Lost Lies

“Wait, so you’re telling me that we walked for miles down this canal for no reason?” Alex snapped angrily.

“Yes,” Sarah replied with a polite nod of her head. “Well, technically, I forgot why.”

“I’m cold.” I groaned, and wrapped my arms around me, stomping my feet here and there to keep warm.

Alex lashed out, gripping Sarah by the neck and dangling her in the air.

“You wasted my time, and I hate time wasters,” he growled.

“Put her down!” I yelped, trying to pull Alex’s hand from around Sarah’s neck.

“Yes, listen to your girlfriend,” she choked.

“She is not my girlfriend.” Alex hissed in her ear, then, with a quick flick of his hand, sent Sarah flying into the trees.

“Alex, what the hell was that?” I cried, standing in front of him.

Alex’s body shuddered as if he was restraining himself and trying not to fling me into the trees, his blood red eyes pinned to me.

The sound of breaking branches came from the trees behind so I looked over my shoulder to see Sarah stumble out of the trees, her red curly hair full of twigs and leaves. She stopped for a moment, brushing her jeans and tank top to get rid of any dirt.

She paused for a moment, examining a small tear in her jeans above the right knee.

“You owe me new jeans, thank you,” she called as she made her way over to us.

Alex’s gaze didn’t shift from her.

“Alex,” I called, clicking my fingers in front of his face. “Alex. A-”

Alex’s eyes suddenly shifted to me and I quickly stepped back, bumping into Sarah, who steadied me.

“Is he ok?” She asked quietly, her gaze flickering to me, to Alex, and then back again.

“I don’t have a clue.” I replied just as quietly, trying to avoid Alex’s daggering gaze.

“Wait,” she said with a snap of her fingers as if she remembered something she forgot.

“What?” I asked under my breath, pushing her back slightly as Alex began to shift closer, his eyes still red orbs and still pinned to me.

“Oh, oh, no, no, no, no,” she muttered.

“What?” I hissed under my breath again when it hit me what she was so worked up about. “Oh,” I gulped.

In the grey of the sky hung a whitish marble orb; the flourishing full moon.

It must have been about three in the afternoon, but I figured, though it wasn’t midnight, the moon must affect him a bit too during the day.

“Alex,” I whispered.

Facing the fear I had ripping through me, I began to step closer to him as he came closer to me.

I met him halfway; Sarah zipped off behind the nearest tree.

“Alex, please, if you can hear me: snap out of it. I know you can fight this.” I begged.

A flicker of recognition crossed his gaze but quickly faded. I pondered on my options, but I knew what I had to do.

I took a deep breath, standing on my tiptoes, and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Alex.”

I pressed my lips to his, wrapping my arms around his neck.

Slowly, I felt Alex’s body relax and his arms slid around my waist, pulling me closer to him, his lips moving with mine.

When I pulled up for air, Alex’s eyes searched my face, a small, delicate smile on his lips. When our eyes met, his smile grew.

“You’re the most idiotic, most intelligent person I have ever met,” he whispered.

I raised an eyebrow in wonder at his choice of words.

His smile deepened, lighting a roar of fire in his eyes where the lust to kill once was, now replaced with a fire of affection and guilt.

“I could have killed you then, do you understand?” He asked coldly, looking away.

I shook my head, not believing him one bit.

“You wouldn’t have killed me,” I pointed to his heart as I continued, “Because I know you can control it and that something inside you would stop you; that...longing for me.”

He shook his head, still refusing to look at me. He laughed bitterly, a half-hearted smile on his face.

“No, I couldn’t have. On days like today, I would destroy anyone in my path. You only got away with it because it’s daytime, and because of this.”

Alex unclasped the necklace I wore, the one I’d completely forgot about. The feather glowed in his hand like it had its own pulse or heartbeat. Alex clipped it back around my neck.

“If it wasn’t for that, you wouldn’t have gotten away with it. You have the power of the angel who gave it you to protect you and also to get in contact with you.”

I shook my head, refusing to listen to what probably was the truth.

He looked at me, this time a menacing grin on his face as he said, “Oh, Winter, you really are persistent.”

Someone cleared their throat.

I turned to see Sarah standing impatiently with a frown creasing her forehead, arms folded and her foot tapping away.

“I remember partly why I was here; I was going to ask if you two were going to the winter dance tomorrow night hosted by the university?”

