Author's note: This story was inspired by the idea of lying to someone to comfort them at their last hour. I originally planned to write this as a short story, but after seeing how the first chapter turned out, it was so dramatic that I didn't want to touch it without deep consideration. What better "beginning" to put here?
"You are okay," I said, holding Serenity's hand. "You are perfectly fine, Seri."
Serenity shook her head. "Stop lying, Kiera," she insisted.
"You are okay," I said.
"Stop. Stop lying. I'm not," Serenity maintained.
"You will see the sun again," I said, stroking her raven black hair. "You will feel its warmth against your face. Just like before."
Serenity gestured to the cold, white hallway we were in, lit by harsh daylight white LEDs. "You know this is the end. I'm never going to make it back home," she whispered. "Just let me go."
"No!" I screamed. "You will feel the wind in your hair. You will feel the sand beneath your feet!" I spoke faster, more urgently. "You are making it. We're going to find our way home. We're going to escape. Just watch. You're almost there!"
"Stop lying, Kiera," Serenity repeated, hushing me.
"No. No, Seri. No," I pushed, willing her to hold on, if only for a little while longer.
"I know, Keira. They're coming for you, next."
I suppressed the tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. "Seri, no. You're going to see the ocean again. Serenity, you will see the sky, all of it, again."
"Don't lie. I know it's the end." Serenity started crying, coughing as she struggled to breathe. "Kiera, you have to live for me."
"No. You are getting out of here!"
"Stop," Serenity said with as much gusto as she could muster, which wasn’t a lot, but it was enough. "I will not see you there tomorrow. Don't let me see you up there tomorrow. You will see the sun. You will feel the wind in your golden hair, feel the sand with your feet, and see the sky with those pretty green eyes. You will, won't you? For us?"
Tears overflowed in my eyes, gushing down my face. "No, don't go!"
"Don't let me see you where I'm going tomorrow," Serenity insisted. "You have to live for both of us. And remember, I will always love you." And with that, the light in her crystal clear blue eyes faded.
"NO!" I screamed. "No, please no, Serenity, NO!" I buried my face in her feather soft hair, crying my eyes out. This could not be it. This wasn't it. Not Serenity, my love, my life. This couldn’t be it. I wouldn't accept it.
But it was it. Whether or not I accepted it, Serenity was gone.
"I love you," I whispered fiercely. I kissed her cold lips for the last time, and got up, knowing the master would be here any minute. If he already killed two of my series, I would be next. And I had to live for her, Series Seven Number Two, whom we called Serenity.
I went to Serenity's pod, emptied it of all its contents, and did the same for mine. I packed everything important into a backpack and was gone by the time the first rays of dawn streaked the sky in the morning.
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