Chapter Twenty: Close To You
"I'm...I'm going to die, Holly."
The bottom fell out of Holly's world, crashing to the ground with a sickening 'crunch'. She stood there, stunned, her heart suddenly numb with shock and disbelief. Her heart refused to register the truth. Doubt clouded her heart, polluting it, corrupting it, making it immune to anything that was to be heard next.
"You're lying," she said softly. "You're - You're only twenty-four. It's...it's not possible, you're so young! You're - you're nothing but a liar!" Holly shrieked.
Her words tore his heart apart. "Don't!" he said, closing his eyes. He hated himself for saying it, for hurting her with the truth. "Don't go on!"
"You're lying! I hate it when people lie!" Holly repeated, turning away from him, tears running down her face.
"I'm not, Holly, I'm not!" Artemis cried desperately, reaching for her. "I wouldn't have told you, except that I wanted to see you one last time, before I went. That's why I came back, Holly!"
"What kind of D'Arvit story is that?!" she yelled. "My grandmother could make things up better! I'm not going to listen to a liar like you!"
The sincerity in her eyes unnerved Holly. "Holly...listen to me!"
Holly shook her head, refusing to hear anymore. She turned to go, but the sincerity in his eyes persuaded her to stay.
"I'm giving you two minutes," she said coldly.
"Holly...do you really know why I left?"
"Because Trouble was jealous and he wanted to chase you away so that he could have me."
"No. Holly....I left of my own accord."
"WHAT?!" Holly said angrily. "How could you?!"
"No, wait, listen, Holly!" Artemis shouted, shaking her. He seemed desperate. "The party. Remember? Remember the party?" His call for her to listen to him was so urgent that he forsook his sentence structure.
"What about the party?" Holly asked, her own voice trembling. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear.
"Remember when Trouble was offering us drinks? And...and I asked for water...? In actuality, Trouble had put poison in it. He wanted me dead, because he didn't think I deserved you. But I...I didn't know, so I drank it. After the party, he pulled me aside and told me what he'd done. That he'd put a deadly poison in my water. It's the kind that works over a course of seven years...and he told me that I was definitely going to die. So he asked if I could bear to see you suffer with me! Tell me what I should have done, Holly, I loved you! I wanted you to have a happy life, and not to let my problem burden you! I wanted you to be happy....that's why I left, Holly! It's not because I didn't love you, I loved you too much, damn it!"
Holly was at a loss of words. "Rubbish!" she yelled. "Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish!"
Artemis gazed at her with wistful eyes. "Even I have accepted it...it's been seven years. I could die any moment, Holly. That's the truth."
Anguish began to replace the doubts harbouring in Holly's heart as reality began to sink in. Her chest hurt so badly it was almost as if heaving wouldn't even bring it back to its normal condition. Through sobs, she proclaimed, "Why couldn't you understand that I would have been here for you? I would have seen your condition with you all the way through!"
"It...it doesn't make a difference now, does it. It's too late," Artemis said bitterly, all hope having been banished from his mind. If only he hadn't drunk the water. If only he hadn't gone to the party. If only, if only, if only. Yet, all these 'if only's were much too late to ponder.
Holly realised that she should have known the truth about him all along. Looking at him, and knowing the things that she did, the weak state that he was in suddenly became a clearer picture in her mind. Her eyes took in every detail about him that she had missed out. How incredibly naive she had been. The symptoms had been there all along, the moment they had first met tonight.
The severe weight loss. She had known that Artemis had always been scrawny, but even his face looked hollow and gaunt. The bags under his eyes, like someone who had not slept for years. The sudden cigarette smoking, in an obvious bid to calm his nerves, and not caring if it actually killed him in the process because he was already dying. Such lack of hope twisted Holly's heart even more. Yet, she was so blind to it all, so oblivious to the fact that his health was deteriorating. She should have taken a closer look, the moment she met him tonight. She should have, but she didn't. She could have, but she didn't. She would have, but she didn't. Immense guilt began to wrack her heart, pricking her conscience like a thousand needles.
"Oh god, no, you can't die," Holly said brokenly. She grabbed onto his arm, wishing she could rid the poison from his bloodstream.
"Heal!" Holly cried, trying desperately to send blue sparks from her fingers. "Heal, D'Arvit!" she sobbed, clutching on to Artemis desperately. Artemis gave her a wistful smile, and peeled her fingers away from his arm. "It's not going to work, Holly," he said matter-of-factly, sounding resigned to his fate.
"No! I'm just not concentrating hard enough! You're going to live, Artemis, I'll make sure of it. You're not going to give in to the poison ravaging your body!" she screamed, the tears running freely down her face. She didn't care if she was exposing the vulnerable Holly to the public. She loved Artemis. Oh, how she loved him. "Heal!" she screamed, furious with herself. Artemis was going to die...he was going to die from oppressive poisoning and she couldn't even do a thing about it.
"Oh, Holly..." Artemis said sadly, pulling Holly into his arms and stroking her hair. He kissed the top of her head. "It kills me to see how you're tearing yourself apart for me. So don't do it, please."
"What does it matter? You're going to die anyway," she spat angrily, suddenly angry with the world. "It's so unfair! It's so unfair, Artemis!" she screamed. "You're only twenty-four, you have a whole life ahead of you....it's so unfair that you have to go and leave me behind! How do you suppose I can live...knowing...knowing I could have done something...!"
"What could you have done, Holly?" Artemis snickered. "Sucked the poison from my bloodstream?"
"I'm going home now...I'm going home to kill Trouble," Holly said, fierce determination and fury overwhelming her common sense. She got up quickly, and strode off towards her house.
