Young Writers Society

Hey :)

i know this excerpt doesn't really make sense because its part way through my novel but it was the first time the two main characters - Lexie and Alistair - get together and i wanted to make it realistic so it would be great to hear your opinions. There is a second half to this section that i may post later if this one gets good reviews :) also you may not understand what it is she has done (or you might) but im not gonna say cos that would give the whole story away so i know its kinda hard but please tell me what you think. Thaanks! <3

“I need to take you home.”
“Now?” I blinked, feeling stupid for trying to hold his hand when I didn’t even know how he saw me.
Alistair walked forward and I realised that we were back outside Hattie and Lucinda’s house. His Jeep was parked outside but I felt no inclination to climb inside. He drew the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car. “Now,” he pulled open the passenger door and I had a feeling that he did more to make me get a move on then to be gentlemanly. Why did have to be so sexy when he was bossy? I reluctantly slipped in and waited for him to shut the door and climb in the other side.
He started the engine. “But it will prolong going home if you tell me about yesterday.” He raised his eyebrows as the car left the curb.
I nodded. “I know, but it’s easier if I show you…it’s just, I want to see –”
I couldn’t get my words out and I didn’t need to. “To the woods?”
I smiled, wondering, not for the first time, why everything that happened to me seemed to cultivate there.
The journey was short and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or not. As the trees loomed outside of the car, spilling their shadows over the ground, I wasn’t sure if I was ready. But Alistair was. He jumped out and opened my door. I stumbled forward, staring up at the trees. Moving to the entrance, I blanked. Alistair turned round to see me stop. “Lexie?” He moved towards me, concern tingeing his tone. “Do you want to wait a moment?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just; I don’t think I can remember where it was.”
At that, Alistair straightened. His eyes shone as he nodded his head to the woods. “Don’t worry – I do.” He held his arm out, indicating for me to go first, and I walked forward. I didn’t feel like talking and Alistair didn’t try to. He seemed to sense the tension in my shoulders and took this as his cue to move silently next to me.
Blocking out everything that happened had been mildly successful until then. But as soon as we strode into the clearing, everything tumbled back over me and I felt like I was drowning in my memories. I gasped. Alistair moved forward, frowning, but I shook my head. Breathing in deeply, I looked up to the tree at the far end. Disappointment clouded my vision.
The tree wasn’t alive. It wasn’t dead either. The large oak was stuck somewhere in the in between. Its bark was a strong, healthy brown that travelled up and continued to the blooming branches that soaked in the day’s sun. But littered between them, were the branches that hadn’t made it. Death curled in the wood, making half the tree look grey and broken. It didn’t look right.
I moved towards it. The picture looked wrong. It was almost the tree’s way of telling me that meddling in certain things never had the expected outcome. At least when dead, the tree was settling in with nature. I had messed up the cycle and created something that was empty of anything and everything.
I caught my breath as I stood up close to the tree. My hands reached forward, my fingers shaking as I pressed them to the bark. It was tainted red. Revulsion curled in the pit of my stomach as my fingertips lightly traced my blood down the trunk.
“I was supposed to make it live again.” I whispered.
“By hurting yourself?” I didn’t hear Alistair come up behind me until his breath tickled my neck.
I pressed my eyes shut for a second. “It’s not what you think.”
“Isn’t it?” I turned to see him pull out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. Red splotches painted the words. He turned it round, ignoring the Dark and Death spells to show me the part I had read – the part about needing your blood to make the spell stronger. His face was closed, his eyes torn between two conflicting emotions – neither which I could make out.
I shook my head, dropping my hands from the tree. I was ashamed. “I forgot…I forgot who I was doing it for.”
Alistair’s eyes flared black as he stood close to me. “I don’t often get scared, Lexie. It takes a lot. But seeing you, lying here, and all the blood,” an emotion flashed across his face but he quickly masked it. “That scared me.”
“I’m sorry,” my voice cracked and I had to walk away from all of it – him, the tree, everything that was wrong with me. “I’m sorry.”
I could feel Alistair’s eyes on me as I stood in the centre of the clearing, the dying leaves cracking under my feet. “Don’t be sorry for what you are.”
“She was going to die because of me, Alistair!” My voice rose with my panic and anger. “I’m not a good person.”
I felt irritation stir in Alistair as he came up behind me to stand in front. “And hurting yourself is the answer?”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt myself! I was trying to save the tree and then…then I remembered. I’m part Death! What if I hurt someone I love, Alistair? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“You won’t,” he fought for me to look at him but I couldn’t as tears blurred my vision. “None of us are perfect – no one is completely good or completely bad. I’ve seen people who have lost themselves and you aren’t it!”
“No?” I asked, a fire burning in my stomach. I looked at him then, at his beautiful face that ached for me to hear him. “Then explain this!” I raised my hand with the bandage. At the tightening of his eyes, the fight suddenly went out of me. My shoulders slumped. “I just wanted the Darkness out of me.”
Alistair closed the painfully far distance between us. His face was gentle as he used a cold finger to raise my chin. My eyes met his and I saw he felt everything I was feeling. He felt my pain. “I’ll make you a deal.” He paused and when I didn’t reply he continued. “You promise never to hurt yourself again and in return I promise to never, ever let you become what you most fear. I’ll make sure that whatever happens, you’ll always remain Lexie.” I couldn’t say anything. I just wanted to throw my arms around his neck and never let go but for now, his touch was enough.
I stared into his glittering eyes, wanting to get lost in them. “I promise,” I breathed.
Alistair scrutinized my face for a moment before a liquid smile melted on his lips. “Good, because a different Lexie would be no fun at all.”
He broke away and I watched as he tore the piece of paper into a million pieces. Watching him doing it gave me a burst of satisfaction but I still couldn’t ignore the numb pain. He had promised to not let me become a monster but he hadn’t promised to stop me if I turned into one.
“Alistair?” He looked up. “Promise me that whatever happens, if I ever get angry and lose control, you’ll do whatever it takes to stop me?”
A darkness washed over his features. “I can’t do that.”
Those were both the words I hadn’t wanted to hear and the ones which I had ached for at the same time. I wrapped my arms around myself, the wind causing a chill to press against the flimsy summer dress. “Please. I couldn’t bear the thought of hurting Mum, or you or anyone.” I needed his promise. “This fight…I have to be me to save them.”
Alistair left the paper which had melted onto the ground to come back over to me. “You will be.”
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
“But it’s all I’m agreeing to.” Alistair’s gaze passed over me and it caused shivers up my spine. “You’re making me promise to hurt you – I won’t do that.”
He was so infuriating sometimes. I looked up into his face and I knew then that I would never feel for anyone as I felt for Alistair. He was different. My eyes stung and I felt my voice break. I felt I could tell him everything. My voice ebbed into a raw, honest whisper. “I’m scared.”
His features softened. His eyes burnt silver and his hair was a bright chestnut brown in the cloudy day. I memorized every sharp curve of his face, the gentle teasing smile that hid on his lips. I didn’t ever want to forget his face. “I think, for once, we all are.” He lifted his hand and I felt the world still as he traced a cold fingertip down my cheek. I shivered.

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