Alex POV

..Continuation of chapter 21..

Just when I thought I was finally done and I was heading towards heaven, the place in which the light source was coming from yanked me out of the water.

Great. Mors has come to finish what she's started by putting me through even more pain and misery. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to pretend to be dead, but I can't.

I can do nothing but gasp for air and cough like crazy, though I still manage to keep my eyes shut. She knows I'm not dead. I know that. I just don't want to see her terrifying face.

I waited and waited for her to do something terrible to me, but instead, she spoke.

"Alex!? Alex, can you hear me!? Speak to me! Please!" She said, through tears.

The strange thing is, the voice sounds incredibly familiar and I know that the terrifying beast I saw definitely wouldn't have asked if I was ok.

I open my eyes to see that it's not Mors at all. It's Sub. His eyes are now closed and he's crying. A lot. Sobbing.

I try to say something to him, but I can only cough. I can barely breathe. I summon all of the strength I possibly can to sit up. He looks at me surprised and smiles after a bit, though still crying.

He immediately clings onto me and I hug him back. He never seems to let go. But I don't want him to.

"Y-You should probably g-get some rest," He finally says, pulling away from the hug.

I silently agree, wanting nothing more. I lay down on the damp grass and try to sleep. He sits next to me, keeping an eye out for anything that might approach us. I fall asleep after about one minute since I'm so tired.

...

I wake up and it's still night time. It must be night time all the time in this realm- or whatever you call it. I feel ok now and I can actually breathe a bit. I look over at Sub who has fallen asleep as well.

Luckily However, he wakes up after about three minutes and I decide to ask a question soon after he gets up.

"So... Sub... how did you find me?" I ask.

He rubs his eyes a bit before answering.

"Well.. I heard you... in the river. You were flailing your arms about, splashing all over the place," he laughs a bit.

"I rushed to the river and shined my flashlight into it. I saw you. Drowning. It's terrible to see one of your best friends drown," his voice saddens and his faint laugh is replaced with a frown.

I look at him and he tears up a bit, but he doesn't look back at me. I hug him.

"Thank you. You saved my life," I say, now tearing up a bit as well.

"Of course. I'm just glad you're ok. I had to return the favor," he says as he wipes away his tears and smiles.