you get there.”

  Lexi smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Although, I really just need to talk to Sam about something, so as long as he’s home it won’t matter.”

  “Talk to him about what?” Heidi wondered.

  Lexi sighed heavily again. “I’ll tell you about it later. I really need to get going.”

  “Sure,” she agreed, turning to head back up the stairs. “See you later, sis. Love you.”

  Lexi smiled warmly as she turned to head towards the
kitchen. “Love you too.”

  ❖ ❖ ❖

  Sam Archer

  January 30, 2735 – Current Day – Afternoon

  The previous night, technically early morning, had still been weighing on my mind all day. On the one hand, I couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing orgasm or the meaningful conversation with Freya that followed. However, alternatively, I couldn’t stop wondering if my dream was really a premonition of the future, and if it was, then I wondered how soon it might happen.

  At least the guilt was gone now.

  After Freya got me there, I had felt really empty inside, but now I felt ‘full’ again – and not in a sexual sense. It was a strange sensation that I couldn’t fully describe, but the disappearance of the hollowness also pushed away any lingering distraught over the situation.

  “I’m ready,” Rose unexpectedly announced, coming down the stairs with a small suitcase.

  I was sure it wasn’t heavy by any means, but the way she carried it so effortlessly only served to remind me how unnaturally strong she was.

  I sighed while grabbing my keys by the door, having mixed feelings about all of this.

  After last night, Freya decided that she, Lily, and I needed some alone time, so she made plans to take Rose shopping today to let her pick Heidi out a gift for her birthday in three days on February 2nd, which was this Saturday. That left me alone with Lily for half the day, before Freya then dropped Rose back off at my place and took Lily out for an undisclosed reason, with the plan being that I was to take our daughter over to Lexi and Heidi’s place for a sleepover while they were out.

  I had multiple problems with that though.

  First, I was worried about Rose being safe considering everything that had happened recently. However, since Freya’s mood was stable, she was also a lot more analytical about it, suggesting that Rose could take care of herself and that the shadow organization had told Nick to leave me alone for the time being – not to mention we hadn’t seen any activity from them since then.

  I knew it was a little unrealistic to keep Rose at arm’s length her entire life, not to mention we wanted to get her enrolled in public school next year so she could be socialized with kids her own age, but the stunt the S-FBI pulled two weeks ago really had me paranoid.

  And I wasn’t sure where the line was between being too paranoid and not enough.

  But I figured that if Freya felt confident Rose could handle herself, even after what happened with Blaze, then she was the measure I should be comparing myself too. After all, we couldn’t live under a rock until we eliminated the shadow organization, especially since we were completely out of leads and didn’t know if we would ever be able to get rid of them.

  However, that was only half the problem.

  The other part was my possible premonition of having sex with Heidi.

  Freya, of course, had an answer for that too – Rose would be with me, not to mention that Lexi should already be home when we got there. So there should be no reason why I would find myself alone with Heidi.

  And she reminded me that if I did somehow find myself alone with Heidi, then I needed to just walk the hell away.

  I knew she was right, but it didn’t make me feel any easier about it.

  “Got everything you need, sweetheart?” I asked Rose when she grinned at me.

  “Yep!” she replied cheerfully.

  I grabbed her suitcase from her, only for it to almost drop to the floor when I discovered it was significantly heavier than I was expecting. I could certainly handle the weight, but it was like when someone hands you a piece of paper only for you to end up with a freaking brick in your hand.

  Because, you know. That kind of thing happens all the time.

  “Jeez,” I exclaimed. “Rose, what in the world do you have in here?”

  Her grinned widened. “Mommy’s nail polish. She said I could take it over to Heidi’s.”

  Ah, okay. Now it made sense. I had just taken a peek while asking and sure enough a large plastic tub full of nail polish was in the bottom. The weight of all those glass tubes really added up when there were like fifty of them.

  After depositing the bag in the backseat, we both climbed into my green Mustang, and Rose proceeded to talk almost nonstop about every little thing on her mind, ranging from what she wanted to do at Heidi’s, to something that happened in one of the cartoons she watched occasionally, to the birthday party we had planned for Heidi on Saturday.

  The whole time I was wearing a small smile, enjoying every second of her chatter and scatterbrained train of thought.

  When we got to Freya’s old house, I discovered in my second-sight that Lexi’s red Ferrari wasn’t in the garage like I was expecting. Nothing to panic about though, since Rose was still here.

