Chased by Life and Death

Chapter 49

Luke

I don't know what day it is. I don't know how many days am inside my room. Ian is always crying and then he falls asleep. Whimpering in his sleep for her. His lover. My lover. Our lover. Our friend.

I don't have the energy and the will to eat or talk. I feel empty. I missed her. Her smile, her laugh, her face, her warm presence. The guys had sensed something, but we were so blind from Emma's spell that we hadn't realized something until one week and a half when her plan was exposed.

Ian stirred in his sleep and I stood slowly. I hadn't bathed for three or four days. The room smelled awful along with the rest of the dorm room. I walked to Ian with a lot of effort, kicking and avoiding the dirty clothes, bottles of alcohol, and pills. Sleeping pills. I dragged the blanket to his chin and turned to leave the room. In the hallway, there wasn't any light, and I shivered from the cold. The hallway at our side was silent, but as I went to the living room, I heard sobbing from Noah's and Blake's room.

I forced my legs to pass the upside-down couches and the smashed TV. I went to the kitchen to drink some water. Unwashed dishes, some broken other not, expired food smelled from the cabinets. No one had come to see how we were doing. Not the professors, not our families. I drank water, grabbed some bottles of water and bread, and headed to check on the guys. I knew that we had to stick together to survive. We were a family. Even we had lost our light in the way.

Somewhere inside me was taken from me. I wanted it back. I was desperate to see her one last time. She was our oxygen. Our boost to continue our future with her inside. To make memories. It was like a little kid who had their first pet. A dog. At first, he wasn't sure if it could be trusted. Slowly they formed a friend bond and something deeper. The kid had found happiness in his life. He could do everything with his friend beside him.

And then, unexpectedly, the dog died, leaving behind a broken kid behind. The kid cried to his parents for his friend. They had prepared a grave for the dog. They bury it while the kid cried for his friend. We hadn't gone to her grave. We were banned from going there. Although inside her grave there was nobody.

I grabbed the handle, twisted it, and looked inside. Tristan was curled in a ball in the corner of the room. On other days, he looked like he was soulless. I put the bread and a bottle of water on his desk and left. I grabbed the handle of her door and opened it. Her room was empty. The color of her walls, curtains, her things had disappeared. It was a new room. It was like no one had set foot here. Her presence had vanished.

I knocked on the next door. Noah was in his bed, crying. Their room was too dark without light. Dirty too. Blake was sitting on his desk, staring at the wall. When he noticed me, he gave me a small smile.

I stared at his red eyes and the dark circles under them. I left them bread and water and left again without saying a word. Micah and Ethan were awake when I opened the door. Their place was a little bit cleaner but awful again. They had circles under their eyes too, but at least they talked.

"Hey." Ethan murmured. His voice was sad and low.

"I brought you something to eat and drink. We haven't anything great but..." I trailed. They nodded.

"How are the others?" Micah asked me.

"Bad."

"I heard rumors some day before when I went out," Micah exclaimed.

"What rumors?" I asked.

"Aiden is preparing for war."

"But all this time he is at war with us." I spoke, confused.

"No. This time he will come with all his sources to kill us all."

"I will fight." Ethan said loudly, and we turned to him. "I will fight for you, for the people, for HER."

"Me too." Micah and I said at the same time.

"I will take my leave then. If you want anything, come at me." I said and left.

When I opened the next door, Parker had fallen asleep in Hunter's arms. Logan sat on the other side of the bed looking at the ceiling. "Everything okay, Luke?" Hunter asked me.

I snorted. "Am trying to pick the pieces back. But it still hurts."

He signed and offered me a sad smile. "We will all put our pieces back together. Some will take time. Others tears or blood. But we can't stay like this. Monica wouldn't want us to continue like this."

"You are right." I agreed.

"If Monica was here, she would say 'Woah, big guy you know how to give advice.'" Logan said. Hunter's eyes watered. "Yeah."

I opened the door, "I'm going to see Ian."

"Okay." I walked back silent and when I opened the door, Ian was awake, crying. I went to his bed and sat. I pat him on his back, "Ian?"

He cried, "L-Luke, i-it hurts so much." I put my hands on his shoulders and he raised his teary face. "I feel so useless. I couldn't see behind the spell."

"It wasn't your fault. Emma was responsible. Not us. We couldn't do anything." I comforted him. He put his hands on his face. "I miss her so fucking much!" I grabbed him into a big hug while tears ran down my cheeks.

"I-I think she will burst any moment through our door with that beautiful smile."

"I know."

"But she still hasn't shown up."

"Ian..." I rocked us back and forth.

"B-Bring her back."

"I would do everything to bring her back, Ian, but you know she wouldn't want this."

"Y-Yeah..." He sobbed.

"Remember when she made Tristan wear only his boxers? It was epic." I tried to distract him. He laughed only for some seconds when it turned into sobs again. I stayed there and held my best friend as he cried, and I cried with him.

And then I promised to myself that I would fight for Monica and what she had done. Because I loved her. And my love for her won't vanish.