I was in the darkness again. No light glimpsed through the trees. It was nighttime. I could hear the faint chirp of a cricket, and the cool night air sang with it harmoniously. Surprisingly, I felt no fear. I was calm. I was at a total sense of peace, but I wasn’t planning to waste any time.
“James!” I called out in a raspy voice. I began to tread eagerly through the forest’s damp, spongy floor. “James! Please, I need to talk to you.” I yelled, listening impatiently for his response.
Unfortunately it was not he that responded.
“I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say.” A silky, irresistibly dangerous voice spoke amusedly to me. I took a deep breath, gathering the courage I had stored in advance. “It’s typically a scream.” He added smugly.
“Oh,” I said, trying to strengthen my voice, “I guess I haven’t really been given much of a chance to speak, have I?” I spoke innocently as I continued to move through the forest, ignoring the intuition of fear that hinted itself.
“James, please come out. I need to speak to you.” I said now politely, ignoring the fact that this terrible monster was listening. “I need to apologize. Please James.”
The soft laugh seemed to come from everywhere, I couldn’t decide where not to go, how to avoid him.
“James!” I continued to call out confidently, not caring whether or not the monster heard me.
“Starting to learn, are you?” He said, his voice lazily interested. “Figuring out how to play my game?” I sustained to labor myself through the trees, feeling the wetness of rain in the damp air.
“Oh yes,” I said enthusiastically, “But it’s not easy. You’re such a smart, unpredictable opponent.” I said admiringly as I swept a branch away to clear my path.
Out of nowhere, the handsome monster that so terribly flattered me appeared out of thin air, and I ran into him. He peered down at me, his beautiful eyes glistening with furious curiosity.
“You are different than the others,” he said thoughtfully, watching me pick myself back up. “You are completely erratic.” He murmured under his breath, his teasing eyes maddeningly gorgeous.
I pursed my lips precariously, and walked by briskly after glowering at him with a futile glare. I tried to clear my hazy thoughts, indistinguishable with the image of his glorious face in my mind.
I took longer, quicker strides. He kept up with me easily.
“For instance,” he continued, walking next to me casually as he spoke, “Many of the others fail to speak with the dangerous confidence you so politely compose.” I looked straight ahead as I spoke.
“Some of us prefer to fight against what we fear most.” I said quietly, noticing the foggy mist that began to shimmer in the twilight. I sighed gruffly. Where was James?
I couldn’t hear the stylish monster’s stealthily placed footsteps, but I glanced sheepishly through the corner of my eye to be aware of where he was. He also looked straight ahead, his expression was contemplative, frustrated.
“And I am what you fear most.” he whispered assertively, the corner of his mouth pulled up a crooked smile. I grimaced.
“No,” I disagreed thoughtfully as I caught myself from tripping over a hidden boulder, “It’s what you say that frightens me I suppose,” I continued, immovable in my own realization, “And it shouldn’t scare me, because they’re just words. Just because you say something doesn’t mean that it’s true. I’m finally apprehending that.” I mused. I smiled timidly at him.
He stopped suddenly, and it startled me. I stopped too, peering at him questionably. “What?” I said defensively, after turning down the urge to continue walking.
His beauty had irrevocable power I did not understand; his dark eyes were compelling and commanding. Curiosity defeated me.
“In all my years of eternity,” he said solemnly, “Never has anyone given an answer so pure, so honest. And the strange manner of it is, is the fact that it is honest.” He grimaced, “On no account has anyone denied the appalling horror of what I am.” he paused, his eyes glimmering. “You should be afraid.” He murmured, evaluating my reaction.
The overpowering stillness was too much. I collected my thoughts as I continued to walk.
“What’s your name?” I asked randomly, startling myself. He was not prepared for this, and I watched in awe as his eyes flashed a shade of deep green, and then dark again.
“Victor.” He whispered reluctantly, still gazing at me with a powerful, imposing stare.
I carefully controlled the impulse of the muscles in my face to chasm in panic as he reached to me uncertainly.
He simply touched my face with a gentle hand and closed his eyes. I don’t know why I didn’t run away. Perhaps it was the overwhelming curiosity I felt simply of his baffled expression. It was only a few seconds before his eyes opened in surprise. He looked at me in earnest curiosity, his eyes suddenly intent and different than I had ever known them.
I backed into the trees very slowly, afraid to break the eye contact between us. It would be absolutely impossible to do if I even tried; the look he had fixed upon me was alluring and decisive. A part of me wanted desperately to stay with him, to learn more about him; to ask him the questions I believed he had the answers to.
The stronger, more consistent part of me urged me to get away as fast as I possibly could. My natural body seemed to sense the danger standing only a few feet away from me, yet my natural intuition lured my trust.
His perfect, enthralling eyes lured my trust. The phenomenon could not be put to justice in simple words. The feeling that coursed so freely inside of me was powerful, no doubt about it.
It was like a dream… how cliché.
At the peak of the trance I knew I was falling into with every bit of my own intention, he came.
