Into the Light

153

"They're practicing," Ash said, looking back at us. That's right. I had forgotten. The Coven was waiting on us. Witches, with more power and experience, were waiting on us, because we were the ones that were meant to defeat the Darkness. How did that make sense? We were just kids. Well, maybe not kids, but mid 20's. Just a few people that explored and tried to talk to ghosts. Katrina made music. Anna still didn't know what she wanted to do. Our lives were really just beginning in a lot of ways...but we were expected to beat this evil so that it didn't threaten the world. If I didn't know better, I'd think that I was dreaming or stuck in a coma dream. Did I have an accident, or something, that could've done that? Because, this was just like some kind of weird, fucked up dream. In a dream, we would win though. Right? Maybe that was just in books and movies. Where the good guys always win. "I'm gonna talk to Sam for just a minute," I whispered to Anna, not wanting to draw attention from Ash. She furrowed her brow and looked confused but nodded. I dropped her hand and waited on Sam and Kat to take the few steps towards me. "Can you go walk with Anna?" I asked Katrina, hoping that she could see that I needed a minute with Sam. I got the same expression from her, as I did Anna, but she nodded and sped up to walk with her. I stepped into line beside Sam and kept pace with him. "What's up, brother?" he asked. "You know," I responded, glancing at him, then back to the ground. Didn't want to trip and hurt myself. That would be the last thing any of us needed right then. Sam had his phone light on and Ash had a flashlight, but that was the only light that we were getting, since the trees were blocking the moonlight. Sam sighed, because he, in fact, did know. "Colby, I just think that what she was saying made sense. That's all. I know that-" I shook my head hard and cut him off. "No, Sam, you don't know. I will NOT do that. I won't take her life! How could you even think that's a good idea? Not even mentioning the fact that I love her, like really love her, how could you think that I could kill someone?!" I knew my voice was getting a little loud when Kat glanced back at us. "I don't think you could kill someone," Sam replied, gently. "I never said that. Hell, I never said anything!" "I saw it, Sam. I saw it in your face," I said, keeping my eyes on the ground. He didn't say anything for a moment, proving my point. "Okay, maybe you did. Not that you could kill someone, but that, if it comes down to it, we may have to take Anna out of the equation." My head jerked in his direction, and he held up both hands from my glare. "Look, I'm just saying, okay? It's logical. If it came down to saving the world, or saving Anna, we would have to save the world. God danggit, I can't believe that I just said that. Saving the world? Who the fuck do we think we are?" He let out a short, humorless laugh, but it fell short. "I can't do that," I responded. "I won't." "I know you won't,' he replied. "You won't either, right?" I asked, hearing his small tone change. I knew what he was thinking. I had ever since Anna and I had been arguing over this inside the house. I knew what that look had meant. He, again, didn't respond. "Sam, I mean it," I said, hearing my voice crack. "You can't. Promise me." He didn't say anything. "Sam?!" I replied, trying to meet his eyes. He wouldn't look at me. "I can't promise you that, Colby. If it comes down to saving you and Katrina, or Anna, I'm going to choose you and Kat. Everytime. I will always choose you." Now, it was my turn to fall silent. I knew what he was saying, and I even understood it. If I were being completely honest with myself, as much as I hated to even think about something like that, I felt like I would choose to save Sam's life. Would I choose him over Anna though? "What if you had to choose between me or Katrina? What about then? Would you still choose me?" I asked, hoping to help him see what I was going through. He let out a big sigh and let his shoulders drop. "I don't know," he replied, quietly. "I don't know if I could do that. You're the other part of my soul, but she's the other part of my heart. How do you choose between those?" Okay, we had to really be in trouble here, if he was saying sappy shit like that. Maybe I was dreaming, for real. "You can't," I said, quietly, glancing up at the girls. "That's my point." We were both quiet for another few moments, hearing the chants and voices become even louder, the closer we got to the clearing. "I'll never forgive you, Sam," I said. "If you kill her, I'll never forgive you." We had reached the clearing and were standing just on the edge of the open area. Sam looked at me, sorrow in his eyes. "I know," he said, simply, then went to stand by Katrina. I watched him go. I wasn't lying. If he hurt Anna, I would never be able to forgive him. I would hate him for a while, but soon, I would miss my brother. We would make up and it would seem like everything was okay. On the outside. On the inside, I knew that I would always hate him just a little. Our friendship would never recover from it. Not completely. I was still watching him, when I felt someone nudge my shoulder. I glanced over and saw Anna smiling gently up at me. "Hey, everything okay?" she asked. I let out a short, harsh laugh. "Is everything okay?" I repeated. "Sure, Anna, everything is just dandy. We're about to fight the most evil being that we've ever come across, even though we don't have a clue what we're doing, My girlfriend wants me to kill her, and my best friend...well, we aren't seeing eye to eye. But yeah, everything is fucking great." I knew that I was taking it out on her again, and that I shouldn't, but I couldn't stop the words from spewing out. My brain was on overload and the fear that settled in the bottom of my stomach was just making it worse.