The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Freya wrapped both of her arms tightly around my waist as we made our way to the food court, partly to stop herself from trying to grab something from the food stand where everyone would see her.

  And she continued to hold on tightly as we stopped at three spots, with her wanting to find out what the big deal about pizza was, as well as what Mexican cuisine tasted like since it was Lily’s second favorite – her first being Italian.

  Then, of course, for the third stop, we had to get dessert – a massive chocolate chip cookie and cinnamon roll.

  When we finally sat down at a table behind a pillar, so that she was mostly out of sight, she had about reached her limit. She did her best to take off her black leather jacket and sit down at a leisured pace, but the moment she took her first bite of pizza, all her willpower disappeared.

  I just interlaced my fingers underneath my chin, my elbows on the table, and watched her eat with a huge grin on my face. Because she ate like she was having sex with her food, her expression borderline orgasmic the whole time.

  And then when she got to the cookie, she moaned like she was having an orgasm, wolfing the massive treat down in four large bites, only to start on the cinnamon roll loaded with creamy icing right away.

  “You know,” I began with a grin. “I’ve never been much for including food with sex, but after seeing you eat, I’d totally try it out.”

  She moaned softly again. “Imagine putting this frosting on Lily’s naked body and licking it off.”

  “Sounds sticky,” I mused.

  “Sounds delicious,” she retorted, sticking her tongue out and licking the icing like she was imagining it.

  Shit, she was sincerely starting to turn me on now, because I was a hundred percent sure she was imagining it.

  I cleared my throat, about to speak, only for my voice to get caught in my throat as she looked at me with the most lustful expression I had ever seen. Her crimson eyes were the literal embodiment of desire, her jaw popping quietly.

  “I could totally screw you right now,” she whispered seductively.

  I audibly gulped.

  Shit, that was so hot.

  She then sighed heavily, even before I could react. “I don’t want to stay away from Lily for too long though. I know she’s fine with Rose and Lexi, but still…”

  I nodded, readjusting myself in my chair. “Umm, yeah. Plus, you know, hard to find a place to do something like that in the mall.”

  Her gaze intensified again. “Oh, I know a few places, and there’s always the family restrooms too.”

  Holy hell, she was totally serious!

  I tried to swallow the sudden lump in my throat. I sincerely wished I could take her up on that offer, but I didn’t want to stay away for too long either. We had been out to the mall repeatedly in the last six months, and as usual nothing ever happened. But still, it didn’t stop either of us from feeling paranoid. Doubtful anything major would occur, but at the very least we didn’t want someone to hassle Lily and cause her to set the mall on fire. That would certainly ruin her birthday week.

  The legal consequences of such an accident made me wonder if I could ask for sovereignty for Lily too, in order to prevent something like last summer’s court drama from happening again. I really had no idea how that worked though, and neither did Freya, since she had been offered something long ago she didn’t even fully understand.

  Once Freya finished eating, we did make a quick trip to the bathroom so she could wash her face and hands off. She had gotten all the noticeable stuff already with napkins, but her skin was still really sticky.

  By the time we were heading back to the general location where we had left everyone, Freya was holding onto me again with a content smile.

  “You being pregnant is kind of fun,” I said quietly.

  “Really?” she asked skeptically.

  “Yeah, and it’s probably the only time you’ll ever like normal food. Who would have thought such a thing would happen?”

  “I know,” she agreed. “When I had talked to Dr. Hawthorne about possibly being a surrogate, he commented that I would need to probably force myself to take vitamins, and to also have you load up on vitamins too for when I drink your blood, just to make sure I was getting enough nutrition. But I don’t think even he would have expected this.”

  “Have you told him about it?” I wondered.

  She shook her head. “No, not yet. I’m sure he’d take my call on the weekend, but I didn’t want to bother him since it’s not urgent.” She sighed. “But you know what I can’t believe?”

  “What’s that?” I wondered.

  “How in the hell does food taste so damn good!” she exclaimed, only to lower her voice when she realized she had spoken a little too loud. No one was paying attention though. “Like, all my life, dirt has been more appetizing than food, and now it’s like the most amazing thing in the world.”

  “Better than your usual diet?” I wondered.

  She hesitated as she considered that. “It’s not that it’s better, but just that there’s so much variety. Like, that cinnamon roll and cookie were amazing, but imagine if those were the only two things you could eat for your entire life. Sure, they taste great, but there’s no pizza, fried rice, or enchiladas.” She paused. “If I’m being honest, my usual diet is tastier, but this is the first time something besides coffee has tasted good too.”

  “Well, I’m glad I could give you this new experience,” I said with a grin.

  She grinned back. “I’m going to end up wanting to pop out your babies nonstop just so I can enjoy life like a normal person for once.”

  I shook my head in disbelief, knowing that she was mostly joking.

  Mostly.

  As we got closer to our destination, I caught sight of Rose and Heidi in a store focused on younger shoppers – specifically preteen and teenage girls – but I didn’t see Lily or Lexi anywhere nearby.

