text: “Sixty-four years, huh?” Alice said with a weak smile. Her gaze slowly drifted over to her left where a young man sat. A heavy silence hung in the air as she waited for a reply. “Silas? Are you there?” A few moments passed and panic had begun to creep into her voice. “I’m here, my heart.” Silas replied in a soft tone. He had to gather himself. It had been a long battle but the cancer that had ravaged her body took her sight and her mobility was now about to take its ultimate toll. The life of his beloved. Alice just smiled when she heard his voice as if there wasn’t a care in the world. “Aren’t you afraid?” He asked shakily. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, how could he be? They had been through so much together, “I suppose, for an immortal, it might seem-” Alice was cut off by a series of violent coughs. Silas took her hand and tightly shut his eyes. He couldn’t stand to watch her life slip away. He wanted to run. For thousands of years, he managed to not make any real connections to avoid this very event. Yet here he was, a spectator in the final act of his love’s life. Finally the coughing settled down. “ -It might seem strange. But as long as I have you by my side, I am not scared of dying. Thanks to you, I had a wonderful life.” Silas opened his eyes and stared at her in disbelief. The soft rhythm of her heart played on the monitors on the other side of her bed. Alice sighed softly. “I’m afraid of leaving you though. You just won’t take care of yourself if I’m not around.” She chuckled and lightly squeezed his hand. Silas just shook his head and smiled, typical Alice. Trying to make everything seem okay. He brushed her long silver hair out of her face and smiled. “I’ll be okay, I promise.” His voice cracked. It was the first lie he had ever told her. He just looked into her eyes and let the time pass. Finally it was broken when Alice yawned. She looked as if she was struggling to stay awake. The doctors had told him that this was a sign of her final moments. “Just don’t... Don’t forget about me, okay?” Alice said. It was just like when they ran away together. Her only fear was to just fade away. Her mother had always been wrapped up in the chaos of her life after Alice’s father passed. It was actually because of this chaos that Silas was brought into Alice’s life. “To forget about you would be like forgetting the Sun.” Silas said as a thick sorrow entered his voice. “You have always been too cheesy.” She said with a weak laugh. She closed her eyes and Silas could feel his heart drop. He wasn’t ready yet. She couldn’t go. “Ali-” he choked. He couldn’t even manage to say her name. His throat felt like it was full of stones as he tried to say it just one last time. Silas tried to yell but nothing came out as he opened his mouth. Only the deafening sound of the monitor’s slow and unsteady beeping filled his mind. He wanted to struggle against this fate that would condemn him to this pain. He wanted to join her in the afterlife that had long since been out of reach. His grip tightened as these thoughts rushed through his head. “ ‘Do you think your life is something that can be so easily tossed away’” Alice mumbled as she weakly opened her eyes . They were the words he spoke to her the night that she tried to kill herself. The same night that he revealed who- what- he was. His arms fell to his sides in defeat. Even in the state she was in, she knew him too well. “I am just gonna close my eyes for a bit, can you sing me to sleep like you used to...?” “Okay, my heart.” Silas said quietly. “Be here when I wake up?” Alice asked breathlessly. “Of course.” Silas lightly kissed her forehead. He wanted to say goodbye, but couldn't find the words. Instead when he opened his mouth he began to sing in a language that has long since faded to time. His song was cut short by the monitor’s flat-line. He felt the room grow cold as the sound seemed to echo into his very core. “Goodbye, Alice Graham.” He choked out through a torrent of tears.