Prologue

A Chapter by WorkInProgress

This prologue gives us a glimpse of the future after Chance meets Naturae, a mysterious girl from the desert and how her presence in his life may affect Amy.

Rope cuts into my wrists. I struggle to free myself but I'm bound too tight. A series of intricate knots holds me pinned on the ground. My arms and legs spread wide, my ankles and wrists tied to iron stakes that refuse to budge from the rocky ground. Far off in the distance, I see city lights. The lights twinkle like stars. Teasing me. Knowing that no one will hear my screams. That no one will know when I die.

My breath becomes ragged and I jerk wildly, attempting to free myself from my bonds. Or rip my iron stakes out of the ground. My messy brown hair is plastered across my forehead, held in place by sweat. My eyes are wild and frantic as I try to take in everything around me. The endless rocks of beige and brown. The sprinkles of green grass in the desert. The far off city lights. The stars above that laugh. Laugh because I have chosen this life. Chosen this ending. For her.

A shadow slinks out from behind a rock. And I see her. I mean really see her. Gorgeous flowing hair that curls and falls around her waist. A light blue dress, weightless as it swirls around her willowy shape. Her tanned smooth skin. Her rosy lips, always curled in a half smile as if she’s afraid to laugh. My breath hitches as I focus on her face. Her eyes. Piercing green eyes that see into your soul. That promise you everything you want most while at the same time questioning every choice you ever made. Those eyes. As if nature had reborn itself a sun of striking green and framed it in ebony lashes. It takes me a moment to remember to breathe.

Her hand eases towards me like water flowing down a stream and lands on my face. Caressing my cheek. Her voice rings through the air. Every word a melody of its own.

“Wake up human. It's not right to long for that that cannot come.”

She bites her lip and leans closer. I inhale her scent. It's unlike anything I've ever smelled before. She smells of happiness, love, promise. With a touch of safety and a hint of the ocean breeze.

I want to ask her what she means. But she beats me to the chase.

“This is only a dream human, I'm sorry. As you fell asleep your heart sung for me and now I'm imprisoned in your mind. I’m no more than a thought.Wake up and dispel me. Please.” She laughed softly. “ Few humans ever see me. But you sought out adventure and found me instead. I’ll never understand the human mind. Why you run to the things that could hurt you most. We can never be together. Never. Yet you yearn for me. I can only break your heart Chance. I’m not capable of anything else. Please, wake up and end your agony.” Her voice began to tremble. “Amy waits for you. Forget me. Please.”

I know I should wake up. But if I do I'll never see her again. My dark angel. She’ll be lost to time and soon I'll forget her features that now seem so vivid in my mind. I don't want to wake up in my bed to laughter. To my friends running about as if life is fine. To Amy giving me sly smiles across the room and tossing her hair as if I'm a toy in her game of love. I don't want to walk out into the real world and act like I've forgotten Naturae. Naturae, my dark angel.

“Wake up.” Her voice fills my head. I feel Naturae trying to push out of my dream. To leave me. My dream. MY dream. I focus on her face and slowly imagine my bonds coming undone. The untwine and slowly oblige. I imagine my arms and legs are free and that Naturae leans in closer.

I feel Naturae tremble as she fights against my wishes. But she’s powerless. It's my dream. I feel her lips press against my lips and a moan fills the air. My own I realize as she laughs against my lips. Her hand curls up the side of my face as clutches at my hair. My smile grows wider as I realize that was her choice and not my own.

“Chance” she whispers against my lips, my name filling the air.

“Naturae” I murmur in return as I sit up and adjust her comfortably on my lap.

I pull back for a moment to look in her eye’s and the dream goes fuzzy.

“Naturae!” I cry desperately pulling her to my chest. But she is no more than a mist. I clutch desperately.

“I love you!!” I shout in my head as loud as I can manage, before the mist clears to black.

“You do?” A perky voice inquires. I jerk my eye’s open and push myself up into a sitting position. I’m now eye to eye with Amy. She smiles a blinding smile and tosses her hair. I’ve seen her do it a thousand times. I’ve watched guys drool the second she winks but I've never fallen under her spell. Despite what she thinks. She pushes closer.

“You love me?” Her hands lift off my covers and lands on my chest. My bare chest. I gulp. She laughs. It sounds like a tinkle of bells. She’s perfect. Her blonde hair, her blue eye’s, her small nose, her full lips, her tiny waist, her booming chest, her toned butt, her long legs, her manicured hands and feet, her evenly tanned skin, her soft laugh, her high voice, her full wallet. Everything a guy could want? She has it. And more. Well every guy but me. And that only makes her more persistent.

Her hands travel down my chest and over my abs though her eyes never leave my face. My face goes beet red. She laughs again and her hand stops right along the waistband of my boxers. Her touch is feather light from practice on a thousand guys and her eyes are seductive as can be. Even though I feel nothing for her, I'm still a guy and my heart races in my chest as if it's about to explode. She leans in.

Even though it's ten in the morning her breath smells like vodka and gin and I automatically lean away. Except I can't. Because I'm up against the headboard.

“How about we start off the game right and head for third base?” Her voice shatters my thoughts and I push her away. Hard. She scrambles to land on her feet as I push her off my bed and onto the floor. Her bathrobe comes undone and she’s left standing in lingerie. A bewildered look on her face. I give her a look to kill.

