With the setting of the sun
Author: Holly
Rating: PG-13
Summary: With the setting of the sun comes the shadow that will end their hiding, and their lives. LJ death.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: This is different to my other pieces... sure you've still got the angst and the character death, but my writing is different. Let me know what you think.
With the setting of the sun comes a sense of foreboding, and a shadow in the dimming light.
A woman stands in the kitchen, drying dishes with a newly purchased tea towel. Her red hair is swept back into a loose bun, her skin pale from lack of sunlight. Her eyes are tired, her stance relaxed, casual. Her mind is on other things- the baby sleeping soundly in the room upstairs, the man who is writing letters in the sitting room. She has a lazy smile on her face as she finishes cleaning, and hears the sound of the door opening.
A shadow lurks in the alley.
The man enters the kitchen smiling. He steps up behind his wife, places his arms around her and kisses her forehead. She is his, and he hers.
She puts down her tea towel, and turns toward him, letting him envelope her in his arms. His shoulders are broad, his body lean and muscular. Sport and demanding work have toned him. She knows he will protect her.
They stand in silence together, both thinking of the child sleeping above them. Their child, their son.
They are young, and still very much in love. Childhood sweethearts, soul mates and best friends. A beautiful baby boy, asleep in his room upstairs. Fugitives, but in hiding so long they almost feel safe.
Almost becomes never as with the setting of the sun comes the shadow that will end their hiding, and their lives.
She shivers. He holds her tighter. Their smiles are gone, replaced by a slight frown on each of their faces. Something strange, something inexplicable has stirred in the air. A fragment of a thought has embedded itself in their minds. Nothing tangible, nothing solid, but something none the less.
A shadow of a thought.
They are not worried. They are safe here, their secret with their trusted friend. It is not ideal, but they are alive. They have each other, and their son.
The shadow creeps closer, blood on its hands, and death on its mind.
They shake their fear away with smiles and soft kisses, and she swats him away with her tea towel as she turns back to the dishes. He offers to help, he knows she will beg him not to. He is not the domestic kind. She has learnt that through many broken dishes, many overcooked dinners, many years of love and frustration.
He chooses instead to sit and watch her clean, keep her company at least. Before he sits, his gaze drifts to the garden, imagining a shadow lurking in the trees, and the thought is gone as she laughs and talks of their son.
Darkness approaches, bringing with it their deaths.
They have only minutes left together, and they do not know. Smiling, laughing, teasing, they share their final moments, while their child sleeps and their death awaits.
A shadow becomes reality as their fears are realised. Their first thoughts are for their son as the door is blown from it's hinges. Their first actions are for each other as they blindly share a final kiss. Lips lock and promise eternity, promise love, and acknowledge death's approach.
Before them is their nemesis, a man they have thwarted thrice. But tonight is different. They will fight, they will protect their son, but they know they will not escape.
Love has found its end, and as he urges her to go, to find their son and to save him, she thinks that perhaps, being together is all that matters. Whether it be in life or in death.
She does as he says, running from the room, intent on reaching their creation. He is young, a child. She will not let this evil take him from them.
A flash of green, and her world looses it's colour.
Her husband is dead.
Evil has destroyed her reason for loving, and now moves to kill her reason for living. Pushing open the door to her son's room, she runs to him. She is blinded by her tears. The man she loved is dead.
The sun has set on her.
Focusing only on the love she holds for her son, she accepts her death, hoping it will save him. Love magic is strong, and as she follows her husband into darkness, she can only hope it is strong enough.
Darkness and death fade to a shadow as the love of a mother defeats evil.
With the setting of the sun, a baby cries, but it's wails go unanswered.
Evil has left its mark.