Intro
Last night I had a dream. In my lifetime I have a dream once every couple years that I remember fully, and vividly. Dreams like these, to me, always care a lesson that most people don't want to face. Something so powerfully true, yet so wrong. All of us know we, by saying we I mean humans, aren't perfect. We are far...oh so far from it. This dream, I would like to say was a nightmare in its self. The truth is that it was not a nightmare, it was something so terrifying, so horrid...Yet so utterly enjoyable. I loved everything about it. It made me beg for more, and cringe in horror at the same time. Like Ying and Yang. If only I could say it was all horrible, all vile. That I am a perfect being and despised every moment of it. But I didn't... This is how it went:
(part 1, mostly completed)
I remember being in a forest. It was sunset; I was surrounded by towering evergreens. There was a slight chill in the air that required a light jacket. A tent that could hold about 10 people sat to my left. There was a homely fire burning in front of me. I was seated on a log next to the fire. Also around the fire were Jessica, Shelby, Colin, Ross, and Rachel, My dad, my dog, and some other people I didn't recognize. The strangest thing about this was that everyone was dead silent. No one spoke a word. Their faces were full of hopelessness and defeat from something I didn't know. At a closer examination I saw that everyone was battered, covered in scrapes and bruises. As if there had been some sort of fight. I looked down at my hands and gasped aloud. I was clutching a desert eagle to my chest as if it was a diamond. What shook me to my core was the familiarity of this weapon. It seemed to feel natural in my hand. I knew if I tried, I would have dead on accuracy, when I shot. I decided to try and find out what was happening. Sitting closest to me was Jessica. I asked her what's wrong with her. At first she didn't say anything, just kept staring into the fire. Finally, after I repeated my question, she looked up. She shuttered and whispered "How could you even ask that? How could you be so cold...? So..." At this moment she burst out in tears. She cried as if the world was ending. All I could do was, pulling her into a hopefully warm embrace, and let her cry on my shoulder. This got everyone's attention. My dad spoke up and said "It's almost dark, put out the fire. I'll take first watch. The rest of you try and get some sleep. Who knows when we'll be this lucky again...?" All I could do was think to my self, how is this lucky? I guess I would really hate to see unlucky. As the others got up and dragged their feet to the tent, I followed, with nothing else to do.
In the tent were a pile of raggedy blankets, a few back packs, and a lantern. The tent itself was not in the best of shape. There were holes everywhere, and it smelled. The scent it carried was the scent of death. Everyone quickly laid down and crawled under the blankets. I stood there not knowing what to do. I had never camped with girls in the same tent, never even thought of sharing a blanket with them. But the cold was getting more extreme and I know I needed the warmth, so I chose a spot between Ross and Jessica. I knew that would be comfortable enough. When I crawled under to join them, the lantern went out. I was surrounded by darkness. The only thing stopping me from spasing out was the quiet deep breathing of my friends. It seemed to calm me, give me a fake sense of safety. Lying there in the night I began to hear a strange sound. Almost like a howl mixed with a scream. It was off in the distance but was too strange for me to take as a wolf or coyote. Since I knew sleep wouldn't come within a dream I slid out from under the covers, and went to go check outside.
In the darkness of night, the evergreens seemed to transform. Branches became arms reaching for you, tugging at you. Needles became tiny sharp poking fingers. The left over ashes from the fire glowed like red eyes. Daring me to make a move closer. I was ready to turn around and jump back into the tent and dive under the blankets, when something caught my eye. At the edge of the fire pit I could see my dad. But he wasn't keeping watch. He was slumped over himself as if he had fallen asleep. I chuckled to myself. I knew he would do this. "Well might as well let him get some rest." I said to no one. I walked over to him and noticed something was wrong. The ground was wet, with something. I hadn't heard any rain so I was just a little freaked out at what it could be. When I got a closer look at my father I saw the gun still in his hand. He seemed unmoving. Almost lifeless, which was impossible cause my dad is way to careful to let anything happen to him. But I was afraid to shake him awake. I kept telling myself it was because he might accidentally shoot. Sadly deep down I knew the real reason. I was afraid. That he was...was dead... Stepping even closer I tried to look at his face, but it was too dark "What the hell are you doing Christian!" My dad shouted as he jumped up. I screamed in surprise and stumbled back. "I'm here t-to take your job...Y-you looked tired!" I stuttered out. "Ok ok whatever, just don't sneak up on me like that. This is loaded you know" He gestured to the gun. Little more words were exchanged after that, and he stumbled back to the tent. I sat down on the log and peered into the forest. Empty. So empty. The forest was too quiet, there were not animals about. The green forest was dead. Hours passed and it got colder the later it got. Being so alone out there, I started to see things. People would walk out of the forest only to disappear a second later. The trees seemed to lean in ever changing directions.