  Rose must have picked up our scent before we even entered the store, because she abruptly turned around in preparation to greet us. Freya picked up that two of our three blondes weren’t around too, giving Rose and Heidi a questioning look.

  “Where’s Lily and Lexi?” she asked, her gaze focusing on Heidi.

  Heidi seemed a little uneasy, with Rose speaking up before she could. “Aunt Lily and Lexi said they were going to a store with lots of soap and lotion.”

  Freya and I both relaxed a little, knowing exactly where they were now. Heidi still seemed uneasy though. After a moment of Freya holding her nervous gaze, she finally spoke.

  “Umm, Freya, I’ve been thinking…” Her voice trailed off.

  Much to my surprise, Freya’s eyes widened in shock, like she knew exactly what was on Heidi’s mind, and she spoke with an optimistic tone. “Yes?”

  I just looked between them, completely confused as to what was going on.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Heidi repeated, her hands trembling slightly at her sides. “And I’ve decided I’ll do it.”

  Freya instantly cupped her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide, before her expression became slightly reserved as she uncovered her mouth slightly, her hands still by her chin. “Under what conditions?” she wondered.

  Heidi shook her head. “No conditions, except just this.” She gestured vaguely with her hand. “Letting me be a part of…well, I guess, letting me sort of be a part of your family.” Her cheeks unexpectedly flushed red as she glanced at me. “Or, I mean, at least letting me be in your life like this. And Rose’s life.”

  Freya smiled warmly, and closed the gap, wrapping Heidi up in her arms. “Thank you,” she whispered. “It means the world to me.”

  I finally chimed in. “Umm, can I ask what’s going on? What are you two even talking about?”

  Freya took a deep breath and pulled away, wiping a tear from her eye, before meeting my gaze. She glanced at Heidi one last time, before focusing on me again. “Sam,” she whispered. “We can keep Lily forever.”

  I gawked at her.


  No way in hell did she just say what I thought she said.

  “What?” I exclaimed.

  “It’s because I can’t control my power,” Heidi replied, only confusing me more.

  Freya nodded and continued. “There was an older woman she was forced to heal once – pretty, but definitely older. Once Heidi was done, she looked no older than I do.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “B-But how is that possible?”

  “Sam,” Freya whispered. “Aging is just a symptom of DNA damage from cells replicating over and over again. And when Heidi heals someone, she can’t localize it. She heals the whole body, repairing every cell to perfect condition. She can keep someone from growing old. Forever.”

  Holy shit.

  Holy shit!

  HOLY SHIT!

  I looked at Heidi in complete shock, seeing her in a totally different light as it suddenly dawned on me that she was the literal fountain of youth. She was the embodiment of immortality, not only for herself, but for anyone she chose to use her power on.

  Sure, she wasn’t unkillable, but with her ability we could keep Lily alive indefinitely! She could keep our mortal children alive forever! Including the one growing in Freya this very moment.

  And with that knowledge, Heidi just became worth a hundred-thousand times her weight in gold in my eyes. I would have searched the world for someone like her incessantly and paid her any amount of money she wanted to keep Lily alive. And here she was standing right next to me, as if the universe had dropped her in my lap itself.

  Needless to say, my expression immediately shifted from one of shock to desire for everything Heidi represented to me.

  The literal fountain of youth.

  A resource I’d kill to protect, an asset I’d never let anyone steal.

  However, after a moment, I examined Heidi’s response to my own reaction, feeling something off as her lavender eyes immediately dropped to the floor, her gaze uncertain and…

  And something else…

  Unexpectedly, I saw her emaciated body holding on with every ounce of strength she had, as she desperately tried to revive her sister. And then I thought back to all the people she was forced to heal over the years, countless women broken by a man who used Heidi like a tool. Like a resource. An asset.

  But Heidi wasn’t just some rare gem of life. She was more than that.

  I sucked in a deep breath and turned my head away for a moment, before slowly focusing on that downcast gaze again.

  “Heidi, you don’t have to do that for us to keep you around,” I whispered.

  She looked up at me in complete disbelief, her eyes as wide as saucers.

  “Sam!” Freya exclaimed in shock.

  I looked away from Heidi, and met Freya’s crimson gaze. “Trust me, Freya. You know I want to keep Lily around forever just as much as you do, and that I would do anything to make it happen.” I focused on those lavender eyes again. “But that doesn’t change the fact that Heidi is a person, not just a tool for us to use.”

  A wave of emotion instantly washed over Heidi’s expression, and tears sprung to her eyes.

  “So, no,” I continued. “You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to,” I paused. “Obviously, if you do, then we will be eternally grateful – literally eternally. But we won’t hate you for refusing either. Because it’s your power. Your choice. Your life.” I gently reached out and rested my fingertips on her shoulder, only to drop my hand after the brief touch. “Okay?”

  Heidi ducked her head and started sobbing, prompting Rose to wrap her arms around Heidi’s waist. Freya hesitated for a moment, before taking a deep breath, and moving to hug Heidi too.

  We were definitely getting some stares, but I didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. Heidi needed to know that we cared about her and weren’t going to hold a grudge if she decided she never wanted to use her superpower ever again.

