Don't Miss ↣ Oliver Queen; Arrow

Chapter 23 ↣

"No no no!" That voice. It's familiar. I haven't heard it in a while. Old. But comforting.

"Is she dead?" Another voice. A male one this time. Strong. But shaking with fear.

"Did she stop him?"

"Or hide the key?"

"Mama why isn't she moving?" Young. A young girl's voice. Soft. Unafraid. It makes me sad.

All the voices make me sad.

I open my eyes and see nothing but darkness.

A endless void of nothingness.

"Hello?" I call out.

"Shh. She's awake." It's the older woman. She appears in front of me, and I don't recognize her at first. "Did he do this to you?"

I look down at myself, I'm wearing what I wore to the party, but a dark stain is spreading from my stomach area. But when I look up I notice she has a similar dark spot, but near her heart.

"Who?" I ask, not really understanding why this woman is here with me in this void.

She takes a step towards me and places a gentle hand against my face, "I'm sorry this happened to you, Akiko."

I look up at her eyes, her watery eyes, "M-mom?"

A small sympathetic smile is placed on her lips, "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

I grab her hand against my face and I start sobbing, "M-mom, I-I'm sorry."

"Shh. It's not your fault." She says to me softly.

I look away from her, tears still pouring out, "Y-yes it is. You died because of me."

Her hand pulls my face back to her, "No we didn't. It's not your fault. Stop telling yourself this."

"No!" I shout out pulling away from her, "It's my fault! You died! You all died because of me!"

"Aoi?" Alfie.

I turn my head and look at my friend, blood staining his white dress shirt.

"It's not your fault, Aoi." He says quickly but that doesn't stop me from crying more.

"It's not your fau-"

"Yes it is!" I scream out and they both vanish.

I panic turning in circles, looking for them.

"Hi." It's her. I can't look at her. I can't do it.

I cover my mouth and swallow a huge lump in my throat, "H-hey."

"Sissy look! Mama gave me a tutu!" She cheers, causing more tears to spring up in my eyes.

I don't look at her. I can't look at her. I can't see the stain.

"Sissy. I want to see your face before you go back." She says, which catches my attention.

"But....but aren't I dead? He killed-"

"No. You're alive." She says.

I turn around and look at her. She is indeed wearing a pink tutu. But her pink sweat shirt has a red stain on it. Where he killed her, because of me.

She runs towards me, arms open, and I catch her.

I start crying softly as I hold her close to me, "I'm so sorry Charlotte."

"Mama says you're gonna beat him. And your gonna stop him." She says while playing with some of my hair.

I sit on the floor with her on my lap, "I'm going to stop him Char, I promise."

She picks up her little hand and extends her pinkie, "Pinkie promise?"

I smile at her and wrap my larger finger around hers, "I pinkie promise."

She gives me a big hug and I laugh softly at her.

"How touching." Like venom his voice poisons the sense of peace and serenity around me and Charlotte disappears.

The black void begins to strobe white, causing the dark figure that is approaching me to become more eerie the closer it gets.

I stumble back a few steps but my body presses up against a nonexistent wall.

"You forgot where people like you go when they can't die..."

The figure gets close enough to hook his hand around my throat and lift me clean into the air.

"Hell!" It slams me down and my body jolts around a few times before my eyes burst open in a operating room.

"Patient coming to, check pulse and levels." A doctor says.

In a panic I start to grab at the tubes in my arms and I rip the mask off my face.

"Put her under!" One of the doctors yell at a nurse.

I feel a needle get jabbed into my neck and my vision blurs to black.