The Price of Freedom (Part 3).

Elena looked around, but there was only white space around her. In this place, there was absolutely nothing.

"Looking for something?" A voice from behind asked the girl. She turned around, a creature in the form of Rick was standing next to her, his eyes were black without a single glint or sign of life.

"Who are you?"

"What do you think? Although, any of your options may be true and wrong at the same time. Understanding my essence is too difficult for the level of your mind, although you are different from your own kind," the ghost walked around Elena and stood in front of her, looking directly into her eyes, "Some questions are better be left unanswered."

He bent, and his face was an inch from the girl's face. If this creature had been a human, Elena would have already felt his breath on her skin, but at the moment she did not feel anything, as if the girl was just looking at a lifeless reflection in the mirror.

"And what are you ready to offer me for the fulfillment of your desire, human girl?"

"I have not yet told you about my desire," the girl replied.

"And you are wrong here. Didn't you come here for his sake?" The ghost bowed his head and, in the blink of an eye, changed his look. David was standing before Elena and looking at her with an indifferent look. "Did you hear such a phrase 'According to your faith be it done to you'? Or this saying 'Thoughts are things'? As soon as you crossed the entrance of this cave, your thoughts became equivalent to your words. So you have already voiced your desire to me, human girl."

"If you need an image of a person to talk to me, please use someone else's." She could not look at David's face, which did not contain a hint of a living person. Even knowing that it was an alien being, and not her beloved one, this image filled her heart with pain. The idea that David might have the same lifeless look terrified the girl.

But she did not expect that the next person whom the ghost would decide to use in his game would be her. Elena felt a lump come up to her throat. She had not seen her for so many years, but now, this woman was standing in front of her, as if she had not gone anywhere.

"M-mom?"

"Hello, Elena. Long time no see," the woman's voice was exactly the same as the girl remembered it.

Elena covered her face with her hands; tears came out in her eyes. No, that was too much for her.

The woman approached the girl and stroked her head; Elena's heart sank at such a familiar gesture, but she did not feel anything except the cold. No, it was not her mother.

Elena took a deep breath and looked at the ghost of Amelia, "And what should I give back for you to fulfill my request?"

"And what are you ready to give away?"

"My powers," Elena decided to try starting with a smaller one. She was ready to lose all her strength if it somehow corrects the situation. But the ghost looked at her and said nothing. She thought that perhaps this was not enough, and something else had to be added. "You can take my health, the years of my life. Just tell me what you need, I'm ready to give it away."

The ghost continued to look at the girl in silence, studying her as a laboratory mouse. A couple of minutes later he replied,

"I see that your desire is sincere, but what you are offering me does not belong to you. I cannot fulfill your request," the creature turned and headed away from the girl.

Elena expected anything, she thought that he would want to take her life or soul, but she did not see that coming. The girl threw herself behind the shadow,

"What does it mean 'it does not belong to me'?! How can my strength or my life not belong to me? What does it mean?" Her hands were shaking. Did her hope turn out to be meaningless? There could not be such thing that she was not able to do or offer at least something.

The ghost stopped and answered in an even voice, "Your power has been swallowed up by another being, his life depends on your life. Even if he is just of the size of a poppy seed, he is already stronger than you. Oh, by the way, I just received a very tempting offer. You can leave, I have already been paid for your freedom." With these words, the ghost disappeared into the air, leaving Elena completely lost.

What did he mean at all? What other being? Who paid the price? What should she do now?

"Elena," a familiar voice full of love and tenderness sounded right behind her. She would recognize this timbre from a thousand voices. David, with a warm smile, looked at the girl and extended his hand to her, "Let's go."

"David, what should I do? This spirit did not want to fulfill my wish, what should we do now?"

"Silly, you don't need to do anything. Look after your health, eat on time, smile more often, do not be sad - that's all that is required of you," the young man said and patted her on the head.

Elena shivered, and a terrible awareness came into her head. She grabbed the man by the arm, "Was that you? What did you promise to that spirit?!" She knew perfectly well that even if David had a lot of power, this did not mean that the spirit would agree to accept it.