I frowned. “I’m not going, I will only get harassed.” I muttered.

“You never told me about this,” Alex chuckled lightly.

“Two reasons,” I groaned. “One: I didn’t think you would want to go, and two: you would have no one to go with, because I would have Chris . . . well not now.”

I sighed.

“Are you sure about that?” Sarah interrupted, filing her nails in boredom.

“Sure about what?” I asked.

“Are you seriously that stupid, child?”

She shook her head lightly.

“He does have someone to go with, that’s if that woman accepts,” she smiled.

“Well, if she does, I hope she has a lovely time with my good friend here. Now, I really must be dashing; I need to be home.” I pointed to the tag around my ankle, which, tragically, was waterproof and had survived my little dip in the water.

I frowned at it and then politely smiled at Sarah.

“Winter,” Alex called as I made my way back up the canal to the car.

“What?” I snapped accidently, stopping to face him.

“S-sorry, I just haven’t felt so good all day, it’s like...it’s like someone is burning me alive,” I whispered apologetically.

Alex and Sarah exchanged a worried look.

“I-I have just had a really crap birthday up to now.” I choked, trying to hold back a flush of tears.

I blew out an agitated sigh, tears burning the back of my eyes and a cry of pain waiting furiously to be released and satisfied.

“This may make you smile. I hope it does.” Alex commented lightly, throwing in a seductive smile.

Alex made his way over to me, stopping just before me, and went down on one knee.

At the corner of my vision, I saw Sarah laughing, but she soon shut up and walked off whistling a tune I didn't recognise when I sent a pointed look her way.

“Erm, Alex, what are you doing?” I asked, scrunching my nose in confusion.

He laughed lightly, shaking his head as he confirmed, “It’s not what you think.”

Somewhere deep inside me, a sigh of relief escaped my lips, leaving a small smile on my mouth. Somewhere further down inside me, a piece of me was disappointed, but I immediately shot it down before it could evolve into anything more than what it was.

I was deep in thought, thinking of the past few days. Throughout the day, my thoughts would trail off to moments of my life, as if someone or something was trying to tell me something or warn me of something - something bad.

Every memory I saw was flashes of old photos or reels of videos of past trips out with the family or in that mental home for youths, some of them good and some of them horribly heart shattering.

It wasn't until I heard Alex call my name that all the images shattered and faded away. I blinked a few times, regaining my focus, slightly frazzled and unhappy about the constant haunting of my past.

The only problem is, in every image, in every short film, a man was always in the background, always dressed in dark colours, always watching us. No, not us - me.

“Winter,” Alex’s worried voice drifted through my mind, snapping me back to reality fully.

“I-I’m sorry, I was just - I was just thinking.” I stammered.

“Are you ok?” Alex soothed, pulling me into his embrace.

I felt a tear slip down my cheek and then Alex’s thumb brush away the tear.

“Don’t cry.” He whispered.

I shook my head, laughing lightly as I said, “I’m not crying, it’s just a loose tear.”

Alex laughed lightly, kissing me softly on the lips.

“Come on,” he whispered with a smile, his lips brushing mine.

His hand locked with mine and we began to make our way back to the car.

In a flash, Sarah was stood in front of us, stopping us in our tracks, looking disappointed with me. Her arms were crossed.

“What?” I asked, slightly annoyed.

“Winter, don’t you have a boyfriend?” She asked, shaking her head. “Oh, by the way, I remember what I was here for,” she added.

“He’s dead!” I cried.

A flush of memories came back in a blur, knocking me to my knees, my head in my hands, sobbing.

“Look what you've done!” Alex hissed at Sarah before kneeling down beside me, his arms wrapping around me, trying to comfort me, but it was only making me worse.

“Winter, are you OK? Please tell me what’s wrong. Winter, please,” Alex’s voice was strained and worried, but he sounded miles away.

I watched the memory, my sobs never ending, choking on air as I tried to breathe and cry out in pain at the same time.

Promise me that, if one day I become your boyfriend or husband and under any circumstances I die, I want you to move on and find someone else.

Chris’ words echoed through my mind. One word kept haunting me the most: promise.

It was a promise I made, a promise I was failing to keep; I wasn't ready to move on, though it felt right. I knew I had Alex by my side by the looks of things, but I also still loved Chris.

I felt as though I was falling, falling into nothing, the same words repeating over and over again in my mind until I felt myself hit rock bottom.