Two
weeks passed and the escalating state of things left us facing the
point of no return. My grandfather had developed doubts, but not
enough to try and fix things on his own. Marie-Lynn refused to talk
to me most days, and when we did speak, it would be about how I
should do something. This is the end of our story.
The
last decade we spent together was in her world, the night before I
murdered her. When I had gone to bed that night, cradling my
grandfather's sheathed blade, I expected darkness and then another
miserable morning. But instead I opened my eyes to find the beautiful
Marie-Lynn standing over me, her tears hitting my face.
“I
thought you didn't want me here.” I grumbled as I sat up and looked
around. Everything was grey except for Marie-Lynn and I. All of the
life and color that once overflowed from Marie-Lynn was gone, washed
away by sorrow and fear.
“Of
course I wanted you here!” She replied between heavy sobs. “I
just thought that you loved me enough to try and save us! I don't
want to die as a victim of association! I wanted to grow old with
you! But now, that feels impossible...”
At
that moment, I had been the closest I had ever been to trying to save
the two of us. But even then I was too afraid to admit fault, to take
the all too necessary risk. I never ended up replying to Marie-Lynn's
words. After a long paused filled by wet sobbing, I got to my feet,
took Marie-Lynn's hand, and reintroduced her to the Wanderer. Our
final decade was one spent wandering together, one last time.
“Do
you know why I wander?” I asked near the end of the first year. She
shook her head. I looked to the cloudy sky and lost myself within the
answer. “Some people read books to find answers. Some experiment. I
wander. It helps me think, but it also teaches me the world, and
allows me to search it.”
“Then
why are we wandering now? What answer do you think this worlds still
holds?” She questioned, much to my pleasure. I stopped and turned
to face her. I ran a hand through her flaming auburn hair and
caressed her face.
“Before
I met you, I was by no means a wanderer. All of the answers I sought
could be obtained by meditation. But then you came along and ignited
something within me. You became the spark in my chest, the one that
lights the dark path ahead of me. When you left, all I could do is
search for you. You were the answer I was looking for. But once I
found you, or rather once you found me, I realized
that you are a complete mystery. We're wandering now because you
are the most profound, most important, question that I have ever
known.”
“And
you want us to figure me out together?” Marie-Lynn continued.
I
shook my head. “No, I want to get lost in your infinities with
you.” That was the last sweet thing I ever said to her.
Morning
came upon us like a falling bomb. We felt rushed, afraid, and
overcame with grief. Something within us knew that it was the end.
Perhaps it was the high nerves that led me to do as I did, but there
are more likely influences. That day, we ate breakfast with my
grandfather. He noticed his sheathed blade attached to my belt. He
looked up from its hilt, met my gaze, and then returned to his meal
in silence. Marie-Lynn nudged me in an attempt to get me to speak to
him. I excused myself and went into the garden in search of solace.
The flowers were wilted, withered, and lifeless. I tried to lift a
rose's head, only to have its petals fall away in silent death. A
cold breeze chilled me to my pounding heart. Footsteps approached.
“You
can't run from this forever. Soon it will catch you... and me, and
that will be the end of us. Please listen to reason.” Marie-Lynn
began her final plead. I touched another flower. Its petals fell
away. “The three of us are like those flowers. We can be saved, but
it is a choice that must be made. The slightest touch in the wrong
direction and we will fall apart. Please don't do this to us...”
She trailed off. For all the energy she had invested in trying to
convince me, she was running out of strength. But there was one final
reserve she was willing to use and I saw it on the verge of being
unleashed.
I
spoke first. “These flowers can't be saved. It's been too long.
Their time is spent.”
She
slapped me hard as tears began to well up in her eyes, slowly
slipping away one by one. There was a silent stand-off. And then it
all came out, the final burst. “You know what? I'm sick of your
cowardice! You say you love me often enough that it almost seems
true, but your actions, or lack of, make me think otherwise!”
I
couldn't stand the accusations. My knees grew weak and my mind turned
feral. She kept going and every time she claimed that I didn't love
her brought me closer and closer to the edge. In an instant, I drew
the blade and thrust forward.
“You
don't love-” Marie-Lynn had been screaming as her life became
fleeting.
“Shut
up!” I howled in agony as the two of us fell to the ground, one
dead, the other dead inside.
“Jesse!
What have you done?” My grandfather cried out as he found us in the
gardens.
My
vision was blurry as I caressed her face one last time, drew the
blade from her chest, and ran.
The
story ends here. Now I can finally bid goodbye to this wretched world
I have created. Now I may lie in my grave and greet Death like a
saviour. Marie-Lynn, I am truly sorry. Perhaps in another world we
may have our happy ending. But now, I go to eternal Death.
THE
END
-Zero
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