Black smoke swallows him until I can barely see him.
I run after him with shaky little feet. I trip and nearly fall.
“Eli, C-Come back... Don’t go, please... I’m s-so sorry… d-don’t… go.”
Something warm touches my toes.
I stop at the shore of the lake.
Black water covers my feet and my limbs start shaking.
Eli walks deep into the lake. Only his head is visible.
“Eli!” I call.
I want to go save him. I want to bring him back, but if I do, them monsters in the water will take me.
Them monsters are taking Eli.
“Eli, c-come back! Come back!”
His head disappears underwater and doesn’t surface.
“ELI!!!”
* * *
I wake up with a start, tears streaming down my cheeks.
Eli.
Eli…
No. No. No.
That’s not true.
Eli didn’t go.
He couldn’t have been gone.
A taste of nausea hits the back of my throat and I run to the bathroom. I fall to my knees against the hard tiles and empty my stomach in the toilet.
I remain there even after I’m finished, catching my breath.
Tears fall down my cheeks and to my hands.
“Eli…” I sob. “Eli is the one who shall not be named.”
Why can’t he be named and why isn’t he in my life anymore?
I clutch my head between my hands and hit it with a fist over and over again.
Why can’t I remember? Why the hell can’t I remember?
My heart nearly bursts open with a crushing wave of grief.
It’s like having my chest ripped open and slashed apart and all I can do is watch.