“Get out of my room. Now. If you ever come in without my permission again I'll make sure you never walk again.”My voice is rough and low and I watch my words hit Amy. She blinks in shock as if she can't understand the concept of rejection before a snarl replaces her innocent look.

“I’m trying to help you out.” She snaps.

“How?’ I snarl.

“You think people don't know? Everyone knows you're a virgin!” She laughs but this time it's not like bells. Now it sounds forced, every word pushes through her teeth like she's trying to stay in control. “Your 27 Chance! Live a little. You're so uptight! It would be less obvious to paint a V on your forehead! You’ve never even been kissed! I’m doing everything I can to help you. But it's not easy.” She pants out of breath. Then her face softens as she’s broken. I want to snort. Amy. Broken? Yeah right. It's all manipulation. But I stay quiet and watch her tearful display.

“Chance. You said you loved me. Just now. I know it's true. Stop denying your feelings Chance. Please, it's hurting us both. Make your choice. You never will get another chance. So make your choice.” She slips her bathrobe off and throws it on my bed so I get a full view of her skimpy nightwear and the body underneath. I stare into her eyes refusing to glance down for the slightest second. She leans in, sensing a win. She closes her eyes for the kiss and gets a bathrobe to the face.

She pulls back startled as I slide off the bed and over to my closet.

“Please leave Amy I've already made my choice quite clear. I have no interest in you in any other way than a friend. Also, despite your hard-core reasoning, I do not love you. You actually interrupted a lovely dream of another girl. Oh yeah Amy, you heard that right. You know it was that girl that got my first kiss. You had a three-year start on her and she accomplished your long-term goal in one day. So kindly leave and don't come back.”

I turn right into Amy. Our eyes lock for half a second before she drags my face down to hers and kisses my hard. Her lips push mine open, her tongue traces my teeth. Her leg wraps around my waist and drags me closer till our bodies are as close as can be. It happened so quickly I couldn't tell you what happened after that. The last thing I remember was her dragging me to the bed and forcing me down. The kiss had startled me so much I hadn’t had time to think. But as she climbed on top me and wrapped her fingers around my waistband, slowly pulling it down I realized that I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. I mean if you want to be technical sure I could feel her lips pushing mine, her tongue grazing my teeth in a teasing way that could only be achieved through years of practice, I could feel her thighs wrapped around my hips. Her fingers drawing my waistband farther and farther down. I jerk up in rush and pull away from her my eyes wild.

Amy locks her eyes with mine and draws in again quickly like a predator recognizing a prey about to escape. But I'm stronger. I push her off me again. Hard. So much harder than before. She falls off the bed on her back but she's up again in a split second and crawling on the bed her eyes wild with hunger. I raise my hand high and slap her. I hear the impact of skin on skin. I feel the tingle in my fingers as my hand hits her face. I see her hopeless eyes as she latches on the something before she tumbles backward off the bed. My boxers.

“S**t” I hear the words echo in my mind as I'm left naked on my bed, a sex hungry girl on my floor, I girl that I love in my head.

Amy waits for you. That's what she said. Naturae. My love. I love her. I know it's true as I whisper it again and again in my head. And yet as I look at Amy I feel a desire. I may never see Naturae again. And here was a gorgeous girl. On my floor. Who wanted me.

I stand up out of bed and snatch my boxers from Amy’s hands. She doesn't even look up. I slide them on and lean down over Amy. I expect her to take advantage of my closeness, to kiss me into oblivion. I want her too. I do. I know that now.

“Amy,” I whisper softly. “ Take me I'm yours.” I want her to hurt me. To touch me. To make me feel alive. I want the guilt after. I want it all. I need a distraction. Anything. I see it now. But Amy doesn’t move. I turn her so she's on her back and lean in to kiss her her. But I stop. Her eyes are glassy. Her body is cold. I check her pulse and find only silence. And then I knew. Amy would never kiss me again. But I had my distraction. A damn good one at that. Amy was dead.I push back unable to breathe. It happened so fast but- I lean in again. A black inky swirl begins to form on Amy’s forehead. A tattoo. I’ve seen it before. A human heart strangled by an immortal vine. I think hard. Where have I seen it before? I can’t remember. I reach out and hold Amy’s hand. Then I lean down and kiss her cold lips. Tears fall from my eyes as I look at her. How? I know inside me that I didn't kill her. That someone associated with that tattoo did.

But how do you tell the cops that? I hold Amy’s hand for hours. Letting my cries fill my little apartment. I watch as slowly more tattoos appear. Ones I don't recognize. They take shape and grow until Amy is covered in the inky tattoos. Her skin no longer visible as the ink bleeds and covers her body. Then suddenly, her eyes open. I can't speak I'm in too much shock. But her eyes don't look at me. They look straight ahead until the ink seeps into her eyes and covers her irises, her pupils. Her eyes become black voids. The ink seeps into her hair starting from the roots and expanding until it's impossible to believe they once were golden curls.

I cry over her body for quite some time until her body begins to shake and I can just barely make out her body exploding into light. I wipe away my tears but it's too late. Amy’s gone. I can hardly breathe. A knock on my door shakes me to my senses and I trudge carefully. Fully aware that I'm in nothing but my boxers.

I open the door to familiar eyes.

“Hey, handsome, ready to play?”

I slam the door shut and lean all my weight against it to steady myself. It's not possible. It can’t be. But it is. Because Amy, gorgeous lingerie-wearing, tattoo free Amy is right outside my door.

In an all too familiar bathrobe.