  Because it had a cost, even if it was only temporary, and that should be her choice to make.

  Why should she have to suffer for anyone else?

  It was like some random person expecting you to give them a million dollars just because you had it. Why should you have to share your money with them? And even if you had been born into wealth, why should you have to give away your inheritance just because others wanted it? Did you not have a right to keep it all to yourself if you so desired? Wasn’t that your choice to make?

  Or if you won the lottery, should you feel obligated to give most of it away to strangers just because you hadn’t earned it? Shouldn’t you have the right to keep all of it for yourself?

  Or…at least the half the government didn’t steal in taxes…

  Maybe you might give some to your parents, or a sibling, but what about everyone else who expected a handout? What if your superpower was literally creating money, but it caused you agony to make it?

  Should you make it for everyone who wanted it, just because they wanted it? Was it wrong of you to only create money for yourself and no one else?

  And more importantly, was it wrong of you to want to feel like you were more than just a money machine? Was it wrong to want people to view you as a person instead of just a source of free health and wealth?

  Heidi was a person born with an ability that was hard on her when she used it, and even if it was easy for her, she should have the right to never use it again if she so desired. It should be her choice to make, because it was her power and her suffering on the line.

  So like hell was I going to make her feel obligated to keep Lily alive for us, even if it was my most desperate desire.

  Because just like Lily was more than a hot body, Heidi was also more than just a way to keep those I loved alive. She was a person, and her wellbeing mattered. Her choices deserved to be respected.

  “I’ll do it,” Heidi sobbed, her words barely coherent. “I’ll do it,” she repeated more quietly when Freya tightened her embrace.

  Freya finally took a deep breath. “Thank you,” she whispered. She then shocked us all. “But Sam’s right. We’ll still keep you around, even if you decide not to.”

  Heidi froze solid for half a second, before pulling away to hold Freya’s gaze. She then looked down at Rose, which forced her to smile as more tears slipped from her eyes.

  “I’ll do it,” Heidi repeated more confidently, reaching down to gently run her fingers through Rose’s black hair.

  Unexpectedly, it felt like lightning struck me in the heart, my chest throbbing, my world splitting open and falling apart.

  I gasped, reaching out for Freya’s shoulder only to fall to my knees, the world around me vanishing, my mind lost in disbelief and anguish.

  “Sam?!” I heard a voice call out from a world away.

  “Daddy?!” A similar voice yelled.

  But nothing mattered now.

  It was over.

  Just like that, the world lost color, the sun darkened, the light extinguished.

  Devastation was all that was left.

  A stabbing sensation in my wrist was eclipsed fully by the entirety of my soul being annihilated as I watched the sun’s light die out.

  The world froze over, life ceased to exist.

  “Rose, protect Heidi.”

  CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

  CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

  The rapid succession of what sounded like cannon fire combined with bricks smashing together forced my eyes to focus, a ringing echo haunting my ears as I shifted my gaze upwards at the phantom of a woman with blonde hair and orange eyes. She ignored me, her mouth moving briefly, before she passed right through me, towards…

  Gunfire.

  Gunfire…from a machine gun.

  “NO!” I shrieked, turning around to grab her arm, only for my hand to pass right through.

  The phantom wavered briefly, before zipping away at an unnatural speed.

  I chased after her as fast as I could, warm bodies colliding into me, screaming everywhere, only for those in m
y path to be shoved to the side by an unyielding invisible force as I ran with every fiber of my being.

  I stopped when I found Freya on her knees, her third-eye out, staring in absolute shock and devastation at a raging inferno in the entrance of a store front.

  I rushed past her to get closer, realizing the heap on the floor next to the flames was Lexi. She looked up at me desperately, the side of her face burned, her left arm bleeding.

  “I’m so sorry,” she pleaded. “He was after me, and Lily…” She choked on her own words, agony transfiguring her expression.

  Without another thought, I charged straight into the flames, diving straight into hell, my clothing instantly catching fire, my skin rapidly being eaten away.

  That’s when I found her, lying not far from a burnt skeleton with a puddle of solidifying steel on the melted floor.

  I dropped to my knees by her side, slipping in a pool of blood unaffected by the heat.

  Her eyes were wide and unfocused, the veins in her neck bulging, her chest heaving unsuccessfully, creating sputters of blood from the seven gaping holes in her torso.

  Instantly, I scooped her upper body into my deteriorating arms, my astral limbs plugging the holes in a fruitless attempt to stop the massive pool of blood from growing any larger. My second-sight could see the damage though – a pierced heart, both lungs collapsed, blood in every place where it shouldn’t be, along with liquified metal everywhere…

  She was supposed to be fireproof so I would never have to see this scene again.

  Not again.

  My jaw trembled.

  Not again!

  Please no!

  The unyielding inferno raged all around me as the life faded from her eyes, the shifting colors coming to a halt, the light dying out.

  No goodbyes.

  No ‘I love you.’

  Just death.

  The heat began decreasing, the flames diminishing.

  My body began regenerating.