Prologue
Some people say we are in charge of the cards fate plays us. That we should make do with what we are given. Well sometimes, what you are given is never what you ask for. In addition, being selfless at just the right moment could save someone’s life, which was exactly what I planned to do. These thoughts came to me just as death itself faced me. Millions of eyes watched me, each one a different colour, each one so unique. I braced myself. My eyes opened and my body tensed. I looked to my left; a pair of violet eyes met mine. I nodded in unison with him. I turned back to face the haunting dark.
I was ready.
CHAPTER ONE
Little Miss Photogenic. At least that is what they tell me. You have no idea what it’s like always having your photo taken. All the flashing and the snapping, its sounds like some kind of animal wants to eat your pretty little face alive. After seventeen years of being “photogenic,” it gets somewhat old. I remember the first time I was told I took amazing photos. It was Christmas day; I was a young 8 years old. My oldest sister has been given a camera and I was posing while she snap, snap, snapped away. When they were developed the people working at the camera shop literally dropped the photos. Then at that very moment, those fateful words were stuttered out of a pimple covered, gangly 16-year-old girl in an ugly orange vest. “WOW. Your daughter is so photogenic…She is unbelievably stunning.” From that moment on, my parents were so proud of me; the perfect daughter, that was me, I was smart and gorgeous. So much, better then my sisters. They were left behind in the dust of my parent’s un-enthusiastic stare while I was raced ahead on a golden pedestal. It was never fair…or right. And I took it all for granted. Until that day, the day changed my life, plus the lives of so many innocent others around me.
It was like any other day. I was at the modeling agency, getting into my make-up for our first shoot of the morning. We were outside, the photographer wanted a sunrise shot, and all the beautiful colours would apparently go well with my golden, cinnamon skin. I was standing next to a small tree, its green leaves opening with the new spring morning. The green grass was full of dew and the leaves were drooping from the early morning drizzle. A light breeze was blowing my onyx black hair into a halo of dark. The sky was pink, the grass was green and I was all the colours in between. People would see these photo’s and say “Isn’t she just amazing? So…photogenic.” There we go again. That word seems to be my trademark.
Out of nowhere, a bang, so loud it shook the earth, was heard from miles away. My pedicured feet trembled beneath me and the tree’s leaves shook with the power of the roar. My golden eyes scanned the earth around me for the source of the noise. Then I saw it. A bright orange cloud of flame and dirt was hurtling toward us. Instinct kicked in and told me to run, to run as far away as possible. I sprinted over to the edge of the cliff where we were shooting on. Water, I thought. I chucked my lean frame over and out. The free falling air was terrifying yet calming. I hit the water with such a force; I sank at least five meters before I could swim again. The cool water engulfed over my body in an icy cold rush. I pushed my legs back and forth so I could surface for some sweet air. I could see the orange fireball licking at the edges of the cliff, I could see the tree I was standing at moments ago being eaten by flames, I could tell I was the only survivor. I swam around to the other side of the cliff to see if anyone else had followed me in. No one had. I was the only one with a brain it seemed, the only one in the entire beach side city. The waves knocked my body around, but I knew I had to stay in the water as long as possible. The orange cloud was making the air full of toxins, so I had to keep ducking down under water, so I did not pass out from the gas. Once my body had adjusted to the waters arctic temperature and was getting even colder, the realization sunk in; that I might be the only person left, anywhere. This epiphany made me hyperventilate, not a good thing to do while being thrown around by vicious swirls of freezing water.
I found a small cave nestled in the side of the cliff, and took refuge; the water was getting so cold I could not think straight anymore. I started a small, secure fire and slowly warmed myself up. The heat was blissful, a zing radiated from my toes to my face. I sat there and thought about what I was going to see back up on the main land. I had to brace myself for the terrors I would experience. The horrors that would now be my life. After a while, my empty stomach growled, I had not eaten for what seemed like hours. I found a piece of salty driftwood, tore off some of my dress and wrapped it around the smooth wood. I dipped it into the fire and went to search the caves for something to nourish my hunger.
