The Chase

*Chapter 3*

I feel her hand brush up against my face, making me bolt upright from my sleep. Realizing it's only her, I smile softly, coddling my face into her hand, slowly kissing the palm. She grins at me and kisses my forehead. Her lips are so light. I've always loved how elegant she was. She walks away to go prepare some breakfast. I sit in bed, befuddled at the nightmare that I was having.

Rubbing my head, I recall every little detail.

Phew, it was only a nightmare. I thought I was a goner, at that last part.

She returns, the tail of her white satin nightgown flowing lightly behind her, as she walks. The eggs, sausage and toast she prepared were especially delicious today. I thought I was never going to taste it again. She giggles at the sight of me eating my food so quickly. Oh, how I've missed her laughter and its beautiful serenade.

After we're finished, she leaves to put the dishes up. When she returns, laying against me, she kisses me lightly, as if I had never been gone to begin with.

I begin to tell her about the nightmare I had endured the night before. She laughs and giggles at how ridiculous it sounds to her.

I can't help but stare at her smile. I've missed it so much. It's been years since I've seen it. I hug her tightly, burying my face into her long blonde hair. She has it curled today, smelling of vanilla and lilac. Her hair always smelled so sweet. Even years after I thought she was gone, I could still remember the scent so vividly. It was as if she was always right there with me.

I can feel my eyes begin to tear up, and my nostrils flare, in attempt to hole back the tears that were inevitably coming. She's too busy going on about what her friend and she did the night before, to notice, thankfully.

~-~-~-~-~

October 23, 2096

It all seemed surreal, when those men in military grade hazmat suits broke down the door and shot her...my dear sweet Elizabeth, in the middle of the living room.

When I was coming home from the convenience store a couple of blocks away, I noticed a few of them rampaging down the streets. I knew they were around, but I never thought they'd come here. Immediately, I dropped the breakfast I had bought for Elizabeth and me and hid behind a dumpster, nearby. The men stopped short of my breakfast splat, picked it up and ate it, laughing, while they continued their journey to ruin someone else's life.

Thoughts of Elizabeth and our soon to be son flashed through my head instantaneously. I feared for her safety. As soon as the men were clearly out of sight, I bolted towards our apartment. We were on the first floor of the HollowCreek Apartments. I was about a block away, but it only took me, what seemed like minutes to return to her. Hoping to take her in my warm embrace, I quickly start to unlock the door, when I notice that it isn't even locked.

Oh, no. She always locks the door!

I can feel the tears streaming down my face, as I push open the door with more force than necessary. There she is, lying on the floor, in a pool of blood. You could still see the shock and fear on her face. There's no holding back the tears any more, and they start pouring out of my eyes. I'm hyperventilating so loudly, that, if my neighbors were still alive, they could hear me.

I fall to my knees beside her, taking her into my arms, as I begin to rock back and forth and look up at the ceiling, trying to convince myself that this isn't real. I'm holding her head. Her beautiful blonde hair, now red and matted against my palm. I can feel the exit wound.

She's still alive. She's just in the bathroom. She'll be here in a minute. Get yourself together.

It's no use. I just look down into my arms and see what is left of my wonderful love. Her cold lifeless body. Even in death, she was still so beautiful and elegant. Anger starts to fill my body, as my crying turns into screaming. I get up, her head falling to the floor yet once again. Pacing from the living room to the kitchen...back and forth, back and forth...and rubbing the back of my neck, I begin to plot. There's no point. I grab the plates she set for us and throw them at the wall, watching them shatter.

~-~-~-~-~

That's when everything changed for me. That's when it really hit me. The world was ending. The next thing I remember is running away from those things. All I can think to call them is zombies, but they were much more than that. They weren't just zombies. They were monsters. Creatures that the most evil maniacal person couldn't even think up.

Now, they're gone, and here I lay with my majestic Elizabeth. She'd stopped talking and noticed me staring at her.

"What?", she giggles. "She said that! Can you believe it"?

I just smile and shake my head, looking slightly aghast at whatever whomever had possibly said. She just smiles. I'm sure she knows I wasn't really listening.

She leans up to turn around and face me, when I notice a deep red spot on my shirt.

Hm. I'm sure that wasn't there before.

"Did you get ketchup in your hair or something?", I ask laughing and poking her shoulder lightly.

Looking up at me, she says, "Hm? What?", reaching up to feel the back of her head. When she pulls her hand back, it was covered in red. A hole starts forming in her forehead, I fail to notice at first, due to me staring down at her hand.

We look up at each other, and that's when I notice it. That's when I realize. That is the moment that I know. You could see the shock/horror/frustration/confusion on my face from a mile away. All of these emotions came over me all at once.

"ELIZABETH!", I yell, grabbing her and holding her head close to my heart. Blood is gushing from the back and front of her head, staining my hand and shirt. "...not again.", I manage to choke out, before the tears started coming.

She's wrapped her arms around me, whispering, "Sebastian.", so quietly, I could barely hear her. "I love you.", she forces out, as she slowly dissolves, into me. I sit there, holding nothing but the air, at this point, shocked. The top half of my body falls face first into the blood soaked bed, and I let out the loudest scream I can into the mattress. That's when it starts again...that laughter. That fucking laughter. I have had it, at this point. I jump off of the bed onto the floor.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT UP! STOP YOUR STUPID, IDIOTIC, INCESSANT LAUGHTER! STOP! SHUT THE FUCKING HELL UP, YOU STUPID CUNTS, WHOEVER YOU ARE!", I yell at the ceiling, having reached my absolute boiling point. The laughter just increases in volume.

Hysterically, I sob. Giving up, I walk to the foot of the bed, and fall backwards, never making contact. Everything around me disappears. Nothing but darkness and silence surround me, now. The laughter is still there, but it's so far away that I can no longer hear it. I don't care, either, as I still fall.