The young man did not answer and only squeezed her hand more tightly. He loved the warmth of it so much so he did not want to let go of her hand. "Do you remember our first meeting?"

"You mean Jason's birthday party?" the girl clarified.

"Yes. You know, I then doubted whether to go there or not. Elena, in fact, I was not going to meet you," David immediately noticed the girl's confused eyes and hurried to explain what he meant, "I hope you will accept the thing that I am about to tell you now and understand me."

"First, I want to apologize to you. Without asking, I got into your memories and erased the information about the scrolls that Richard then made you remember."

Elena immediately remembered the situation in the morning when she woke up and could not remember her dream. This was the first time when she could not remember something, and now she could understand the reason for this.

"When I studied these scrolls, a lot of things became clear to me. I have long suspected this, but now I know for sure. The fact that I survived then, on the day of the experiment, was a miracle. By the whole logic of things, I had to die, but this did not happen. And for that, I have to pay the price."

"Elena, the abilities that I possess in such a volume are not normal for a person. The human body is unable to cope with such a pressure, and it has to spend its supply of vitality much faster than it usually does."

Elena was standing, head down. David's words were like white noise to her, which her brain refused to perceive. No, she did not want to hear that. The girl covered her ears with hands and began to shake her head, trying to get rid of the remnants of this terrible information.

David pressed her to himself, the sound of his heart made the girl stand still, she stretched out her arms and pressed herself to him, with all her strength. From the mere thought that she might no longer feel his warmth, everything else in her life immediately became indifferent. Why talk about food and joy, if he is not around? How can she live in this cold world in which there will no longer be his warmth?

David slowly stroked the girl's hair, knowing full well that his attempts to calm her were meaningless and useless.

"That is why I did not want to meet you. I knew that my life would not be long, although I hoped that I had more time. I wanted to remain a shadow that you would not even notice, create a world for you and leave, confident in your safety. But then-," the young man's voice broke. David tried to control his emotions, but with every second it became harder and harder.

"But then, when I saw you, that evening, so dazzling and beautiful under the rays of spotlights, I could not... Forgive me. I knew that in the end I would hurt you, but as soon as I looked into your eyes, as soon as I heard your voice, I felt your warmth when you extended your hand to me... I realized that I couldn't live in this world anymore if you will not be around."

The man listened to the quiet sobs of the girl and tears were flowing down his cheeks.

"I know that at first I might have seemed too persistent, but every time you were there, I had to put an incredible amount of effort to restrain myself. I wanted to grab you, pull you close, feel the warmth of your body, become one with you. I wanted you so much because I knew that in the end I could not be near you and wanted to use every opportunity to be closer to you."

David pressed his palms to her face and lifted the girl's head to look into her eyes. With his thumbs, he brushed tears from her cheeks and put his lips to hers, leaving a light kiss on her.

"I hope someday you will be able to forgive me for my selfishness," he whispered, stroking her delicate skin with the tips of his fingers, "I will not ask you to be happy because I understand the pain I leave behind. But I want you to know that every second spent next to you was the best time in my life. And if I had the opportunity to exchange my whole life, in which I hadn't have you, for one minute, spent next to you, I would do it immediately."

The man looked up and glanced at the silver wall behind the girl. If he tells her now that they have to part here, she would never agree to let him go. So, only one thing left.

David lowered his head and put his lips to her forehead.

"I love you," he whispered finally and pushed the girl.

. . .

Elena fell to the ground. The wall in front of her eyes flared and turned into an ordinary stone. She looked into the void for several seconds, her heart refused to accept the reality that her brain had long been aware of.

"David?" She whispered softly, her lips trembling.

But David was no longer here.

"No... no no no. It is impossible," the girl began to grope the wall as if it were an ordinary door, and all she had to do was to find the door knob to open it. But all that she felt under her palms was a hard, cold and lifeless stone.

Her beloved man stayed there, in the place where she could not go, no matter how much she wanted it.

