Crimson dripped down my side and pooled on the dusty floor. It soaked through my sweat dried shirt and slowly turned my world red. It didn't scare me, seeing my own blood draining onto the floor, because I was ready to die my final death. There would be no more worlds for me, no more lives or hosts, no more stories to tell or friends to make, but most of all, no more being a parasite. It was time for me to leave Earth.
Just as my eyes drifted shut and my breathing deepened, a familiar voice sounded through the room. I must be in heaven, I thought to myself, Ian is here. My guardian angel is still here. I hope he forgives me.
"No Wanda! No, no, no, please, no, stay with me," he pleaded, his voice cracking and betraying the tears racing down his cheeks. I wanted to answer him, to run my hand through his hair and tell him that everything would be okay. I wanted to apologize and I wanted to leave this world holding his hand.
I hear fabric ripping and almost instantly he fashions a makeshift bandage around my stomach to stop the bleeding, but I know it won't help. The knife had gone in deep, too deep for Heal to save me. Doc couldn't save me with even the souls' medicine and Ian couldn't save me with his love. It was over.
As I felt Pet's body letting go to life, I knew I had to let Ian know the truth. Fighting through the stabbing pain shooting through every joint in my body, I forced my dry, cracked lips open and willed my voice to work.
"Ian." His name came out a whisper, but I heard him startle slightly. His hand stroked my cheek and ran through my long golden bloodstained hair. It felt like heaven in the midst of hell as the blood coursed out of my body.
"I. I love. You," I choked out finally. My body was ready to leave and give up once and for all, but I wasn't ready; the soul I was had become greedy like the humans I'd fallen in love with, and I yearned for one last glance at my partner and soulmate's face.
Lifting my heavy eyelids took all the energy I had left, but seeing his face gave me the strength I needed. Ian looked down at me, his eyes swollen from the tears streaming down his face, and he tried to smile as he saw my eyes open. He grasped my face in his hands and kissed me one last time, his lips a whisper against mine as I faded away.
As I lay dying the last words I heard were his final goodbye and his last I love you. I had finally found a world worth dying on and a partner worth dying for. After nine planets, I had completed my life and found a family. I had done good on Earth, and maybe someday in the future the souls and humans would unite. Maybe Ian and the others would get their lives back.
Ian's POV
Wanda took her last breath in my arms. I had fallen in love and found my one and only partner, as she had once called me. We were inseparable. She was my best friend, confidant, soulmate, and my one true love. I will never truly understand why she took herself from me, but she'll always be in my heart, no matter what happens to the world or to me. My Wanderer may have wandered from this planet, but it is impossible for her to every leave my memories.