Survival -Guardians of Vesturon [1] (12 page)

Rayn applied even more pressure to my arm, but when the pain became nearly unbearable, he eased up.

With burning determination, I refused to show him my fear, so I returned his hardened gaze with defiance. I would stand up to him and not back down, but I could not understand why he brought this reprehensible behavior out in me. However, as I gazed into his eyes, my heart softened. I never acted like this around anyone.

I had every intention of refusing him again, except I found it was…impossible.

The words erupted from my mouth like a geyser. I started from the beginning. I told him about my mom and how close we were and “the accident.” I told him intricate details about that horrific day. I felt hot tears scalding my cheeks but was helpless to stop them. I told him of the day my father died and how I was called to the principal’s office. It seemed I was destined to bare my soul to this man. I tried to stop talking and found that it was impossible. I recalled for him the day I moved into college and how Cat was everything to me and that I loved her like a sister. I went to great depths and recounted exactly what happened to me on the trail. I detailed every nuance of emotion from abject fear to apathy. I described how I felt when I saw my mom, how I wanted to wrap myself around her and cling to her forever. I relayed my life story—all the while the tears flowed effusively. I was unmistakably not in control of myself; something was
compelling
me to speak.

When I got to the part about my mother being the most beautiful and kind person I had ever known, he suddenly said, “I release you.”

The obdurate urge to speak immediately fled. I felt odd, much like I’d been unchained.

Then, he flabbergasted me by saying softly, “You must surely favor your mother,” as he picked up a lock of my hair and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger contemplating it.

Are you kidding me? Was this a joke? He looked so serious when he said that. Then, I started to laugh. I again wondered if I was becoming mentally unbalanced. Maybe my life’s experiences had finally overpowered me.

“What has amused you so?” he queried.

“I’m laughing for two reasons: because I am the polar opposite of my mother and because you were nice about it,” I replied, suddenly thinking I shouldn’t have said that.

“Maddie, I usually am nice. I only get demanding when the situation makes it so. Explain about your mother.”

Demanding again.

“If you saw her, you would know what I mean.”

“Explain.”

Still demanding.

“Everything…looks, likes, and dislikes, hobbies need I say more?”

“Elucidate.”

Seriously demanding.

I randomly asked, “Are you always used to getting your way?”

He cocked his head and his eyes flashed. “You have no idea, but I must ask you why you would want to know that?”

“You are extremely persistent and dictatorial, and it’s your way with words. You sound like a boss or something, overbearing even. And while we’re on the subject, you have a strange way of saying things sometime. Like, your use of the English language is very proper and formal. The way you speak is almost obsolete. Like you don’t use contractions or anything. Yes, that’s exactly what it is. Are you foreign or something?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Hmm. Evasive again.”

“And you are very perceptive. But, getting back to our previous discussion, before you digressed, please tell me why you believe you are so different from your mother.”

Whoa! Politely demanding.

“Well, first off, I am quite ordinary, average in every way—height, build, hair color, you know. And then there are the activities. I love the outdoors, and she hated everything about it, especially bugs! I used to laugh at her for that! Every day, it didn’t matter when, she looked like she stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. She was absolutely extraordinary in every possible way. She was tall with beautiful blonde hair and eyes so blue you couldn’t stop staring at them. She would take my breath away she was so beautiful. When I was little I couldn’t stop touching her. She was that kind of pretty. I would tell her I wanted a doll that looked exactly like her. I am nothing like her at all.”

The disbelieving look on his face surprised me. He turned to me and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. He opened his mouth, and then shut it, several times, as though he were mentally debating whether he should say something or not.

He finally decided to speak. Quietly, he said, “I wholeheartedly disagree. Your eyes may not be blue, but they are the color of molten gold. They are mesmerizing. They are the windows to your soul, and one can look into them and see your spirit reflected. And your hair. It is an extraordinary shade of copper that all but begs my hands to run through it. It reminds me of the sun’s rays as it drops to meet the horizon. I can barely keep myself from touching it. You are nothing short of exquisite, Maddie.” He had picked up a lock of my hair and brought it to his cheek, holding it there.

