She turned from the window and made to head back to bed for more restless tossing, but she stopped short as she spotted a figure hunched in the corner of the room, shrouded in shadow. It kicked her adrenaline into gear and she gasped, but her eyes widened in recognition, and her heart leapt into her throat and pounded in a way that made her want to choke.
“Garren,” she rasped. She was afraid to take a step, even though she wanted to run to him and never let him go again.
He raised his head and met her eyes. He gave her a small, pained smile, and his beautiful face was drawn and weary. “Little one,” he whispered. “I have been waiting for you.”
Her legs remembered how to move, and she strode to him, familiar tears forming in her eyes and hovering on her lashes. “Garren.” She breathed his name as she fell down on her knees next to him, throwing her arms around his neck and holding on as her tears rolled down her cheeks. His arms wrapped around her, and she let out a little sob while snuggling against him, breathing in his scent, and basking in the feeling of completeness that washed over her. “I thought I was never going to see you again,” she cried.
He tangled his fingers in her hair and held her tight. “I promised.”
She pulled back and let her eyes feast on the glory of his face, even though he looked so sad and so tired. She traced the lines around his mouth with her fingertips and ran them along his lips.
He smiled and reached up to touch one of her pigtails. “This is how you looked when I first saw you.”
She shook her head as more tears pricked her eyes. “It was horrible while you were gone. I felt like half a person, like someone had ripped my heart straight out of my chest and I’d managed to survive.”
He nodded and cupped her cheek in his palm. “I know, little one. I felt it too.”
He let his gaze roam over her face, and pain flashed through his eyes before he rested his forehead against hers and drew in a shaky breath. He clasped his hands behind her waist and held her close, as if afraid to let her go.
She frowned, and an uneasy tremor went through her. “Garren?” she murmured. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He shook his head and said nothing. More worry pooled within her and she threaded her fingers through his silky hair. “Tell me what’s going on,” she whispered.
He lifted his gaze to meet hers, and his eyes were so full of sorrow that she felt his pain. “It’s dissolving, Kelly,” he said, so soft that she had to strain to hear him.
She frowned. “What is?”
“The Creative Realm. It’s ceasing to exist.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kelly stared at him for a long moment, wondering if she’d heard him right. “Ceasing to exist?” she repeated. “What do you mean?”
He drew in another deep breath and shook his head, looking down at the floor. “This world is quickly becoming so preoccupied with television and video games and material things that children are no longer playing. They no longer use their imaginations. Generation after generation has gotten worse until now…” His broad shoulders slumped. “The Creative Realm exists on the power of imagination. If no one is using their power, there is nothing to keep the realm alive.”
Fear prickled along her skin. “You mean…”
“I’m dying, Kelly,” he said softly, meeting her eyes. “We all are. Everything is. My world is becoming extinct.”
Panic slammed into her, and she shook her head. “No, there has to be something we can do. I believe, so does Chad and Rachel. If we get together and—”
“There’s no use. This is something that three people, no matter how talented, cannot combat. The Creative Realm is held together by millions of people and their creative power. Without that magnitude of creative magic, the realm cannot survive. There’s nothing we can do.” He shook his head and looked at her again, his violet eyes dark and somber.
Her heart felt heavy in her chest, and her senses seemed dulled. Static droned in her ears, and she sank down so that she was sitting on the ground. Dying…Garren was going to leave her…And she was powerless to stop it. Tears threatened, but she blinked them away. There would be time for tears later. She looked up into his face and knew, deep within her, that she would never be the same without him. She would be changed for the rest of her life. “But my heart, Garren,” she whispered. “You hold half of my heart. I gave it to you. If you die…” She shook her head. “This last week was torture.”
His eyes softened, and he took her face in his hands. “I hold half of your heart because you devoted it to me when you brought me into creation. If I cease to be, the half of your heart I possess will go back to you. You will not feel as you did this last week.”
Her eyes reflected hopelessness. She knew they did. She could feel it. “That’s not true,” she murmured.
He frowned.
“I wasn’t in agony just because you own half of my heart. I was in agony because I was not with you. I was in agony because I love you, Garren. Please, I can’t imagine any day of my life without you now. You flew into my world and took over like I belonged to you. You can’t desert me now.”
The pain in his eyes was overwhelming, but a strange, soft warmth crept into them as well. “I will never desert you, little one. I will always be with you. I will live within you as I did before you brought me to life.”
The tears she had managed to blink back resurfaced and trickled down her cheeks. “How dare you, Garren,” she whimpered. “How dare you come into my life and make me believe that magic is possible. All magic is only an illusion.”