Suddenly I heard a sound. A twig snapped, feet shuffled. I whipped my head around in all directions absolutely scared shitless. Out of no where something touched my shoulder; I ducked in fear and tried to slap away what ever touched me. "Dang! Take a chill pill, it's just me. Shelby!" She said annoyed "Oh. My bad, I'm a little jumpy tonight." I said smiling trying to look innocent.
She sat down next to me and said nothing. As time passed the air seemed to be filled with awkwardness. "So...What do you want?" I said trying to end the silence. "I couldn't sleep and noticed you gone, so I thought you might like some company." she said, looking more than tired. "Look, I'm fine you can go back to sleep, Are you not really tired?" I said. Instead of answering my question she said what I least expected. "Do you ever wish things could go back to normal? How it was before all hell broke loose? Where our biggest worry was what to wear to graduation? Back to where the highlight of my day was messing with you and hanging with Jessica. Back to when everything was so simple." She preached to me. "You know, I do miss that, A lot, it seems as if everything I ever new is gone, as if life ended but I haven't left. I wish I knew what was going on..." I said. Shelby looked at me and sighed, she opened her mouth to speak. But no words had a chance to come out. Not even a second after IT came. When I think back on this dream I will always regret not noticing it sooner, even if IT is all just a dream.
The beast leaped out from behind the nearest tree. In the blackness of the night it seemed to fly toward us, slowing time. Our bodies moved too slowly to react. It was headed straight for Shelby. All I was thinking was get her out of the way. Save her! Instead of trying to get away I used all my strength to push her out of the way. Trying to get her away from the beast before it landed. When my arm came in contact with her, I was surprised to see her fly almost 20 feet to the left. Falling to the ground I smiled. Good she is out of the way, it's headed toward me, but at that moment all I could think about was her. When I hit the ground I braced myself, expecting the monster to land on me and quickly tare my heart out. I opened my eyes after nothing had happened for a second. My worst nightmare was here in person to greet me. Not a thing, but what was happening. I saw the beast up close, it stared into my mind, it could sense I was trying to protect Shelby, who was staggering to her feet. "No!" I yelled. "You leave her alone! It's me you want!" The creature lashed out at me with a part of its body and sent me flying across the ground. I slammed into a tree and gasped in pain as I felt my arm snap. My mind was trying to fade into unconsciousness, which would most likely wake me up, but at that time everything seemed so real that I couldn't pass out. I had to get that thing away from all of us.
Shelby was on her feet and was staring at the monster, she started to back away. SNAP! She stepped on a stick, and the monsters head spun around. It started to lumber over at her in a sort of trot. I slowly crawled to my feet and ran after it. She ran. But not away, she ran toward the beast. She was shouting something I couldn't comprehend, yet this beast was all that was on my mind, my soul had faded away and was replace by an urge to kill the thing. The creature raised the same thing it used to hit me as Shelby got closer. "Run away!" I shouted hysterically! A sort of claw or blade slid out from the monsters appendage. When it sliced down with rapid speed, my mind remembered the desert eagle in my pocket. I yank it out and shot with out hesitation. The creature fell back and I shot again and again, it finally stopped moving and died... This is what...what I wish had happened. But in real life (or dream) things hardly ever work out for the better. What happened was when I had pulled my gun out and shot, the beast already had its blade deeply imbedded into her body. She let out a weak scream and fell to the ground, the creature, previously wounded from the first shot spun on me. Yet it didn't attack. Maybe I was in shock, but to me it seemed as if it was smiling at me. Jumping into the night it disappeared, but I had already forgotten its horror. Shelby was all I could think about. I rushed over to her. Her body was trembling in the moon light. I could see blood everywhere. Her blood. "Its ok...everything is fine" I coughed through a coat of tears. I sat down and scooped her into my arms. She looked at me helplessly. "I feel so cold. It hurts...help me...please" she said in a horse whisper. "Shhhh. Everything is ok now. Don't talk." I said trying to smile. "I-I'm scared." I held her closer and wove my finger in with hers. Trying to give her all the comfort and love I could manage for her last few seconds on this earth. I held her head rest on my shoulder and talked to her. "You remember on the band trip when I slept on your shoulder? And you got so annoyed, well because of that I'll let you rest your head here." I said with a forced smile. "You have to admit though, this time I was able to push you way farther than when those sleds where heading toward us last winter..." I started to sob uncontrollably. "There .is...No...N-n-need to cry...you're...such a m-m-moron..." She said fading farther and farther away with each word. "No...don't go...PLEASE!" I screamed. I held her tighter than ever, trying and failing to hold some life in her. Trying to keep her alive if only a little bit longer. Her blood was soaking through my clothes and I could feel it against my skin. So cold and lifeless... I vaguely remember everyone coming out to find me like this. Someone must have separated me from her because at some moment my arms were empty. When I came to my senses my arm was wrapped up a cast and I was lying in the tent. My clothes still stained red as a constant reminder of a night I wish I could forget.