  We both headed inside, with Rose calling out Heidi’s name once, only to get distracted with a cute-looking boardgame sitting on the kitchen table. I knew Freya’s house was pretty soundproof, which meant Heidi likely hadn’t heard her, so I decided to head upstairs to knock on her bedroom door.

  I didn’t reach out with my second-sight though, afraid of invading her privacy if she was changing clothes or something.

  Thus, I froze in place when I walked by the hallway bathroom upstairs only to realize the door was cracked, with Heidi inside, staring at herself in the mirror with both of her hands up by her face. She was dressed casually in a pair of hot pink silk gym shorts and a regular white t-shirt that was tied in a knot at her waist, revealing the dimples in her lower back. The heavy silky material hung around her butt, leaving nothing to the imagination.

  I instantly had a lump in my throat, finding myself unable to speak as my heartrate picked up.

  Surely this wasn’t what I thought it was.

  Had my dream happened in a bathroom? I suppose she had been putting in piercings, so that made sense, but I just couldn’t believe that what I had seen was really a premonition of the near future. Or possible future, at least.

  Unable to speak for a moment, and not wanting to be rude by just opening the door even though it was cracked, I knocked, prompting her to look over her shoulder.

  “Oh, hey Sam. Can you help me with this?”

  Shit! She freaking had piercings all over the place! Just like my dream! She had four diamond studs in each ear, three at the top and one in the earlobe, and a single diamond stud in her nose.

  I pushed the door open more, and automatically my gaze fell to her bottom lip, where she had recently inserted a single snake-bite earing, only to see that she was holding up another as if she was getting ready to insert it.

  She grinned at me when I didn’t respond right away.

  “What?” she asked in a playful tone.

  “Umm, nothing,” I replied, unable to believe that this was really my dream. I mean, I knew it must be, but was Heidi really about to try to kiss me? I just couldn’t imagine it going from zero to a thousand so quickly in real life. The idea was surreal.

  After a second, I cleared my throat. “Just surprised by all the new piercings,” I admitted.

  “You don’t like them?” she asked with a pout, pulling her hands away from her lip briefly.

  “What? No. They look great,” I reassured her. “It’s just weird for me to see you go from no piercings to a ton.”

  She shrugged as she turned away slightly to look at herself in the mirror again. “I used to have all of these,” she admitted. “But the holes close up if I leave them out for even just a few hours.” She then sighed heavily. “It’s been way too long.”

  I didn’t want to bring up bad memories, so I decided to switch subjects back to her original question.

  I cleared my throat. “So what do you need help with exactly?”

  She grinned again. “Just this last one. I’m having a hard time making them even.”

  I took a step towards her into the bathroom, prompting her to hold out her hand, offering me the last diamond stud. I accepted it and then stared at my palm briefly. The door
was wide open, so there was no way in hell I was about to start anything with Heidi right now, even if no one would hear. Still, the déjà vu was intense.

  When I didn’t say anything right away, she spoke again.

  “All you have to do is just grab my lip, make sure they’re even, and then just shove it in.”

  Like my dream, I immediately used all of my willpower to suppress a grin, since her comment could be taken as an extremely sexual remark. But there was no way in hell she was intending for it to be sexual. Surely that had to be the furthest thing from her mind right now.

  As requested, I grabbed her full lip, focusing intently to make sure it was lined up with the other snake-bite, so that I only had to stick her once.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  “Yea,” she replied without moving her mouth. She then sucked in a sharp breath when I shoved it in, puncturing my own finger in the process. I didn’t react at all though, barely feeling it.

  I then met Heidi’s lavender eyes, still holding her lower lip, only to discover that while I had been concentrating, her expression had become intense. Just like my dream.

  Passionate.

  Shocked to see such an expression, I reacted just as she did, with several things happening at the same time.

  In my dream, I recalled her shoving her arm out, just as she did now to swing the bathroom door shut, all while her lips closed the gap in an instant…

  Only to kiss the back of my hand.

  Yep, knowing what was coming, my hand shot up to my mouth to intercept her kiss. I could have just used an astral limb to do the same, but she might not have realized that I was trying to stop this from happening if seemingly ‘nothing’ prevented her from getting closer.

  Instead, the effect was immediate.

  Her eyes widened in shock, her passionate expression sobering up, only for her to pull away in horror.

  “S-Sam,” she exclaimed. “I’m…I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I…” Tears began filling her eyes, prompting her to duck her head and reach for the door handle, rushing out of the bathroom as fast as she could.