Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Retla ❯ Chapter 2: I Wish ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

I Wish

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`Foooooooood.'

Her eyes snapped open and she groaned, throwing her forearm over her eyes and squeezing them shut against the sunlight that filtered in through her bedroom window. She could hear Bo whistling cheerfully as he stomped past her room, and the smell of cooking meat and biscuits drifted to her nose. A foolish grin spread over her face as her mouth watered; If nothing else could get her out of bed, the smell of food would definitely do it. It was something Bo used to his advantage every chance he got.

Throwing her feet over the side of the bed, she grabbed the large t shirt hanging on the nearby wooden chair and shrugged into it. Glancing down, she shrugged, making the material lightly graze the skin of her knees and lazily padded out into the hallway, yawning and stretching deliciously.

“Look whose finally up,” a voice murmured next to her, and her breath caught in her throat.

Slowly her arms lowered as she slowly turned her head to glare at Luke. He watched her closely, the dark and hungry gaze in his eyes bringing a slow heat to her cheeks as if he could see through the thin fabric of the shirt, and leaned against the wall of the hallway, balancing himself with one shoulder while he crossed his arms across his chest. Her cheeks burning, she stared at him with her lips pinched, eyes flashing and shooting annoyed daggers into his head. “Why are you here?” she hissed.

Luke's hands shot up defensively and he grinned. “He's helping me hunt game for the festival this year,” Bo called out, coming into view.

The hallway suddenly seemed very crowded, and her irritation spiked up another notch. “So you had to bring him here?”

One eyebrow shot up. “Why wouldn't I?”

Making a disgusted noise in her throat, she turned on her heel and stomped back into her room, slamming her door shut. Snatching the pair of pants she wore yesterday, she yanked them up her legs and snatched her brush off of her dresser, yanking it through her hair harshly.

Minutes later she stepped into the dining area fully dressed, pissed, and with a full-fledged headache. Walking past Luke, she smacked him on the back of the head and sat down as far away from him as she could. He laughed, helping himself to a healthy dose of fried potatoes and handing her the bowl without a word. Soon her plate was filled to the brim with eggs, potatoes, bacon and hearty biscuits. Mouth watering as she stared down at her steaming food, she dug in without preamble.

“Halo, I need you to promise me to stay in town today.” Bo said suddenly, some time later. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked her in the eyes.

She abandoned her food for a moment. “What? Why can't I go with you guys?”

“You know women aren't allowed to hunt,” Bo pointed out, pinching the bridge of his nose with exasperation. “We go over this every year.”

“And every year I tell you I am not picking harvest with the womenfolk,” she bit out through gritted teeth. Luke tried to seem as inconspicuous as possible, focusing on his food as if he would disappear from the room and not be subject to the tension spreading throughout the room. He was chewing slowly now with his head bowed, his eyes looking from Bo to Halo and back to Bo again.

“You're too old to be frolicking about with whomever,” Bo said softly. He picked up a biscuit and took a hefty bite. “There are things that are required of you now, and you have to do your part just like everybody else.”

“Do you honestly think anyone in town cares?” She sat straight, her hands fisted in her lap, her gaze locked on some point of the table. An ugly feeling rumbled in her belly, painful and familiar, and she grit her teeth. “They're much happier with me running around in the woods than being anywhere near them.”

“That's not true, and you know it.” Luke grumbled, pushing his plate away from him. She could hear the frown in his voice, could feel the upset as if it was seeping out of his body, but she refused to look at him. Bo stood to his feet without a word, and after a moment Luke followed suit, greedily stuffing the other half of his biscuit into his mouth. “To hell with anybody else. You've got us and Rita too.”

Bo reached over and fluffed her hair the way he knew she always hated, grinning when she swiped at him, fingering them back in place and pouting at him childishly. He leaned down to peer at her eye to eye, his brown eyes twinkling while he smiled at her. “You're my baby girl, and don't you ever forget that.” He told her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “If you don't want to help out, then stay home. But I mean it: stay in town.”

She held his gaze for a moment longer then pouted again, rolling her eyes. “Whatever, old man.”

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The sun crested over the hill beautifully as Halo leaned back in the branches of her favorite tree and sighed. She knew there would be hell to pay when Bo finally realized that she had indeed left the safety of the village, but she just couldn't help it. She would never be used to the stares, the flares of panic as she locked gazes with the townspeople. They always gave her a wide berth, always speaking respectfully, as if they feared her. After a while, she only ventured into the main square whenever she had no other choice. Being surrounded by them today, all day, was something she just knew she wouldn't be able to handle.

And so, like a coward, she had fled.