I was hypnotized by the sound of his deep voice as if it caressed me. He took the backs of his knuckles and brushed them across my cheek and said, “Your face is perfection, and, Maddie, you are quite magnificent in every way.”

He continued to speak with his eyes locked onto mine, picking up my hands and entwining our fingers together, “Your hands are beautiful—artistically elegant—and your mind is incredible, sweet, one moment, and provokingly on fire, the next. I happen to think you are exceptional. You are unquestionably a very brave female.”

Shut the front door! Who is this man and whom is he describing? And what happened to Mr. Demanding?

I never imagined anyone would see me as he did, and it astounded me. There must be something terribly wrong with his eyesight. Was he just trying to make me feel good or did he really mean it? And what was that bit he said at the end? In that strange language?

“I can see that you doubt what I say. You merely see yourself very differently than others see you. But, Maddie, make no mistake, I meant every word. You are beautiful—stunning, in fact.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just looked at him, dumbfounded, my mouth forming an O. I got lost in his eyes. He gazed back at me and reached out and ran his fingers through my hair. He picked up a section of it again and rubbed it between his thumb and fingers. Then he leaned his face into it, and I could hear him inhaling deeply. I dared not move. I didn’t want to break the spell.

When he raised his head, he looked directly into my eyes. My desire to touch him could no longer be denied. I extended my hand and put it on his face, running the pad of my thumb across his lips. I ran my other hand through his hair, mimicking what he did to me. I pulled his head toward mine in order to inhale his essence. It was sheer heaven. Then, his arms went around me. He leaned in and briefly touched his lips to mine. I felt a spark ignite that startled me. He felt it too for we both jerked away from each other. His eyes bore into mine, and I could see the shock in them. He hadn’t expected that either. Neither of us said a word as we leaned in toward each other again. The second kiss was equally as brief and yet both of us felt the heat.

I wanted to ask him about it, but still, I did not want to ruin this our moment, this truce that had erupted between us.

He situated himself next to me, and I laid my head on his chest—his very warm and comforting chest, where I picked up his braid and wrapped it around my fingers, toying with it. It was soft and silky, and I could feel his heart beating beneath my hand. I was comforted by the feel of him.

We talked about everything—everything but him. He was still reluctant to answer many of my questions, and during the ones he did answer, he was always evasive. I got used to hearing, “kind of like that” or “not exactly.” It was all so mysterious to me. He begged me to be patient and promised I wouldn’t have to wait much longer. Why couldn’t he just tell me now?

Little did I know that when I would have the answers I wanted, they would forever change my life.

In the morning, we both ate breakfast. He left me for a bit, and when he returned, he said that it was time for him to leave. I was completely jarred. He told me we wouldn’t be seeing each other again—something about our worlds being too far apart. He didn’t say much else, but I felt his eyes, boring deeply into my soul, like he was searching for something, answers maybe.

I didn’t know what to do. I felt like a part of me was being shredded to pieces. I was speechless. I suddenly blurted out, “Where are you going?”

He reached for me and held me close. He swept up my hair, inhaled deeply and placed a brief kiss upon my neck. He briefly touched his lips to mine and said, “I have to leave. It is not my choice.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered feebly.

“I know you do not, and I cannot offer another explanation.”

He was gone in an instant.

I felt an emptiness I couldn’t describe, like a part of me had been torn away. I sat there and stared at the opening to the cave, wanting to cry, but refusing to give in. I knew I shouldn’t be surprised by any of this; there were never any guarantees in life. I, of all people, understood that.

I knew I should not have opened myself up to him. I had experienced too much loss to be comfortable with that. Everything, or I should say everyone, I had ever loved or been close to had been taken away from me. Why should I have expected anything different with Rayn? It was better this way—better for both of us. At least that’s what I told myself.

