Dying Flame

1007 Words
"I don't have any more time left, Dad. I'm done. I am so sorry." A tear slipped from the eye of the twenty one year old woman. Her dark brown eyes glistening beautifully in the light. For a second, she thought that there was something beautiful and fascinating in death. "You can ask Albert." She jokingly stated, shaking her head out of her previous thought. A soft whirring noise echoed throughout the blindingly white room and a robotic voice responded, "chance of survival is zero percent. Time of death is 11:19 p.m." "See?" Her voice cracked and her sight became blurry with tears. "I told you. I've only got exactly two minutes left." "Ember, love, no. You're not done. hold on, please. Please hold on." He tightened his grip on his daughter's dainty hands; his huge rough hands holding her small soft hands. "We still got so much work left to do. We still have to save everyone, to save the Earth, to make more memories. Hold on, love. Please, please. You have to live for me and Nathan. You can't leave us." Ember felt her heart twist and clench at the sight of her crying father. She sniffled, clearing her throat. "Can you call Nathan in? I want to say goodbye." She changed the topic, not wanting to see her father suffer more because of her, because of a simple mistake that she had done. Greyson shook his head multiple times. "No goodbyes. Come on, honey, you can fight this. I know you can." "Daddy, I've got 94 seconds left." Ember's eyes shifted to the left, staring at her remaining life span that was only visible to her. "I thought this was a really awful curse- well all curses are awful- but I guess it's helping a bit now. At least I know when to say goodbye and when to prepare myself. For some reason, I quickly accepted the fact that I was going to die." She laughed though there was nothing humorous about what she said. 90 seconds. "Hey, Em. How you holding up?" Nathan, her childhood best friend, entered the room. "Oh, everything is all dandy, peachy, butterflies and cupcakes over here, Nate. I only have 86 seconds left on my life, how about you?" Ember was still her sarcastic self even as she knew that she was about to die. Nathan rolled his eyes although they felt hot, feeling tears start to form. "Curious." He drawled the word out. "How much time did you have left before the virus?" Nathan approached her, trying not to let his tears fall. "I had ninety years left on the clock- August 17, 2320, 10: 19 a.m. was the exact date and time that I was supposed to die and suddenly," Ember laughed bitterly, "two days ago, it drastically changed." Her voice broke, her fists clenching tightly. "Correction." The robotic voice, Albert, interrupted, entering their conversation. "It was thirty nine hours ago, Miss Agapov." "Albert!" Nathan and Ember both groaned, making the whirring in the room stop, both of them letting out a sigh of relief. 60 seconds. "Say it, I know you want to." "Say what?" "Tell me I'm stupid one last time for forgetting my gas mask before I stepped out the front door." The two of them laughed with a constant stream of tears spilling out their eyes. Greyson left the room, unable to watch the whole exchange any longer. "You are stupid." He said. "I guess I've already told you a billion times- more than enough times for you to remember until the afterlife." Ember's grip on Nathan's hand tightened. She coughed into her elbow, blood spilling out her nose. "Ten seconds left." More tears fell out Nathan's eyes. "Stay safe, yeah?" Ember forced out. Nathan pulled Ember in for a hug, hugging her as tight as he possibly can. "I love you, Em." "Love you too, Nat." Nathan laughed, hugging her even tighter, if possible at all. "I thought we agreed that you'd never call me that again." He mumbled next to her ear. "I don't care. And when did I ever follow through with our agreements?" She asked rhetorically. "You are right about that." Both of them laughed for the last time. Ember sniffled, taking a deep breath. "Take care of Dad, alright?" Her best friend nodded vigorously, his tears soaking into her clothes. "I'll see you, Nate." She managed to whisper before her clock dropped to zero, her grip on Nathan slowly loosening. The boy refused to let his best friend go. He didn't want to. He didn't think it was possible to cry as much as he was already crying but once he saw Ember's dark brown eyes that he always admired in the sun, more tears managed to escape through his eyelids. It started to rain outside, matching the solemn mood in their home. The rain pitter-pattered loudly on their windows, on the roof above their heads. It seemed as if the rain was trying to match the amount of tears that Nathan and Greyson had in the past two days of watching their most important person suffer through something they thought they would be safe against. "I'll see you, Em." He whispered, finally laying his best friend gently back on the bed. The boy continued to sob, staring at his best friend's lifeless body as Greyson leaned his head on the wall outside, sobbing as he lost his remaining family member. He wiped his tears away harshly, refusing to accept the horrible reality. "There's a way to save my daughter. I know it." His voice cracked as he spoke to himself. The scientist proceeded to his lab, determination in his still blurry and stinging eyes. He immediately started to dig through all of his folders, all of his files, opening every drawer and cabinet and box. Finding the red folder that he had long forgotten about but it just might help him now. He vowed to himself that he would bring back his daughter. No matter what.
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