He shook his head and tucked back a strand of hair that had escaped her braids. “Magic is not an illusion, but it is not meant for us to be able to hold onto. Magic touches our lives and reminds us how beautiful the world can be. If we were able to hold onto that all the time, we would take it for granted. We would never appreciate the gifts we are given.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and brought her in close to him, cradling her body and gazing down into her eyes. “You claim I am the one who is magical, but your magic made this possible, Kelly. Your magic enabled us to meet, to touch, to remember…to love. If, in order to experience those things with you, I have to hand over my life, I willingly give it. You are my greatest gift and my greatest miracle. Your magic has given my life purpose, meaning, and such extraordinary beauty. These are things I will never regret.” He sighed as he trailed his fingers along her jawline. “Do you regret me, little one?”
She shook her head as her bottom lip quivered. “Not for one second.” She clutched at his shirt, hating the thought of never being held in his arms again.
“Then all was not for nothing.”
She buried her face in his shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to memorize the feel of his body, his warmth, his smell. “How much time?” she asked softly.
“Several days.”
Pain shot through her heart, and her fingers gripped onto him. If she could have crawled inside his body, she would have. “Stay with me…until the end?”
His arms tightened around her. “I will be with you every second until I am pulled back to the realm, and even there, I will speak your name with my very last breath.”
She burrowed her face in the crook of his neck and cried. How had she come to this? How had she come to love him so much in such a short time? It had snuck up on her. The attack had been subtle and swift. He had wrapped himself right around her heart and made it his home. Somewhere, between desserts on the roof and a kiss beneath the stars, she had become his.
His ragged breath drew her attention, and she pulled back to look at him. “Are you all right?”
He heaved a sigh. “I am so tired, Kelly. You have no idea what it took to get back to you.”
His face was etched in fatigue, and she forced herself to stand, to be strong when all she wanted to do was weep forever. “Come on, Garren. Come to bed.” She held her hands out to him.
He gazed up at her and his eyes filled with tender warmth mixed with sadness. He placed his h
ands in hers and pulled himself into a standing position. She started to lead him to her bedroom, but he stopped her and pulled her back into his arms, crushing his lips to hers in a fierce kiss. She clung to him in desperation and forced her tears away. She could cry for years when he left, but she did not want her remaining time with Garren to be full of nothing but sorrow.
“You are everything good I have ever experienced,” he whispered, clutching her to him. “I will love you until both our realities fade away.”
Her heart squeezed painfully, but she forced a meager smile and reached up to frame his face in her hands. For once, she could find no words. And even if she could have, she wouldn’t have been able to speak them past the lump in her throat. “Come to bed, Garren,” was all she was able to choke out.
He nodded and followed her into her room, where she curled into his arms and prayed for a miracle right before she fell into a restless sleep.
* * * *
He couldn’t sleep. Not really. He had managed to doze off, but real sleep would not come to him when his heart was so full of grief. He didn’t want to miss one second with Kelly, and sleeping would tick off a number of precious hours. She was sleeping, which he was grateful for, but it was a fitful sleep. She tossed and turned and seemed distressed. He wanted to take her pain away, and if there had been some way to do so, he would have, but he didn’t even know how to squelch his own misery.
He glanced toward the bedroom window, where soft rays of sunlight were beginning to peek through. He sighed and looked back at Kelly from where he sat on the edge of the bed. His brow furrowed, and sudden rage mingled with his sorrow. How cruel that the universe had given him Kelly only to yank him away from her. How cruel that he had been able to taste love, only to have it thwarted. How could he protect her if he was gone? He let out a growl of frustration, put his head in his hands, and tangled his fingers in his hair. He ached to be human, to be made of flesh and blood. He cursed his own existence, longing to be able to exist in her world and not be controlled by the whims of a mass of people who no longer cared to exercise their own fantasy.
“Kel?”
Garren looked up as Rachel called out softly from down the hall.
“Are you awake?” She opened the door a crack and peeked in. “I brought you some—” She gave a small gasp and stared wide-eyed at Garren. “Garren, oh my gosh.” She opened the door wider and stepped inside the room. “When did you get back?”
“Last night.”
She frowned. “What’s wrong? You look awful.”
He shot a longing glance back at Kelly, then stood and motioned for Rachel to follow him. Chad was still asleep on the couch, so he led her up to the roof where they could talk freely and not disturb anyone. He explained to her about the dissolution of the Creative Realm, and how he only had several more days of life. The news disturbed her almost as much as it had disturbed Kelly.
“There’s nothing we can do?” she queried.
He shook his head as he watched the sun gradually begin to lighten the sky. “I wish with all my heart and soul that I was human,” he murmured. “If I was, I would make Kelly mine. I would…” He almost choked on the pain that constricted his throat. He looked down and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force it down so that he could speak. “I would make her my wife,” he whispered. “I would give her everything I am.”
“Why do you have to be a human to accomplish that?” Rachel asked.
Garren glanced over at her and frowned. “Rachel, I am imaginary.”
She shrugged. “She can see you. She can touch you. Seems real enough to me.”
His frown deepened, and he looked at her like she had lost her mind. “I’m going to disappear in a few days.”
She met his eyes with force, as if to drive home what she was saying. “Then make them count, Garren.”
