Rules & Other Things worth Breaking
She sleeps, for
the moment that is enough. At least that
is what I tell myself. I live in the
rise and fall of her chest, each measured breath. The pause between each is enough to drive me
madder than a Victorian hatter. The
fragility of her slender frame is only emphasized by the gauze bandages and
tubes running this way and that, ensuring she gets the fluids-the medicine she
needs to heal. Eternity is just a bat
of lashes in the time I have waited to see her.
And I almost lost her again. And
I would be forced to remain behind, banished to this in-between. I had spent too many years, wasted so many
opportunities, following rules that were set against me. Legislation created to facilitate my
failure. It seems even those who’d set
the rules had grown tired of playing by them as well. Too many things had changed. There was no longer balance between the
forces at work within this world and those who pulled their strings.
Everything had
just become infinitely more complicated.
Chaos would come. War would
follow. And she slumbers. Unaware that she will be the fulcrum. It is a responsibility too large for any
mortal mind to fully understand without splintering apart. Too many lives crisscrossing-intersecting-knitting
together-coming undone and all came with one decision. And the weight of it sits squarely on those
slender shoulders.
When the nurse
enters, I watch as she checks the plastic bags and tubes. Watch as she scribbles out the vitals. In minutes she is gone but I am no longer
alone. My time with her has come to an
end.
“You shouldn't be
here.” The guardian says. He wears the same shadows I do, a camouflaged
so that we may move through this world, mostly unobserved. The guardian’s words register like the
buzzing of an unwanted gnat.
“I should not
have to be here.” The guardian
nods. I do not tell him that he should
have been there. That he is just as
responsible for her condition as the vile creature that pulled the
trigger. He lives because he remains to
be of use to me. She twitches, her eyes fluttering behind closed lids. The
dreams have begun. It is only a matter of
time. When I move to the edge of the bed
the guardian grabs me by the arm, it was a very unwise thing to do.
“That you are the
reason she still remains in this world is the only reason I have not destroyed
you. Do not test the limits of my
benevolence.” My voice is cruel. He doesn't release me, I admire courage-but
this borders stupidity.
“Your presence
will draw too much attention. The longer
you remain the greater the risk. I can
only keep her hidden for so long.” I
look at her, my eyes absorbing everything.
She was different, but somehow, the same. “If she dies, I will take spend the rest of
my eternity re-inventing your concept of pain.
Do not think my leaving is a victory for you. I do this for her.” As I always have. In this world and beyond, everything
endured-for her. I do not risk looking
at her again, afraid that the courage to leave will fail me.
With a thought I am
outside the hospital, walking beneath stars that, for the first time, do not
feel stacked against me. I smile for
what feels like the first time in an eon.
There was much to prepare.
NOTE THAT THIS WAS CUT FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT. IT IS UNEDITED AND NOT IN THE FINAL STORY. Okay with that being said, I hope you enjoyed a preview from Liam's POV.