"DAVID! COME BACK! DO NOT LEAVE ME! I AM BEGGING YOU!"

She was hitting the wall with her hands with all her strength until the blood came out on her palms. It was the second time she was losing him right before her eyes. She hoped to the last that she could do something, but in the end, she could not do anything.

"It's useless. When a person enters this portal, he does not return from there. David will never return."

These cold and indifferent words were like knives. The man behind her thrust them into the heart of the girl, depriving her of her last hope, even if that hope was self-deception.

Elena froze. How could she forget about him? The girl turned slowly, her eyes burning with all-consuming hatred.

"You... It's all your fault. Bring him back now!" She shouted and hit Rick in the chest.

"If the ghost refused to accept the victim, it's impossible to open the portal for the second time. Neither you nor I can do this," Rick replied in an even voice.

Elena looked at the man in front of her with hate and disgust. How can he say such things to her face with such calmness? Who gave him the right to deprive her of last hope, even if that hope is meaningless? Does he even have anything human?

"You... Who are you to decide for others? Who gave you the right to climb into someone else's life and destroy it? Well, happy with your game, huh? Happy? Got what you wanted?!"

The girl was hitting the man in the chest as hard as she could, but he did not even move and was taking all the damage silently.

"You should be there, not him! You! Give him back to me now! It's all your fault!"

Elena did not stop and continued to hit Rick in the chest, tears were flowing down her cheeks, her hands were trembling, and the pain was tearing her heart apart. If she could, she would have disassembled this cave down to the smallest pebble, just to find David, but even her forces refused to help her and left the girl.

All she felt now was pain. Unbearable and all-consuming, throwing a person into the very abyss of despair, where it would be impossible to find the way out of.

Rick pulled a sobbing girl to his body, her body was trembling, he didn't even feel any pain from her hits since they were so weak now. She was completely exhausted.

"I'm sorry, you're right, it's all my fault. Forgive me," he stroked her back as if she was a small child, not knowing whether he wanted to calm her down at the moment or to dull the pain that was tearing his chest.

Sobs of the girl began to calm down gradually, she no longer had the strength or tears to keep crying. She curled up and lay down on the cold ground, and just looked into the void, with the same empty eyes.

Rick crouched beside her and laid her head on his lap. Elena already didn't care what he was doing; she felt like an empty shell, instantly deprived of her soul.

The red light of the signal flare left by David began to fade away, gradually submerging the cave's grotto in total darkness.

Elena was looking at this little red light and waiting for the moment when it would go out to close her eyes and go out with it.

"Why did you come here?" She asked Rick in a low voice, almost shrunk from a long cry.

"I came here with the same purpose as you. Hoping to fulfill my wish," the man answered. His breathing became heavy, and every breath was given to him with effort.

"And what was your wish? Immortality? Power over the world? Power over time? What did you wish for that even the spirit refused to fulfill it?" The girl hit the bull's eye with her questions. Knowing himself, Rick would have thought the same thing.

But that was not the case. If he wished for everything that Elena had listed earlier, now, what he really wanted was strange even for him. But the man could not do anything about it, this desire haunted him every second from the very moment he thought about it.

"I came to the spirit to exchange my life for the life of my child."

The girl was shocked, she did not expect such a response. Elena straightened up and sat down next to Rick, her eyes looking at the man with undisguised surprise, "What child are you talking about? Do you mean Corey's baby?"

"Yes. I wished to bring him back from the world of the dead, but this damn spirit refused to fulfill my request, saying that it was impossible. You cannot return what doesn't exist." Rick looked at the wall that had previously been a portal. Who would have thought that what he, for the first time in his life, sincerely wished with all his heart, was impossible to accomplish? If he can not fulfill this desire, then nothing else matters. Just like his life, which now had no meaning.

Elena thought for a moment, analyzing Rick's words. Still, how can you return someone from the dead, if he is not there? The spirit refused to fulfill his request, not because he could not, but because this request had no meaning.

A faint smile tucked the corners of her lips. Wow, what an irony.