“Are you saying—”
“I’m saying that Kelly has had nothing but pain and heartache from every relationship she’s ever been in. She deserves to know happiness, true happiness, even if it is only for a few days, or even for a few hours. You can give her that.”
He sighed, and he gave Rachel a soft smile, admiring her determined spirit. “You do love your sister,” he mused. “I wondered at first.”
Rachel frowned and averted her attention to at her lap. “Of course I love my sister. I just got wrapped up in my own life. She’s my family, you know? She’s just always been crazy Kelly. I never really realized how talented and special she was.”
He reached over and touched her on the shoulder. “You will protect her when I am gone? You will keep her safe?”
She looked up at him, and her blue eyes filled with tears. “Yes, Garren, I will.”
He pulled her into a comforting embrace and sighed. “Thank you.” He thought of her urging him to pursue his desire for Kelly. It baffled him to think that the woman who had, days before, been so belligerent was putting so much faith in what was unexplainable. Faith. That’s what it all came down to in the end. Rachel, the skeptic, who had really only known him for a few days, had faith that he could make her sister happy, even though he would hurt her. That made him think.
He never would have considered asking Kelly to marry him under such circumstances. Even if things were perfect, he would have taken a long time to make sure she was comfortable with such a commitment. Now, he found himself pondering whether he could propose during the worst possible conditions. It was insane, and yet, felt so right somehow. Would it be worth it to be able to taste divine love, even though he knew it would all be taken away in the end? Could he put Kelly through that?
Faith. It came down to that. He would have to trust that Kelly would have enough faith in him to know that, for whatever time they did have together, he would give her every single part of him, body and soul. He would love her a thousand years in only a few days.
“Garren?”
Garren pulled back and looked over his shoulder in concern at Kelly’s frantic voice.
“Garren!” she cried, flying to him and falling into his arms. She was crying and he held her, caressing her back and stroking her hair. “I thought…I couldn’t find you! You were gone!”
Chad came up behind her and Garren glanced up at him. “She told me,” he said.
“I just came up here to talk with your sister. I didn’t want to wake anyone up,” Garren explained, wiping gently at Kelly’s tears. “I’m fine, little one.” He forced a smile, though it was difficult to do. When he looked into her eyes, he wanted to die inside. When he thought about never being able to do such a simple thing ever again, his heart crumbled. Rachel’s words rang in his mind, and he heard the truth in them. They had so little time. “Kelly, I have to ask you something.” He smoothed her hair and feathered his thumb across her bottom lip. “How real am I to you? How real is your love for me?”
Her frown was fierce. “What kind of a question is that, Garren? You’re obviously real enough to me that I brought you back from oblivion with my subconscious, and why are you questioning my love for you? I’m sick to my stomach because I know that I have who knows how long until you vanish forever!”
Fat tears hovered on her lashes, and he couldn’t help but smile. She was emotional. He understood that. So was he, but her vehement response warmed him. It showed him more than her words ever could. “Spend your last days with me as mine,” he blurted out.
She blinked, and the anger in her eyes disappeared. “Garren,” she whispered. “I think I have always been yours. I just didn’t know it.”
He shook his head. “No, Kelly, what I mean is—” He took a deep breath and met her eyes. “I want you to be my wife. Marry me and let me know what it is like to be yours before I die. Let me show you how much I can love you and how happy you can be. I swear to you, I will fill these next days with so much love that it will last you your lifetime. You will never doubt my presence. My love will travel with you always.” He swallowed hard, his heart hammering. “Please, little one. I have never wanted to
be with any other. I thought love was not something I would ever find once my race was gone. With you, I have—” She put her fingers to his lips, and he sucked his breath in. His heart shivered.
“Yes, Garren,” she murmured.
He blinked, unable to mask his surprise at her complete, unhesitant acceptance. “Yes?”
She smiled and nodded. “Absolutely.”
Chad blinked. “Um, how are you going to go about doing that when no one can see him?”
“We should go to Vegas, Kel,” Rachel said. “It’s faster and less of a hassle.”
Kelly looked at her sister and nodded. “Fine.”
Garren blinked. “Where are we going?”
“Las Vegas,” Kelly supplied. “It’s at the other end of the country.”
“I’ll book the flights,” Rachel volunteered. “Work will have to live without me for a couple days. I’ll tell them it’s a family emergency.” She pulled her cell phone out of her purse.
“Um, hello?” Chad held up his finger. “There’s still the little problem of Garren being invisible. How is he going to be able to get on the plane?”
“Give him a map,” Rachel said with a frown. “He has wings.”
Chad raised an eyebrow. “O…kay, then what do we do when we get to Vegas? Randomly go through all the wedding chapels and just pray someone in one of them can see him?”
“That’s the only choice we have,” Kelly said. She stood and held her hand out to Garren. “I want to be your wife,” she said to him as he came up to stand before her. “I want to know you. I want to love you and know you are mine completely. If now is all I have, I want to make the most of the time I am given.”
Beyond Wild Imaginings Page 15