Page 92 of Dominion

“I’m sorry for leaving when I should’ve stayed, but this was the only way. Trust me.”

“I know,” she cried. “I know you didn’t want to leave. I understand. But I need you to stay here, Dylan. I need you to stay with us.”

“Skylar!” Ash’s deep voice boomed around us, and my lips turned up into a brighter smile, knowing I would get to see him as well. I couldn’t move my head, couldn’t see his face, but I heard the tremor in his voice when he saw us on the ground. “No, no, no.” The thud as his body fell on the other side of me lodged itself inside my heart, and the feel of his hands on my body almost felt foreign. “Dylan, no! What happened?”

“H-he,” Skylar sobbed, looking up at him with sorrow so profound that it pierced through the very core of my being. “He protected me. Judah shot, and... I... I’m sorry,” she cried out, her voice echoing around us. “I am so sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” I whispered, too tired to speak louder. I just wanted to sleep, to rest, to let myself heal. But somewhere deep inside, I felt that if I closed my eyes, I would never get to see them like this. “This was his fault, not yours. You did what you thought was right, and I’m glad I got to be here to protect you.”

I moved my head toward Ash, hating the sight of the tears on his face. “Don’t cry for me,” I murmured. “I don’t want you to be sad that my life is ending. I don’t want you to remember me like this. I don’t want that.”

“T-then what d-do you want?” Ash asked, his voice breaking. “What can we do, Dylan?”

“You could live for me,” I said. “Live every single day as if it’s the last one. Take everything this life has to give and get the fuck out of this town. I couldn’t save us before, but I can now.T-there’s a house, far away from here, with your names on the deed. Take it and leave this place.”

“Okay.” Ash nodded, looking at Skylar. “We can do that.”

“And be happy.” I smiled, my lower lip trembling. “Be happy for me, you know? Be happy as I would be happy if I were there with you.”

“I can’t do this.” Skylar sniffed. “I can’t... I can’t let you go, not like this.”

“You will have to, Little One. You’ll have to let me go, but I don’t want you to worry. I will always be here, always watching. Always around. Remember me, not as a villain, but as a man who always loved you. And when my heart stops beating and my lips take the last breath, please don’t try to find me in the sunrays or blue skies. I’ll be hiding behind the stars, whispering to the moon to watch over the two of you when I can’t. But I will always, always be just one whisper away.”

The devastation on their faces wasn’t something I wanted to carry with me. I wanted to remember them with smiling faces and love in their eyes.

“And if you don’t mind,” I croaked. “I want you to smile for me. Just one time, just one more time. I don’t... I don’t want to leave without seeing it one last time.”

Ash closed his eyes, his entire body shaking, but it was Skylar who smiled first. It was a watery smile, not like the ones she would give me every single morning, but it was something. Her lips pulled into the brightest little grin, the one I could feel to the tips of my toes.

“That’s my girl,” I murmured, and as if she knew, she leaned down, pressing her lips to mine.

“I will always love you, Dylan. Always.”

“I know.” My eyes sought Ash, who couldn’t contain the sorrow living in every line of his face, but when he realized Iwas looking at him, he smiled down at me, wrapping his hands around my face and bringing our lips together.

“You were the bright star, Dylan. You always will be.”

And that’s all I needed to hear, all I needed to feel. My eyes started closing, the pain no longer in my body.

“I’m so tired,” I murmured, feeling them around me. “I just want to sleep.”

“Then sleep, Dylan.” Skylar’s voice pushed through my mind. “We will be here to hold you while you go to sleep.”

“It’s okay, Dylan,” Ash said, his voice cracking. “You deserve to get some rest now. You deserve it more than anyone.”

I did, I guess. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad in that other place I would be going to. Maybe I would finally be free of these chains that were weighing me down, and I would be able to wait for them.

“I will always... love you,” I said, falling into the darkness. I couldn’t feel their touch anymore or hear their voices. I couldn’t hear anything.

It was just...Peaceful.

33

SKYLAR

I wishedthat someone would’ve made a manual on how to deal with grief.

I wished that there would’ve been something, someone, to tell me how to live with this emptiness in my soul where Dylan used to live. I promised him I would be happy, but how could I go on in this life without him by our side? How could I ever think that it would be okay living without him or trying to even pretend that things would be okay?

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