Losing you wasn’t an option, it was predestined. Like the gleaming sand that slowly seeps through the clenched fingers in a tight fist gone numb, I knew that I would never be ready for it, not now, not today, not ever. A million years later would ache the same way as now will – and as the prophecy whispered, now was a good time as any.

The sun was on its way down, slowly robbing the warm earth of its light and sustenance. The beauty of the darkness had always called out to my black heart. The world can burn, as long as I can be with you. And the darkness always beckoned me, with its heavy-lidded eyes and shapely hands, to indulge deeper, as all melded into nothingness in its being. But tonight I wasn’t looking forward to my ally’s ever victorious ride into this realm. This time the darkness heralded the end, it was here to siphon my very existence into itself, into oblivion.

I stared at my reflection on the glass in the light of the setting sun; the eyes that looked back were dark yet bright. Dry and cold, it felt nothing. There would be no more shed tears.

Turning away, I shivered momentarily, as the dam threatened to give away, refusing to hold back the deluge within. But the moment of weakness lasted less than the span of a blink. I straightened my back, and held up my head, as my lips pressed down into a stubborn straight line. And in my mind I saw that beloved face, right in front of me; those bewitching eyes, that I could never get tired of, gazing down at me like I was love incarnated. And I said, we are finished. 

Crisp and clear. I didn’t flinch, my voice didn’t tremble.

I was ready. Ready to face him, in the final battle.