Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

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calmly, while his form began to dissipate under the
stress, lose the core of its being. No time, he thought.
His vision narrowed to concentrate on Ben’s face,
nothing else. The thousands of thoughts were still
there, but he shut them out. Ben did not look well.
Pain, fear, confusion played on his features, like children
released to recess after too many hours studying in
a dull and featureless room. He watched Ben turn and
look at him, then behind him. Watched the shock of
recognition on his face. “Oh god, Lila,” he heard Ben
say. “No, it can’t be. You’ve turned…”
The pain was too much. The King of Eyes was
destroying Anders, even if it didn’t mean to, couldn’t
help itself. He was losing, he realized. He was dying, for
real.
“I won’t let you take him,” Lila calmly said. “I’ll rip
him to pieces if you try.”
She wants me to live, she wants to be with me. She needs
to be with me. That feeling heartened him, it gave him
the will to live again. He focused again on Ben, realized
he was screaming with anger, moving toward and past
Anders. She wasn’t talking about the King of Eyes,
Anders realized. She was talking about Ben.
“Oh, God,” he said. “No!”
“Anders,” she said. “You’re almost there. Forget
about Orpheus. Don’t look back.”
He realized, then, the choice she was giving him.
Give in to the evil and misery of this creature, dredged
up from some hopeless and evil place beyond even the
realm of death. Give in and be with her, not knowing
what the cost to himself might be. Or cling to his past,
and be destroyed, as simple as that.
And he had only seconds to decide.
Anders focused on Ben once more. He wasn’t a part
of this. A bystander. “Get the hell out of here, Ben,” he
said.
“No way! I’ll save you, man! I didn’t save Lila, but
they won’t take you away from us!”
HAUNTING THE DEAD
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