Edge of End

by Suren Hakobyan

  Chapter nineteen: The last resident

  “Get back!” Malcolm came to his senses first.

  He shoved Elizabeth back. I was shell-shocked, but I followed them with small cautious steps backward. The thought of not being able to cross the abyss made my blood pump through my ears, made them burning hot, but somehow the shock had not caused my heart to beat any faster.

  After everything we had been through, all those struggles, all those sacrifices and all our aspirations, we had almost made it to the passage safely; but the town played unfair, it was mocking me, looking at me smugly, playing its wicked game, it was doing everything in its power to keep me away from the light. It pushed the most dangerous mix of nothingness it could create into my path.

  Like a stack of dominoes the nearby houses fell into the never-ending hole of nothingness–residents and all. I stood back mournfully watching the earthquake wreak its havoc. A million thoughts run through my mind, but none of them was of any use. We were still retreating.

  “We have to go back,” Elizabeth shouted, but I failed to listen to her words.

  I just stared in awe as I watched the mist getting swallowed up by the abyss.

  Another high-pitched wail from one of the devil statues rang through my ears. I scanned my eyes back and forth eagerly, trying to locate the source. It was directly ahead of us, bravely flying over the dark abyss towards us.

  “Watch out!” I yelled, pointing at the devil which had come out of the mist. Its humungous outstretched wings blanketed the mouth of the abyss.

  I pushed Elizabeth aside so she fell, crashing to the ground with a squeal. As she fell, she rolled away from me. Malcolm threw himself to one side while covering his face with his hands. I remained standing, staring at the devil’s burning eyes flying dangerously low, and its head almost at the same level as mine. With each flap its wings rose dust up into the air forming huge puffs of clouds. The air became even denser and dingy than it was.

  With the devil just a step or two away from me, I bounced back. My feet hadn’t even reached the ground yet and already its face was in front of mine, its slobbery teeth just inches from my skin. As it flew up to me, time stopped momentarily, enabling me to examine every little detail of the devil’s huge body.

  I hit the ground and rolled over managing to avoid the thrashing tail that was pummeling the ground around me. My eyes filled with dust and I had to blink several times to clear my vision. I jerked my body back, and with that it disappeared back into the mist. But there was already another black beast swooping down towards me, taking its place. I pulled my eyes away from the devil for a moment and looked back at Elizabeth running towards me.

  “Don’t come near me,” I shouted as loud as my throat would let me. “Get down.”

  As I finished, I flung myself forward. My feet brushed against the edge of its wing causing me to crash to the ground, hitting it hard with my head.

  My head became fuzzy, and my vision swayed; the picture before me became cloudy. Finally, my eyes found Elizabeth.

  Get down, please, I thought. The devil proceeded with its frenzied flight aiming for Elizabeth. For a fleeting moment, she stopped dead, watching the deadly creature approach her. As she came round and recovered from her shock, her sad eyes fell on me–full of pity and sorrow as she understood that it was going to be the last time she ever saw me.

  “No!” I cried out. I tried to lift my arm up, but an acute pain shot through my body.

  Fortunately, Malcolm was near her. What kind of man was he? Never shocked, never confused and always on his guard. He sped towards Elizabeth faster than the wind itself, and I could barely follow him with my eyes. He took a hold of Elizabeth and dragged her along with him. I let out a huge sigh of relief as the devil missed his target.

  “Thank you,” I muttered under my breath, tilting my head towards Malcolm. “Thank you, thank you.”

  The earthquake was still rocking the ground as though the whole town had become an enormous cradle. The hole continued to expand and was about to swallow me up. I pulled myself back, helping myself along by digging my elbows in, but I was too slow, and the dark angry mouth was gaining on me.

  It’s almost here, you’re slow, Jonathan; it’ll gulp you up, you’re too slow, my mind kept telling me. And then, all of a sudden the erosion of the ground came to an abrupt halt, the crack stopping right at my feet as if time itself had stopped.

  For a moment there was not a sound, just complete silence.

