Loving a Monster

Living is Hard When Death has Looked Into Your Eyes

Light. Soft. Easy. Soothing light. I'm warm. Comfortable. Wait. My hand is cold. It's freezing.

Something is wrapped around my hand.

I try to pull away, wanting to go back into the empty void where there is no pain, no fear, and no need to accept the awful facts. What facts? Oh. Yes. My brother. He left me.

Voices filter into my consciousness.

"~will need to stay here for another week. What she did was incredible. And incredibly draining. We will be lucky if she wakes in the next two days." That voice. I recognize it. But from where? Who is it?

"Alright. Thank you. What of the other? What shall we do with him?" This one is cold, but just as familiar. I can't place it, though.

"There is nothing to do," this voice is hallow. Empty. Close. I want to comfort it's owner. But who is it? "Preserve the body until she wakes. When she's ready, she should be the one to address what to do with it. She's the only one with that right."

Tense silence. Shuffling. A slight prick in my arm, and I'm filled with warmth again, enveloped in that comforting void.

~~~

Light filters through to my eyes once more. Only, this time it's much clearer. The cold around my hand is familiar, and I know who it's from. Jack. I squeeze his hand. My muscles are stiff and soar.

I open my eyes to find myself in a room with soft light coming from some corner. It takes a moment for me to focus on anything, but when I do I realise I don't recognize the room I'm in. And then Jack is looking down at me, in human form. Worry is so strong on his face, I can't believe it's the same boy.

"Jack..." I whisper, my voice hoarse. My throat hurts, which confuses my. I just took a short nap, didn't I?

Relief crashes over him like a wave. His face is buried in my neck, his arms around me, holding me to his cold body. I wrap my shaky limps around him.

When he pulls back, his hands run through my hair, touch my face, my neck, my shoulders as he looks me over with such a powerful relief care I start to cry.

"What's wrong? Are you still hurt?" He immediately asks when he sees my tears, or the steam from them.

I shake my head, still smiling. "You're cold." I rasp.

He cracks that beautiful, sharp smile. And gets up, sitting back on his chair at the side of my bed. I get up, with trouble, to sit. Looking around the room, I realize I must be in Smile's room. The local doctor.

I notice someone's missing. "Where's Nick?" As soon as the words fall from my mouth, I know.

He's gone.

Silence for several moments as I watch my hands in my lap, Jack's hand on my wrist.

"Tell me we at least did what we were aiming for?" I manage to ask around the lump in my throat.

"What we were aiming for? (Y/n), you melted the entire building into a steaming pile of cement and metal. There's nothing left but a solid hill of it."

I look at him, confused. He seems shocked. "You dont remember. We found you in the hollowed center of a giant mass of cooled cement and metal that had been melted into a massive, deformed hill. You were passed out next to your brother. We thought," his voice crack. He looks down, "I thought you were dead, too." He chokes out.

I take his hand and squeeze it, a weak smile on my face. "Survivors?"

He shakes his head. "No. Well, we ran into the Hunters that were still out that night on our way to find you, but no. You were the only one."