To Be

Chapter Fifty-Two

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Here I lie.

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Here I wait.

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Here I hope to die.

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***

I am still floating through time and space unaware of how much time has passed. 1 week. 1 month. 1 year. 1 century.

Who knows?

All I know is that I'm ready. I'm ready for all of this to end. I'm ready to die. And I'm more than ready to be reunited with Adrian.

But for some strange reason, I'm still here.

Even though my mind gave up, my body is still fighting.

Fighting to live.

***

Today everything is quiet.

I don't hear the doctors and nurses, or my parents and Josh, or Levi, Sierra, and Ellie.

Everything is just dark.

Pitch-black.

A blackness so thick that my ears seem to be clogged from the suffocating thickness.

'Hello,' I call out to the darkness. 'Anybody there?'

Of course, I receive no response.

Panic overcomes me.

What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?

Where am I? Where am I? Where am I?

Why can't I hear anything?

Am I officially dead?

I must be dead.

Hello?

***

I am waiting here in this dark world void of light.

For how long? I do not know.

I think I'm dead. Yes, I must be dead.

Is this the afterlife?

Heaven or Hell?

Most importantly if I am dead then where is Adrian?

My Adrian.

***

Time. Time. Time.

What is time?

My existence continuously drifting through space, never slowing down--- never coming to a stop...

Is this time?

Will it ever just stop?

Will I ever just stop?

I hope so.

I really, really hope so.

***

It comes for me.

At last, it comes for me.

A bright light

A light so bright, I feel blinded.

A light so strong, that I can feel it wheeling me in.

I'm drawn to it. I'm drawn to it. I'm drawn to it.

But then it stops. And another light appears beside it. A light that's not as bright.

And then I hear it.

I hear it. I hear it. I hear it.

I never expected to hear his voice again, but I do.

"Shelby?"

Adrian?

"Shelby, it's me. I'm here. I'm alive..."

A-a-a-l-l-i-v-v-e? A body that was never found...

"Please Shelby, please wake up. I-I... You see I was never dead. I was captured, and taken as a prisoner of war. They wanted everyone to think that I was dead... to-to give up on me... but during a raid, my comrades came across me and helped me escape. It's a long story. But Shelby... Little B... here I am. Here I am at last and..." he chokes, a sound that is so heart-wrenching that I find myself choking along with him. "And you're not here. But I won't give up on you. You have to still be there. Please, please... please come back to me..."

The lights are watching me--- waiting.

Adrian.

My Adrian is alive.

And I am lost.

The lights begin to shine brighter--- a beacon. A sign.

I am lost.

A beacon. A sign. 1 bright. 1 even brighter.

I take a step toward the infinite light.

The End.