This is when the dream became reality. It became life, I forgot I was dreaming. I was stuck in this world. I had no way out of it.
The forest in which this world I knew, was placed, was gone. I stood out in the open air as all around me melted. The green evergreens and all the pin needles started to drip. Green water running down the trunks of many. Drop by drop they disappeared. Tree by tree the forest faded away. Next was the ground on which we stood. Cracking filled our ears in an essence of destruction. Pieces our earth collapsed in on itself. In these holes pure hate and darkness sprayed out. The earth is our home, our mother. She was dieing. Everyone else in the same area of me was gone. I was alone... Standing on the last of my salvation. The last bit of earth undigested by this ever hungry darkness. It seemed to attack my land, trying to destroy it like everything else. I was so sure it would win. Miles and miles of death and darkness surrounded me, chipping away at my soul. At the last piece of earth. I was the only one keeping the end of the world at bay. I could save us. I could save the rest... For there were so many...so many I couldn't...I couldn't save. So many dead. Too many bodies to bury. Too much hate and disgust to mop up. I wasn't strong enough. "But you must" said a voice. An image of me appeared floating just above the darkness. Above the end of all. "Get away! Before it's too late" I screamed at myself. My mind was split in two. Between me in the sky and the one stuck on the last salvation on earth. "You...I, no, we can do it. It's not too late." Sky told Earth. Reality shook as once again I was split. This time with the sound of a thousand screams I rose barely out of the darkness. Earth. Air. Ground. In these I was split. Heaven. Hell. Earth. Human, Angel, and Demon. My demon self smiled. "You have lost. EVERYTHING. Everything is gone...All thanks to you...Why do you still believe its not over? That you can fix the sickness of death. The bodies can be brought back...but their souls. Their souls are gone. All. Because. Of. You." The darkness rippled and out of it raised Shelby's dead sliced body. Her face was barely recognizable due to all the decay. All over, her body was pale and faded. Her right cheek was a gaping hole surrounded by black, dead flesh. Her teeth were yellow and rotten. Nose hanging on by a piece of skin, swinging in a small breeze. The eyes...Her eyes were sunken into her sockets. They stared into my very being. So lifeless. Her left arm was just a nub of flesh and bone; it had run out of blood to bleed. Her hair was tangled and full of leaves and dirt, it was an unnatural white color. "NO! GET HER AWAY!" my earth bound self cried. A piece of the ground in front of me fell away and was consumed into the darkness. "Yes! Cry! Scream! Just give up and die!" the demon spoke. In the sky, the angel me flew down and touched my arm. Immediately I felt relived. "Remember it is your choice what happens, what you do. Believe in yourself. Believe in me. Believe in us." the angel spoke. The earth that was consumed when I fell to my knees began to pixelize before me. Particle by particle did it reform. I stood up feeling more confident than before. I stared at my ying and yang. Darkness and light. They look so similar. Wait. There was one difference. It was in their eyes. The demon had red eyes, full of anger and death. The angels were bright blue, full of life and light. "I guess you need a better image..." spoke the demon. He snapped his fingers in Shelby's direction. Her body cracked and popped. Then went limp floating there. Nothing moved. No one spoke.
