Prologue
A girl is dying.
And as she lays on the cold, hard ground, she wonders how she got here.
Not more than three moons ago, she thought it wasn’t possible that he was still alive. But now she laid on his arms and his piercing blue eyes shone with tears.
She thought it’ll be much scarier than this, but death is calm and it reminded her of a windy late autumn afternoon. When the leaves are at their brightest just before they lose it all.
It reminded her of fishing during spring, when the picnic blankets are laid out over the greenest of grass, with an open book beside and her cold glass of sweet lemonade sweating under the warm sun.
A girl is dying.
And if it weren’t for his misery, the affliction in his voice, she would have made peace.
He pushes a hand where the bullet has entered in an attempt to lessen the bleeding. But the pressure was of no help. She now lays in a pool of her own blood and her colors start to fade. The metallic scent fills his lungs. He can’t let her go yet. Not when he has just come back— for her. Not like this.
The wails of her husband echo within the empty halls. A good man he used to be. But a good man holds no fight against the brokenness of his own mind. He has reached the end of the fight. Insanity has taken over him.
“Call my name,” he beckons. Against the building lump that chokes his throat, he begs her. “Ask me to grant you life.”
This has answered her questions. About what happened when he was gone. Something in him changed when he returned. And now she knows. He was no longer just a man.
And yet, she feared him not. Not in the slightest. Her heart only breaks for him. She didn’t want to leave him like this. Life may have been cruel, but there was also beauty. There was love. And she wanted to stay. Craved to touch him longer. Yearned to be with him always.
“Please do not leave me.” The pain in his voice made her claw and fight for the breath she was losing.
So through the numbness and the caving darkness, she speaks, “A– Alois”.
He touches her lips, pleading with her to continue. Beg for life he said. And so she did.
“I want to live.”
A girl was dying.
And a bargain is made.
