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Chapter 10: Epilogue
He touched Raven's cold cheek for the last time. Garfield's hand lovingly pushed back a lock of her purple hair, and he gave a sob of depression. A wave of vomit overcame him, he slowly turned his face away from her and released a river of clear stomach acid onto the floor. He hadn't eaten in days, so there was no food left to throw up. The leader stared at him with sad eyes. "Are you okay?"
"No," he growled. Garfield wasn't sure whether he would ever be okay again. It made him sick even thinking about a life without her. He realized now that the pain he had been feeling right after her death was unregistered shock, now his mind truly realized that Raven was never coming back. His tears that had been contained by the dam of his own stubbornness was broken, and now he wept freely. "How could I be okay?"
The boy left him to his silent tears. Holding onto her body reminded him of her death, so it only brought him more pain. Her face was so cold. With her body laying there in that way, he felt like she was still alive. More than anything, he wanted to shake her until her mouth gasped air. The boy was back again, whispering, "I'm deeply sorry."
"Leave me alone for a moment," he cried. He found it hard to leave the body, even if he knew that he would be back to reclaim it. Death was a terrible thing, and all beliefs he once had were gone. 'What if death really is terrible,' he wondered. 'What if I never see her again, even after death?' With another large sob, he cuddled the corpse in his arms.
With a final sob, he removed his jacket and wrapped it around her. It would not make her warm, he knew that. He could picture her awakening from her slumber, wrapped in the warmth of hid jacket. It was a dream he had envisioned over and over again in the past hour. He leaned for and brushed his warms lips against her cold, bloody ones. "I'll be back."
The boy and his men were aligned against the wall, all in a deep mourning silence. He knew that this was the work of the boy, out of respect for her. This was a gesture that he appreciated, even if he couldn't fine the words to say it to him. 'The wind is so much colder without her here,' he thought. The boy asked, "Are you ready?"
His throat was caught in a mass of emotions, but he did find enough strength to nod. The boy and his men would not fight Jade with him, he wanted to kill her on his own. The boy handed him a small revolver that felt as light as a single hair. It was almost like it didn't exist. "Thank you."
Gar could swear that he saw a single tear fall down the boys face. A invisible force suddenly made him feel stronger, and he knew what it was. Raven was still with him in soul, even if he could not see her. More tears began to fall down his face. The leader regained composure, saying, "I'll have my group warn the other soldier's. We have been forced into this fight; if Jade is gone, then there will be no war. Perhaps even if you fail, we will find the strength to revolt."
"Okay," he whispered. That was all that he could manage to say. His throat was dry from all the crying, and his saddening emotions would not allow him to say anything more. In his mind, his words were overflowing, but his lips were still sealed in sorrow.
"Good luck," the boy murmured. He slowly turned to look at Raven's body once more. Her face was as white as the winter's first snow storm, and her eyes were as empty as a homeless man's plate. Seeing her dead was making him ill once again, so he slowly tried to put his focus on his final battle. With more courage then he knew that he had, he slowly pulled open expensive door to Jade's layer.
Compared to how many jewels decorated this room, it made the golden door look as if it were made from plastic. The state of this room made him unconditionally angry. This horrible excuse for a human spent her days in crystal covered rooms while Raven lay dead. A shuffling of feet behind him drew his attention. "I've been expecting you."
Jade's hair flowed down her back in a river of golden sunlight, and the dress she wore revealed all of her secrets. If she had a gun, it definitely wasn't hidden in her flimsy outfit. He stared down her ice cold eyes haughtily. "You killed Raven, I'm going to make you pay."
"Oh, really." She merely smiled and took several more steps toward him. The extremely strong perfume she wore drifted over to him, instantly making him feel nauseous. His fingers tightened around the small gun tucked neatly into his pants. "I sense no threat from you, boy. You're not man enough to shoot a pigeon! You'll never pull the trigger on that silly little excuse for a gun."
His hand was shaking worse than a bucketful of cherry Jell-O. She had just reinforced the doubts that were already running through his mind. Garfield Logan was not and never would be a killer. Ever since he was a child, he had been gentle by nature. Every time he blinked he saw Raven's face, but he still couldn't bring himself to squeeze the trigger. "No, I'm a man because I choose not to kill."
"Who filled your quaint little head with those ideals?" Her laugh was a million fingers running continuously on a backboard. It was his dead parents that had taught him wrong from right, and she was insulting them. If she kept prying at his head, then maybe firing the gun wouldn't be so hard. "They are fools, imbeciles and liars, just like you're little girlfriend."
