Disclaimer: I do not own the Dark Series. I claim no ownership of any cultural references or historical people that may or may not be mentioned. I only own my OC. With an iron grip.
She wasn't sure if it was the quick and frantic beat of her heart in her chest or the sound of the thundering rain falling to the cement that pounded in her head. They had long ago become one as her focus narrowed and her vision got spotted and blurry-edged. Before her stood her rival and lover. But most importantly, he was her lover. His wild, devil-may-care grin and the wicked glint in his eye indicated he had the upper hand and that perhaps, she had bitten off more than she could chew. Her breaths were harsh, ragged even. She was finding it hard to stand after giving so much to this failing effort of hers. The rain seemed to enclose around her, each droplet hitting her body like a firm smack of reality that this was it. These were her last moments.
His smiles, his laughs, his corny jokes. Her first date with him...a night underneath the stars, smoking pot. The moon was full. His eyes were so green...
She managed a war cry as she lept into action, revived by a new fire to save him. Her knife firmly in her small, dexterious hands, she slashed at his throat. He deftly moved to the side with an almost supernatural speed, coming in to strike one of the many holes she had in her defense. She took the blow like a champ, using the steel that seemingly ran through her blood to keep her moving past the pain. She kicked out with her legs. Just barely missed him. He cackled, moving swiftly to land in a couple more jabs. Just enough to hurt but not enough to knock her out. He wanted her conscious for this. He wanted her to run and dance around. Her was playing with her the way they used to only now it really did mean life or death. Now it was serious. Tasting copper, she spit out some blood and it was quickly ushered away by the rain as if it had never been. In order to win this fight, she would have to keep going.
"I love you." He would always say.
"I love you more." She would reply, usually with a grin on her face.
"I love you most." He had to go the extra mile. It made her laugh.
And they would both say...
"I love you infinite times infinity squared."
The girl moved just in time to avoid a punch straight into her nose. Her knife went hunting for flesh and found nothing. His fist went seeking and found sanctuary in her body. She whirled, enraged and passionate about her cause, and managed to break into his defense. In a matter of seconds she hit several pressure points on his chest where he had left them vunerable. He gasped, eyes widening as if he didn't expect her blows to hurt when they did. He sought to push her away. Her knife cut his wrist. The blood splattered into her face and stained the blade red. The blood seemed to burn on contact. And unlike most, her rival only laughed. He laughed and laughed loud enough to rival the roar of the torrent they fought in, on the riverpath where he and she had learned the disciplines of surviving together. That maniacle, psychotic laughter would've been enough to demotivate anyone but she...would not be discouraged. Because she was doing this for him. She had to remind herself that she was doing this for him.
There it was!
The opening she needed. She didn't question it, which was one of her many failings. In a world that took advantage of hasty, naive people, this girl had wandered into the wrong crowd. Though, she did try to keep up. But this world almost never rewarded effort-just pure, cold result. She found out too late that this had all been planned. After two years, her rival knew her thoughts more readily than she did. He easily disarmed her and blocked her blows, grabbing her by the throat and using her own momentum against her. He had manipulated the direction of the fight just so. And now they were very akwardly walking towards where the rivertrail fell off into the rushing river below. The violent waters slammed unmercifully up against huge boulders hard enough to crush bones. It roared like a demon at her. This was only just a couple of steps behind her now. She struggled but to no avail, clawing her tiny fingernails into his strong grip. She gasped and wheezed, becoming out of breath.
Just like that it was all over.
She didn't have the strength enough to fight him anymore.
After what seemed like hours that stretched upon hours, her body was broken and beaten with pain only numbed slightly by the cold downpour of November rain. She had failed him. In the end, she had been too weak. She should've stopped him the minute she had seen his behavior change from the person she loved to this hideous creature.
She should've shot him dead.
Her vision wavered. Suddenly she was hovering over the side of the rivertrail where it dropped off dangerously into the wild river below. A crack of lightning arched aross the sky. A yawning rumble of thunder answered it. Several more lightning strikes lit up the sky and seemed to form the shape of an eye. It lit up his imposing figure. Her once-lover's face was now twisted and gnaut, his teeth were sharp, bloody fangs. Odd. It could've been her imagination, the frantic pyschological death throes of a dying woman, but she thought she saw ragged teeth marks on his neck as if he had been bitten. Even odder. The skin around the bite was rotten and decaying. Maggots and worms had burrowed into the flesh, eating him alive. And his fingernails seemed claw-like, biting into her exposed neck. His skin was cracked and stinking. His eyes were glowing pits.
She wanted to scream but she couldn't. His claws were cutting off the final supply of oxygen she had left.
The earth seemed to rumble beneath her. He was a mockery of her lover now, growlling and moaning with his own self-satisfaction that he had won. That she was his, both in love and in hate. He drew her closer to his face so that she could see his eyes.
"Go back down the rabbit hole, Alice."
She felt herself falling. She reached out her hand for him. The last thing she saw was a pair of red eyes like hellfire. Why had she ever thought they were green?
The roar of rain and rushing water silenced her. The unimaginable numbing cold swept her up. A quick choke. She couldn't breathe.
Then...darkness.
