Everything is so cold… when every move I make is agony, how can I focus on what is good in the world? I was so reckless, so careless, and now…now my foolishness was going to be the death of me. This was no heroic end. It wasn't even a memorable one. I was going to be tortured mercilessly, fated to die when my mind and body could no longer withstand the pain. I would never hear her voice again, never see her angelic face again. I was to die alone, and in agony.
"…Shane?" It was her! Her sweet, beautiful voice was ringing through my clouding mind.
"Celestyn…" I whispered, praying this wasn't just the thoughts of a desperate man's dreams. "I…Is that you?"
"Yes. It's me…are you ok? Where are you?" A weak smile crossed my cracked, blood-stained lips. It really was her. She really was speaking to me through some sort of telepathic miracle.
"I'm surviving, but I don't know how long I have left. I'm in a warehouse somewhere…" I shivered, tears rolling down my face, half because of hope, and half out of desperation. "Please…safe me from this… I' slipping, and who knows when they will come back again to add to what they've already done… Please, Celestyn… Save me…" By the quaver in her voice, I could tell she was crying.
"I will Shane. We'll get you out of there… Just hang on, ok? Don't give in." I couldn't help but weakly cough out a laugh.
"I'll try, Celestyn…I'll certainly try." I twitched now. My prison's door was being unlocked. They were coming back. Why did they have to come back? Haven't they already caused enough pain? Two men entered the room now. They grabbed my arms, and began to drag me out of the small room. In desperation, I begged her not to leave me. "Celestyn… stay with me. Please, whatever happens, keep speaking tome. D-don't abandon me!" The men dragging me scoffed, unknowing who I was talking to. Her response soon came, her tone sounding fearful.
"I won't leave you, Shane. We're coming for you. Don't give in!"
"I'm trying, Celestyn. It's hard to do…" I felt something get clamped onto my finger. Not this again, please, not this again! Something else was clamped to a finger on my other hand. "C…Celestyn…" The switch was thrown before I could do anything else, or speak more words. My entire being felt like it was burning, and as I screamed in agony, my body trapped in uncontrollable spasms and writhing, those men laughed. She was shouting my name now, and as the switch was turned off, I gasped out.
"Save me… Someone save me…I…I can't take it anymore…" Again, the switch was thrown, allowing the electrical current to ripple through me once more. My screams began again, the tears I cried stinging against my face as I writhed. Sweet relief came when the clamps fell off my fingertips. Again they began to drag me away, heaving my limp frame up a flight of steps. This was new, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on.
They dragged me into a room I hadn't been in before, and tied my hands behind my back, gagging me shortly after. Everything was deathly quiet now, save the awful ringing in my ears. One of the men pulled a pistol now, cocked it, and shot my leg. I tried to scream, but the gag prevented me from doing so. Again, I was left alone, tears streaming down my face and seeming to sting even worse than ever before. But then… I heard a voice calling my name. Could it be? Was it really her? Had she come with the others to save me? The door opened now, and that sweet, beautiful voice I had been longing to hear for so long, spoke to me.
"Shane?" I could only watch as she ran towards me, dropping to her knees, untying me, and removing the strip of cloth that prevented me from speaking to her. Gently, she cradled my head in her lap, brushing my blood-knotted hair from my face.
"You…you came for me…" I whispered, a weak smile forming on my split lips. "You actually came for me…" She mustered a small smile, weakly laughing through her tears.
"Of course we did, Shane. I couldn't leave you to die. Not like this, not while I could stop it." my weak smile grew a little more, and as my world began to fade from focus, I whispered the words I had longed to tell her for so long.
"I…I love you, Celestyn…" She smiled a little more, gingerly stroking my cheeks with her soft and gentle fingers. And as unconsciousness claimed me, these final words from her lips graced my ears.
"I love you too, Shane…I love you too."