The farther we walked down the dirt road, the harder my heart pounded in my chest. I started nibbling at my fingernails, but they were slowly becoming scarce. Should I really be seeing her? Did I have the right to just show back up in her life like this? I mean, I abandoned her. Come to think of it, I'm surprised Zack's so okay with this. After all, it was his sister I hurt.

  I looked over at him and saw there wasn’t a hint of hesitation in his eyes. He just kept forward, not worried about a thing. Then again, when is he ever really worried? I took a breath and tried to relax. No turning back. If I want a life, you gotta try and live. Even if life's scary.

  By the time we arrived at Zacks's apartment, I had successfully bitten off all the excess nails on my fingers. My heart had reached a critical point where I figured it jumped up to my throat.

  "You can do this..." I mumbled.

  My eyes focused on the scratched-up door and the faded cream-colored walls of his unit. It amazed me, not a thing changed since the last time I was here. Zack walked over to his doormat and picked up a key from underneath it. Then, he unlocked the door, quickly shoving it open. And that's when everything became real for me.

  A faded beep played in the back of my mind, and my legs felt heavy like cement. The bitter smell of the chemicals and cleaners barged their way into my nostrils. Just like I was there again…

  "Well come in!" Zack yelled, which snatched me back to reality.

  "R-right!" I stammered.

  I followed behind into the house, and the scent of cigarettes wrapped itself around me, the sound of rustling wrappers came from beneath my feet. I looked down and saw I was stepping on a pile of Twix wrappers. Upon looking around, I noticed the whole place was just a sea of trash. Drinks, food, clothes, it was like someone had a frat party.

  "I'm not liable for whatever you step on. That may include and is not limited to, crusty underwear, soda bottles with pee, and maybe lost kittens." Zack called out.

  "Lost kittens?" I asked.

  "Yeah, you don't wanna know."

  Zack trudged his way through the mess, not worried in the slightest what he'd step on. I attempted to watch where I stepped, but I inevitably stepped in some questionable green substance. Once I made it past the living room and got to the main hall, it was just, suddenly clean.

  I looked over and saw Zack holding the door knob. A chill ran down my spine and I froze. He gave me a huge smile and winked. Then he flung the door open so hard it slammed against the wall.

  'What did you do?'

  'Mom's not gonna make it!'

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  'It hurts! Baby it hurts!'

  The voices from that day flooded my mind. While the soft beeping echoed around me. I started to pant and my arm shook. It's not real! It's not real!

  'She's lost too much blood!'

  'Stryder what did you do?'

  "Hey Gnome! Guess who I brought!" Zack's voice boomed over the memories.

  He looked over to me as if to say, this was my cue. However, every part of my body felt heavy. She's gonna die like mom. She's gonna-

  'Crying about it isn't gonna make anything better you know. If you wanna prove you're alive, then you gotta go out and live.'

  Zacks's words came back to mind. I looked into his eyes for a moment. They were confident still, even though I probably looked like I was gonna cry. This is it Stryder, your moment. Are you gonna choose to live? Or stay frozen in death's grip? If you can’t do this, how do you expect to stop Joe and Dan?

  I clenched my fist and walked forward. The beeping grew louder, the voices shouting in my ear. However, I pushed forward. No more being scared, no more letting this control me. I was gonna choose to live!

  So, I stepped through the door. And suddenly everything went silent. My eyes laid on the forgotten princess, who just smiled at my presence. Her tangled brown locks looked as if they hadn't been brushed in ages, and her bold green eyes still shined like emeralds.

  "Stryder!" She cheered weakly.

  I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My eyes froze on her like I saw a ghost. She was okay. In fact, she was smiling.

  "H-hey, Annual." I stuttered out.

  "My knight has finally returned to me," she proclaimed.

  I walked over to her bedside and laid the flowers next to her. Her big emerald eyes grew wider and she seemed more alive than even a moment before. She lifted the flowers and took a whiff. And I just stared at her.

  This is what I've been avoiding? This is what I've been scared of? This wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was. She's just the same old Annual. She didn't end up like mom.

  "Mmm, Hyacinths, you must've walked that trail coming here." She smiled and ran her fingers along the petals. "These flowers kinda remind me of you. I think they're a good representation."

  I chuckled. "Well, I do like blue a lot."

  She nodded and pointed to the many jars on her desk, all holding different flowers in them.

  "The red spider lily I have over there reminds me of Zack." She said.

  "Isn't that thing poisonous!?" Zack complained.

  "Yeah, just like how staring at you too long can make me sick. Definitely dangerous." Annual said sweetly.

  "Says the Gnome who hasn't brushed her teeth in three days!"

  "It's not like I can get up and buy toothpaste! Isn't that your job? Supposed to be taking care of me? Gremlin."

  And here we go. The two went back and forth roasting each other. Eventually, Annual stumped Zack and left him simply glaring at her. With a triumphing smile, she faced me again.

  "By the way, Stryder, I want these flowers for our wedding."

  My face got hot and I immediately looked away.

  "Wh-what!?" I stammered.

  She giggled and faced the flowers again.

  "Whenever I get better, I'll make you a great bride. I promise." She said softly with a cough.

  She set the flowers down and covered her mouth. As she started to have a coughing fit. Zack rushed over and laid her back.

  "Okay, okay, you need to rest. You can talk all about your wedding plans some other day." Zack said.

  She nodded and looked toward me.

  "Thank you for coming. Please, I'd love to see you again." She said and coughed again.

  "Yeah, I'll be here."

  With that, Zack and I took our leave, shutting the door to her and heading outside. We leaned against the walls of his apartment.

  "Man, I haven't argued with her like that since I spilled soup on her." Zack laughed.

  I smiled and looked at him. "Yeah? Well, I'm glad."

  "Thanks, I could tell you were nervous. But you really breathed some life into her."

  "Yeah, I'm starting to see. Maybe everything I was worried about was just in my head."

  He looked over at me and smiled. “Well, how about we get serious then and look up info on Mr. Blue Ranger.”