I never knew that James could project such a deafening roar. I had never in my life imagined the fear that would tremor erratically in my veins from the one person that I trusted could stop that very thing. And while I fell down on my knees clamping my hands against my ears, the beautiful monster that had captured me in such an enthralling gesture simply tilted his head slightly, as if he had merely heard the sweet song of a bird.
When I opened my cowardly eyes to inspect the sudden silence that had overcome the eerie forest, I nearly closed them once again when I realized what was happening.
James and Victor simply glared at one another, each vivid with anger. James was posed very defensively as he positioned himself carefully in front of me. Victor, however, stood casually, arrogant in a way as he portrayed only slight interest at his presence.
Victor chuckled amusedly.
“I still don’t understand why you’ve found such an interest in this human.” He emphasized, nodding to me. I glared at him furiously, suddenly recalling the loathing I felt toward him. I found myself shocked though when I measured his expression carefully.
His face was different somehow though, and I could not find it in myself to believe that I did loathe him. I shook my head once again, still hoping to shake some sort of logic into myself. It didn’t work.
“I thought,” began James calmly, still posed protectively, “That you would have remembered our compromise?” he prompted, his eyes hectically beautiful as he glanced at me. I felt the familiar stun in wonder of his utter beauty attempt to steal my consciousness. I pursed my lips. Compromise?
Victor frowned, his eyes also glancing at me incredulously.
“Our negotiation did not necessarily consider her. She is not like them.” He spoke softly, but confidently as he stood with more vigor. He seemed so certain, and now determined to not back down. “And besides, the specifications have been followed quite honestly as you can see.” He held out a hand to acknowledge me briskly, smiling slightly at my befuddled expression.
“What-”I started, but James lifted a hand to silence me.
“We will discuss this matter later, then?” James said politely, still unreleased from his aggressive stance.
“Undoubtedly,” Victor flashed a brilliant smile at me before disappearing in camouflage of the forest.
After about two minutes, James finally relaxed and turned very slowly towards me. His face was blank and dead. I once again remembered the familiar heartbeat in my frozen chest, alive only with James.
“Aida,” he murmured, holding out a hand to help me up. I took it hesitantly, refusing to let my eyes leave his. His perfect face had been burned into my memory forever, but to be in his presence was so magnificent. He released my hand as soon as I was firmly balanced on my feet. Well, physically anyway.
“James,” I began, feeling the heated blood rush to my head as I thought for a moment. What can I say? I thought desperately, feeling my hands begin to tremble as I began to compose all the wrong words in my head. Nothing fit right. Nothing could possibly be enough to mend what I had done.
But what had I done?
“You must promise me something,” he whispered, interrupting my senseless thoughts, “Swear to me, that you will never interfere with his kind again.” I goggled at him, perplexed with his fierce command. His face softened though, and he brushed my cheek with a steady hand. “Please Aida, just promise.” He murmured, tipping my chin towards him. He was careful though, so careful to keep an obvious distance from me. Why? I thought incredulously. My eyes narrowed.
“His kind?” I asked, feeling the frustration begin to burn within me. I cursed the tears stinging at my eyes and began to pace to cause less notice to them as my eyes attempted to swallow them back up. “What do you mean his kind?” I knew the aggravation was no longer hidden in my tone.
“Aida,” his voice pleading, “Your mind cannot comprehend it. Please believe me. Listen to me please, I wouldn’t lie to you—” That did it. I exploded with a mixture of tears and rage as I stormed right up to his face, shouting furiously.
“What do you mean you wouldn’t lie to me?” I began, feeling the fortitude begin to pulse within me as I spoke. “You left me with his kind. I was alone with his kind!” I took a deep breath, gasping from the sobs. “And you had the nerve to blame me for forgetting you? How ironic. I would have asked the same of you for me.” My face felt weak, and broken after confirming this, and his was blank. He stood motionless, and could do nothing but look at me with stormy eyes that bore into me deeper than I had ever felt before.
I was so close to him; I knew he could feel my aggravated breathing, and sense the pulse driving a temper I never knew I had ballistic. I felt slight remorse at my immature outburst, and tried to calm myself. I spoke again, but the words were not composed. They were undeniably inspiration from my heart.
“I never forgot you... you had my heart the night you left.” I whispered softly, my body was trembling.
His ocean storm eyes grew very soft, the color swayed from the deepest blue to the softest gray. He took the small remaining step that broke the distance between us, and held my face in his hands. His free fingers brushed the tears that were gushing aimlessly from my traitor eyes, and finally he wrapped his arms around me tightly.
I let him hold me; the fear of never seeing him again after this had victory over any other thought that resisted this. I would handle the pain later, it might not be bearable, but life was endurable. His warm embrace erased my mind of every thought but him. James. My friend; my companion.
My fallen angel.
The forest grew very still, the trees no longer whispered. The wind no longer sang with the crickets, and the affectionate arms around me slipped away into the darkness…
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