"No, Holly...!" Artemis said behind her, trying to grab hold of her. But suddenly, the world around him began to spin furiously and the sounds which surrounded him became blurred. It began to be difficult trying to tell which noises belonged to which object. He felt strangely imbalanced, and uncoordinated. He seemed to be out of place in this world, trying to find his way through, but he would always be a step behind. Artemis felt his stomach churn, and his body lose composure.
Holly was too caught up in her new mission, her love for Artemis fuelling the anger within her. How dare Trouble ruin Artemis like this, she thought angrily. How dare Trouble ruin everything between Artemis and me.
"Holly..." Artemis called out weakly, before he gave in to the dizziness overwhelming him and collapsed onto the ground. Holly, upon hearing her name, spun around that instant, and saw the dark-haired blue-eyed man on the ground, no longer moving. No spasms. No ligaments moving. Just lying there, as though he were dead. That thought made fear course through the fairy's veins as she screamed loudly, "Artemis!"
She didn't even dare to shake him, for fear of worsening his condition. But at this rate, Artemis could die any minute. Although he didn't look like he was suffering in his comatose stage, who knew if the poison wasn't rapidly rushing towards his heart, in order to cease his existence once and for all?
Holly placed a trembling hand on Artemis' cheek. It was so cold, like ice. Holly felt the chill from his body spread to her own spine, as unfounded fears that he could very well already be dead ate away sadistically at her mind.
"Please, Artemis. Please wake up. I have so much I haven't told you, you can't leave me like this, you've already robbed me of all my hopes and dreams...! Please! I'm begging you to wake up so I can at least tell you what I've been wanting to say all these years," Holly whispered, her voice shaking with intense emotion.
No answer. No sign of movement. No sign of life.
"I hate you," Holly said venomously, anger's austerely bitter arrows plunging themselves deep into her heart and burying themselves there. "I hate you for not even saying goodbye. I hate you because you just left me like that...Are you happy now? Are you completely free? Are you contented that you no longer have to bear the pain of having the poison ravaging your body? D'Arvit, are you happy because I'm not!" Holly sobbed.
Holly turned away from Artemis and cried despondently, cradling her head in her arms. Life was so unreasonable, to take so much out of her emotionally, constantly toying with her feelings. Making her happy one minute, and then drastically changing it into devastation. She hated life for making fun of her this way.
"You must think it's fun!" she screamed, to no one in particular, but at life itself. "To make fun of me like this! To make me believe in that stupid fantasy we call hope, only to find that I'm completely deluded! Do you hate my existence so much?!" she yelled angrily, mentally and physically exhausted. She felt cheated, she felt torn, she felt worthless. That she was just a form of entertainment to whoever thought up people's fates. That her existence was merely created from destiny's grudge. She began to wallow in her own misery when she heard something.
"Holly..." a weak voice called out behind her.
Holly straightened. Could it be....? she thought, and spun around excitedly.
Artemis was coughing, and trying to sit up slowly. He began to speak. "I'm sorry, that always happens out of the blue. It must be the effects of the poison and also because my time is almost -"
"Shhh," Holly said, wanting to keep him quiet. She didn't need him to remind her that his time was going to be up. She didn't want to think about it, she just wanted to keep him close to her, no matter how short the time was going to be. She didn't want to think about it. All she wanted to think about was keeping Artemis with her, cherishing what little moments they had left.
"Aren't you scared?" Holly asked quietly.
"Of what?" Artemis replied.
"...Death."
She heard Artemis let out a soft chuckle. "I have to admit, I was angry with Trouble for thinking up of such a devious plan. But sometimes, maybe I was meant to die this way...I think we're all put here for a purpose. When that purpose is served, there's nothing more to live for."
"And what was your purpose? To extort the fairies of their gold?" Holly said, with a tinge of sarcasm.
Artemis smiled, but it was a morose sort of smile. "I'm not sure myself. But maybe I've already fulfilled my obligation, and it's time for me to go."
She let Artemis embrace her as he wrapped his arms around her trembling body, letting him be her illusory source of comfort. Yes, it was all just an illusion, because she could never receive the comfort she truly needed to be healed of such a bad shock. It was going to be painful, to imagine life without Artemis.
Just the thought that she and Artemis had not even taken proper advantage of the past that had been given to them made her feel ashamed of herself for taking so many things for granted. She felt like she had wasted so much time with Artemis, and unfortunately, she had realised that too late in her existence. Now, the present would be the only time she would have.
And the future, they would never experience together.
Author's Note: The last chapter, which is actually an epilogue will be out tomorrow. And then you'll be FREE! Hahaha! Today I'm in a very benevolent mood so I shall reply to ALL my reviews.
lightning bug: Well, I was getting tired of writing this story, I have to admit. And yeah, I know it was boring. Which is why I'm going to end it soon.
flamaria13: Should you give me a 'Survivor' award or something since I've tolerated your reviews for so long? Just kidding. Sorry, I'm in a pretty weird mood today.
Eleida: Yes I know it's completely unoriginal. It rather reminds me of a soap opera actually. Haha :)
Blue Yeti: I see I have not been spared the Long Review Syndrome. :) Also, I'm sorry about the 'afternoon-check up' thing. When I'm writing about the fairies my sense of time gets completely mixed up so sometimes I don't even know what time of the day I'm writing about. I have got to get that little problem with my brain fixed. Urrrrgh.
Kelti: You liked my story? Thank you.
Red Moon Kree: It's not great a story, really. You should read Blue Yeti's "D'Arvit". Now that's a literary masterpiece. (Look at me! I'm shamelessly advertising again.)
Angel of the Storms: Yep, here's the chapter you've been waiting for.
Thanks for reviewing, one more chapter to go.