Darryl Carter Revisited

Why that little hellion! Red sure turned out to be a feisty thing. I sure wasn’t expecting her to be packing that pepper spray, Darryl Carter thought. I should have known better. I was even going to be sweet to her today. The way she looked at me kind of reminded me of a trapped animal, with those huge doe eyes of hers. I was beginning to think that maybe she could tag along with me for a while. But not now, definitely not. I’m just going to have to take Red down. Pity, too…she would have been such fun to play with.

As soon as the burning subsided, Darryl took off. Unlike most men, he had endured a great deal of pain in his life, courtesy of his loving parents. So the pepper spray, while irritating initially, wasn’t bad enough to slow him down much. He hesitated a bit, not wanting to leave any of his things behind. He didn’t know how long it would take for him to catch up to her. He also didn’t know if he would kill her on the spot or bring her back here. If he had to move on in a hurry, he would be without his gear.

In the end, he decided he would give himself six hours. If he didn’t take care of her by then, he would come back here and collect his gear, and then continue to hunt her down. He was definitely going to catch her—no question about it.

He took off and had to make a quick decision on which trail to take. He looked for signs of her, anything at all that would indicate which direction she had chosen.

“Aha…I gotcha, Red!” he exclaimed.

He was looking at the snow on the trails, checking all three of them, and there on the Boulevard Trail he saw her footprints. They had to be Red’s for two reasons. The first was the most obvious: no one else had been up here besides them, so there were no other prints in the snow. Second, her tracks were completely inconsistent. They appeared to have been made by someone who was having difficulty walking a straight line, someone who maybe was dizzy or in pain. Yes, they were definitely Red’s.

Darryl didn’t waste any time in his pursuit. His tread was light. He wanted the element of surprise on his side. He expected to come up on her at every turn. However, she had gotten further along than he had anticipated. He picked up his speed a little and then even more. He thought that the element of surprise was not as important as actually catching her. He
had
to catch her; there was no other option. She could describe him to anyone she came across and that could put his future missions in danger of exposure.

It was when he had started jogging that he noticed movement in the distance, way beyond his present location. He stopped to watch and sure enough, there was Red in all her glory, weaving her way down the mountain. He had to hand it to her; she had put an impressive distance between them—impressive, but not nearly enough. She was approaching a clearing, an area that would give Darryl his chance at taking her down. Too bad it was going to end this way; he’d had a lot of fun with that fiery gal. He did want one thing though. He wanted her to know her end was coming--which meant he would have to alert her somehow--so that her fear would intensify. He decided to step on a branch so that she could hear the snap. She was smart enough to know what it would mean.

His opportunity was upon him. Crunch, snap. She gasped, turned to look, then picked up her pace; she knew he had found her.

Ah, this is heaven!
Darryl thought.

Darryl’s first shot to her calf was intentional. It was her punishment for running away from him. He watched her flail and groan in agony. His pleasure increased as he aimed his second arrow and released. He knew immediately he’d hit his mark when he saw Red stumble and then lose her footing, tumbling off the side of the cliff. It was a beautiful sight. Yeah, it sure was. He made his way around a thicket to see where she had landed. It took quite a bit of maneuvering before he was able to get a decent view of her. She was lying on a ledge that jutted out about thirty feet from where she had fallen. By the angle of her back, Darryl was quite certain she was a goner. Sure enough, he could see both arrows sticking out of her—one in her leg, the other in her chest. There were also two pools of blood forming around her body. He wondered if that fall had split her skull open. He stood there for a while, just to make sure she wouldn’t start moving. He had another shot in the ready if she did.

After about thirty minutes, when she never so much as twitched, Darryl decided it was time to go. He regretted how it had all turned out. He had really been enjoying this one. Oh well, he figured he would start looking for his next mission.

He decided to head back up to the lodge and clean the place out. Afterward, he’d come back and try to get a closer look at Red.