The Hollowed Eye Man

Bonus Chapter:

It had been three months since the incident and even shorter time since the funerals. I lost my father the man who helped raise me from birth, and then my lover that one day I dreamed of marrying. Everyday had become a struggle and at night I couldn't sleep. All I could do was cry until my body no longer had any fight left in it.

I hated everything, and I had become the quiet individual that didn't talk to anyone, I even cut ties to those I was able to call friends. I was completely alone. Dealing with a therapist was one of the only things keeping me sane, and she knew about all the depressing thoughts I had and how hopeless I felt. However what she didn't realize was that every night I would still text Owen's old number and every morning I woke up hoping to see a response however that was never the case though. Then there was the ring.

The little piece of jewelry never left my finger, and I had no idea how it got there. It was just there when I woke up at the hospital surrounded by my mom and Owen's parents. When I had awakened, I looked around for him but he wasn't there, and his parent's eyes were bloodshot. I tried to remember what happened but all I could manifest was walking into the woods. Everything after that was a blur.

As I laid in bed now, I tried to recall those thoughts as I drained myself emotionally through my crying. My pillow soaked from the tears and my whole world was blurring. I wanted answers, but more importantly, I just wanted to say goodbye. Out of everything, that's what I was the most pissed off about, To see Owen one last time and to say goodbye would mean so much but now it would never happen, as I entered a fit of hysteric convulsions brought on from my sadness.

My muscles were weakening, and I could feel myself, ready to pass out, but something told me I wasn't alone. Maybe it was just my brain hallucinating, but I turned and looked at the end of my bed. My vision was blurry, but I was confident that I saw someone standing at the end. I tried to sit up and speak but my body wouldn't move, it only allowed me to watch as my vision cleared for a brief moment.

Standing at the end of my bed was a creature. It looked familiar but horrific at the same time. The flesh on its face was covered with black veins, and its eyes were a neon white. But even with that, my brain suddenly triggered, and I knew who it was. Doing whatever I could, I tried to fight my immobility and managed to move my lips and force a breath out of my lungs.

"Owen?" I gasped as the being seemed to smile, but then it turned around and disappeared into the shadows.

I don't remember much after that as my body shut down and I passed out. Dreams of Owen and I danced in my head. So much so that for once in a long time I didn't wake up screaming. Instead, I woke up with the sounds of birds chirping outside and beams of light crossing my body. Was that actually him last night? I thought to myself as the muscles in my body were once again responding and I looked at the clock like I did every morning and slid my hand under the pillow as I rolled over. However while I slid my hand under, I felt something papery grace my fingertips.

Not giving it a second thought, I pulled it out and rolled onto my back and looked at the note. On the front of it, it had my name spelt in cursive, and I felt my heart skip a beat. I opened it, and there were only three words inside. Check the ring.

It was a somewhat cryptic note, but I followed its instructions. As I gripped the ring, it felt like it was the first time I had ever taken it off, it made me feel connected to Owen and to have the ring off just made me feel like something was missing. Those thoughts were put on the back burner though as I carefully slid the ring off and started to examine it.

It was a simple ring with a decent diamond in the centre and then some smaller diamonds surrounding the big one. It brought a tear to my eye to look at it, but this time I noticed something on the inside band. In the past I had never looked close enough but there inside the ring was something engraved. It was two words. Forever & Always.

My heart skipped a beat as I read those two words. They were the same words we said to each other when we first met when we promised that we would be best friends. All the nightmares suddenly seemed to end as I laid there in my bed staring at the ring. The world couldn't hurt me anymore, and I knew it. Owen would always be watching over me, and that was enough for me to move forward with my life, but at the same time I knew that I was committed to him and that I'd never find someone as good, and with that I slid the ring back on my finger and laid back and smiled.

"Goodbye my love, hopefully, I'll see you again someday," I spoke into the abyss, and I imagined him saying goodbye to me.

Truthfully I thought that I'd be sadder but yet a smile continued to rest on my face, and I was at peace. I was living for both of us and the memories of what happened no longer mattered. There was no going back now, but I didn't need to go back, I just needed to go forward and when the day finally came that I died. I knew Owen would be there waiting for me on the other side, and all I could do now was wait with a glowing smile on my face, as I prepared to face the rest of my life head-on, no longer afraid of death.