Brianna.
The name brought a thousand pictures
to mind, a thousand shattered images to beat upon his conscience.
The rare flower asleep, jade eyes
closed, those long lashes fluttering on her pale face, lips slightly parted
– looking every bit the faerie tale princess.
The girl he'd seen in the alleyway,
almost possessed by fury, screaming, wanting out of his grasp…
The way she'd looked after he'd kissed her, eyes impossibly wide, surprised. Almost fearful…
That was something he was starting
to regret. He'd scared the girl something terrible, and then he'd
let her run off, run to her apartment, where he knew…
He knew she'd probably take a shower
and curl up in bed with Skylar, watch Conan, and then drift off to sleep,
a can of Mountain Dew by her bed…
Why couldn't he get her out of his
mind?
Why couldn't he just…do what he'd
planned?
Just kill her. Snap that precious
little neck of hers in two.
He couldn't. He simply couldn't do it, and he couldn't understand why.
"Brianna – my sweet angel…can you
ever forgive a blackened soul…"
She'd already swooped down and saved
him, the unlikely goddess, the doomed saviour…
His voice was barely a whisper,
and after a few moments, his eyes slipped closed, confusion lurking in
haunted dreams.
-*-
Hours later, the blur stopped again.
Another night. Another time to do the unthinkable, to live another
night without really living…
He hadn't lived.
Never.
Down the street, eyes blank to the
world. He was eerily quiet tonight, not thinking about anything else.
Nothing but her.
Nothing but her magick.
The song her glittering soul had lured him into.
Slowly, he realized something – blurry…red…
Tears.