My Forever Immortal by J.M. Hurley (ereader for comics .TXT) 📖

headed for the door, “Oh, Skylar, when are you going to get that he’s coming home?” he said as he looked back at me from the doorway. “What happened with Ashton is nothing, not even remotely, what happened to Ruth.” Phantom walked out and quietly shut the door behind himself, leaving me speechless.

I just stood there for a moment, my mind still seething from everything that had happened today. Then, I reached for my neck and tried to massage my sore muscles but they continued to scream for relief. Giving in, I shut and locked the door behind me, then turned the water on. Pulling my black locks out of the braid they were in, I dropped the multi-thread count towel onto the floor and stepped into the steamy shower. The warm water droplets slipped down my back in rivets and into the drain, taking my stress along with it. Sighing, I leaned back against the cold, marble wall and ran my fingers through my damp hair as my mind slowly slipped into a hazy fog.

*~^~*

After one and a half long, steam covered hours, I was finally able to drag myself back into the real world. After pulling on my pink Juicy Couture sweat pants and a white camisole, I laid back onto my bed. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, I reached into my pillow case and pulled out the thick leather book that lie between my pillow and mattress. Smiling, I ran my fingers over the intricate cover art, careful not to tip the picture the lie in the center of the rose patterns.

Aston smiled up at me from the book, his crooked, sly grin teasing me playfully and his sparkling eyes boring into mine. Then, there was the old version of me. In the picture, I was clinging to him, my arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders as he swung me around in his arms. We were both laughing with genuine laughter, not the fake kind that is so common around here, and were staring into each other’s eyes as if we could see the others soul. We were so unbelievably, obviously in love.

I sighed and opened the book; I couldn’t bear to stare at him

anymore, at least not at the moment, for I wanted to avoid more tearful accidents. On the first page was a picture of Faith and I. We were young in it, just turning eight and were both grabbing each other in a tight friendly embrace.

In the corner, a younger version of Phantom stood, he’d just turned ten and his blue eyes sparkled in the dim lighting as he chatted up the girl next to him. Ruth, who was only seven, stared up at him with so much admiration you’d think she’d just saw God. I felt my heart ache as I looked at his big smile, something that I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

Shutting the book, I lazily leaned over and check my clock. It was now past noon, meaning I’d successfully wasted my last free morning. Suddenly, the door swung open and Faith’s auburn hair came into view. “We need to talk,” she said in a strong, powerful voice, then, she quietly shut the door and locked it. “There’s been another enforcing. Honor’s dead.”


Chapter 5

There was a faint ringing sound in my ears and my knees seemed to have turned into liquid below me. I felt Faith’s strong arms wrap around my torso as my body neared the ground. She sat down on the floor and pulled my limp body onto her lap. “Skye? Skylar! Skye, please say something,” she said through salty tears and I reached up and flicked a tear drop off of her cheek.

“I just talked to her,” I whispered under my breath, but Faith’s superhuman hearing heard me loud and clear.

“They said she just went psycho, started throwing things and hitting and all so…well, you know the rest of that story…” Faith’s eyes stayed fixed on the wall in front of us as she spoke and the only time she moved an inch was to wipe her running mascara from her cheek bones.

“This isn’t right, it’s just so…wrong.”

I looked up to see Faith staring at me emotion filled eyes. There were so many emotions in her face, sadness, confused thoughts, but most of all, anger. There was so much anger it almost scared me, I’d never seen her like this. She laughed without humor and put her face in her hands.

“You know what I mean? It’s just so…so completely and utterly disgusting what these people do! We’ve lost so many people Ruth, Ashton, and now Honor…”

“We haven’t lost Ashton,” I contradicted as I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose softly.

“Yes,” Faith’s green eyes glowed with passion and a hint of pity as she continued, “Yes, we have. He’s not here, Skye, and he’s not coming back.”

“What are you saying?” I demanded in a cold voice. “So that’s it? You think that because he’s gone, because he escaped

, that he’s a lost cause? Where’s the fight, Faith? Where’s the girl who I left sanction 13 with?! Where’s the girl-”

“She’s gone!” Faith interrupted with a hiss then, abruptly, her icy glare seemed to melt. Her arms began to shake and tremble as she sunk to the floor, wet tears dripping down her cheeks. “She’s gone,” she repeated, her eyes far away as she continued to murmur quietly to herself, “I was broken, and I tried, oh I tried so hard, but there’s only so many times I can rebuild myself, Skye. There’s only so much pain I can take, only so many scars that my heart can hold.” I felt energy swell inside myself as thoughts began flying through my head. She doesn’t deserve this,

one whispered. You need to protect her

, another chimed in.