  “Jonathan, are you okay?” I heard Elizabeth’s worried voice from behind me.

  Elizabeth and Malcolm ran up to me. She knelt down beside me and held me by my shoulders. Malcolm took a quick look around and then steered his eyes towards me.

  “Get up, quickly,” he ordered bossily. “Go! I’ll hold them as long as I can.”

  “No!” I cried. “We’re all going together.”

  “No way! You’re not going to get past all of them. The passage is about to close.”

  “But you’ve done so much for me,” I refused to give up. I looked at Elizabeth demanding that she supported me. “I can’t leave you. Why did you fight and struggle for us? You won’t have a chance to go back to Earth.”

  “I wasn’t fighting for the way back, Jonathan,” he grinned delightedly and winked. Then he bent forward and pulled me up to my feet. He took my arm and stared deep into my eyes. “I have no place on Earth anymore, but you have.” He glanced at Elizabeth politely for the first time. “Both of you. I’ve never seen anyone find love in this town. You’re something new in hell, and you shall survive to be living proof.”

  “What kind of proof?” I asked in astonishment.

  “Proof of God’s presence. Here, in hell,” he added showing me his old teeth. “During my time here I have learned that even in hell we’re never alone. God is among us, lurking deep in the soul.”

  “Malcolm,” I whispered.

  He cut me off with a gesture, “Go!” he ordered as he let go of my arm.

  I stared at him for a long moment then glanced at the abyss separating us from the passage.

  “How are we supposed to get across?” I wondered.

  “Believe in yourself. You can handle it,” and with these words he spun around and rushed away into the mist.

  I heard the wail of a devil coming from the direction in which Malcolm had just disappeared.

  “Jonathan?” Elizabeth urged impatiently.

  “We can do it,” I reassured her trying to sound unfazed.

  “How?”

  Moving rapidly, I took her into my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck, her eyes still full of disbelief.

  “Ready?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, even though she had no idea what she had to be ready for.

  I bent over almost double, took a deep breath and held it, then thrust myself up into the air.

  Elizabeth in my arms, we were flying over the abyss invisible behind the dense mist.

  We shot through the air. I gazed at Elizabeth longingly, possibly for the last time. Who knew if I could even manage this giant leap?

  Elizabeth held onto my neck tightly realizing that both of us could just fall and drop into the darkness, falling forever in each other’s arms, but she wasn’t scared, I could see that clearly in her eyes. She was willing to take the risk so that she could be with me.

  Gradually the mist cleared. I had a clear view, and there was a stream of light that was hanging before us. I felt as if we were dropping, landing, and with a sudden jolt of glee, I realized that my feet touched the ground.

  We have done it Elizabeth, I told her with my eyes. She looked at me and smiled happily, her eyes twinkling, her pupils dancing.

  Elizabeth was still in my arms. I was holding onto her for dear life, I didn’t want to let go of her, ever. I collapsed and fell to my knees, and she stepped out of my arms. Kneeling down in front of me, she cupped my face tenderly in her hands and stared into my eyes.

  “You did it,”
she squealed with delight and a genuinely happy smile appeared on her face. I looked up at her dubiously; I needed confirmation of what she had just said. “Yes, Jonathan, we did it. Look at the light,” she peered back over her shoulder pointing at it. Her words hung in the air and she lowered her hand reluctantly.

  A tall man with bulging muscles bursting out from under his tight T-shirt stood completely still facing the light source with his back to us. In slow motion I stood up releasing Elizabeth. My eyes stung from the dryness of the hot air. Unblinking, I stared at him, hoping that my idea about his identity was wrong.

  The man turned back to face us.

  My mouth fell open in shock at his appearance. He had black straggly hair. His skin was dark gray, burned, and his eyes were as red as blood. He was the first humanlike creature I had met in Elizabeth’s house, Malcolm’s neighbor, the monster that had been sucking on the power of others. That snotty man craved my power too; it was by far the strongest power among all of the residents.

  “I’m glad you’ve found your way and come to me,” his hoarse voice projected clearly across the distance between us.

