Kill Me, My Love

Chapter 51

"Apocalypse"

Fall. It lasted much slower than it seemed at first glance. In the mouth of the volcano, time took on new meanings. Seconds stretched into minutes, and minutes into hours. So, before Lina dove in like a fish into the molten lava, a whole eternity passed. There was no fear. She felt free, her heart was light, and her mind was empty.

But ultimately, the fatal meeting occurred, the volcano eagerly swallowed the girl’s body...

* * *

What is death? When you physically vanish, turning into biological material? Or when you transition to a new stage of existence? The soul is released from mortal chains to travel to new worlds...

Death is not just an event among other events of human life. Death is the end, the finale of our earthly journey. And no one can avoid it.

Almost no one...

At the moment when the molten mass grabbed Lina in its hellish embrace, something strange happened. An unfamiliar feeling stirred within her. Not pain, as expected, but something else. Strong, powerful, omnipotent.

The mortal body dissolved in the fire, while the soul remained alive. And with each second, it underwent evolution. It grew, strengthened, expanded, enveloping everything around.

The girl’s consciousness seemed to be aside from the process occurring. No personal motives could influence the changes. The only thought that appeared in Lina’s mind was understanding. A great and unfathomable understanding. Now she knew: all the events that transpired were planned by the universe.

Even that she was to be thrown into Abaddon. Yes, that very thing became the trigger for the apocalypse. The lights and darks did not suspect that Lina’s powers lay hidden in her immortal body. Only the hellish fire, at the right moment, could break through that protection and release the destructive energy into the world. They made their choice themselves. They pushed the girl with all their might to accomplish her mission. So now let them reap the fruits of their labor...

The girl’s soul finally completed its transformation. It gifted the earth a few last breaths, and then there was an explosion.

A powerful wave swept everything in its path. It destroyed all the layers of the atmosphere, all living creatures, all life. Any forms of existence, even the most ephemeral. It left no chance for anyone. Continent after continent, country after country, the wicked and the good, adults, children, the old. People vanished. They didn’t die. No. They vanished, dissolving in the power that Lina had become.

No one felt pain, no one suffered. The world needed cleansing. Radical and absolute, and the girl carried it out. The souls of mortals and immortals transformed into little fireflies, becoming a part of the girl. Now she was everything and nothing at the same time. A substance whose power cannot be described...

Lina knew the last thing seen by the inhabitants of the earth was a flash of silvery light. They vanished in a moment of wonder.

When everything was over, the soul curled up in a ball and fell asleep. After such work, rest was needed...

There were no dreams.

Only peace...

Darkness...

Silence...

In the girl’s heart pulsed millions of fireflies. All warmed themselves with their light from within...

One of them was special. It didn’t flutter like the others. It froze and waited for something, as if it sensed its fate.

In the universe, there is no time. The laws that govern the third planet from the sun do not apply there. So it is entirely possible that centuries passed before the girl regained her strength. But at one moment, the soul stirred and opened its eyes.

All around was nothing. And that needed to change. To start everything anew. A clean sheet of paper, a new land with new inhabitants.

There was much work to be done...

* * *

First, the light ignited.

A new sun, not a cruel heated sphere that destroyed anyone who approached it. No. A completely different sun: gentle, welcoming, nurturing.

Then the earthly solid surface and the starry sky appeared, which would amaze with its beauty all who gazed upon it. Colorful stars would illuminate the path all night long, and two moons would enchant with their mystical horizons.

And all of this was just the beginning of the wonders that awaited the newborn world.

The girl took care of the water. Oceans flooded the earth, freshwater lakes and rivers filled up. Where there was no water, mountains and valleys emerged. Everything turned green, bloomed...

Lina grabbed a large handful of fireflies and released them into the wild, transforming them into beasts and plants. All the living creatures of the new land would have souls. Every butterfly, bush, bird, tree; everything would be alive and truly real.

Now the world was beautiful. Rivers gushed, birds sang, beasts ran, communicating in their own language. The earth was filled with life. The girl’s heart rejoiced because everything around rejoiced in its existence. The world shone and sang, a perfect mechanism began to work, so it was time to rest.

However, Lina still had something to do. She didn’t want to remain apart from her creation, soullessly observing from the outside at everything happening. No – from the very beginning, she had a different fate. To feel life from the inside, to become its only and inseparable part.

Thus, the soul left the darkness. She could choose any guise now, but she wanted to be herself. Ordinary, vulnerable, imperfect. She shaped a new body around herself. One just like the one that dissolved in the fire.

And Lina took her first steps on the earth. She inhaled the fragrant air and smiled at the sunlight. She was herself again. A silver-haired, gray-eyed slender girl. The first person in the world.

The firefly that had silently waited all this time began to break through to the girl’s consciousness, as if it wanted to say something. To remind her of its existence. But could Lina have forgotten it? Would she dare? Even now, so unique and invincible, she remained a woman who loved. This love was her great strength.

She scooped up earth with her palm, caught a spark, and breathed life into it. In just a few seconds, from an incomprehensible mass, a man emerged. Dark-haired, black-eyed, and maddeningly beautiful. Her Sam. Her beloved Sam.

She threw herself into his strong arms, drenching her beloved’s shoulders with her tears. She cried from happiness that they were finally together and from the separation she had to endure. But that was all in the past. Ahead lay a new world, a new life. Their shared life.