Surrender

I booked the tickets without a second thought. A roundtrip for me and one way for her. She was going home. I couldn't save her no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't stop what was happening. When Oshun went home for her birthday, she didn't have any paranormal episodes. It had to be this place. I didn't realize how sick and twisted this place was until someone I loved was in danger. It had to be something that only happened here. I had never experienced anything like what was happening to Oshun.

Oshun had almost lost her life so many times that I almost lost count. This time she could have lost her arm and possibly her life. I had no idea what happened to her. She was laying on the floor in the same location where she had hit her head the first time something strange happened to her. She was laying on Penny's grave with her arm coated in blood. Her arm looked gnawed, like she was attacked by a large animal. It couldn't have been a human. I had to wait for her to wake up from surgery in order to learn the truth.

The doctor's were able to save her arm, thankfully, but she would have a pretty bad scar. The wound would take some time to heal, even though her healing ability was faster than the average person. Oshun lost so much blood by the time we arrived at the hospital that she also needed a blood transfusion to replace her blood loss. The doctors had no idea if she would make it. She needed a miracle. I felt like I was in a daze the entire time she was in the operating room. Everything felt like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. The world was a dark, fucking place and I began to hate this side of it.

I didn't care what Oshun wanted to do at this point. I made the decision to save her life and send her to her family, where she would be safe. I couldn't be selfish anymore. No matter how much I loved her, I couldn't allow her to go through this because she loved me. I couldn't let her put herself through this because she felt the need to save some ghost who doesn't exist in the real world. If you love someone, you have to do what is necessary to keep them safe, so they have a chance and a good life. It was time for me to grow the fuck up.

I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on with this Penny ghost, but I was beginning to feel like Penny didn't actually want to be saved. Something else was going on. Something was after Oshun. It seemed as though she was being lured or hunted. I had a bad feeling about it all. If Penny was stuck or needed help, whatever was restricting her definitely wanted Oshun to join Penny. I wasn't going to let whatever it was, win. I would love her forever, even if it meant loving her from a long distance away.

I left Oshun at the hospital to go start packing her things. The nurses said she would be out of it for another couple of hours and she needed to stay for 48 hours after waking up, prior to her release. I took advantage of the time. We were leaving right after her release, and I didn't want her to have a chance to change my mind. She was good at that. One touch, a kiss, or the sad face she would give me when she didn't get her way, instantly broke me. Not this time. I had to look beyond that. This was a matter of life and death.

Going home without Oshun was like a punch in the stomach. We had spent so much time together that time away was going to be so difficult. I pulled up to the driveway and went straight inside the house. It felt so empty. I would have to get used to this. I walked into the kitchen and immediately spotted her smiley face coffee mug I got for her when I rescued her from her roommate's nasty apartment. She used it every morning. I could never forget the smile she had when she saw it. It made her world that day.

I made my way to the bedroom where she had taken over most of my drawers and left me with one or two. I didn't mind. She could have had all the space she needed. I started taking her clothes out of the top drawer one by one, trying not to think about what I was preparing myself to endure. When I got to the last few articles of clothes in that drawer, I found a book at the bottom. It was yellow with flowers all over it. I probably wasn't supposed to open it but I did anyway.

August 17, 2020,

This campus must be the oldest, most strange place. I have ever seen. Hopefully the entire semester isn't strange. It would be a total waste of a semester. I met someone really interesting today though. He actually made my heart skip a little, which probably isn't a good thing considering I am engaged. He is sooo handsome and funny. He made my day after seeing all the gloominess on campus. Keno is pretty cool. Even his name is cute. Hopefully we can be good friends. I need a good friend…

Journal entry after journal entry talked about me or us. It was our beginning up until now.

Oshun wrote about every time I saved her and how she was so grateful to have me in her life. She wrote about every time she was scared or hurt. Every entry mentioned me. She always knew I would be there for her. I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I wanted to scream and tear the fucking place down. How could the whole universe plot against us like this. It wasn't fair. I lost almost everyone I every loved in my life. My grandfather was all that was left of my family and I couldn't figure out what was really going on with him. I couldn't lose Oshun too.

Suddenly, a thought popped into my head… Emanuel! He must know something. He knows everything about this crazy paranormal shit. He knows all about the cults and the weirdos. He must know a way to fix this. It was my last attempt at not letting Oshun go. I was being selfish, but I had to try. Don't we all deserve to be happy? Maybe, just maybe I could have my happiness.