A numbers game
I try to write something a bit out of my league with this one. Something that might be considered "horror" related.
(Not really)
When Sammi was told by his mother she had something important to tell him, he was excited. Was he getting another younger sibling? He liked Bailey a lot, and liked visiting to spend time with his half-sister- another sibling was just more of an excuse to visit more often!
However, once he got there, he noticed that his mother looked more… tired than usual. And Bailey wasn’t around at all…
“Mom? What did you want to talk about?”
His mother looked up from a notebook she was writing in, the tense look on her face softening as she saw her son.
“Sammi! Please, sit down… I believe this will be important to you.”
Sammi was hesitant at this, especially at how she spoke felt forced. Frowning, he sat down across from her.
The silence made the hairs on his neck prickle as the other got up and went into another room, returning shortly with a piece of paper in hand.
“As you know, both Demons and Beholders live a bit longer than the average human… And, due to your power, it seems like you will live even longer. I managed to make a rough calculation of how long you may live- given that you stay in good health.” She inhaled slowly, then placed the paper in front of Sammi, face-down.
“You don’t have to know… but I figured it would be important to.”
Sammi’s gaze fixed down at the paper. The blank, foreboding paper. What could be on the other side? Would he like the answer?
He knew that if he didn’t see this that it would gnaw away at him. And it would wear away at his mother too, with the knowledge her son never got closure.
With a quick motion, he flipped the paper around and stared down at the number.
“No… That can’t be right- Did you mess up your equation?” Panic rose within him, denial, too. It couldn’t have been that big.
A sigh. “No… That’s it. I had to account for your power- your magic is strong, Sammi. You have a lot of it. And magic is life. You saw how bad I was before being able to be around magic again…”
“I- I know, but,” Sammi pulled on his hair. “That’s- That’s longer than Nick will live- Arche- Hearty-- You…”
The other sighed and shook her head, taking Sammi’s hand. “I know it’s a hard thing to accept, but… I know you’ll persevere.”
Sammi nodded slowly, hesitantly. “Right.”
Author's Notes
This was originally going to be a short comic but I didn't feel like drawing it. Maybe I should've just drawn it.