"Corey is fine, as is the baby. The documents at the hospital about her miscarriage were fake."

Rick looked at the girl with wide eyes. Elena could not imagine that this man could look so shocked and confused.

"You want to say that-"

"The child is not dead. The baby is doing well, the pregnancy is going on without problems," Elena reiterated her words.

Rick blinked several times, his brain frozen, analyzing shocking information. "Ha..hah, ahahaha," the man laughed out loud, tears appeared in his eyes.

He was sure that if he fulfilled this desire, he would find a feeling of peace, but he did not even imagine that the girl's words that his child was alive would bring him such overwhelming happiness.

No, he had never experienced such a thing in his life. That feeling was worth giving up everything he had in his life.

Bang!

The walls of the cave began to shake, stones fell from all sides. Elena felt something hot dripping on her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw Rick's face next to her face. In the dim light of a burning torch, the man's blood was flowing down, dripping onto Elena.

At the last moment, he managed to cover her with his body so that the girl would not get hurt.

"Rick, Rick!" Elena turned him on his back, his shirt in the abdomen was all wet with blood. And how did she not notice this before?

"Are you alright?" The man asked in a hoarse voice, his head buzzing as if hit with a giant hammer.

"Yes, I'm all right," the girl replied, although she did not care about her physical condition at all.

"Give me your hand." Elena extended her hand to him, and he squeezed it with his cold fingers. "This is not the best place for a girl. It's time for you to leave, kitten." Elena's palm began to shine with golden lights, gradually rising upwards in her hand.

"Rick? What are you doing? I'm not going anywhere."

"If you don't come back, she will cry. You are her best friend," the man smiled and squeezed the girl's hand tightly, depriving her of the last opportunity to pull out her hand, "Farewell, kitten," he whispered, the girl's body was wrapped in a golden wave and she disappeared.

. . .

The red flame of the torch went out, and the grotto of the cave plunged into total darkness. In the silence of darkness, he could hear the drops of falling water from a mountain spring, breaking through new crevices after the explosion.

The man was lying in complete darkness, the cold gradually seized his body, and he almost did not feel his limbs.

'Hmm, Rick, who would have thought that everything would end so prosaically,' the man grinned in the mind's eye.

"Spirit, hey you, spirit! I know that you hear me! I have a new request! You owe me, I summoned you, and you did not fulfill what is required."

The wall of the cave portal began to be covered with small highlights until it completely became a large luminous silver canvas.

The shapeless silhouette separated from its surface and headed towards the man.

"I suppose you already know my request, right?" Rick grinned, watching the approaching ghost.

"I can fulfill your request, human. But the price for it will be your life."

A contented smile slipped across the man's face, "Well, that's the price that suits me."

. . .

"Hey, don't you think you've stayed here for too long?"

David turned and saw happy Rick behind him.

"Maybe it's you who is a little late?"

"Ahaha, that's right, you know, punctuality was never my cup of tea. Even on your birthdays, I was always late."

"Thanks to you, I had to fend off girls who always pestered with the question 'Where is our Ricky?' " David made a frustrated grimace and rolled his eyes, at such moments he always wanted to give his friend a good hammering.

Rick laughed and winked, "But when I came, they stopped bothering you, so we were even, buddy."

"Yes, it was fun," David smiled, "But up to a certain point," and the smile faded from his face.

Rick also stopped smiling, but his face still radiated an aura of joy, "Go. She's waiting for you. I suppose you counted on my help, and I did you a favor and brought your sweetheart to a safe place. So stop hanging around here, and get out of here to her already."

David looked surprised at his former friend, "You ..."

"Aha," Rick showed David a number one guy's smile, as Corey once called him, "Take my humble gesture as a wedding gift. By the way, watch your girlfriend well, as he just won't let her go."

"Who?"

Rick leaned toward David and whispered the name of the person in his ear. David looked back in astonishment, but then his eyes immediately filled with seriousness and anger, "I got it. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Rick turned around and waved his hand. He stopped a few steps from David, "You know, it was fun. To be your friend."

