Written in the Stars of Heaven

Another figure was there, fighting the man who had attacked me. And a very finely proportioned figure at that. His dark brown wavy hair, shaggy but perfectly groomed, reaching down to his eyebrows, the ends curling out in an adorable, boy-ish manner. His eyes, from what I could see in the distance, a very light blue, impossibly light. And that face… It was as if God himself spent centuries carving it out of a smooth, tan mold. It looked like there was light stubble on his chin too, indicating he hadn’t had a razor in a couple days. The lips, full and a soft pink. Perfectly kissable. Oh, and his body. Tall, probably around 6’3, and perfectly muscled. Not like those creepy body builders with anacondas as arms, or skinny stoners. It was clear he had enough to overpower the man who had been after me too. I bet the abs hidden under the dark grey tee he was wearing were very finely defined too.

Shaking my head, I scolded myself for spending so much precious time admiring the obvious beauty of the man/god who was just about to finish off the huge dude who had me nearly beat before. Wishing I wasn’t in danger so I could spend hours gazing upon that perfection, I turned and began my fleeing, all previous aches returning full force now that I let my mind wander back to them.

But I didn’t dwell on them too much, as I was confused as hell. Why had that hottie rushed to my defense. His eyes weren’t red, so he couldn’t be a Reaper. But then again, neither were Felix’s when we’d first met. He must have used colored contacts or something, and this new guy could have very well done the same thing. No one was safe, and I refused to let myself hope that maybe I’d found an ally. He was probably just another Herllow Hunter, knocking off competition to get me back to the king. I didn’t even know whose country I was in anymore. It would have been moronic for Felix to live right in the middle of the Herllow Nation, so it was probably close to the border. Damn. I hated not knowing where I was going. And I needed shelter soon. I couldn’t just run forever, starving and freezing.

Less than five minutes had passed before I heard a quick, clean snap of a twig behind me. I was, yet again, being followed. Daring to slow my pace, I glanced back over my bare shoulder. It was a little disappointing, I have to admit, to see that my newest pursuer was the hot god who had taken down the previous asshole. I had kind of been hoping that he was a good guy, but that didn’t seem likely anymore.

Wonderful.

And you want to know what was even worse? He was fast. There was absolutely no way that I was going to outrun him, even if I wasn’t moments away from dying. Ok, so maybe I was exaggerating just a little there, but that’s irrelevant. What’s important is the fact that the seriously fine dude was about to get me. Yes, that sounds so kindergarten, but whatever. It was true, wasn’t it? In case you weren’t paying attention, the answer is yes. A very huge yes.

Blinking off the pain in my left cheek, as a stupid branch I didn’t see had decided to hit me, I struggled to not trip over the wild roots lining this portion of the forest. They were everywhere. You’d think that they would grow downward, you know, like normal roots, but no. The things had to sprout out all over the place, making my evasion very difficult. This literally was me against the world.

My breath was leaving my burning lungs in short, ragged gasps, my throat aching and chest tight in response to the frigid air. My uncovered legs and arms were littered with cuts and scrapes in various stages of oozing. The blood trailing from some of the worst cases seemed to freeze not far from their origin, sticking to my cold skin. I needed to end this as soon as possible. Preferably not by getting caught.

My already pounding heart picked its pace up about ten fold when I noticed that the hot guy chasing me was a lot closer than before. Right on my heels in fact. If he tried, I was sure he could reach out and pull me back into him, and I was immensely grateful he didn’t. I’d probably end up falling down, adding insult to all of my injuries. And it also gave me an opportunity to maybe throw him. Surely he wouldn’t be expecting me to go on the offense. Or something like the offense. No, he’d be expecting me to continue running until he finally captured me. Any other girl would. Lucky for me though, I wasn’t any other girl.

Mentally preparing myself for what I was about to do, because you see, it was risky, I abruptly stopped moving and bent down to curl into the fetal position. Just as I’d hoped, the guy hadn’t anticipated it and his legs collided into my back, sending him sprawling to the side as I jumped back up and rushed off to my left. Yeah, talk about inventive! I was a genius. In the most modest way possible, of course.

Continuing my run, I forced the smile that was threatening to break over my face off. I was still in danger, and it wasn’t the time for celebration. I would allow myself that once I’d finally found safety, and I wasn’t counting on that happening for awhile. Complete safety of course. I was really praying that I’d find relative safety soon. I had about run all I could for the rest of my life. And I desperately longed for a nice juicy steak. Hell, at that point, even brussel sprouts sounded appealing. But even those seemed a little optimistic.

The unwelcome sound of leaves crunching under feet, and not mine, sent my heart into a flutter. Well, more so than it already was. This guy was impossible to evade! It seemed that no matter what foolproof plan I came up with, he was one step ahead. Always there, chasing. But I wasn’t going to give up. Not now, not ever.

“I wouldn’t keep running if I were you!” my pursuer hollered in a velvety deep voice that I had to chastise myself for finding attractive. Why is it that all the best guys are either gay or homicidal maniacs? Or was that taken? Which ever.

I refused to let myself be affected by his words. He was probably just trying to scare me into faltering so catching up would be that much easier. What could be so bad that I needed to stop? Huh? Was there a fire-breathing dragon stationed ahead, just waiting for some nice little short girl to singe for dinner? I didn’t think so. Ergo, I kept running.

A few seconds later though, I learned that doing so maybe wasn’t the best idea. True, there was no dragon named Flamio or something stupid like that. It was much worse. The reason the dude following warned me that I should probably stop was because I was about to run right off a cliff into a raging river below. And do you want to hear the suckiest part for me? Yeah, I didn’t notice this in time. I kind of did the last thing I wanted to and plunged about fifty feet into the dark river, wild waves breaking over large boulders positioned in the middle of the violent flow. This so did not look good for me. On the plus side, the chasing guy wasn’t behind me anymore. Who knows where he went.

“Kendyll!” I screamed, quickly falling through the cold air toward the water, dress billowing out around my hips. I wasn’t sure if it was just inside my mind, or if I actually voiced it, but I knew I needed to say goodbye before I died.

“Mel? What’s going on?” I heard from within.

“No time,” I thought as I hit the surface, the frigid water surrounding me in its painful embrace. “Big brother, I love you. You were always there, and I could count on you no matter what happened. I wouldn’t have lived so long without you, and I want you to go on happily even though I won’t be there. Kend, I love you.”

The water rushed inside my mouth and nose, stealing whatever warmth I still had. The rough current pushed and pulled me under and down, straight toward a jagged bunch of rocks.

“Melani? What are you talking about?” His voice was urgent, afraid.

“I love you.”

My small form collided with the boulders, head slamming into them as everything began to fade into oblivion.

“I love you,” I whispered in my mind.

The river continued to drag me downstream, the icy waters overwhelming my consciousness as much as the onslaught of rocks that I kept viciously hitting.

“I love you,” was my last thought, before there was nothing left. Not hunger, not cold, not even pain. It was finally over. Done.