Enjoy!
Epilogue after this :)
Christine
Chapter 75
The Beginning
It was a drawing of a little boy aflame. He was surrounded by people in shadow looking on, as though it were a show, in the middle of the street. No one was offering to help. No one cared. The message above the picture read: "Those who watch the innocent burn are no better than those who set the fire."
This would be one of many drawings to come, one of many that I'd publish.
Erik looked down at the image, and then back up at me. We stood in front of my desk in the warm light. It was morning - I'd finished it last night.
"I wish," I said, "I'd been there to put out any flames that burned you as a child."
His eyes slid to me. "Your love is more than enough. And this picture is beautiful."
"You truly haven't been having any visions."
"I haven't. A flash, perhaps, of something - but otherwise, no."
He put the picture aside, and pulled me into him.
"This-" He kissed me. "This, peace with you. Normalcy with the love of my life. This is what I have been wanting. I would say I could die happy today, but this is more alive than I have ever felt."
I closed my eyes.
It seemed like this was Erik's suffering coming to a close. That that's what this symbolized - this conversation, this embrace. That it was the mark of the end.
But it didn't feel like the end of anything. Yes, Erik was learning to heal. This is not what I mean.
What this felt like was the beginning of something better.