16

Chapter 16

"Let's talk."

"About…"

"Everything."

"Everything…"

"About anything."

I frowned slightly and stared down at the floor blankly as I continued to stare up at the ceiling. The words that he had spoken were replaying over and over in my mind endlessly, and I found myself unable to forget them ever again.

'Do you want to talk about your nightmares? About Gabriel? About the apocalypse? Do you want to remember anything about it? Anything at all? If you do, you know that I'll listen, right? Right?"

I bit my lip nervously and nodded slowly, averting my gaze from him as I fidgeted uncomfortably, my cheeks burning hotly as I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. I could hear him sigh softly before his arms tightened gently around me, pulling me closer into him. I relaxed instantly as he held me securely, and I sighed heavily, closing my eyes tightly as I attempted to calm my rapidly beating heart.

"How do you remember all these things? Even after thousands of years? How do you live with this constant reminder of it everyday? What does this even mean?" he breathed out slowly, seemingly overwhelmed with his frustration.

I swallowed thickly and took in a deep breath before speaking.

"I… I don't know," I whispered weakly, clenching my fists as memories flashed past my eyes. They kept flashing like the lights outside of an old cinema screen: scenes from countless wars and explosions that I had witnessed; scenes of suffering and death; of destruction; of war; of chaos and destruction.

"I can't… I can't control it! I don't know what's happening and I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I don't know what to say to help!" I whimpered desperately as I curled up even more into his embrace, clinging to him tightly.

"Shh, angel, you aren't in danger anymore. Everything will be okay now," he reassured me gently.

I raised my head and met his eyes and he kissed the tip of my nose softly as a tear slid out of my eye.

"No, no, no," I mumbled as I pushed myself further away from him, wiping the tear away angrily before turning away from him.

His arms immediately dropped away from my shoulders as he stood upright and stared at me in confusion.

"What's wrong? Why are you running away from me? Are you upset? Tell me what you're thinking, Azira, please!" he pleaded quietly, reaching out towards me cautiously as if afraid to scare me.

"Of course I'm upset! I can't believe that you forgot! How could you? After all that happened today?! That's what happens to people who forget stuff like this, you idiot! You forgot! You couldn't handle it, and you chose to blame yourself instead of dealing with reality because your emotions are clouding you! You can't handle it! And you left me here! Alone! To deal with it!" I shouted furiously, finally raising my voice as I turned back round to face him, shaking violently with anger as tears streamed down my cheeks. "And what have you done, anyway? I told you that you had to leave, you left me without any explanation! What the hell is that about?!"

He sighed tiredly and rubbed his eyes.

"This isn't what I wanted!" he protested, sounding exhausted. "I was trying to give you what you needed! Don't you get that?!" he shouted exasperatedly.

"Well, maybe you should'