[ WP ] Lying on your deathbed , knowing you do n't have long left to live , you open your eyes to see someone staring down at you . The face is one you have n't seen for a long time ... and one you thought you 'd never see again .

The sea still shone in his deep blue eyes. Even though his brow was now creased with wrinkles, 
 and his once blond hair that shone had degenerated to whiteness, my recognition was instantaneous. 
 He still grinned crooked like errant fiend, mischievous and twisted. 
 
 “ Ïf vengeance is what you seek, you've come too late for it, ” I said. I struggled upright, each lumbar 
 in my back creaking like a ship mast in a tempest. 
 
 “ Vengeance? ” He ambled his way to the window. In one fluid motion, he bounded up to the windowsill. 
 He was translucent as if he was sewn from sheer cloth. 
 
 “ How are you here? ” 
 “ You are going to have to be less ambiguous. ” 
 “ I saw you sink beneath the waves. You were gone. I made sure of it. ” 
 “ Not sure enough it seems. ” 
 “ Don ’ t mess with me! ” The strain of yelling seized my chest. Hacking and wheezing, 
 I sunk into my bed. A nurse passing my room entered at the sound of my hollers. 
 “ It will be alright, Mr. Newfield. Just relax. ” Lacking the breath to speak, I pointed at Damien ’ s 
 taunting, crooked grin. She shot a quick glance at the window, before giving me a blank stare. 
 “ Just rest, easy, Mr. Newfield. ” She exited the room. 
 
 “ Only you can see me. ” Damien said. He descended from the window and sat in the guest chair 
 across the room. He wore the same outfit as he did that day. White shirt and short with a customary 
 Dixie Cup. “ Seeing you, Ryan, makes me grow nostalgic of the war. ” He wiped a pretend tear from 
 his eye. “ The atrocities committed. ” 
 
 “ You would know. ” 
 “ Look at you on your high horse. ” 
 “ I did what I had to. ” 
 “ Whatever helps you sleep at night. ” He paced across the room, stopping at the foot of my 
 bed stand. He glared at me with those icy eyes. “ Blood leaves a permanent stain on the soul. 
 No washing or repenting can salvage you. ” 
 
 “ Why did you come back here? ” 
 
 “ To give you a preview of your fate: the everlasting fire. The first thing that struck me about 
 hell was the profound lack of demons. It was only later that I realized that they were everywhere, 
 and I was one of them! ” 
 
 Damien cackled like a murder of crows gorging on carrion. “ Eternal suffering 
 loses its glamour after a while. You wake up every morning asking, ‘ is it over yet? ’.'' 
 
 `` Of course, if it 
 ended, it would n't be eternal. ” 
 
 “ What makes you so sure I ’ ll be joining you? ” 
 
 “ If there is one thing I have faith in it's that humanity so deep in the filth that no one can be saved. ”
