Four entire weeks had passed since The Girl swore she would find him. Fortunately for him, the bar she thought her "hero" worked at was closed. Everyone was deep into the sweltering heat of the summer, praying for fall. The entire city seemed to swell with desperation and a misguided passion. It was like every human became a crazed alley cat looking for comfort anywhere. The Girl was no different. She'd taken to her beloved water, hanging out in friends' pools and lounging half dressed in front of open windows in her apartment. Doing her grad school work became even harder and more tedious for her. The heat seemed to make her physically weaker at times, and he truly feared for a hospital stay. She always waited too long. He remained on guard, watching her. Waiting.
It was a dangerous game they were both playing, as he couldn't leave her; and she couldn't get him out of her head. He managed to stay hidden anytime she was even the slightest bit inhibited. He couldn't risk her seeing him again. He didn't know what he would do if he could be in her line of sight again. He didn't deserve to be in her line of sight. But she kept mentioning to friends, co workers, medical professionals that she simply had to find the man who saved her. They mostly smiled and nodded in concern, telling her to be more careful. She would agree, but he knew he was in her head. And that was far more dangerous than anything else.
He was dangerous. At least in his human form. He was still atoning for his sins. After The Girl saw him, he began feeling more tortured for what he did. He heard a loud pop once - a child's balloon- and it reminded him of what he did. Fireworks rang in freedom in July, and he quietly crumbled, feeling the prison he had created for himself and the freedoms he had taken away. Sure he had it way better than what people thought a hell would be. No burning, no physical torture. Just endless psychological realizations of the very horrible mistakes he made. He began to double down on helping people, trying to run from the memories of his own life. Though The Girl kept pulling him back, he still saw the torture he had inflicted while he was alive. It was enough to kill him again. And again. Then he saw The Girl.
The Girl was both torture and pleasure at once. She was his heaven and his hell. He spent his entire human existence wanting a kindred spirit, just to find it after death. He looked at her and felt everything he wanted- and that she couldn't let him go cemented it to him- but it was out of his grasp. He had a lot to make up for,and even then, he knew logically he couldn't have her. She was living. He was dead.
Looking out at the sky, he saw the street lights in the distance. They illuminated the world, which quite frankly needed it. It reminded him of his mother and how she was always wanting him to let her in. What if he would have let her? What if he hadn't-
He couldn't think of that. He had lives to save and a girl to see. But still he was alone.