  He folded his arms smugly, most probably waiting for me to thank him, but I couldn’t speak, I was mute.

  “I’m sorry about our first meeting. I was behaving rather impolitely,” he grinned at me with a satisfied look on his face. “I’m Richard by the way. I’ve been dead since–” he raised his eyebrows and looked downwards as his thoughts sunk into his memories. “A long time ago,” he added uncertainly. “But it’s me. I believe that you’ve probably heard all about me. Malcolm must have told you.”

  “He did,” I interrupted gathering my braveness to me, and pushing my fear away. “You’re the last resident, you’re a gamer. But my life isn’t a game. It’s not a game for me, and it’s especially not one for you. I’m going to ask you nicely to let me walk past you, and I promise I won’t harm you.”

  His high mocking laugh thundered through the air. Of course, I knew very well that he wasn’t going to let me pass so easily. He had come for me after all.

  “Harm me?” his face grew serious, but you could see the hint of wickedness in his eyes. “You can’t harm one who’s already dead. You’re just showing off in front of your beautiful girlfriend, but to me you’re nothing but a lousy worm.”

  “I could tear you up into little pieces and let them rot in the town ground for another eternity,” I tried not to pull away, I had to press ahead. “By now you’re well aware of what kind of power I bear. The passage is going to close off at any moment. I’m way too strong for you. There’s no way you can block me.” Really? I asked myself.

  “Yes,” he hissed like a snake. “And that power is what I’m eager to suck out of you. Actually, your power’s useless anyway. You’re going to lose it as soon as you reach your mortal body again.” He dropped his arms down and clenched his fists tightly.

  He was the last standing obstacle, the final test, the very last fight. I had already defeated him in Elizabeth’s house, before I realized the true strength of my power, but he hadn’t been ready for me that time–he thought that I had been just another prick wandering aimlessly about the town. And I had already been privy to his malice that time on the road, but fortunately Malcolm had saved me.

  Now he was fully ready to pick a fight with me. I reasoned that, even in the afterlife, man doesn’t stop lusting for power, a lot of power, endless power. A man’s soul is possessed with a greater desire for power than love, friendship or happiness. Personally, I had found that small glimmer of love buried deep inside my soul and I had let it grow. Of course, Elizabeth had helped me, and I ought to fight for that love, and hold onto it tightly.

  I looked over at Elizabeth, my eyes asking her for her approval to fight. She read my thoughts and nodded. She averted her eyes away from me and looked in Richard’s direction. Then she suddenly broke out into a sprint.

  A delighted smile covered his black lips. It was a smile that told me ‘at last I’m going to have the power I’ve been craving for.’

  I ran towards them as fast as the wind. As I ran the dust flew up into the air. My right hand was balled up into a tight fist and my nails dug deep into the rough skin of my palm.

  Richard held his ground patiently waiting for us to arrive.

  Elizabeth reached him first. She attempted to strike his face, but Richard with great ease snatched her hand in mid-air. Pushing it back down to her side forcefully, he punched her directly in her stomach. She let out a deafening scream as she was thrown backwards about five steps and crashed to the ground hard on her back.

  I took it as my cue to jump in. Lifting up my feet, I flew purposefully towards Richard. Still in the air I swerved to the right. He dodged, but I managed to punch him in the chest. Gripping his chest in anguish and pain, he flew backwards. Not giving him any time to recover, I jumped on him and continued to attack with a series of mighty punches. With every blow, he weakened and eventually he was forced to his knees. With his hands covering his head, he tried to defend himself from my wrath. Then, suddenly, I missed one of my hits, and I found myself stepping back.

  Richard rose, his mouth bloodied, and he stood there staring into my eyes, a wicked gleam in his. With a horrendous roar, he threw himself forward. Dodging, I grabbed him by his shoulders before he was able to jump on me. Using all his strength, he pulled my arms off him, and, as he did, he squeezed my head and jumped over me.

  I was facing the light, Richard behind me, and he began to viciously kicking me in my back so that I found myself dropping to the ground, facedown.

