Goodbye to tomorrow
Aiden's body went weak and his vision began to blur, "oh man, I guess I'm dying" he said to himself with a bitter smile on his face. He wished Jean was with him, he didn't want to die alone. "I wish life was better, I wish I wasn't in all this pain." He remembered a time where he was happy, where Jean was happy. Now he was nothing but a burden, all he could do was laugh and pretend he didn't hate this all. He bit his lip, why me? He thought with tears streaming down his face.
He felt himself getting weaker and weaker. Why did it have to be that the only time he doesn't feel pain is when he's about to die. It was a dark thought but maybe dying would be better. Jean wouldn't have to push herself so hard. Their mom wouldn't be so hard on her and he wouldn't be in such pain. "Maybe that would be better for everyone." He said as his eyes closed shut.
"Are you sure?" A voice asked from what he could tell was the other side of the room. His eyes began to open, but he wasn't in the room anymore. He could barely see, it was all dark and eerily cold. "Are you sure that's what you want?" the voice asked. A figure stepped forward and it was surrounded by light but gave off a darkness as dark as Aiden's current surroundings.
"Who– what are you?" Aiden asked, admiring and also in fear of its demonic like horns and tales as well as the eyes staring straight into his soul all over the beings face.
"I am Mandex." it said with a smile that made every hair on Aiden's body stand. Each eye on its face had a different color iris from the other. They each had a different feeling to them. There was a strange line that split its face in half. Aiden wanted to run, to leave and escape this thing. But he was too scared to move. He felt that if he did, he could die. Its wings shifted and fluttered in different patterns. It was almost disgusting.
"Your staring" Mandex noted politely. Its voice was the stuff of nightmares, it was like souls were screaming for freedom through it.
"W– what do you want from me?" Aiden asked, mustering all his strength to speak.
"I want to help you," Mandex said with a grin. "You're currently dying, you might already be dead." He took a step closer. "I can give you life, and what's more, you can have your dreams come true."
"What if I'd rather d– d– die."
"Come now. We both know, that's not what you want."
"What happens if – if I let you help me?"
"You get to live, its that –"
"It's never that simple." he said.
"You're right. Pretty smart child." Mandex paused. "In return for me helping you, I want your body" Aiden looked at his hands, they were shaking horribly. Sweat trickled down his face. He would be alive, but it wouldn't be his body.
"You can have it, under one condition."
"Now what is that?" Mandex asked
"These markings aren't enough to say that these people are involved in some kind of supernatural ghost business Gabriel." The commissioner told the detective dismissively as he looked through the documents that he had brought to him.
"Why not, one of the guys with this same symbol on his neck burst into flames outside the continental!!" Gabriel shouted as he pointed to one of the pictures he had brought to the commissioner.
"Human combustion Gabriel, human combustion." The detective said as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Okay, but what about this one?" he pointed to another one of the four pictures on the table. "Anna Vennis, she was found dead outside lauren forest with five stab wounds and the very same marking that I found on the others on her back. You can't tell me that you aren't thinking what I'm thinking."
"Here's the thing Gabriel, I'm not thinking what you're thinking. I'm thinking about what suppers are going to look like once I get off of work." He stood from his seat and walked to the window. "They found the person who killed her, he was some loon, there,case solved. It's not as complicated as you are making it seem Gabriel!" The commissioner said as he finished up his coffee and put it onto his table and looked Gabriel in the eyes.
"You might not believe me, but I know something is going on. And I swear on your life, I'll find out what the hell it is!" Gabriel shouted as he stormed out of the commissioners office.
He gripped his steering wheel as thoughts ran through his head as fast as his car was going. All of it was strange but something was behind it all and he was going to find out no matter what it took. He parked his car in front of his house and got out, tired from what had happened that night. He pulled his blond hair back making it easier to see his face, tanned skin and green eyes. A sigh left his lips as he locked his car. Living in the continental made him subject to meeting all kinds of weirdos. The commissioner must have thought he was one of them. Seeing as he didn't have the money to travel, this was the only place he had ever been, meaning he knew everyone and their mother.
As he walked into his house he remembered when he would be greeted by his dog syrup cake. "I wonder where he went." he said to himself as he turned on the lights in the living room. With his stomach grumbling he realized he was hungry. With all the stress he couldn't take a break and realize how hungry he actually was. "Fuck it" He said as he walked up to his couch and allowed himself to fall onto it. "I'll just eat tomorrow, I guess" He slowly began to fall into the arms of sleep which he knew he needed. Before he fell fully asleep he thought how much better it felt to sleep than to eat.
He could see his blood leaving his body. The floor feels so cold. He thought as he got up, regaining his strength. He looked down at his hand as he stood, his legs felt weak but gradually they gained strength like the rest of his body did. I'm standing?! He thought as a genuine smile formed on his face, it was the first time he had actually smiled without feeling pain in a while. He took a step forward and completely ignored the fact that he was walking on his blood which had stained his hospital robes and hair red. With joy in his eyes he looked around and laughed. His pale skin slowly began to gain color and he felt his eyes adjust to the dark room. His meeting with Mandex felt like a dream. Maybe it was, maybe it was all a dream. But those thoughts didn't bother him in the slightest. He walked out of the hospital room for the first time in years and screamed his lungs out. "I'm alive!"