I stared at her body for an eternity, telling myself to look away before it was too late. Before the demon won. Then it happened. Her head flew up. Her eyes fixated on the earth bound me. "Christian! How could you do this to me! You were supposed to save me! It hurts so much! AHHHH! Why didn't you save me!" She screams at me. "I tried... I did I swear! I never wanted you hurt. I wanted you alive, everyone! Please you must believe me!" The earth bound me said in a voice full of the deepest emotional pain imaginable.
Her body shook again. It started with her feet. A piece of her toe fell off and caught fire. She screamed in agony. "HELP ME! PLEASE!" She begged "Stop this! If you're part of me, than I demand you to stop!" The human spoke. Next her whole foot fell off exploding into purple flames. The smell of burning flesh filled my nose. My demon self laughed out loud and snapped his fingers again. This time the flames reacted. Growing in size. I knew what would happen if they touched her. She would be gone forever, with no hope of ever making things right. I couldn't lose her again. I can't live knowing my friend died before my eyes twice and I did nothing to help. "Remember! You can't help this! You must go on!" The angel of me shouted over the roar of the flame.
Have you ever watched a log burn? It cracks and brakes apart till it's barely recognizable. What's left behind is a shell of what it once was. There is only carbon left; all other materials cease to exist.
The burning fire of hell that consumed what was once one of my best friends finally died down after what seemed like a lifetime. The length of time in this plain of reality seemed irrelevant. My mind was barely working enough to ponder on this for more than a couple seconds at a time. For my mind was filled to the brim with my now cherished memories. Every time she smiled. Every time she laughed, the few times she cried. All my memories of her burned by the fire, that took what remained of her away, into ash and into my mind. Permanent scars of what I couldn't stop. Her remains, if I squinted, looked like a log after a fire. All black and dusty. It seemed as if it would crumble with the slightest touch of a hand. "Look at what you have done!" Screamed the demon! "This is all your fault, don't try and blame this on someone else, blame me if you want but remember...I. Am. You." My vision tunneled to a small, tiny black hole. All I could see was her ash...floating barely out of reach. Everything else was fading into blackness. "This is life! You can't be held responsible! But you can save the others! If you choose, choose me..." shouted the angel. "Remember you're not all bad. Because I am a part of you." The tunnel vision cleared, this isn't my fault, more and more bits of mother earth materialize back onto my chunk of salvation, this isn't my fault, and I reached out and beckoned all the ashes to come into my hand. They floated into a small ball and landed gently in my palm. Shelby...this is all that is left of my friend, but she is not dead! She will live on forever in memory. I set down my friend's ashes. The little ball rolled a ways, and stopped next to my foot. Where it sat unmoving, forever unmoving, unless I lent it my energy, gave it motion to move. "AHAHHAHAHAHAHA! Is this what you think? Do you really think you could ever amount to anything? Wasting your talent on trying to save those lesser beings you call your friends?" spoke the demon. "This isn't all about her, what are her parents going to think when she never comes home? Can you tell them that their only daughter, their kin, is dead? All thanks to you. Would you be able to watch them break? Watch them collapse to the ground as their whole life from that moment on ends and becomes a shell of what it once was? You can't do anything! Give up!" Then the angel and demon started to talk at once trying to drown the other out. Get ever louder. "Choose me" "Pick me!" It was becoming unbearable as the very fabric of space and time shook. I couldn't think.
"Stop..." I whispered "Just...stop" Getting louder with every word I began to beg for this horrid noise fest to end. "Stop! Just...SSSTTTOOOOOOPPPP!" I cry, shouting on the last word, putting all the volume I could muster into that one word.
They looked at me. Their insane shouting halted. "I can't choose this easily. I can't make my decision in a matter of minutes! I'm human remember! I CAN'T DO THIS A EASILY AS YOU TWO!" They stared at me for what seemed like an eternity. "Ok." the angel and demon said in unison. Heaven and Hell looked at me, at earth and together as one being spoke. "If you cannot choose our way, choose your own till the time is right. Yet we must not let you forget that the clock is still ticking. We shall mark you with every life you give up to your selfishness. Procrastination will not come with out a price." At that time ying and yang raised their arms together and shot out a black and white beam of light that became golden as the colors mixed together. It bathed over me and the ball of ash that was once my dear friend Shelby. All I remember from this moment in time was that I felt my body become weightless and lift up into the air. The ball of ash was floating in front of me spinning ever faster. Pin points of red light started to break through the ash. An incredible ringing filled my ears, getting ever louder and louder. Feeling completely terrified I screamed along with this sound. CA CHINK! The ball of ash shattered like glass and went flying toward me. I closed my eyes and tried to turn away. After that, all I remember is a searing, burning pain. It seemed to course through my veins, turning everything it touched into an inferno of flaming pain.
