It has been a while and this chapter turned out a lot different than I planned. I wanted it to be different than the rest. I hope you like it.
The bells chimed incessantly, budging my feet into a frenzied trot. My last hope of salvation lay hidden amongst the eaves and tombstones and he was waiting for me to arrive. My naive heart rattled like a fluttering bird in a cage. I didn't know what to expect... so much had changed.
My trot slowed to a stop as the mist parted and revealed him crouched amongst Wendla's and Moritz's graves. A silver blade hung poised above his soft skin, hungry for his permission to taste blood. As a watched his hand hang like a pendulum, my heart sank. He was going to leave me like all the other ones. Like everyone .
His tears streamed openly and around him a beautiful blue light shown, cast in tumbling elegance by the moon. He hadn't noticed my timid arrival and held his gaze to the friends who lay beneath him. An ancient moan of anguish escaped his lips and for a moment I thought his fingers would slip releasing his life and soul back to the earth.
" Are you going to leave me too?" I wasn't asking him to stay. I wished he would but I knew I could never hold him here against his will. It would be like trying to command the wind to stay warm and never cast a golden autumn leaf. He slowly looked up and met my eyes. They were so changed, they mirrored his aged soul that I knew resided in his youthful prison.
" No. I am not going anywhere. Even if I did, it would still all be there in the darkness." The blade clattered to the freshly turned mound of earth and he tentatively wrapped his arms around himself, as if to stimulate a single memory of gentle contact. I walked to him, vapors of lives and emotions wafting from the graves. Each step brought a bitter and sweet taste of my irretrievable childhood. By the final step I felt I could handle what was left of life... as long as Melchie remained by my side.
With quaking fingers Melchior began to bury the razor in between his two friends graves. He was burying the black tomahawk that had swept over our innocent bunch.
"Come with me." Once again it was a soft request. He hadn't touched me yet and my body sputtered and flamed for his caress. Advancing and retracting his hand snaked away from his body and finally alighted on my cheek. His fingers were fire and sent shock waves through my entire body and I finally felt something for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
"So you are really here. You aren't just one of them..." His voice trailed away into nothingness as he pulled me deeper into a fervent embrace. " You can't disappear. I...I need you." He buried his face into my shirt and I felt his warm breathe press against my collarbone.
To be needed. It swelled within me like a blossoming flower. No one had ever needed me for anything ever. It gave me purpose and a reason to carry on. I snuggled into his hair and held my breathe. I counted to three and opened my eyes just to make sure he was as real as I was.
" I need you too. Run with me. We have to get out. We have to run from all the ghosts and the moonlight. Start new." I couldn't push back the creeping smile that was quickly infecting my whole face. Melchior bit back words and the worried expression faded slowly. He nodded and held me at arms length. And before I had the chance to say anything else he smiled the deepest saddest smile I had ever seen. He placed my hand against his heart and I felt the reassuring hammer meet my fingers.
" To have and to hold." Melchior leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips. He was mine and I could hold him for the rest of my life. A shadow of the old headstrong Melchie returned as he hoisted me into his strong arms. He cradled me as I madly blushed and he beamed down. He gingerly stepped over the graves, his joy receding slightly. I whispered a ragged prayer to my fallen friends and as if the wind gave its blessings it pressed at Melchie's back and caused him to carry me a few more steps.
I squirmed and he let my feet touch ground. I laced my fingers into his and he squeezed. He led me into the blackest of nights and out into the starlight where momentarily we stood crested on a hill. A huge field expanded before us, giving illustrated life to our wild future together. The blackness, even with the rendering glow of the moon and stars, was daunting. With a final cry out into the heavens in which he did not believe, Melchie ran head long into the field, his fingers keeping me in tow. However unknown, however black and fearsome, I knew that I would follow him into the brightest of days and blackest of nights, for everything that I have ever been and ever will be lay hidden in the darkness and that is where he could always be found.
NOTE: So thats that * fireworks* there are no words to express my gratitude for those of you who have read this story from start to finish. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I also have an alternate ending with our hero Hanschen finally stepping up to the plate if any one is interested let me know. I have a Maureen Mark fic planned for the future and another spring awakening fic but this one is a bit more traditional and much shorter. Once again thank you for your patience and time and everything else ! Love and reviews make the world go round!