  I coughed out the dust from my mouth and managed to bring myself up to a crawling position. I felt giddy. Richard had gripped a clump of my hair firmly in his hands. I screwed up my eyes in agony and tried to look up at him. He punched me in the face, and I was back on the ground breathing in dust again. I could taste my own blood in my mouth mingled with the dust.

  “Let him go!” Elizabeth came to my help. Richard wheeled around and threw a punch, but Elizabeth ducked successfully and gave him an upper-cut under the chin. It was so forceful; some of his teeth were knocked out. His feet rose off the ground, and he writhed in the air slamming to the ground howling in agony with blood and teeth falling from his mouth.

  Elizabeth kicked Richard, causing him to roll further away. Somehow he was still able to force himself up by his elbows and stand upright again. He dashed towards Elizabeth, snarling like one of those wild dogs as the blood poured out of the corners of his mouth. Elizabeth froze; there was doubt in her eyes–she was facing a beast. If Richard had once been a human, a long time ago, there was nothing left of that man.

  Reaching Elizabeth, he grabbed her by her throat and lifted her into the air. She grasped his arm with both hands, desperately trying to free herself, but the furious Richard had a strong hold on her. Gathering his strength, he threw her far away.

  “Elizabeth!” I shouted out and jumped up to my feet.

  She, with a loud thump, fell to the ground, rolled over and then stopped. She couldn’t be dead, she was already dead, but she remained completely still.

  My blood rushed to my ears, I took a deep breath, outraged, arching my eyebrows and balling my hands into fists. Richard turned back to face me, the corner of his mouth twitched.

  “We’re alone now,” he said blood splashing out of his mouth. He glanced back at Elizabeth lying limply on the ground. “I guess she’ll like me after I finish with you.”

  “You will never have chance,” I roared sprinting forward. There was a long distance between us, though I could cover it in a second like lightening. But a loud scraping sound coming from the mist that had been hovering over the abyss assailed my ears. I took a closer look.

  A big shadow materialized in the mist–growing quickly.

  “Malcolm,” I whispered.

  The old man had missed one of the devils. It appeared from out of the mist close to me. Without any hesitation, I recoiled. I tried my very best to avoid
the devil, but its leg was long and stretched out. It kicked me in the chest and threw me about ten steps away.

  Holy crap, I was in dangerous territory once again.

  Richard laughed a warm laugh. I looked at his gray face lit by the lucid light which was supposed to take me away from this hell. I still could try to reach it, but without Elizabeth it wouldn’t have any meaning. She was lying behind Richard, the distance was too great for me to reach her.

  The devil rose into the air and started hovering around Richard, but it didn’t touch him. I thought he would have attacked me and finished me off, but instead he spun on his heel and walked over to Elizabeth.

  “I want you to watch me make her suffer before I steal your power,” he said loudly still walking. “You will have something to think about in the other eternity I’ll leave for you…”

  Just the thought of anyone causing any kind of harm to Elizabeth filled me with strength. I stood up. My clothes were ripped, my hair dusty, my face wounded, however, I didn’t feel pain, I felt only the power rushing through my veins. It was mightier than ever.

  “…her expression begging for me will stay with you forever,” Richard went on. “And you’ll have to deal with it because it was you who had filled her with hope, but gave her nothing in return.”

  The devil noticed me standing. Closing its wings on its back, it swooped down intent on wiping me from the ground once and for all. I ran as hard as I could so the devil’s eyes couldn’t follow me. It was right in front of me, its huge mouth half open, its sharp teeth craving to slice my body in half. At the very last moment before I would run into the devil, I leapt over it landing behind it. I darted ahead, not like the wind, but like light.

  Richard, standing beside Elizabeth, spun around as soon as he felt me behind him. His eyes widened with fear. I have no idea of why he felt such dread. I grabbed him by the neck, hoisted him up and then slammed him onto the ground. As he hit it, the whole ground shuddered.

