My Immortal
By: AJ Rose
Misery sat, staring aimlessly into the flames of her camp fire. She glanced around quickly, making sure she was alone. Misery sighed softly as she flipped through her photo album. It had been two months since the world had gone to shit and the walkers had started appearing. She had lost her parents to the disease, friends and other family members too. She stopped and ran her fingertips over a photograph of her and her best friend Daryl, yeah, so he was older than her, who cares. She sighed as she remembered the last time she had seen him, prompting the lyrics to "My Immortal" to flood her mind.
('I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone')
She sighed again as the memories flooded her mind, one in particular, the day she had left home, she remembered everything about that day, more specifically, the look of utter disbelief on the face of Daryl. She didn't allow her emotions to betray her that day as she hugged him & his brother both goodbye, seeing them for what she figured was the last time.
('These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase')
She felt her chest tighten and flipped to the next page only to make the feelings worse. Her gaze settled upon a picture of her and Daryl at her sixteenth birthday party, her black hair was curled in ringlets and she wore a red party dress. Daryl of course, in jeans and his signature leather vest. The two people in the photo were both smiling, his arm around her shoulders, hers wound around his slender waist, not a care in the world. Misery reached up, brushing away the tears that threatened to fall.
('When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me')
She didn't need another photograph to strike the next memory, the first night she saw his scars. The two of them were sitting on the dock next to the pond by her house. The moonlight casting shadows on the water. Daryl pulled off his shirt, intent on diving into the water. Misery gasped as he turned his back, recoiling at first before gently reaching out and tracing the scar running from his left shoulder down to the middle of his back. She giggled at the thought of the way he shivered under her touch. She closed her eyes once more and sighed, remembering the way her hand felt in his; the night she promised him he'd always have her there.
('You used to captivate me by your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face—it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice—it chased away all the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase')
She whimpered softly, remembering the dream she had the night before. In her nightmares she stood frozen, watching as her parents were ripped to shreds by walkers, Daryl running to her rescue moments later, saving her from the fate she almost knew she deserved. She could almost hear his voice, whispering in her ear, that everything would be ok, that he was here now. She heard something then, the sound of a twig snapping. She reached for her knife and backed herself against a tree.
She felt as though someone or something was watching her. She gripped the handle of her knife tighter and stood, her back still pressed firmly against the large tree. She sighed as her mind subconsciously flooding with memories of the night of her seventeenth birthday. She had made plans to go out with her friends to the fair, yet a thunderstorm had ruined her night. She remembered sitting in the middle of her living room, the flames from a few flickering candles casting shadows on the walls. The electricity had been out for hours due to the storm, but she didn't care, she had him there to keep her company, to make her smile. That was the night that Misery had received her first kiss.
('When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me')
Misery sheathed her knife after no real danger presented itself and sat back down, staring once more at the photos in her album. She turned to the last page in the book, revealing pictures from her eighteenth birthday party, only three months earlier, give or take. She had lost track of time as of late, not caring anymore.
She absently reached up to feel the silver chain around her neck, upon which hung a heart shaped pendant carved out of cherry wood, with hers and Daryl's initials carved into it with the blade of the very knife she now carried. It had been her birthday gift from him, and the tears in her eyes and the feeling of her arms wrapped tight around him let him know she loved it dearly.
('I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along')
She wiped her eyes again, thinking back, trying to remember everything about that day, the day she told him goodbye. The way his arms felt wrapped around her thin frame, the way he fought to keep his emotions in check in front of her and his older brother. Most of all, the look in his eyes was what had haunted her every night the past few weeks, the look of complete heartbreak.
('When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me')
She shivered again, this time due to the wind that had picked up rather quickly; she guessed a storm was moving in. She sighed once more and jumped to her feet at the sound of rustling leaves. She gripped the handle of her knife tightly in her right hand and raised it to strike, her arm falling limply at her side as Daryl stepped from the trees. She dropped her knife almost as quickly as his crossbow hit the ground, she didn't realize she was running until she was holding onto him, his strong arms wrapping protectively around her, holding her tight against his chest. She let the tears fall now, not caring, finally finding her safe zone, her salvation. No words needed from either of them, they both already knew.
"Did you miss me?" he asked, pulling back, holding her at arms length, giving her a once over. She nodded quickly.
"Every day we were apart" she replied, leaning against him once more.
Daryl pulled the young woman close, pressing his body against hers, their flesh aching for the others touch. She smiled then, for the first time in the past few months, a real genuine smile, the one she reserved only for him.
"I love you"
It was simple, but it was all he needed to hear from her. He had missed this woman more than anything, and now he had her in his arms once more, and he vowed that he'd never let her go, no matter what.
"I love you too" He pulled back, leaning down to press his lips to hers.
End