This was to much for him to take. He could already feel tears begin to make their descent down his face and travel to the floor. In a blink of a eyes, Jade had magically summoned a gun from a large potted vase on the countertop. This gun was big, very big. His gun look like a penny, while her gun was Bill Gate's bank account. "Don't you dare call them that."
"What? You don't like it? You are such a coward, young fool." she laughed. Her perfectly manicured, pink fingernails curved elegantly around her weapon. This was what he had suspected from the beginning, so whatever fear he felt was only slight. "It's true, so you better get used to the idea!"
"Shut up," he yelled. This was the first time that he had ever felt anger this deep. The current of his malice was so strong that he couldn't breath. Everything he cared about was dead or turned to glass, and the fault belonged to her. The size of her gun no longer scared him, he was ready to face a entire army. She must have sensed his objective because she suddenly fired her gun.
A bullet pierced his already broken heart, but he did not fall. If he was going to die, then he was going to take her down with him. He fired the gun and the bullet spiraled into her forehead, instantly plummeting into her brain. Red splatters oozed down her face and she let out a squeak before falling to the ground.
"That was for you, Raven." That was all he had time to say. Everything lost focus for a second as he was overcome with pain. With every breath his world got darker, until he could see only blackness. It was almost like he was drifting a pool of warm water. Strangely, his world began to regain focus once again. His soul was sucked down a darkened tunnel with no light or sound.
The blackness was not frightening like he would of thought, but it was warm and comferting like a big blanket. There was still some pain in his heart; however, with every breath it faded. He began to pray that the black tunnel would release him because he was now afraid. This was not where he wanted to spend eternity. If he wanted to spend a eternity anywhere, it would be with Raven.
There was a distinctive smell in the air. It was the scent of lilies and roses in a moonlight garden, and it was the smell of Raven. He found that he had the energy to stand. His body no longer held any bullet holes or scars, his skin was flawless. There were no longer any wings to hold him into flight, but his body seemed to float on his own.
The tunnel no longer pulled at his body, but it left him suspended in the pool of ebony. The soundlessness climbed up his spine like a barrel of small insects. If he had to deal with the soundlessness any longer, he knew that he would go mad. 'This must be what hell feels like,' he thought.
"Raven," he called. He could smell her, she was so close. The darkness began to separate and he found himself standing in a meadow with lavender flowers, and in the meadow stood Raven. When she turned to look at him, he was surprised to find her smiling. "Is that really you?"
"Yes," she nodded. His feet stopped levitating the moment he had set foot in her meadow, so he took off running. A jaguar could not have gone any faster then he did at that moment. Their bodies collided and he quickly eased his finger around her slender waste. Her wings no longer prevented him from hugging her as tightly as he possibly could. "We've all been waiting for you."
This was the day that would change all mankind. The adolescent leader smiled as the world was filled with life. The blanket of rainy clouds had disappeared in the blink of the eyes, and was replaced by a sea of warmth of sunlight. This was the first time he had ever seen the sun, it was something that he would never take for granted.
"Sir, what do we do now?" The man had to be at least forty years old. It was an odd sight to see, for teenagers were not usually seen ordering older men around. He turned to smile at his senior soldier, the happiness brimming on his face was worth more than one thousand golden rings.
"Why are you asking me?" This was what freedom truly felt like. He could run where he liked, talk the way he liked, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Things weren't going to be easy, he knew; however, he could do things his way. "We're free! You don't have to listen to me anymore!"
A heard of approaching footsteps caught his attention, and he turned around quickly. 'What if the messenger that told us of Jade's death was mistaken,' he wondered. 'Jade could send men to kill us.' That would be a very depressing day indeed. Garfield's death would be for nothing, if she still wandered the earth. The man whimpered, "Sir."
"Calm yourself," he growled. The three that popped out of the forest were not soldiers, they were merely human prototypes. All three of them were angels, their wings groping the air with mighty claws. They certainly were different from them, but they weren't entirely different either.
"What happened?" The black haired angel's face was clouded over with confusion. He had to admit that he had been confused at first too; the Forest of the Dead held no similarities to the world it was before. Their was no glass or monsters in sight, and the trees stretched out their mighty arms in welcome. It was almost like a whole different world.
"What happened?" The boy smiled and tossed his cocked gun to the floor. He never wanted to carry a gun ever again. All that they were meant to do was kill people, he had never liked the bloodshed caused by them. This could have been the best day of his life. "We are all free! Jade is gone and the world is free of her will!"
"Jade," the tallest man asked, scratching the back of his bald head. Obviously they didn't know who Jade was, although that didn't spoil his mood. Things would become a lot clearer after the storms of time passed them by.
"We will tell you in good time," he smiled. "Rejoice, my friends; a new beginning is here!"
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