(part 2 beginning, still formulating how to tie it all in)
Smoke. Smoke has ruled this life of his for so long. Invading his body, giving it a fake sense of ecstasy. Tainting all, damaging the temple. The temple is his body, his home for the soul. This soul rests inside waiting for the day when it too can float free, in the kingdom of heaven. Everyday he comes home to 3 children shouting "Daddy! Daddy!" Not one realizing their father is wasting away before their very eyes. He smiles and scoops up the littlest of his precious angels. "How's my little man?" he says with a smile. The smoker looks at the other children, giving the oldest a nod of respect. The middle gets his hair ruffled. These petty signs of affection are enough for the children to be satisfied, knowing that there is a father that cares still included in their lives. As the years go by the smoke begins to take affect. The father starts to waste away. Only to be consumed by his own niacin addiction. Never could he stop. Not even to save his children from the hardship of losing their only father. "Please you must quit!" cried the youngest of the three. The father took out the cigarette, with shaking hands, and threw it onto the ground. "Why is it that the youngest seems to be the oldest? It's as if he was born an adult. Never have I seen much evidence of his innocence. It's so sad that he could never be a normal child. Is this all my fault?" thought the father to himself. The little boy ran over to the cigarette before the father could react, picked it up and broke it; still burning in his hands. He screamed in pain as his young skin was stained permanently with the scars of his father's addiction. Yet he did not seem sad. He looked up at his father and smiled. "He must think that breaking this one cigarette will stop me from smoking." The father thought. "Maybe it will…" Whispered a voice in his head. The father scooped up the young boy into his arms saying "its ok, calm down, you're fine. Why did you pick it up anyways?" The father carried the boy inside and tended to his burn. Time became elongated. It was measured in not how long he would live but how many years the smoke was willing to give him. His very being became gray. His hair, his skin, actions, personality… Everything was a tainted and dirtied reflection of what it used to be. People wouldn't believe who he was unless they had seen him more recently. He was a doomed soul, cursed to hang on by a thread for the last days of his life. At this time his youngest son, now a man, decided he should spend his last days having fun. He decided to take him to a carnival, of all the places they could go, this seemed like it would be the one to help remind his father of the old times best. His father had something strange. A sickness that was destroying him, yet he still appeared healthy if not by appearance than by the way he moved. He could walk easily and had most of his strength left in him, which was way more than enough to live life normally. Well as close to normal as a dieing smoker could get.
The day was a particular hot one in mid summer. The sun was beating down seeing who it could cook. Who ever was the unlucky person that didn't wear sunscreen. For this person would feel the pain of their stupidity in the days to come. The carnival itself was in a dirt covered field. There seemed to be more dust in the air than air itself. All the rides and booths were painted in a red and white striped pattern. In the center was a giant fairest wheel. Roller coasters and other assortment of rides branches off of this center like spokes on a wheel. The booths surrounded the whole carnival like the tire on a wheel, creating a unique feeling of a run down yet homely sort of environment.
Part 3 (random scene, no real work done to this part)
Love is the most unexplainable, senseless emotion known to humans. It can't be thought of as easy, it can't be thought of as normal, still, it is everything. For love I will die. For love I will be born. For love I will kill. These thoughts raced through my head as I fell. Stars and planets flying past me in the blink of an eye. Everything seemed to blur together if I lost focus for even a second. …Hair… I thought to myself I have long brown hair. As soon as this thought entered my mind, I saw and felt hair appear. It was drooping far past my eyes, clouding my vision. Because of this, I did not see my gate appearing. The golden arch way that was filled with, what seemed to be, a picture of my friend Jessica's house. Her house was small and old. It was made of worn down, reddish bricks. The roof was covered in gray, fading tiles. The house had two floors with four front windows and two back windows. Her yard, instead of grass, was a clover patch. As I sped toward this arch, I remembered that with each alternate life I enter, I lose all previous memory. If I wanted any chance of saving her like I did my father, I must remember what I there for. I cannot forget this is a test within myself to destroy the darkness. I will not forget!
