Losing Hope | {BOOK 4}

69| Saving the Sun

"Eleanor," Amos greeted me, appearing on the other side of the garden. "How did you find me?"

"Does it matter?" I asked. "I'm here to give you what you want."

"That's a change."

"Well, I can't just stand by and watch the world, my friends, and my family die," I started walking toward him. "So if becoming a part of you takes me away from that, then I'm in."

"You... and that bomb in your chest?"

I stopped walking, staring at him in shock.

"Do you think I can't taste the power coming off of you?" Amos challenged me. "Please. The problem is you've never been able to hurt me. So what makes this time any different?"

"I don't have a choice. And what you're doing to the sun-"

"That's not me," he cut me off. "With my brother growing weaker, the scales are tipping away from Light."

"And into Darkness," I finished.

"Into nothing. When God's gone, the universe- everything will cease to exist. Including me."

I swallowed, breathing heavily as I felt the souls in my chest getting stronger and stronger, becoming harder and harder to hold at bay.

"My brother betrayed me," Amos continued. "He locked me away for billions of years. He sent you to execute me."

"No, no, no," I shook my head. "He zapped me here, yes, but he didn't want this. This wasn't his idea. You're family. He doesn't want you dead. He doesn't want any of this! Is this what you wanted?"

"No!" the Darkness shook his head. "I just wanted to hurt him. I wanted to make him pay."

"Yeah, that's revenge. It'll get you out of bed in the morning, and when you get it, it feels great... for about five minutes. I've been there. Me, and Sam and Dean- we've had our fair share of fights- more than our share- but no matter how bad it got, we always made it right because we're family. I need them, they need me. And when everything goes to crap, that's all you've got- family.

"Now, you might be a- an all-powerful being... but I think you're human where it counts. You simply need your brother."

Amos shook his head, scoffing at me.

"Just stop."

"You don't want to be alone. Not really."

I continued to move forward, closer to where he stood.

"I mean, hell. Maybe that's why you wanted me. But deep down, you didn't really want me... 'cause I'm not him. So maybe I can kill you. Or maybe I can't. Maybe if I pull this trigger, we all live happily ever after, or maybe we die bloody, or maybe it doesn't matter, because maybe there's a different way. So I'm gonna ask you again. Put aside the rage. Put aside the hate. And tell me... what do you want?"

Amos studied me silently for a long moment, and then he waved his hand and suddenly Chuck was with us in the garden.

"What?" he demanded. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Brother, I..." Amos took a deep breath. "In the beginning it was just you and me, and we were family. I loved you, and I thought- I knew... that you loved me."

"I did," Chuck sighed. "I do."

Tears formed in Amos's eyes as he continued to speak.

"But then you went and you made all these other things. I hated them. I hated you for needing something else, something that wasn't me. And then you locked me away, and all I could think about was making you suffer."

"You had your reasons."

"I did. And I thought revenge would make me happy. But I was wrong. What you've made... it's beautiful. It took me a long time to see that. I know that we can't go back to the way things were. I don't want to, but I wish... I wish that we could just be family again."

"I do, too."

Chuck reached his hand out, and Amos took it. Their hands started to glow, and the sky brightened as the sun started to burn again. I watched as Amos put a hand to Chuck's chest, healing him as waves of energy flowed from his hand.

"I think we're just gonna go away for a while and..." Chuck trailed off, facing me while still holding hands with Amos.

"Hey, yeah," I nodded. "Family meeting. I get it."

"But first..."

Chuck walked over to me, placing his hand over my chest and removing the bomb. I grimaced in pain as the souls left me.

"Better?" he asked me when he'd finished.

"What about us? What about earth?"

"Earth will be fine. It's got you... and Sam and Dean."

"Eleanor, you gave me what I needed most," Amos addressed me. "I want to do the same for you."

Chuck and Amos clasped hands once more, disintegrating into swirls of Dark and Light smoke before traveling upwards and disappearing. I watched it vanish, and then made my way out of the garden and heading through the wooded area nearby.

"Come on. Where the hell am I?" I muttered as I tried to get a signal on my phone.

"Help! Help me!" a woman's voice called out.

I followed the voice until I came into a clearing. When I arrived, a woman with long, brownish-red hair and brown eyes was standing in the center. She was barefoot and wearing the white nightgown Dad had brought her to wear in the hospital because she hated wearing the hospital gown.

"Mom?"