  I lifted him again, his feet inches off the ground. Richard punched me in the face. I felt my teeth rattle in my head. I automatically let him go and cradled my face in my hands shrieking in pain. Richard took a hold of my shirt and, in next to no time, he had me dangling in the air. He threw me up in the air, and I hurtled towards the mouth of the devil, which had turned back and was rushing to meet me.

  This is the end, I thought. At any moment I would be in the claws of the monster being devoured, but suddenly somebody grasped me mid-air, and we both fell to the ground.

  “I’m tired of saving your ass,” a gruff voice came.

  “Malcolm,” I cried out irritated. “You were supposed to hold back that flying piece of shit up there.”

  “I know. I underestimated them,” he sniffed sarcastically. “But, at least, I saved you.”

  “Yeah, stealing me out of its mouth,” I whined at him spitting out more dust. “If you’d kept it back, I wouldn’t have been flying into its fucking mouth at all.”

  He gave me a slight smile, “Cheer up. Go, get Elizabeth. I’ll hold Richard.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” I teased, but I did as I was told.

  I lost sight of the devil behind the mist. From the distance I saw Elizabeth flinch.

  “Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm,” Richard said solemnly standing a few steps in front of the old man. “At last we meet again to play our favorite game, but this time as opponents and on my grounds, right?”

  “These are my grounds too, remember?” Malcolm replied showing no emotion in his voice. He put his hand on the rag wrapped over his face and rubbed it.

  “Yes, I know, how could I forget? I’ve been waiting here for you for such a long time, but you preferred to wander in the middle. I didn’t want to pick a fight with you there at the café you used to frequent, poisoning yourself just so you could avoid reality.”

  While they sparred, I sprinted over to Elizabeth lying facedown and breathing shallowly. One of her hands lay awkwardly beneath her body, and the other was flung above her head. I rolled her onto her back.

  “Elizabeth, can you hear me?” I begged her as I slapped her face lightly.

  She blinked with difficulty. My heart thumped. I took her head in my hands and pressed it lightly against my chest.

  “It’s okay, you’re going to be okay,” I whispered in a hopeful voice.

  “Jonathan, what happened?” she mouthed. “Did you kill Richard?”

  I looked at the gray-skinned man crossly. If I’d had a chance, I would have.

  “… and yet the game you’re playing has ripped your soul from inside,” Malcolm was saying. I couldn’t see Richard’s face, but I was sure he was grinning smugly. “You’ve been in this town as long as I have, but unlike you, I’m repenting.”

  “Too late to repent, Malcolm.”

  “No,” he said looking in our direction, his eyes narrowed. Elizabeth and I had helped him to believe that the light could survive in any soul dwelling in this town. It was there, deep inside everyone, hope, repentance, regret. The feeling had possessed both Elizabeth and I even standing on the threshold of hell, on the edge of end. This is what had made Malcolm change and avoid the road Richard had chosen to take.

  “There is still a little hope,” he said with low but clear voice.

  But not for Richard. The town had gnawed away everything good in his soul. Before Malcolm there was a devil, full of evil. He cracked his knuckles as he straightened his fingers and, with that, he snarled and charged towards Malcolm. The old man stood still waiting for him, ready to take him on and fight to the end.

  The sound of the first strike thundered the air, and it could surely be heard from the beginning of the town.

  I helped Elizabeth sit up. “We can go now,” I said glancing back at Malcolm and Richard fighting. “Can you stand up? I don’t think the passage intends to stay open as long as I want it to.”

  Elizabeth quickly glanced over at Malcolm and nodded reluctantly. I was just about to start pushing her when a thunderous voice roared through the clouds deafening me. The sound waves hit me in the chest. My body trembled, and I edged myself back, my eyes full of fear, my body full of anxiety. I turned back to look over my shoulder at the light–was it fading already?

  The stream of light gave a brief flicker as if it were about to extinguish, but, somehow, it continued to shine. I had mixed emotions and didn’t really know what I felt. I became charged with an incredible power.

  “Are you alright?” Elizabeth said placing her soft hand on my cheek.