With each breath I took, the arch came inches closer. Before I knew it, I was zooming through its great opening. All the while trying to not let myself forget my duty. Suddenly my eyes are filled with a blinding white light. This light fills my pupils and beats inside of me. It shines into the very essence of my soul. With a loud scream, I clutch my head; Finger nails digging into the side of my skull, as if I was trying to claw out the light. It sent a sensation of melting through me. As if I was no longer a solid mass, rather I was a small minuscule puddle. All thoughts left me. My life, my quest, my past challenges; all previous memory left me. As soon as it was gone, strange, new thoughts filled my head. I'm at Jessica's…? Yes… Yes, now I remember, I was at her house to ask her… ask her to do something. I thought to myself. Then, before I had a chance to react, my hurtling body came in contact with the ground.
these 2 scenes have not yet been tied together
"Jessica, please, trust me." I screamed over the roar of the helicopter blades. She looked at me and blinked. Her eyes darted back and forth, and then finally rested on mine. The noise and chaos around us faded away. Everything was silent. We looked at each other for what seemed hours.
"I did. I trusted you countless times. What makes this time different from all those other times you hurt me?" Jessica whispered, never leaving my eyes. Her freckle covered face trembled under the tension. Quivering she took a step back. A step toward the gapping hole in the side of this small, air-bourn vehicle.
"NO!" I demanded! "I never wanted to hurt you, now please come over here. Step away from there."
She stopped moving. Closed her eyes and seemed to be in a deep state of thought. I reached out to her with my ash tainted hand. Always did I hesitate when I see the scars of my indecision. No! Now is not the time to worry about them! I need to think about Jessica.
Her eyes flashed open; she slapped away my hand, shrieking in utter terror.
"Now I remember! You weren't always like this! What are these scars? Where are our friends? What happened to the Christian I knew?" she said.
Once again, anger started to flood over all other emotion. How could she say these things? I am only trying to help her! Yet she brings up the memories I want to forget! "AHH!" I yell in anger. I leap over to her, grab her arm and yank her to me. She screams and tries to fight me. "Why are you resisting? I am trying to help you! Agh! God dammit! KEEP STILL!" I shout. Bam… I blink in surprise. "What… what happened?" I question. Jessica is speechless. Her mouth open in aw as her mind tries to comprehend what just happened. That's when I see the blood. It is running down her cheek. Red, warm blood was pouring out from what appeared to be claw marks. "Oh my God! What have I done?" yelling, I leap away from her, to the other side of the helicopter. Jessica kept staring at me with a blank expression. Blood was pooling under her chin. NO! NO! NO! This can't be happening… Tears started to form in my eyes. When I raised my arm to wipe them away, I once again saw a nightmare. My arm was pitch black and huge. It was shaking with a ferocious, beast like energy. Sharp blades protruded my skin in many parts. On each of my fingers rested six inch long claws. All of them were dripping wet. With blood.
How could I choose this path? I am human. I am not a demon. Not like him. "Oh really now? You're not like me?" Snickered an unseen voice.
"Show yourself! You coward!" I roared.
"You say I am a coward, yet look at yourself. You cant even accept what you are becoming. Obviously you are just to naive. Or wait, what's that phrase you use?" laughed the demon. "Ah yes, now I remember, your just human." Closing my eyes. I pictured that small piece of earth I saved. The last bit of salvation. Next I saw a bright light. Down from the heavens descended the angel. Once again I was split in two. Human and angel. Yet this time the angel seemed weaker. His usual bright colors were dull and faded. Yet he still welcomed me with a warm smile. Then with a thousand screams, out of hell raised the demon. For a third time I was split again. This time between demon and human. Earth, heaven, and hell; together again. Yet after I looked more closely, I realized that the demon had a red aura around it. He seemed to glow with power. "As I said earlier, you think you are just human. AHAHAHA!" chucked my demon self. "You know, you really crack me up. If you think you are still human, take a look at that arm of yours."
I look at the strange appendage he calls my arm and shutter. Then something unbelievable happened. "This… is true. I hate to say it, but, Christian, you have begun the process to change into a demon." The angel bluntly threw at me. "Always remember, there is another choice. With that I was swept back into my current adventure. I coughed and sat up. Still I could hear the blades of the helicopter. Jessica was bleeding, still lying on the ground. I stepped over to her and gently touched her face. I could tell she was fighting to stay calm. I hated see the fear in her eyes. She was right, what have I become? This time I would make the right choice. The monster will be back, but he is gonna have another thing coming.