The pippies and small crabs I was able to find was enough to satisfy me for tonight. Tomorrow I would climb back up the cliff and see what was left of my once unique world. I curled up in the corner, thinking of the last thing someone had said to me. And how many other things I wish they had said. It was ringing clear as a bell in my head. “Gypsy, move your head to the…Oh MY GOD! RUN!” that is what I heard, A photographers last words. It was nothing about how they love me or how they understand what im going through. As I sat there replaying the sentence in my head, tears, big and wet rolled down my silky cheek. I was so lonely it was slowly starting to eat away at my already broken soul. I lay down on the cool ground and cried my self into a night full of screams.
I woke up, sweaty and breathing erratically. The nightmare I had just experienced was so real. I was drowning, in orange water, full of the people I loved. To make it worse, they were laughing, smiling. They seemed happy that they were finally seeing me die, right in front of their eyes. I was screaming, but gargled chokes cut them off. The water filling up my lungs faster then I could stop. Just as my entire family of so-called “loved” ones was fading away and my body was almost dead, I awoke. I had never been more terrified in all my life. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I tried to calm myself down. I needed to get out and see what was left of my world. I angrily wiped the sweat away and got up. It’s only a dream. I told myself. But what I was about to experience on top of the cliff was not. I gulped and stormed out of the cave.
My anger and my fear balled up into my stomach. I grabbed onto a jagged piece of the cliff face and began my journey up. Every second I climbed up, the closer, I got to the full frontal realization that my dainty little world was gone. When I reached the top, my breathing stopped and I almost fell back over the edge of the cliff. It was gone. My world was shattered. The buildings were in piles of rubble on the ground, the soil was dug up so it faced the sun, and people, dead people, lined the sidewalks. I felt the sobs starting to rise in my chest. I hadn’t sobbed since I was five. I remembered my mother’s soft and gentle hands wiping away the frantic tears from my perfect face and her honey-like voice telling me it was going to be ok. My knees trembled and I fell to the ground, remembering I would never see my mother again. I sat there weeping for hours, just sitting. I walked over to a shell of what was a house and picked up a toy. It would have been a little girl’s doll. She probably took it everywhere with her, combed its hair, took it to bed with her. This just made me cry harder. She should have lived, not me. I was the one with a life that was lived. She was just beginning hers. There was a giant CRACK and I looked up. My tear-swollen eyes searched the horizon, a building was falling down and I watched in shock as it fell to the ground.
A faint sound broke me out of my reverie. Some one calling a name, no they were changing names. As if they were un-sure, of whom they were calling. So I wasn’t alone. I stood up and ran down the corpse littered street. Should I answer? On the other hand, should I keep to myself? Then I saw them. It was a young man, about my age. I went and hid in the rubble of one of the houses and watched him check the body’s wrists for any survivors. He was tall, had russet coloured skin and was completely gorgeous. A god in human form. His violet eyes searched the sea of bodies. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a grey and dark green jumper that complimented him nicely. His blonde-tipped cinnamon hair was in a carefully messed array, and he kept running his long fingers though it in a nervous kind of action. I cleared my throat and ran through all the conversations I had had with boys at school on Friday and tried to remember how to be a normal girl. I brushed off my dress and started to walk over to him. He noticed me walking towards him and I heard him gasp. I could see the emotions he felt written all over his beautiful face. Shock, Awe, Captivation, Anger, Surprise and something else I did not recognise. I stopped as he straightened himself out, and pulled himself to his full height. “Who are you?” the beautiful stranger asked. He sounded wary, as if he thought he was seeing a ghost. I took a fragile step closer to him before I spoke. “My name is Gypsy; I didn’t think there were any other people alive...” His full mouth went smooth and into a hard, straight line. “Well, im here. My name is Ryder.” I smiled and I heard his breathing hitch.
