They stared at each other for a long, long time. Though, it wasn’t the  kind of stare down they would’ve normally have had when he was living. Here, she wanted to take in as much as possible. After all, this was going to be the last time she would ever see him, dead or alive. She closed her eyes, placing her hands on his. The skin was cold to the touch, leaving a deep and cold sadness within her.

She was struggling to believe that he was actually gone. That they would never see each other again, that this was the last time she could look at his real face. 

‘No. That couldn’t be true,’ She thought to  herself. She wasn’t prepared to leave him forever, to leave a part of her soul.

She whispered a small prayer to him, and opened her eyes.

Instead of confronting a small church full of people and loved ones, she awoke to a large black void with nothing around her beside the coffin that held his doll-faced body. She looks around the void, apathetic to her surroundings, and takes in the emptiness. The same kind she found in his eyes.

Behind her, is an apparition in the distance. With nothing left to lose, she took a step towards it. The form of the apparition becomes just a little clearer. Clearer enough to compel her to step closer. It starts to take shape. She takes another step, letting go of his hand. And the closer she got to the apparition, the more it started to look like him. But it also started to move. Further and further away as if it was trying to escape.

‘Wait!’ she said. But her voice was drowned out by the void, for it had swallowed any and all sounds that were made within its confines. By this time, the apparition's appearance was clear. It was him. She began to run.

She began to run and yell. 

‘Please!’ she said. ‘Please don’t leave me again, I’m sorry.’

 Her voice was breaking. A combination of exhaustion and despair. ‘I’m so, so sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you before, but I’m here for you now-just please, don't leave me again…’

Her voice fading, she began to cry. Silent sobs haunted the darkness. Haunted her. But she continued to run. Her false hope slowly turning into desperation. 

At this point, she was far away from him and his coffin, only continuing further for the chance that he could still be there.

She was so close to him too, the moment where she finally caught up to him. She reached out to grab him, for there was nothing else to hold on…

She opened her eyes.