"…She can't come with us. It's too dangerous." John Pen said for the hundredth time, as he packed a roughed up suitcase. He slammed the case, garments still sticking chaotically from the sides. He turned around, his eyes red from fatigue and tears, though he wouldn't ever admit it out loud—his body movements jumpy.
He was a complete mess, his gold hair ruffled from his hands running through it too often. His tailored khaki-colored pants rumpled, and his blue, buttoned up, Armani shirt open at the collar, sweat pooling around his collarbone, staining his expensive shirt. A car thrummed with life in the background, only adding more panic to The Pen family's worry-bound minds.
They had to leave, and fast. Time was running out…as it always was.
John took in a ragged breath, his hands pressing against his temples in pure misery, his eyes squeezing shut. This is how his life was, running, endless running, always. Only this time things were different…his family was in danger…his daughter…
John opened his eyes and the sight before him took his breath away. His beloved wife, Evelyn—beautiful as always—holding his most priceless treasure, his daughter, Kaylee Rose Pen, wrapped in a thick pink linen blanket, Evelyn's gorgeous green eyes staring up at him with every emotion imaginable written on her petite face—her face, and soul, broken. Her face crumpled before looking down at her daughter again, her jaw tight, and her left hand twirling around a few strands of golden hair, her fingers trembling.
She wore a knee-length, tight, black dress; she surprisingly still slim despite giving birth to Kaylee not a few days before…Though still drugged with fatigue, and painkillers alike, Evelyn Pen was strong, her green eyes lit with life that demanded to be reckoned with, one that would not perish without a fight…
A beautiful woman of thirty-two… The one woman who won the heart of John Ambrose Pen, the last, true, descendent of the Pen dynasty…A man willing to sacrifice everything for his family, the silvery scar above his left eye the proof of that—a scar that only added to his masculinity, taking the softness away from his angelic features. His cobalt blue eyes, fiery to the core…His strong jaw, one that, as of recent days, sported a scruffy gold-brown beard…His crown of golden hair untrimmed, the golden threads stopping right above his thick eyebrows, they too showcasing power. He was handsome; there was no mistaking that…they all were.
As if sensing her husband's stare, Evelyn looked up at her husband, her green eyes lit with a fire that could rival his own—A look of a mother, protective and true, her eyes teary and red.
John took a deep gulp… Evelyn was everything John could ever ask for, that is, until Kaylee was born.
Kaylee and Evelyn were everything. Nothing else mattered… Nothing.
John's hand squeezed the gun he had in his front pocket, his trigger-finger jumpy with nerves. His forefinger trailed along the worn silver dragon, the one that engraved his gun—a weapon passed down from father to son for generations. The dragon was well-worn now, a sign of continuous use. Evelyn's eyes flickered down to his hand, her eyes darkening.
"Just let me hold her a while longer…" Evelyn begged, her high soprano voice weak, tears streaming down her face, her eyes wide with hurt. She bounced her knee gently, her tears dripping un-relentlessly upon her daughter's blanket. Her arms tightening their hold, bringing her baby up to her chest, her long brunette locks tickling their baby's sensitive arms, and she let out the most heart-wrenching sob her husband had ever heard, the sound one that will haunt his mind for days to come.
John's hand immediately fell away from his gun and he walked closer to his two loves, the harshness gone from his eyes. John placed one hand upon his wife's shoulder, his wedding band gleaming brightly in the sunlight.
"Evy…," John started and winced at how weak his own voice sounded, "This is for her own good… It's too dangerous for her and for us…If they find her, find us, we will die and the prophecy shall never be fulfilled. They will kill her, Evelyn." John muttered angrily to his wife, his cobalt blue eyes burning with more tears and a deep-rooted hatred that made his wife flinch, though she was used to it…They both were.
"Do not think for one second that, if I could, I would protect this child with everything that I have…That I am." John looked at his wife then; his eyes flickering a menacing gold, something that made his wife's skin erupt with goose-bumps.
"I would slaughter all of them…All of them, Evelyn. I would not s-stop…" John's voice cracked from pure anger, he forcing himself to remain calm, his eyes blazing gold beneath his closed lids. It was a secret of the Pen family…Their magic. Magic was a dying art…Only a few true magical families still existed and they were dying out, fast.
Evelyn touched her husband's jaw, he opening his eyes almost immediately, the gold now gone.
"Do it," Evelyn said darkly, her arms tightening around Kaylee's small form. "K-kill them…" The beautiful woman's eyes filled with tears and she covered her mouth to muffle her tears, careful not to wake Kaylee. John's face fell and he knelt on one knee, his forehead pressing to his wife's pitifully. He placed a hand upon her neck, his eyes teary.
"…Kaylee is our only hope. If I tried…If I failed…Her fate would be sealed. I cannot—will not risk her, or you…Baby, she cannot stay with us, the prophecy said—"
"—Perhaps, perhaps, the prophecy is wrong!" Evelyn hissed up at her husband, her head pulling away, her eyes full of hope. "It can't be Kaylee…It can't be…"
"The Mark does not lie." John said with conviction, his eyes gleaming with fear and pride alike at his daughter. John's forefinger lightly tugged against his snoozing daughter's jumper, revealing her upper collarbone. There, a light brown birthmark gleamed ominously at them, the proof of their daughter's fate…A dragon, like the one her father's gun sported, though less ornate, lightly spiraled as if ready to strike.
Evelyn let out a louder sob, this time waking poor Kaylee who began to screech alongside her mother. John squared his jaw and ran a finger down his daughter's chubby cheek. He did not wish this fate upon her…
"…Kaylee," He said, his voice strong, and almost immediately his daughter's eyes were upon him, the baby still letting out sounds of distress.
"You mean more to me—to us, than you will ever know…" John gripped onto his wife's hand, she squeezing back almost too painfully. "With time you will come to understand why we must leave you." John blinked back tears before bending down to press a kiss to her forehead, his tears dripping upon her face. A thick strand of weathered leather dangled from his neck, at the end an ancient engraved golden ring, a dragon no less, whose claws reached out dangerously, a dragon that now separated a family…
Guh. I had a dream about this…It was freaky, and EXTREMELY heartbreaking. Thus…this. LOL
Should I continue? Anyone interested? XDD