“What are you looking for Ryder?” He glanced up at me with his unique violet eyes and scanned me for a second before I heard his symphony-like voice again. “I... I was…I am looking for no one. Would you like to come back to my home? I have food and water.” I considered it for a second. I looked deep into his eyes, I thought I could see the fragile, broken pieces of his soul, but I knew I was only imagining it. His eye’s showed what he was really feeling, pain and sorrow. However, I could also see he was trying to hide this from me. I swallowed, I did need a place to be cleaned up & I was starving tremendously. Maybe being with him would help me rather then hinder me. “Thank You. That would be nice.” He smiled and motioned for me to follow him. He took off running and he was so fast, his shape became a blur. He disappeared when I blinked and when I blinked again he was back in front of me. “How…how...How on earth did you do that?” He laughed evilly and said “I’m not…normal. Climb onto my back, I guess I thought you were like me…I was wrong. Hold on.” I climbed up onto his muscled back and held on for my life. I put my head next to his neck and he chuckled when he heard my breathing spike with fear of the unknown. His skin was un-believably hot; it was like touching a baking tray, fresh out of the oven. He flinched when I touched him and started running.
It was so fast by the time we arrived; my head was spinning at a thousand miles an hour. I looked at my watch and we had not even finished the minute, where we started to run on. I slid down his back and landed into a multi-colour pile on the ground. “HUMPH” went the air as I touched the earth. He chuckled at the surprised look on my face, “You certainly are a character aren’t you?” I just blinked at him; his teeth were so white I was blinded. “Umm…Ryder? Where are we?” He glanced around the field we were standing in. “This is my home. Well, underneath that hatch you sitting on is my home.” He grinned and bent down to give me his hand to help me up off the ground. When I was safely out of the way, he lifted the lid off his home and walked down the wrought iron stairs. I hesitated; unsure of what I would see, what would happen to me. His face appeared while I was contemplating this and grabbed my hand. I followed, thinking it did not matter if I died no one I knew would be here to care. I gasped when I saw his home; it was like a penthouse apartment underground. It was amazing, all modern and sleek. Even my proper house I lived in with my parents was not as modern and nice as this. It was painted white, roof, walls and floor, big red sofa, glass dining table. Long white columns that held up the roofs, statues, and sculptures in every corner. Some part of my mind noticed there were no windows but I was too in awe to care. I was instantly in love, but not as in love as I was with its owner. Ryder glanced over at me wearily and cleared his throat. He was hanging his jacket up on the sleek metal coat rack; I was still gaping, my mouth hanging open like the trap door we just came through. I heard footsteps and swiveled around, just in time to crash into his perfectly sculpted arms. The air was knocked out of me and I fell to the ground. A whooshing sensation flowed through my limbs and a millisecond after I fell; I was up right again standing on my feet. “Wow. Umm thanks.” I stuttered. I knew he was just being kind and not letting me be hurt, but when his skin touched mine, a fire began. Zipping though my fingers; all the way through my body, turning me completely jelloid. He looked at me and blushed as if he knew exactly what I was feeling.
“My pleasure...uhh...Come this way. You can see your room.”
I followed his dark figure down the brightly lit corridor on the right and turned into the room he disappeared into. I walked in to a bright white room, white a glass wall, opposite me looking out to the ocean. This room was on the cliff, I though to myself, that must have been how he saw me fall…but how come I couldn’t see this? Thoughts were swirling through my head faster then I could hear them. I sauntered into the middle of them room. Not wanting to touch anything and make the white furniture unclean. Ryder appeared out of a small door to my left, near the glass wall and stopped when he saw my golden eyes wide and my eyebrows anxiously arched. He cleared his throat for the second time that night, and waited for me to calm down. “Gypsy? Is everything ok?” He said my name as if he was talking about the highest goddess and it made me tremble and turn giddier inside. I met his cautious eyes, smiling, trying to reassure him. “Yes, im just amazed. It is a lot to take in.” He chuckled and smiled. “Well, since im guessing you want to have a shower and to get some rest.” I nodded a quick, fast bob. A shower sounded fantastic right now. “I will leave you. I will not be far, just call if you need me. The bathroom is through that door.” He pointed to the room behind me and left, in two graceful strides.
