Love Immortal

by Kit Vincent

“What if there’s no way to set them free?” I ask—no, I beg of him. “What if they’re buried so deep that the light never reaches them? What if…” My breath catches as fear seizes me again, used to being the solitary ruler of my soul. I struggle to still myself. “What if I am buried along with those things, and no matter how much I try to dig myself out, to climb up this endless black tunnel, it still feels like I’m only falling deeper into the darkness?” For a moment, Mr. Bathory is silent. My heart echoes in my ears, shuddering in my chest like a caught rabbit, and I’m suddenly worried that he might not understand me after all, that he might think someone like me doesn’t deserve forgiveness or even a chance to atone. But then he leans in closer, as though he too has a secret he’s been harboring for an eternity, one he’s ready to release. When he speaks, his words are a revelation. “Then it is best to make friends with the shadows, Mr. Evergreen. For if you’re shrouded in darkness so complete, so all-consuming, that there’s no telling the skies above from the ground below, then what is the difference between falling and flying?”