"Likewise. You were my only friend in this life, Rick."

"Ok, I got it, I got it. Look, just don't cry for me," Rick winked, and went ahead.

"That ain't gonna happen," David smiled in response, watching the receding silhouette of a man until he disappeared in a white void.

. . .

Sam was sitting in the car and chewing on a sandwich, as a loud rolling sound from above almost made him choke on the spot. "What the hell?" He looked out of the car and saw a cloud of dust coming from the side of the Spirits Cave.

The guy jumped out and ran up the hill. Rising at the foot of the cave, he saw Jun and Daniel sitting on the ground. Daniel was sitting, head down, and did not look around. Jun's gaze was directed toward the mountain peaks located opposite, his eyes were empty and indifferent.

"Hey, what's going on? And who the hell is this?" He noticed the bound body of an unknown man, who was quite hurt by someone's fists. "Where are the others? Oh, God-"

The guy almost turned gray from fear and surprise when Elena materialized from the air in front of him.

The girl's face was pale, and her eyes were red with tears. Daniel looked up and their eyes met, the girl's lips quivered. The man immediately understood everything, she did not need to say a word. He rose from the ground, walked over to Elena and pulled her tightly to him. They, like no one else, understood the pain of each other at this moment.

Tears flowed from her eyes with new force, Daniel lowered his head to her shoulder, hiding his face.

Sam looked at this picture in dismay, "I will be in the car! I will try to call the rescuers!" The guy rushed down, he did not expect that he could run so fast.

Daniel was standing, trying to warm the fragile girl who was his brother's dearest person on Earth. The man did not say anything, because no words in this situation would change what had happened.

He felt something touch his hair and lifted his head. His heart stopped, afraid to be disappointed that the man in front of him was just an illusion. Daniel straightened, his eyes frozen in front of him. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Elena," the elder Anderson called the girl quietly, "If we continue to stand like this, I'm afraid we will have problems."

"W-what?" She asked, not quite understanding the essence of his words.

Daniel took a step back, and Elena felt the strong hands that embraced her tightly. She looked up and saw his eyes, dark and deep, like the Mariana Trench, but there was so much love and tenderness in these eyes that if they were light, then the planet would no longer need the Sun.

"If you cry a lot, you'll have a headache," he said and smiled.

"D-david? DAVID!" Elena clung to him with such force that had she pushed herself to him a bit harder, he would have lost a couple of his ribs.

"Forgive me for making you worry, but now I promise you will never lose me." The man leaned over and whispered some words in her ear so only she would hear them. Elena sobbed and burst into tears with a new force, joy and happiness filled her heart. David looked at the girl with a gaze full of love and pulled her closer to him.

. . .

Water was dripping from the arches of the cave monotonously, breaking the silence into which this space had plunged.

Drip - drop.

The shapeless silhouette separated from the wall and with smooth movements headed towards the man lying on the ground. The silhouette took the form of a girl, crouched on the ground and laid the man's head on his lap.

Rick opened his eyes and saw blond curls, smoothly falling from the girl's shoulders.

"Co-rey...," he whispered in a hoarse voice. Seeing her at that moment was like a miracle he hadn't even dreamed of.

"My time in this place is also coming to an end, and I decided to give you a gift, human," the spirit said, assuming the appearance of the only woman Rick had fallen in love with in both of his lives.

"I don't want you to use her image. I am not worthy to be near her," Rick replied, and then added, "Can you show me the girl?"

The spirit smiled and immediately turned into a little curly baby girl. Her fingers gently stroked the hair of a man.

"I will stay with you until you fall asleep, Daddy."

The man looked at the girl. Even if it was only a mirage, that was enough for him.

Knock, knock, knock.

His heart was making its last beats.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"My name is Ashley. Ashley Williams."

Knock, knock.

"Beautiful name."

Knock.

"I am happy that you are in this world, Ashley." The man's eyes closed, a tear slowly moving down his cheek.

Knock.

With the last breath, his heart stopped.