Page 51 of Falling Hard
Chapter 16
Emmie
My eyes fluttered open. Where was I? I was lying on some fresh green grass, and it was beautiful, but what was even better was the peace I felt.
I looked around my surroundings. There was a glowing light to my left, and I wanted to touch it, to walk into the warm sunlight.
Just as I took a step toward it, a movement out of the corner of my eye stopped me.
“Maiden?” I frowned. Why was he here? He didn’t belong here.
“Don’t move, Emmie.” He tried to take a step closer to me, but something was stopping him like a force that I couldn’t see. “Come back to me.”
His eyes were filled with pain, and I couldn’t understand why. Did he not see the beautiful light I saw? It was beaming and warm. I wanted to walk toward it.
My hand went out to the light and ran through one of the beams. It was just as bright and warm as it looked and just the touch of it on my skin filled me with happiness and peace.
“I have to go now, Maiden.” I turned my back on him. “I’m happy here.”
“Don’t, Emmie, you don’t want this!”
“Yes, I do.” I turned to look back at him. “Did you not hear me? I feel at peace, and the demon that usually haunts me isn’t here.” It was like a slab of bricks had been taken off my chest, and for the first time in my life, I was taking a good breath in of peace, and it was glorious.
“I’ll give you peace. Just come back to me, Emmie.”
I tilted my head, not understanding why he was so panicked and scared.
“Come back to me, Emmie,” he pleaded. “We didn’t even get a start. Don’t end us before we get our start.”
“I’ll always be with you, Maiden, but I need to go now.” There was this need for me to go toward the light, to feel peace, warmth, and happiness. I needed to head toward it. I deserved peace. I deserved happiness, and, more importantly, I wanted it.
“I can give you the peace you want, Emmie,” he said in a rush as I took another step toward the light. “I’ll give you everything.” He then started fighting with the force that was holding him back. “Do not leave me!”
I smiled just slightly. “You already are giving me peace by letting me go. I’ll be watching.” With those words, I turned my back to him again. I closed my eyes, and the warmth from the light shining over me filled me with happiness and brought a glowing smile to my face. I was heading toward peace, but when I went to take a step forward, the warmth disappeared, and pain shot through my body, bringing me to the ground.
The pain was crippling, and it was dark. Where did the light go?
“Maiden!” I screamed. “Maiden!” I continued to scream his name as I faced the darkness and the crippling pain, then a fog took over me, clouding my eyes completely. It wasn’t darkness. It was death, or at least, that was what I thought.
