Chapter 12

Bella's POV

Bella

Chapter 12

 

            It was the dead of night when Shadow shook her awake. She had been dreaming restlessly, and jumped in surprise when he touched her, trying to hold back a scream.

            “S-sorry Bella, it’s ok. It’s me.” He stammered.

            “Oh.. you startled me… that’s all. What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

            “No, no… It’s not that,” he assured her, “I just wanted to show you something.”

            “Now?” She asked, yawning. Shadow sighed,

            “Well…umm, yes now. I suppose I can only show you under certain circumstances.”

            “Certain circumstances…” She repeated, shaking her head. He extended his hand to help her up, and she accepted it, though she was unsure. Much to her own surprise, she did not let go, it felt natural. They left the cave together hand in hand. Shadow led her to a worn deer path, which was just barely illuminated by the moonlight.

            “Where in the world are we going?” Bella asked, finally letting go of his hand.

            “It’s too hard to explain… I promise, it’s just a little ways from here.” She followed him closely, taking in her surroundings. It was cloudy, but the moon still shone through. It was always cloudy lately, cloudy or raining. Abruptly she stopped, and he saw what had startled her. A clearing that neither of them had seen from afar had appeared before them, a clearing that seemed to stretch for miles. Her eyes were wide, and she was frozen in place.

            “This is the place Bella, come on…” he grabbed her gently by the elbow and guided through the brush obscuring the clearing. She spun about incredulously, her mouth open in shock. It was a place that appeared to be untouched by the devastation of the world around them. In the distance there was a lake, and she saw what appeared to be hundreds of little flickering lanterns just above it. The clouds had disappeared, and the moon reflected brightly off of the water. There were several bushes full with leaves that held flowers of many colors and sizes, all in full bloom. Beyond the lake were beautiful trees which had long arms that extended to the ground and swayed gently in the light and welcoming breeze.

            “Shadow where are we? What is this place?”

            “I am not sure myself… All I know is that this is a place no wrath can ever touch, not even the fire of the raiders.”

            “How it that possible…? Look!” She suddenly exclaimed as a tiny flickering lantern lit right on her finger, “why… they’re bugs! They’re little lantern bugs! How odd!”

            “They’re called fireflies,” he explained, “But you can call them lantern bugs if you want to! I think it’s cute…” He slipped up, and she could tell he knew it. She tried to hide the grin on her face… Oh the terrible things she could do to him for that. He tried to stammer an apology, but she lunged at him, pinning him to the ground. But really, she wasn’t angry, and it scared even herself. Was she really going to let this man in? Could she put down her barriers just this once? He was searching her eyes for some sort of explanation, for surely she did not look as ferocious as she had originally hoped. She drew close to his face,

            “I am not…cute.” She rolled away from him and into the tall grass. It was soft, and would conceal her completely should someone be looking from a distance.

            “I’m sorry Bella, it completely slipp-” He stopped, Bella was laughing.

            “Oh would you just shut up.” They both turned to face each other at the same time, and without thinking about it their lips met. It was a strange sensation, like falling, but landing in a pool of sweet and expensive wine. It was sticky, and messy, but so delicious and irresistible. Departing, they lay silently for a while, and Bella rested her head on his shoulder. Yes she thought this just seems so right. How can this be any other way? It is as perfect as I always imagined, just like the love between the prince and the princess in the children’s stories. Oh dear, I am just a fool in love. And I officially do not care. He suddenly sat up, and she did as well. He looked at her and said,

            “You know… Bella, the first time I came here was the day the Raider’s made their second attack on the people of Earth, and wiped out, to my knowledge, all but a few. I likely would have died myself if I didn’t find this place. In my time here I learned the ways of this strange place, it is the Earth as it was in its prime, it is the most beauty this planet has to offer, and I’m sure you agree it is most impressive. But it does not last forever, and does not always appear. I have not been able to find this place in ages, but while walking outside earlier this night, I found it again. I decided I must wake you, and show you before it disappeared. For when the time you were meant to appear is up, it vanishes, just like that,” he said snapping his fingers. “When I returned to my old home, everything had been destroyed, and I had to pack up and move. I feared there might be another invasion, so I made my home in the collapsed train tunnel. Not the prettiest place by far, but it was the closest to this… this place. I was hunting in the woods near the city a couple months afterwards. I had dozed off in a tree while hunting, and the landing of your ship woke me. I ran straight here, but I found nothing. It was as if this place had never existed. I waited for a while, and when I realized I wasn’t being shot at of engulfed in flames, I went to the city to find out what in the world had happened. That’s when I found you, weak and dying.” There was something she still didn’t quite understand. It buzzed on the edges of her mind. How did this all fit together? Seeing she was confused, he continued, “Perhaps I’m delusional but to me it seems that this place did not appear to me that night for a reason… that reason being I was meant to find you. Your fate was directly tied to this place, and I knew I could not deny it. I knew I had to save you… and make you better, no matter how hard you tried to fight it.” For the first time, Bella really understood him. She understood why. He was not cruel or perverse at all, he was only doing what he knew he must, and that made her even more dangerously attracted to him. They both jumped as a large brown animal jumped out of the trees, it was armed with giant horns and held its head proudly. Upon seeing them, it snorted, and pranced across the open field towards the trees surrounding the lake. Bella looked to see where it had come from, as did Shadow. When they turned around they saw nothing but the peeling bark of drying trees surrounding them. There were no flowers, no lantern bugs, and no lake. The immortal world was gone.

Reviews

[Rhianne Ney]

It was fun to read, but in the end what should be in this part "upon seeing the?" it is the animal... it was really interesting, Asyllum... you and your partner had caught my attention

[Asylum Dormouse]

Thank you! Whoops, forgot to put an M. It's supposed to be "upon seeing them" :)