And that was how she found herself once again in the safety of the forest, nestled high in her favorite tree. She hadn't realized that was where she was heading until she stood staring at the massive trunk. It had been easy enough to leave the town; she just walked out of the front gate. She was pretty sure somebody saw her. But she knew they would turn the other way, pretending they hadn't witnessed a thing unless Bo came along looking for her.

Halo, they feared. Bo, they revered.

`I can't help but feel like they wouldn't be remiss if I never came back,' she thought darkly, balling her hands into fists. She drew a deep breath in, held it for a moment, and exhaled deeply, allowing her fingers to fall slack. She knew it was no point getting upset about it. She had never been a part of the society here. She had always known that, even as a child, she probably would never be. But sometimes, it still bothered her.

A gentle wind softly stirred her hair and caused it to tickle her cheeks and neck, but she ignored it and instead allowed her thoughts to drift to what had been shadowing her mind for the past few days.

`Whose eyes are those?' she wondered to herself again. The question seemed endless, the answer close enough for her to see but far enough that she could never reach it. For weeks, they intermittently flashed in her mind. Her entire body numbed, coiled, her skin prickling ice cold. It was always at those moments she felt a cold shivering creeping down her spine. As if she was being watched, followed, and it was definitely unnerving.

`More like creepy as shit,' She snorted, allowing one leg to swing lazily from the branch. Folding her arms behind her head, she allowed her eyes to drift closed, those shocking gray eyes once more coming behind her lids. She squeezed her lids shut, trying to force the image into clarity.

“So?”

“So, what?”

“Your name?”

“What about it?”

A dull ache erupted behind her eyes and she bit back her frustration. His shape was still blurry to her, almost distorted, like she was peering through muddy water. But those eyes … they were always clear, stealing into her every waking thought until she thought she might go mad. `His name,' she thought, almost like a mantra. `What is his name? Whose eyes are those?'

She never noticed the presence in the distance, watching her with shadowed eyes. Instead, she relaxed, allowing her hands to fall comfortably on her lap as she drifted off to sleep.

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He awoke to soft hands rubbing at his skin again, and he smiled softly. The soft sniffles and the familiar smell of tears assaulted his nose and he opened his eyes, staring into the blue eyes he found himself becoming familiar with. “Here you are again.”

“You're all bloody again.” Halo whispered, dabbing at his face. He winced as she rubbed a particular tender spot around his eye, and he probably guessed the skin was bruised and swollen. He saw her lips press together and her touch was gentler. “Why do they keep doing this to you?”

“Does it matter?” he asked her, his voice just as soft. “They haven't figured out how to kill me yet.”

“What do you mean they haven't figured it out?” Her hand stilled and she looked him in the eye. “What have they done to you?”

Instead of answering, his gaze traveled over the length of her. Her clothes were different; as they were each time she appeared in front of him. This was the eleventh night this strange girl appeared in his prison. Each night she cried and tried to clean him up as best as she could. Some nights she would sit and talk for hours, others she would only have a few minutes before he blinked and she was gone. He could only thank the goddess, whoever she was, or if she even existed, that she never appeared while his captives returned to torture him.

Realizing his habit of not answering her questions, she began to clean him again. The first two nights he had refused for him to help her, but lately he allowed her to wipe at him in silence, listening to her useless chatter as she tried to lighten the mood. Not much she can do to lighten the situation, with him being bloody and chained and everything, but the girl tried.

He inhaled deeply, her scent filling his lungs and he felt a pang of yearning bite through his body. He ignored it, instead focusing on the comfort her scent began to provide him. She smelled of earth and rain, of grass and trees and rivers and oceans; she smelled of the freedom of the wind. This strange girl had the ability to make him feel as if, even if only for a few minutes, his freedom was more than an illusion. She opened the cage to his soul, allowing him to roam wherever and however he wished. Her tears scalded him, branded his spirit. “Halo? Tell me about … about your home.”

She looked at him in surprise for a moment, but sat down and crossed her legs. “Why?” She asked him softly.

“I just want to know,” He snapped, cheeks flushing. “Forget it. Just for---“

“Me and my mom aren't from town,” she cut him off. He fell silent and his eyes remained fixed on her face, watching every emotion that flickered across her face. He watched, enraptured, as her eyes darkened sadly, as her gaze fell to her hands that she wrung self-consciously in her lap. “I don't remember where I was born, or when my father died. It's always been me and mommy, and then she brought us to Bo.”

“Bo?”

“Mommy's brother. I guess that makes him kind of my uncle.” Esau nodded for her to continue, his eyes glued to her face. She felt her face heat up from his close scrutiny, but she continued. “Our village is surrounded on all four sides by a huge forest,” She illustrated its size by stretching her arms out wide. A ghost of a smile touched his lips.

“Do you go into the forest a lot?” She nodded. `So that's why she wasn't afraid of the forest.'