  Was I forgetting to breathe? I surveyed the mist. They were returning; three shadows were furtively swimming in the mist and moving towards Elizabeth and me. Upon seeing my glazed over eyes, Elizabeth glanced back, her jaw dropping open in horror.

  “Jonathan, get up. We’ve got to reach the light,” she was pointing at the light source ahead.

  My mind reeled, what to do–should I run or stay? “No!” I hissed, standing slowly. “They will tear Malcolm to shreds. They’ll finish him off once and for all. He has done more than enough for us, we can’t just leave him.”

  I tore my eyes away from the mist and looked at Malcolm. Richard had taken a hold of Malcolm by his neck and was punching him brutally. The rag slid off Malcolm’s face. Finally, I saw the part of his face that he had so long concealed–half of his head didn’t exist; it had been completely cut off–his eye, eyebrow, half of his skull and brain. Yet he was still alive.

  “He’ll finish him off any moment,” Elizabeth cried, waiting for me to go and help him, but the three devils remained lurking in the hovering clouds of mist; they would surely descend at any second.

  I shoved Elizabeth away from me. Perplexed, she backed up further. Three large hideous faces leaped into my view from within the mist. The last creature was blocking my way, preventing me from escaping that pure hell.

  Lacing my fingers together, I brought my hands up close to my mouth. I tilted my head and closed my eyes just like I was praying–and that’s wha
t I did. I prayed. My lips shivered as I mouthed long forgotten words of prayer. But still I felt the every move the devils made; I felt them thinking, longing for me.

  Opening my eyes, I held my hands out. A surging invisible wave of inhuman power flowed freely from my palms. It was my territory that surrounded the light; I was the strongest in its path; the light was charging me through my back and neither devil was able to stand the power of that heavenly light.

  The three devils collided with the mighty wave that had been flowing out of my palms. They flew through it with panicked shrieks. The next moment they became blanketed by stone; their wings remained spread open, but they were completely still like statues. Frozen, before they could have ever reached Elizabeth and me, they exploded into a thousand tiny little pieces leaving small particles of stony dust settling on the ground.

  Elizabeth watched everything unfold in shock. Her eyes wandered over the ground and met mine.

  “I’ve reached the peak of my power finally,” I explained shortly. Richard’s time had come. I faced him.

  Malcolm was lying at his feet. Richard savagely tore one of his arms from his body and tossed it aside if it were a bone for a dog. Groans escaped Malcolm’s mouth that quickly turned into screams of pain as blood streamed from his shoulder. Richard had noted my immense power and he appeared startled, doubt showing in his dark pupils. Then the darkness in his eyes returned. It was me against him. Even the town had withdrawn itself knowing that its chances of bringing me down were slim to none.

  I knew what would come the next, I had seen it in the night. The last time travel I had experienced wasn’t my past, and neither my present, it was my future.

  When I stretched my hands out again facing my palms up towards the sky I knew I could do it. Richard, his eyes full of terror, was detached from the ground and hung suspended in mid-air.

  “You can’t kill me,” he managed to say in agony. I knew he was burning inwardly because I was doing it.

  “I’ll get rid of you,” I told him clearly as I opened my arms as wide as they could go.

  Richard smirked for a second, but then cried out in absolute agony–a flame exploded out of his chest. He was overwhelmed by the sizzling fire and the horrific pain as he internally combusted, his body becoming small bits of meat that rained to the ground.

  Silence fell and finally the somber mist began to fade, and the dark hole that had opened in the ground became visible. I lowered my hand and let out a huge sigh of relief, my eyes still twitching nervously; the mighty power that had possessed me still hadn’t gone. For a fleeting moment I felt equal to God, the Lord of surroundings, but I knew this wasn’t going to last long–my power would leave me as soon as the light disappeared.

  A soft, affectionate touch on my hand made me blink, and my eyes fell to the left. Elizabeth had taken my hand in hers and stared fondly at me with her beautiful brown eyes.

  “How did you do that?” she asked.

  “I saw it,” I told her about the vision in the night.