After he left, I ran into the bathroom. It was all glass and had heater lights and marble floors. I quickly stripped off my rainbow dress and turned on the shower. The hot water felt amazing; I had spotted some shampoos and conditioners on my way in, so while I was washing my hair and letting the hot water relax my tired and anxious muscles, it finally hit me that I was not alone. Tears of joy ran down my newly cleaned face. I smiled to myself, and turned off the water. Im not alone anymore! Was all I could think, all I could breathe. Joy engulfed me and took me over. I wrapped a clean, fluffy white towel around my body and walked back into my room. There lying on the bed to my surprise, was a pair of faded blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a peacock on the front. I slipped them on; grateful Ryder had realized I had no other clothes to wear. Luckily, they were a perfect fit. I walked back into the bathroom and looked at myself in the floor-length mirror. I needed some make-up and a hair dryer. I opened the draw and was shocked when I found exactly what I was looking for. After a good application of make up and my onyx-black hair was straight and just the way I like it, I walked back out to the lounge room where he was waiting for me to return.
When I walked into the room, he was nowhere to be heard or seen. Just an empty room greeted me. I scanned the room, just in case. He wasn’t behind the sculpture, or the pillars, which held the roof up. I sat down on the red couch for a moment, so could think over the last conversation I had had with him, just In case there was something I was missing. “I will leave you. I will not be far, just call if you need me...” That was what he said to me. Therefore, I decided to give it a shot. “Ryder?” I called timidly out into the open space and down both of the corridors leading out of the room. Nothing, no answer from anyone. I was going to ask one more time before I would start to panic. “Ryder? Are you there? Ryder?” Then out of nowhere, a smell registered with me. It smelled fantastic, the scent was tomatoes and basil and garlic. “Down Here!” Ryder yelled and his head popped out of a room, three doors down on the left corridor. When I saw his god-like face, relief washed over me like a drug and I relaxed instantly. For some reason, knowing he was ok and not hurt was alarmingly refreshing. I smiled and walked toward him. He was in a kitchen, 2 times bigger then my massive new bedroom and completely modernly furnished. It was white and had a large stainless steel stove, glass cupboards & and island bench with four neatly placed stools along the front. There were double doors next to the cupboards, which I was guessing was an enormous pantry and a double-door fridge that was all steel and had a television screen on the front. It was all very nicely put together I though to myself as I watched him stir a sauce and strain some spaghetti. While I was busy familiarizing myself with all of the draws he went to and all of the cupboards and steaming hot bowl of spaghetti bolognaise was laid in front of me. My stomach suddenly growled a roar of pure hunger as I inhaled the delicious smell, and I picked up a fork and put some in my mouth, it tasted as good as it smelt. I had not had any food for two days so this was great. I was finished with my first bowl and was half way through my second when he just finishing his first. He laughed at my puzzled expression. “What?” I mumbled. He just laughed and put a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. I swallowed and stuck my tongue out at him, some part of me registered that this was a very childish move but I was too hungry to care, and kept on eating. After my two bowls of pasta and one very large glass of coke, I was ready to sleep. I yawned tiredly and stretched out. My body was sore but I could see that his was not. I got up, thanked Ryder for the meal and walked out to the lounge room, sat down on the couch and flicked on the giant flat screen plasma T.V. I stretched out on the couch, and was only vaguely aware of Ryder when he came down and sat next to me. I was half-asleep when I felt him gently pick me and carry me to my room. Ryder put me on the bed, pulled the covers over me and soundlessly walked out of the room.
I woke up, what seemed like days later, after a long and restful sleep. I sat up in my bed and looked around the room. I was faintly disoriented but quickly assured myself that everything was ok, that I was not going to be harmed. Nothing had changed over night, but from the look of the sky, I could see through the glass, the sun was not to rise for hours. My empty stomach roared and I knew I would have to eat something before I woke up Ryder. I peeled back the white covers and crept out of bed to the door. I opened it and looked down the corridor; no one was there. As I tried to take a step, something furry at my feet stopped me. I looked down and screamed at the top of my lungs. It was a dog, about the size of a Great Dane, maybe a bit bigger with chocolate brown fur, but it was staring at me, but with strange and knowing violet eyes. I slammed the door shut and climbed into my bed; I lay there quivering in terror until I heard my door open and Ryder walked through, with nothing but worry on his perfect face.
