Back To Basics

Back To Basics
"The original state?"

Kivior nodded. "Before Elena. Before the hive. Before the plague."

His voice became quieter. "If Martin is returning… then perhaps Moriah has returned as well."

The words settled over the room like ice. Vera looked down at the floor. After everything they had survived… Could they really be starting all over again? She hated how possible it sounded. Eleanor suddenly whispered again.

"So many children… So much water… So many screams… It’s not going to stop. It’s going to keep happening until God chooses to have mercy upon the town. Upon the lives of the children… The innocent children!"

Then she closed her eyes, exhausted beyond words. Within moments she had drifted back to sleep. No one disturbed her. Kivior quietly made the sign of the cross before stepping away from the bedside.

"There isn't much more we'll get from her today."

Vera nodded reluctantly. "I agree."

The preacher looked at both of them. "I think I'll return home."

"You sure?"

He smiled faintly. "It's been... a very long day. She’s finally awake so I see no need for my continuous presence here."

Kane extended his hand. "Thanks for staying here this entire time and watching over her."

Kivior shook it warmly. "Take care of each other."

Vera hugged him briefly.

"And thank you."

He smiled. "We'll speak tomorrow."

With that, Kivior quietly left the hospital room and his friends just watch him go, unsure if they could help him with what he was surely still dealing with—with Lina’s sudden death.

.

.

.

The afternoon sun hung low as Kivior guided his horse through the muddy streets toward home. The floodwaters still lingered in gutters and low-lying fields, reflecting the gray sky like sheets of tarnished silver. His thoughts never stopped turning. Martin. Moriah. Orishirishi. The plague. The spellbook.

None of it fit together anymore. Every answer seemed to create three more questions. By the time he reached his house, exhaustion weighed heavily upon him. He tied the horse outside before quietly entering. The house was empty. Painfully empty.

He removed his coat, set his Bible on the kitchen table, whispered a brief prayer beneath his breath… and made his way into the bedroom. He barely bothered removing his boots. The mattress embraced him almost instantly.

Within seconds… Sleep claimed him. Warm sunlight poured through the bedroom windows. The air smelled like fresh bread. Birds sang cheerfully outside. For the first time in what felt like forever… Everything felt… Normal.

"Kivior."

He smiled. That voice. Soft. Gentle. Impossible to mistake. He knew the voice—that was for certain. "Kivior..."

His eyes slowly opened. Standing beside the bed… was Lina. She looked exactly as she had before her death. Her long hair framed her beautiful face. Her smile was warm. Her eyes sparkled with quiet affection. She wore the same pale blue dress she'd loved so much. Kivior immediately sat upright. His heart hammered violently.

"No..."

His voice cracked. "No..."

She smiled wider. "It's alright."

He stared at her in disbelief. His breathing became shallow. "This isn't real."

She slowly walked closer. "It is."

"No. It can't be."

Tears welled in his eyes. "You died."

"I know."

"You..." His voice broke completely. She gently sat beside him. He pulled away instinctively. "What are you?"

Pain crossed her face. "Kivior… It's me."

"No. You aren't her."

She slowly reached toward him. He flinched. But her hand simply rested against his cheek. Warm. Soft. Real. He froze. She stroked his face exactly the way she always had after difficult days. "I've missed you."

His eyes filled with tears.

"This..." He could barely breathe. "This can't..."

She smiled through tears of her own. "It can." Her thumb gently brushed away a tear rolling down his cheek. "I'm here."

He searched her eyes desperately. Every memory. Every expression. Every tiny habit. Everything… Was Lina. His resistance slowly crumbled. "Lina..."

She nodded. "Yes."

Emotion overwhelmed him. He pulled her tightly into his arms. She embraced him just as fiercely. For a long moment neither of them spoke. There were only tears. Only relief. Only impossible hope. Then Kivior pulled back just enough to look into her eyes one last time.

"I thought I'd never see you again."

"You have me now."

His trembling hands cupped her face. Without another word… He leaned forward… and kissed her passionately.

Kivior kissed his wife with all the love and relief in his heart, his hands cupping her face tenderly, his lips moving against hers with desperate passion. For a moment, everything felt right—the warmth of her skin, the familiar scent of her hair, the way she melted into him like she always had. 

The bedroom was quiet, the morning light filtering through the curtains in soft golden beams. The air smelled of clean linen and the faint lavender from the sachets she used to keep in the drawers. His heart swelled with joy, the grief of the past days momentarily lifted. Then reality crashed in like a cold wave. This couldn’t be real. Lina had died in the fire at the library. Her body had been trapped in the basement when the building collapsed. They hadn’t even recovered her remains yet. This… this was not his wife.

Kivior pushed her away gently at first, then more firmly, standing up from the bed. His heart pounded in his chest, his hands trembling. “Who are you?”

The woman who looked like Lina smiled, but the smile changed—becoming colder, more predatory. Her form shimmered, the loving wife melting away to reveal her true self: a gorgeous demon with silver hair and golden eyes, towering over him with an aura of dark power.

Moriah stood before him, her voice smooth and layered. “I only came to comfort you, Preacher. You looked so lost. So broken.”

Kivior’s voice was steel. “Leave. Now.”

She tilted her head, her golden eyes gleaming. “I know all of what Ori did before she was cast back to Hell. The things she planned. The pain she caused. Your wife…”

Kivior raised his hand, the crucifix glinting in the light. “I don’t want to hear it. Get out of my house.”

Moriah’s smile faded. “You may not want to hear that, but you should hear this: the curse is back on. The angel of death is returning once more for the children of Greenly Bay.”

She disappeared in a swirl of dark mist, leaving Kivior standing alone in the bedroom, bereft and shaken.