The Shadow realms

MIKAEL

Blood. There's a lot of it on the floor and its coming from me. My stomach hurts, my lungs are on fire, my heart hurts. Tears run down my cheeks in floods and I'm unable to hold back my pained sobs as I heave over and over again on the bathroom floor, my white long-sleeved shirt stained with blood. Rose has just left my house a few minutes ago. Now I regret not letting her stay the night. I have a feeling that I won't see her again. I think I'm dying again and it hurts so bad. I whimper and curl into a ball as pain tears through me. Who would've thought that I would die this way this time? I've always known that I'm going to die. But, I did'nt expect it to happen so fast. I'd received my death sentence from the doctor two months back.

Stage IV Blood cancer.

It shouldn't surprise me though. Still it does.

Here I am, lying on the cold bathroom floor, whimpering and heaving. Such a mess.

I think about Rose's hazel eyes. I think about her milky white skin. I think about her blinding smile and the thought of not seeing her again brings a horrid ache to my chest. I would love to tell her goodbye but, I can't even move and my phone is far away from me. My eyelids begin to droop but suddenly, Rose's voice reaches my ears.

"Nick?! Nick?!"she calls out.

I let out a croak since I'm unable to say anything.

"Nick?! Where are you?!"

The bathroom door opens and there stands Rose in her blood red dress and her hair hanging over her left shoulder. Her eyes are filled with pain and distress.

"Nick! Oh my God!" She cries and kneels beside the pool of blood I've created. She cradles my head on her lap and begins to run her fingers through my hair as she weeps.

"I'm sorry," she sobs.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I failed you again!" She cries. I give her a look of disapproval. It takes a lot of effort just to say, "No."

"It's okay," I gasp and she shakes her head.

"No! No, its not!"

"I love you," I choke out as blood fills my lungs.

Rose begins to hum and caress my hair.

"I love you too. I always will," she cries, pressing her lips to my burning forehead. I close my eyes, a small smile tugging at my lips.

'Until we meet again,' I think as I feel my body slowly give in to exhaustion.

Now I can rest.

I finally sink into oblivion.

.....

I jolted upright on my bed, taking my time to drag in air into my lungs. Letting out a huff of frustration, I facepalmed myself. I just had a dream. A dream that had felt too real to be a mere dream. I switched on my bedside lamp and slipped out of bed, running a hand through my damp hair.

My thoughts went back to the lovers in my dream. The male had looked so much like me except he had a beard and seemed to be a pansy which I am most definitely not. The female though, I think I know her from somewhere. She had seemed really familiar to me. Anyway, it probably doesn't mean anything. Its probably a scene from a romantic movie I'd watched. But then, since when am I ever interested in romance? It's all bullshit, a waste of time and energy.

A quick glance at the digital clock on my bedside table told me that the time was twenty minutes past six. Moving the duvet aside, I slipped out of bed and rose to my full height, stretching my stiff muscles. I sauntered across the room and opened the door leading to my large bathroom. I walked into the bathroom to carry out my morning routine and half an hour later, I was standing in front of my full length mirror, knotting a grey tie.

Soon, I was fully dressed and ready to start the day. I grabbed my suitcase and went downstairs.

"Sir, won't you have breakfast?" One of the maid asked and I waved her off and quickly stepped out of my large mansion. Outside, my driver, a young man in his early thirties, was waiting for me.

"Good morning, Mr Kane" he greeted and I responded with a sharp nod. I got into the car and we both remained silent until I got to my destination, Kane's Enterprises Inc.

"Have a good day, sir," my driver said as I smoothly got out of the car. I moved into the lobby, receiving greetings and nods from my employees. That's right, I am the CEO of Kane's Enterprises Inc. and most people describe me as cold hearted, painfully gorgeous and rude. They're not wrong though. It's what happens when you grow too fast. My dad, Augustus Kane had died when I was nine years old. My mother had died three years later and I had lived with my uncle until I was old enough to get my own apartment and take over the company.

I walked into my office and my secretary walked up to me with a cup of coffee.

"G-good morning, s-sir" he stuttered as he handed me my black coffee.

I rolled my eyes and dropped down on my chair. He was always nervous around me. Not that I cared; but, was I that scary?

"What's today's schedule?" I asked and he gulped. He literally gulped! I ignored his ridiculous show of nervousness and took a sip of the coffee.

"You have a meeting with Mr Arnold in ten minutes and-"

I spat out the coffee in disgust. It was too sugary.

I growled and slammed the cup on my table.