“Alone?”

She grimaced. “I'm ... I know I'm not supposed to. But I never get lost, and I never fall out of the trees, and I never eat the bad berries, and—“

He snickered at her discomfort. “I won't tell, I promise. Tell me more about the forest.”

She thought for a moment, pursing her lips. “The trees are impossibly tall, and the branches thick and sturdy. Sometimes, I take naps in this huge tree way out far into the woods. It's the tallest tree and its branches and leaves blocks out the sun so I don't get too hot. It looks out over everything, and I can see the rows and rows of trees, and the huge river to the west, the mountains to the south … everything.”

“I wish---“ He began, but she heard his teeth come together with a snap. She didn't miss the amazement, the wonder that flooded his face. Could it be that the first time he had ever seen a forest … the first time he had ever been free … was the day they met?

Somehow, she knew that was the case, and her heart lurched.

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“Hey, wake up.”

She blinked sleepily, eyes growing accustomed to the darkness before jerking back in shock when her senses registered someone heart stoppingly close. Luke kneeled in front of her, his expression unreadable as she straightened herself on the branch, looking around wildly. “Have you ever heard of personal space?” She gasped, her hand fisting the fabric over her chest.

“No, but I've heard of common sense.” He bit out, and she became aware of the anger that seemed to leak out of him as he stared at her. She inched back a little bit, realizing he was way past angry--- he was livid. The branch shook, almost as if it could sense his wrath. “Do you have any idea how foolish it is for you to fall asleep in the forest completely defenseless?”

By the time he finished his tirade, he was shouting, and she bit back the desire to shrink back from his anger. He had no right to be upset; she was perfectly fine. She ignored the voice in the back of her head that pointed out that he had snuck up on her without her being none the wiser. Voicing that fact would render her argument futile. “Why are you even here?”

He shook his head at her, raking his fingers through his hair in exasperation. “Rita was throwing a glorious fit by the time Boris and I got back. When she said you never showed up this morning, I went looking for you.”

“Where's Bo?”

“At the house. He said you'd be fine, that he'd deal with you when you got back, but …” He ducked his head, his hair falling into his eyes as he sighed. “I was worried.”

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, and she sighed, turning her body to stretch her body so her feet touched the branch below her. Slowly, she made her way to the forest floor. She heard the groan of the branches, the bending and shifting of the wood and knew he was following behind her. With a dull thump they both dropped to the floor, and she turned to make her way back to town.

She heard him follow after her, and they walked in silence for a few minutes. “You didn't have to come find me,” She bit out through her teeth a moment later.

“I know.”

“I could have made it back on my own.”

“That's true.”

“I would have been fine. Perfectly fine.”

“I'm sure.”

“Are you trying to be an ass?” She hissed, whirling around to face him.

He was closer than she expected, and she jumped back to avoid bumping chest to chest with him. Without missing a beat, his arms flashed out and snaked around the tops of her arms, dragging her back towards him. One arm snaked around her waist; his other hand grabbed a fistful of hair and drew her head back before his mouth fell on hers. His mouth was hot, his tongue hungry and searching as they traced the line of her lower lip, and she shuddered. Planting both hands on his chest, she used all of her might and shoved, causing them both to stumble as they broke apart.

But before he could grab his footing, she pushed forward, balling her fist and slamming it into his mouth with enough force to send him skidding back a few feet. When he stood straight after a few moments, wiping the blood from his split lip with the back of his hand and a smug smirk directed in her direction, she flipped him off. “Do that again and I'll kill you!” She threatened, turning on her heel and sprinting away. “Dumbass!”

`Why would he do that?' She thought, wiping her mouth furiously. `What the hell is wrong with him?'

She slowed finally, somehow innately knowing that he wasn't following her. She walked casually, her face twisted into a scowl as she replayed the scene in her head over and over again. She and Luke had always had a close friendship, but now she was realizing that maybe for him it had morphed into something deeper, and she had been blind to it.

A long time ago, back when her days were dark and vast and full of hate, she began to venture into the forest alone. She had begun to hate the townspeople, the ones who went on with their everyday lives as if her mother's death hadn't shifted their worlds in the least. She had begun to hate the children, who still played and laughed and frolicked around the town. She hated the woman who giggled and flirted with the men, the way the conversation would cease as her and Bo walked past. She hated the congestion of the town square, of the beauty of the nearby flower patch. She hated the buildings, the patches of grass, the trees, the bushes, the livestock, and the freshwater pond. Her hate became so much so that she began to refuse to leave the house. It would dwell in her belly like a rock, reaching into every corner of her body, scorching through her veins until she thought she would go mad. Her mouth would taste bitter, her eyes would stare unseeingly, and Bo began to panic.

