Escaping the black parade

The way out

Gerard came and sat beside her after a few minutes, he must have felt the risk of anything following them out of the maze had passed. He had been watching intently while she composed herself, ready to fight off whatever dared to step out towards them.

She was glad he was alert as she was still too dazed to pay full attention. Her lungs felt on fire and her breaths were laboured as her throat felt like it had been crushed. The feeling of fingers pushing against her windpipe hadn't left and she had to keep checking there was nothing there. It was like an invasion of her skin she just couldn't get rid of.

'Thank you, for you know, saving my arse back there. I'm sorry about before I shouldn't have over reacted' she said quietly and strained. Talking hurt more than she anticipated but she needed him to know how much she appreciated him in that moment.

'Don't worry about it, I'm sorry too. I did save your arse though' His little side smile was back. There was something about how he spoke from the side of his mouth that made her smile too. It was reassuring and almost comforting, she felt safe with him regardless of all the shit they had just been through.

'You did I owe you one. That could have been me in there with those shadows...or whatever they were....they tore him apart...the sounds of.......'

She felt an involuntary sudder at the thought and couldn't finish the sentence. It was almost too much to bare to remember, she had never encountered such sounds of flesh and bone tearing and she could feel the bile rising just thinking about it.

'I wouldn't have let that happen. Your stuck with me now no matter what happens, no taking that way out to escape me' he smiled. She wasn't sure if he was unaffected because he had encountered this before or if he was trying to reassure her. Either way she was glad one of them could cope with it. He was a soul collector after all.

She was grateful at his attempt to break the atmosphere of the events that just unfolded, things could have ended so differently back there and she made a vow to be on even higher alert now. They were in it together and she needed to step up.

'Where do we go now?' She asked still full of anxiety but eager to get out of this hellhole. She shifted into a sitting position feeling the dust from the gravel ground covering her. Her mind wondered to what the dust was made from before quickly throwing the thought away, she needed to focus more and stop acting so helpless. She was tough she could do this.

'Just the cliff to go now, we need to follow the path and we are out. We should be able to make it by sundown if we hurry.' He said glancing to their left.

She followed his gaze towards a large ramp in the cliff side leading upwards, she could almost taste the freedom from this hell of a pit. They had no way of knowing what what waiting for them at the top but whatever it was had to be better than what lurked down here.

She stumbled trying to stand but felt his arms wrap around her supporting her once again. Her mind wandered considering what things could have been for them back in the living world had they met. What sort of life could they have had without all this chaos? She could almost see them I'm her small apartment just bustling through daily life, but that wasn't what had been planned out for them.

'I'll get you out, whatever your choice at the end of this. You know that right?' He said his hand grazing across her jawline.

His softness instantly melted her, who knew a sould collector could be so loving and kind. This place really played with all her preconceptions of any of this.

'I know and I'll get you out no matter what. Teamwork? ' She smiled feeling a little better.

'Always' He replied brushing his lips against hers leaving her wanting more yet again.