“Gypsy? Are you ok? I heard you scream and I got here as fast as I could...” he trailed off, his hands searching for my face under the covers. He found me, pulled me up and cradled my shaking figure on his chest. “I...I...There was a dog...and...Oh Ryder...” I was stuttering and my sobs were making my vision shake, just as the explosion had. This memory made me cry harder. He just stroked my back and let me get it all out, not wanting to say anything that might upset me more. After a while, the sobs subsided and I lay there exhausted after the small, hurt part of me had cried her self out. He looked at me like he was in more pain then he was being cut open but when he saw my concern he reigned it in and a mask of worry flowed onto his face. “It’s fine. It is going to be ok. Do you want me to get you something to eat?” I just nodded. I could not make my mouth form the words I wanted. I was so tired, I was sure I would be asleep before he got back, but maybe eating would keep my mind off the creature I was confronted with, a creature from my darkest nightmares. He looked at me and stroked my cheek. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” I watched his figure glide out through the door and disappear into the endless night.
My skin was still charged with electricity where he touched my cheek. I was reveling in the sensation; letting it flow through me, so I could, just maybe, forget the animal. Five minutes passed and Ryder returned with a hot cup of cocoa and a big piece of chocolate cake. He layed it out in front me, when he saw my confused look, my frantic eyes darting from him to the cake, he spoke. “My grandfather, he used to look after me, and whenever I was scared, he gave me some chocolate cake, you know, because of the endorphins. And the fact it just tastes great.” A sheepish grin came onto his angelic features. I forced a smile, I was still too shaken to be able to think straight, but knowing this was the response he wanted, I tried my best. He seemed to notice this but did not say anything. I picked up a piece of the cake and nibbled at the corner. He was right. It did taste great. I chugged down the scalding hot cocoa, and scarffed down the cake, the cake was warm and soothed the burning sensation the cocoa had left. He sat there and watched me, in utter disbelief someone as small as me could eat so much in such a short period. I smiled at him, he just smiled and shook his head, as if he was laughing at an inside joke. My amber eyes narrowed and he just laughed louder. I was a bit annoyed at him by this point, so I thanked him and announced that I was going to need my sleep, hoping to get rid of him. Even though I was terrified of having to sleep alone, and that monster might come back, I was so irritated I just wanted him gone. He just nodded, snorting and sniggering, as if I had just told the funniest joke of the entire year and not realized it. It finally got too much for me to handle. “WHAT is your problem?” I screeched. He laughed for a second longer then his beautiful face became one of sincere apology and calm. “I’m sorry. You just make me laugh.” I was furious when my voice ripped two octaves higher. “How!? How am I so funny Ryder?” My hands were clenched into fists and my breathing was getting faster with every angry breath. “I am sorry. I just haven’t seen any other people in a long time, and your expressions...” he trailed off when he saw I was still glaring at him. “Please forgive me for being so rude, I don’t know what came over me.” His lilac eyes searched my face, they were so sincere and sorry, I forgot everything I had been mad about, and I almost forgot to breathe. I could hear my heart beating faster and faster, it was so loud I was sure he would think I had a heart condition. He just smiled and cupped my face with his burning hot hand, and I could not help myself but to rest my head there and to close my eyes. His skin smelt of something, so beautiful a fragrance, companies should not sell it. It smelt like the woods, and another smell that was not sweet or sour, or spicy or musky. It was so unique it astounded me. I inhaled it a moment longer, and he gently slid his hand away. I sighed, but I was drained from the shock so I did not protest aloud. “You’re tired; I shall let you sleep now.” I opened my mouth, about to say I was too scared alone, but my expression must have said it for me. “I won’t leave ill stay.” He went and sat on the big armchair in the corner and draped a cream blanket of fur over him. I watched Ryder with wary eyes, trying to convince myself that I was not going to have to spend the night alone. When I was sure he was not going to leave, I lay down and let my tired eyes rest.
Write a reply and tell me what you think, all comments welcome. This is my first story too so comments are great XD.