So she began to curb her hate, her anger, her distrust, and instead never allowed a single emotion to flitter over her face. She ignored everything and everyone around her, only choosing to speak and acknowledge anyone unless she absolutely had to. And it was during these times, while she grudgingly held on to sanity simply because of the ever increasing worry and panic of Bo, she found Luke in the forest.

She stumbled upon him by mistake. She hadn't realized it yet, but no matter which direction she headed, she would always end up staring at the great big tree, almost as if it held some kind of magnetic pull. He had looked up at her as she stepped into the clearing, surprise flashing on his face as he turned and faced her with an easy smile.

She stared at him for a moment, and turned to walk off in another direction, clearly intending to give him a wide berth.

“Hey, wait!” He called. She stopped, looking at him blandly. “Where ya going?”

She didn't think it deserved an answer, and honestly it was none of his business, so she didn't answer. Instead, she looked him over from head to toe. Townspeople weren't allowed to roam the forest, and most people were afraid to. So why was he here?

He looked a little nervous, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “You … you aren't going to tell on me, are you?”

“I couldn't care less,” she told him, and she meant it.

With that, she turned and walked back out of the clearing, and that was it. She hadn't told a single soul that she had seen him out in the forest; she hadn't acknowledged him at all whenever he gazed at her in town. But soon, running into him in the forest became a frequent thing. Eventually, she learned his name, learned that he was next in line to become chief, since his father killed himself after his mother died giving birth to him. This boy who was four years her senior, had lost his parents before he barely knew them; knew some of the pain and disconnection she felt with this world, with this place. He understood, in a way, her distrust in the people. In a society that could sit back and do nothing as a life was taken in front of them.

“People are often afraid of what they don't understand.” He had told her once. He had learned a long time ago that the discussion of what happened that fateful night was forbidden. The first time, she had simply stood up and walked away. The second time, she stared at him. Her eyes wide, her emotions bared for him to see, and he had looked away from her. It was a long time before he had the courage to ask her again. Once again, she had refused to answer, instead staring over the crest of the hill in silence, her hands balled into fists at her sides. “It isn't fair to hate them because of what happened. She was different, unique, and they couldn't deal with that.”

A few years had gone by, and she had grudgingly begun to trust him. She knew he would never tell about seeing her in the forest. Any game or berries he caught would end up on the windowsill of her room. It was almost as if she had an older brother, yipping on her heels and looking out for her as he dragged her along on some sort of strange adventure day after day.

But when did that change? His hazel eyes that always watched her closely as he taught her how to set traps, showed her new ways to fish other than the traditional way that Bo taught her. The brother that taught her how to shoot her first arrow, that teased, harassed and irritated her to no end. She had been blind to see the shifting of the emotions, of the way his eyes darkened. And she had no idea what she was going to do about it.

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The woman blinked as the oracle ball in her hand cracked, the magic leaking out and the image fading. The man inside of the oracle, who she had been ordered to watch, seemed to be staring directly at her. She frowned, watched as he broke into a smug smile just before her view of him faded completely.

Calmly she sat the oracle back down onto the velvet pillow, heard the floor creak as her master sauntered over to her. His hands rested on her shoulders and she sighed, her eyes closing to half-mast as he peered down over her head. One hand softly stroked her hair, and she almost purred. “Are you hurt, my dear?”

The breaking of her magic had been swift, and brutal, and in truth she felt weary, but she shook her head. “No,Master. I'm sorry.” She breathed.

“There's nothing to apologize for,” he told her, his hand dropping back to her shoulder, trailing down over her forearms before locking around her midsection, squeezing her breasts to her chest. Her breathing became labored, and her skin flushed as he touched his cheek to hers, nudging affectionately. “It's that bastard of a brother of mine's fault. I couldn't bare it if he hurt you.”

Her head fell back against his shoulder, and his lips pressed against the side of her throat. “Master?”

“Hmm?”

“What about the girl?”

His ministrations ceased, and she wanted to scream. Chin on her shoulder, he pondered for a moment. “She hasn't become a problem,” He said slowly. “Yet. You'll just have to continue to keep an eye on her for me, won't you?” He placed another kiss behind her ear, using his tongue to trace a burning path to the nape of her neck and back again. She shuddered, her breathing thundering in his ears and he chuckled.

“Say it,” He commanded, his voice dropping an octave. His hand closed around her breast; her nipple, hard as a pebble, straining against the thin fabric. She felt his teeth grazing her skin and she shivered.

“Yes, Master.” She whimpered, baring him more of her neck. “P-please …”

“Good girl,” He chuckled, squeezing, just before he sank his fangs into her throat.

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A/N

Enjoy!

-Chrissandra