Love and Loyalty

Ch. 9- Dreams

The scene melts away and I'm back in the woods.

"(Y/n) look at me!"

I turn to see Eris up high in a tall oak tree. "Careful!" I shout.

"Okay mom!" Eris mocks while she swiftly climbs down. She lands beside me and soon we're running together through the woods kicking at piles of leaves and chasing each other around the trees.

One tree has a door and Eris runs through it. I follow after her and we're in the living room of our house. A radio sits above the fireplace. A voice speaks through it before being replaced with an upbeat jazzy song.

"Come on (Y/n)! Let's dance. Da isn't home!"

I laugh and join her on the rug, we dance until the sun goes down. We fall over in a laughing fit but our laughter quickly dies with the sound of approaching footsteps on the gravel outside the house.

"Father's home! Quick the radio!" I whisper yell.

Eris runs over to the radio and turns it off. I grab her hand and we quickly and quietly sneak up the stairs to our bedroom just as father enters the house.

We close and lock our door. Together we huddle in the dark on the bed. Eris trembles in fear in my arms. We hold our breath as the sound of our father's footsteps climb the stairs and stop outside our door.

The handle rattles and the door stays closed.

Thank God I locked the door.

I hug Eris close and muffle her whimpers against my chest. I listen intently as our father's drunken steps retreat down the hall to his own room. Only once I hear the slam of his room door do I release the breath I was holding.

Eris whimpers and I stroke her hair. "Shh. It's okay. He's gone to bed. We'll be okay."

"Sleep with me?" Eris asks softly.

"Of course. I will always be here to protect you."

"Always?"

"Always and forever. I will look after you."

The sun hasn't risen yet when I wake. Screams and car horns sound from the streets below.

Eris.

Eris!

My hand goes to the locket around my neck. The one I made for Eris. Tears threaten to spill but I wipe them away quickly.

"I need a drink." I mutter to myself. Slowly I pull myself from the confines of my bedsheets. My head pounds slightly with my hangover from last night. But with a quick mutter of a spell the pain goes away.

I slowly open my door and make my way to the bar. I sit down at the stool surprised to find that Husk is not at the bar passed out like normal. I snap myself a drink and just stare at it for the longest time.

My mind goes back to the dream, the more I think about it the more they seem like memories.

Tears come again as I think about Eris. I promised her I'd protect her forever. Where is she? Can I see her again?

Who am I kidding, she's probably up in heaven. She never did a thing wrong in her life.

I take an angry drink of the whiskey in front of me.

She is probably up there with her wings and halo, wondering why she'll never see me again. Probably thinking I forgot about her.

Tears blur my vision and my heart clenches. I grip the glass tightly and throw it against the back wall. It shatters on contact and the whiskey drips down the wall to form a puddle with glass.

I put my hands on my face and hunch over, quiet sobs rack my body.

My ears twitch at the sudden presence in the lobby.

I sit up and wipe my eyes. "I'm in no mood for your judgment, Al." I say.

"Well I'm not going to judge you." A different voice speaks up.

Charlie takes a seat next to me and looks at me worriedly.

I look away and don't meet her questioning gaze.

"(Y/n) what's wrong?" she asks.

"I'm sorry for waking you." I say still not looking at her.

"You're dodging my question."

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "Is it normal for someone like me to lose their memories when they die? I remember certain people but not their names. I remember my sins but not my virtues."

"You remember what you choose to. You probably subconsciously decided you were defined by your sins so you choose to forget anything that contradicts that belief."

"I didn't want to forget my sister." I mutter. "Sure maybe I wanted to forget the pain, but I promised her I'd be there for her."

Charlie places a hand on my shoulder. "Do you know where she is?"

"No. Well... she's no sinner. She didn't sin her entire life. So I'm guessing she's not here."

"You mean she's in Heaven?" Charlie asks.

"Yes... no? I don't know." I throw up my hands. "I can hardly remember anything from before I died."

"Well if she's in Heaven maybe you could see her." Charlie says.

"Um I don't know if you've noticed but we're down here and people down here aren't allowed up there." I point to the sky.

"But what if you redeemed yourself."

"What?"

"You're already here just work towards redemption and you could see your sister again!"

"I don't know Charlie." I scratch my neck. "I've done too much bad. I might not be redeemable."

"Just try." Charlie urges.

"I can't make any promises." I mutter.

Charlie squeals and pulls me into a hug. For a moment my scowl is replaced with a small smile.

When she pulls away I look her dead in the eyes. "You can't tell anyone." I say.

"But-"

I cut her off. "Don't tell anyone or I'm not doing it."

She nods and pulls me in for one last hug.

-•*•-
Date- 11-19-2020
Words- 1593

So this one got a little long. Oh well hope y'all enjoyed.

Also my brain is fried. Just took two tests and have to more next week. Yay, not really but if I don't update soon it's because school has been killing me.

Cya~