Skylar tried desperately to calm her racing blood as the air in the room began to stir. “Faith, listen,” Skylar said frantically as she forced herself to breathe evenly, “I can’t do this, I can’t lose control. I could kill someone.” As is summoned, a calm sort of haze began to settle over Skylar and the bedroom seemed to tilt to the side.

“Skye, I’m so sorry, but you’ll be okay. It’ll only hurt for a bit, I promise,” Faith’s voice drifted in and out of my ears as I tried to focus. Something was hurting, of this I was sure, but what was it? By now, my whole body had gone numb but I still continued to hold onto my conscious mind. Yes, something is throbbing…my head,

I finally identified as a spit of fire like pain shot through the back of my skull. I bit my lip to keep from crying out then found myself swallowing her own blood as a result.

My mouth tasted of iron and now my whole body seemed to be throbbing. It felt like electricity was raging through me, seizing my muscles and forcing them to convulse. The pain continued to grow as I prayed for relief. When it got to the point that I was screaming, begging and pleading for relief, to the point that my body felt as if it could certainly take no more of this torture, the fiery pain receded, replaced with an icy dark nothingness.

*~^~*

A loud annoying beeping was the only thing that seemed to penetrate my senses. I was vaguely aware of other noises, voice, but they were too cloudy and masked for me to make sense of their words. My mind felt groggy and disoriented, I knew there was something I was supposed to remember, something important, but I couldn’t grasp exactly what it was. Suddenly, someone was forcing my eyes open, shining an impenetrable light into my pupils. “Her pupil response seems normal,” someone whispered as my eyes shut themselves once more.

“Will she be alright?” someone asked in a concerned tone and my heart clenched.

Faith, that was who was speaking. But about who, herself? I didn’t understand, I felt fine. In fact, I felt rather great, as if her whole body was floating on air. Open your eyes,

I coached myself as I tried relentlessly to force my eyes open but my efforts were wasted and I continued to stay in inky darkness.

“Yes, she should be fine after some bed rest. Fayette, you did the right thing. She could’ve not only hurt someone else but herself too,” a woman’s voice, who I now identified as a nurse, whispered with assertiveness.

“I just acted on my instincts, I really hope she’ll be okay, and I’d prefer to be called Faith,” Faith sighed and laid a hand on my shoulder, “I didn’t think she’d be out this long…” Not being able to stand another ounce of nothing, I used every part of my being to open my eyes and take in the blindingly bright light that smothered me. “You’re awake!” Faith exclaimed as she gave my shoulder a squeeze and a smile lit up her face.

“Even without true loves kiss,” Phantom muttered through his tousled hair as he sulked in the corner. His dark eyes looked bloodshot and his normally tough exterior seemed even
icier than usual.

“Yeah,” I smiled back at Faith as I reached up to give her a hug then found my muscles scream in an agony of protest. “Oh God!” I exclaimed as I leaned forward over the bed side rail and vomited into the pale below. Feeling not only lightheaded, feverish and confused, I felt the color drain from her face. “What happened?”

The young looking nurses stepped forward with a sympathetic glance and replaced the soiled pale with a fresh one before answering quietly, “You were having a panic attack, so your friend helped subdue you. She used her abilities to do this, something strictly prohibited as you know, but it will be allowed in this special case. Anyhow, to subdue you, she used methods of mind control and manipulation that even a highly experienced adult should stray from. It really a wonder that you’re this good considering all that could’ve gone wrong.” At this, the nurse seemed to shoot Faith a condescending glance before exiting quietly into the back office.

“I’m so sorry, Skye, I didn’t know what I was doing. If I had known that I could’ve hurt you…It’s just, you were begging, Skye, you were pleading with me to do something and…and I panicked!” Faith’s green eyes were filled with grief and guilt as she sat down next to me in a defeated style.

“I’m not mad,” I replied as I patted Faith’s arm reassuringly, “You did what I asked, you stopped me from doing something I’d regret, and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

“Forever’s a long time,” Phantom said poetically as he approached the hospital bed, “any word for you know who yet?” he whispered in a hushed tone.

“Since the text?” I asked in a confused tone, “No, nothing. In fact, I’m not even sure if that was from him, it could’ve been from anyone…” I let my voice trail off for fear that if I didn’t it would crack under all of my emotions. I didn’t want to believe it was someone else, I wanted, no needed, for it to be from him.

Phantom nodded, seeming to notice that it was a touchy subject and