  “So you saw the future,” she whispered, her breath circling my nose and caressing my nostrils. How sweet she smelled.

  Malcolm turned on his side snapping my attention back to him. I hurried towards the old man with Elizabeth following closely behind. As we neared him, I could clearly see Malcolm’s half face. I noted the dried bloody spots hanging from the remainder of his brain and the wrinkled edges of his skin. The picture was terrifying; I knew that it would stay with me forever; it was going to haunt me wherever I went, but I didn’t allow it stop me from showing compassion. I knelt down beside his body and placed my hand gently under his head, raising it slightly.

  His one eye looked at me, his face lit up with delight. I reached for the rag that had been wrapped around his head and pressed it lightly onto the socket from where his right arm had been torn off. He let out a yelp, his breathing quickened, and he writhed in pain.

  “He was mine,” Malcolm howled. “I should’ve ended it with him.”

  “Yeah,” I murmured. I gave a fleeting glimpse back at the light. “I can take you back and release you from the pain. You’ve done so much for Elizabeth and me. I owe you, and I’m willing to risk my passage for you.”

  Even though the pain was immense, he managed a faint smile. “I’ve got no place on Earth anymore. My time there has passed, but you still have yours to return to. Go, take her with you.”

  “But you’ve changed, you’ve repented,” Elizabeth’s voice trembled fighting back her tears.

  “Look at me, woman,” Malcolm howled and gulped. “Look at this ripped soul. It can’t appear on Earth, it belongs here.” He took my arm with his left hand tightly. “You owe me Jonathan.”

  I nodded. “Anything you want.”

  “Find my body on Earth,” his voice filled with determination. “Find me and turn that bloody machine off. Let me die in peace. I’m tired of waiting.”

  “But you’ll be sent to hell,” I burst out.

  “At least we’ll meet up there again.” he laughed slightly, then the smile in his eyes faded away momentarily. “Promise me you’ll do it Jonathan. Promise me.”

  I met his eye and was unable to avoid it. This man had practically saved me from being confined to hell forever, I owed him everything. Closing my eyes, I nodded.

  “I promise,” my lips whispered. Elizabeth rested her hand on my neck.

  “Then get the fuck out of here, now!” Malcolm pushed me away. “Go!”

  Elizabeth lowered her hand onto mine. I loosened my hold on Malcolm and stood up hesitantly. He had been given the chance to escape with me, but he had refused, and sent me away.

  “Let’s go Jonathan,” Elizabeth made me tear my eyes away from Malcolm. Her dusty hair danced in the breeze that had just come from nowhere. Her face had been wounded and dried spots of blood spattered her cheeks, yet she was still fascinating.

  “Okay,” I said reluctantly. “See you around old man,” I told Malcolm trying to sound more jovial than serious.

  Elizabeth ushered me away from Malcolm. My legs felt stronger with every step I took away from him.

  The great stream of blinding bright light was still hitting the ground. It covered what lay under that heavenly light. Like a sword it cut the gray sky. For the last few steps, we broke into a sprint. We were overcome by the desire to leave this eerie place as fast as we could.

  Finally, we were standing right in front of it, only an inch from the light–the passage that was going to lead us back to real life. I did wonder for a moment whether my memories would return once I got there. Then I realized that I didn’t want them back–I didn’t want to have any connection to my past. I had a new life–a better, wiser and more loving one.

  “Ready?” I asked Elizabeth holding her hand tightly in mine. I was determined not to let go of her no matter what was awaiting us in the light.

  “Ready,” she replied grinning broadly.

  For the last time I peered back over my shoulder at Malcolm, at the man who had gotten me this far. With one arm, he was struggling to his feet. I knew how much I owed him. Whatever happened to me when I was back in the real world, I was going to have to keep my word and do what he wanted me to do–I would release him from his body.

  Malcolm stood still, his coat blowing back in the breeze. I imagined him as a soldier–a commander standing to attention. He gave me the thumbs-up signal and winked, I smiled back.

  And then, as I blinked, we leapt into the light, into our new life, into the reborn.