Page 5 of Rebirth Of Order
I avert my attention opposite of them and find a man strolling towards us in the distance. He wears a long coat, almost scraping the ground, and a crisp earth scent passes by me from the same direction. I pull up my hood, disregarding my surroundings, and focus on my drink. *Sip*
“Stop.”
“No, you stop,” says the couple heading my way, play-fighting. He slaps her on the ass, and she screams while running away. It’s futile to say the least, because in an instant, he catches her with a firm embrace, and the cuteness of their laughter echoes.
Regardless of another seat across the trail, they perch beside me. She’s on his lap with his face in her neck.Seriously?Giggles erupt, and I remain straight, but my peripheral catches it all. *Sip* His hand caresses the side of her hips then eases up towards her breast.
“Stop,” she whispers, jerking her head towards me. My phone vibrates, and I can’t be happier.Thank God for notifications. Myfingers bounce between social media apps, trying to focus on anything other than these two.
He whispers back, “Don’t worry, she can’t see us.”Oh, but I can, sir. Clear as fuckin’ day.He catches the one time I decide to pry and smirks. Caught off guard, I quickly stand, leaving my beverage and walk as far from them as possible.
Trees and bushes pass by until the couple are no longer in sight, and I walk some more. Reaching another bench almost a mile away, I sit. Silence is finally my only companion.
My heated temperature lowers after meeting the seat’s cold touch, and I turn my head upwards, catching a single star shining brighter amongst the many. “Rosie, girl you should’ve seen this. Your freaky ass would’ve asked to join,” Ichuckle. And when a moment of peace finally finds me, my cheek collides with the ground from something striking the back of my head.
Chapter 2
Scars that won’t heal
KYRA
My vision is speckled.A tingling in the pit of my stomach vibrates over my lungs as I gasp for air, and my palms pulsate a matching beat to the relentless pounding in my head.What the fuck just happened?
There is no time to react as something harrowingly wraps over my leg and causes me to stiffen. With a strong pull, I’m drug across the running track, releasing a shriek of terror.
“Let me go!” I yell at a faint silhouette, tugging a rope tethered around my ankles. Not only am I seeing double, but all surrounding colors start to blend.
Another forceful yank lifts me into its embrace, forcing my back to arch against the crushing pressure of its hold, and I squeal for release. Whateverthingthis is constricts my lungs even more.
In one swift motion, a piercing ache strikes the soft flesh between my neck and shoulder, drowning out any thoughts until I’m consumed by rage.This son-of-a-bitch bit me.
“Get. Off. Me,” I grunt between words as a citric burn fizzes around its teeth. My skin pulls between them, and after a few agonizing seconds, the pressure subsides. However brief, I gaspdeeply before sharp teeth press four more pairs of bite marks into my flesh.
I wince, waiting to be consumed by more pain as its grip holds firm, bending me in an unnatural way. But such pain never surfaces, yet a calming sensation bathes over me.
For a brief time, everything seems like a dream. Flashes of happy memories, muscles relaxing, all tension melting away, and the pounding in my head fades. Problems up till now appear insignificant. I am at peace–until I’m not.
Yanking its teeth away, my skin rips from the movement. Agony comes full force, and the dream I found myself in shatters, bringing back this reality. My fist collides with the side of its head.
“Shit,” I wail. The ground rushes towards me as I violently fling from its grasp. Rolling aside and clasping my fist, I feel prickles of heat weaving through the now cracked bones like I punched concrete.Who the hell has a skull that hard?
A demon’s growl surrounds me, and though my vision hasn’t cleared, it’s enough to squint through the tears building up. I bear witness to what nightmares are made of as I see an otherworldly being standing a few feet away, fading in and out of existence.
Its hands are withered with branch shaped fingers, and the rope used to pull me is something made of dark whips.
Crawling backwards, I ignore the afflicting pain. “What the hell are you?”
The ambiance muffles, and my other senses struggle to keep up. Death is trying Her damndest to take me, playing by unfair rules, but what else should be expected from a heartless bitch.
“Your soul…That sweet smell.” Its haunting tone chills the warm blood in my veins, causing the hair on my arms to rise. “It pours off you, and I demand it,” it snarls.
A jolt of suffering stings around my bite marks, but I jump to my feet, racing back the way I came.There’s no way in hell I’m letting this ‘thing’ kill me.
“Kyra, help,” a voice cries out. A melody striking my thuddingheart almost brings me to my knees. Just a few strides away, my pace halts at her tone. I snap around, witnessing a cloud of black smoke peeling away from its skin, revealing Rosie’s face–MyRosie’s face.
But something feels off. There isn’t a hint of life in her. She is pale. Stiff.Dead.Her eyes swirl with smoke, her hair is black as tar like it absorbs all the surrounding light, and her body twitches with an unnatural motion. This isn’t my best friend. I watched her die and be buried a few weeks ago.Didn’t I?
My heart breaks all over again at any implication of having her back. A desire to reach out courses through me, but peering inside those daunting eyes is like falling into a torturous abyss that I can’t sit through again.
