Ugh, why were her eyes so crusty? They shouldn't be. She wasn't sick, or maybe she was. What day was it exactly? June. She knew it was June. The summer heat was beating down on her tanned skin. It hurt but it was also strangely soothing though she knew sunburn was not far behind. "Open your eyes. One, two, three. Open." Opening her heavy eyes was much harder than she thought. The sun burned her eyes but she refused to close them. Why was she outside? Where was her warm bed?
Bam. That's when it hit her. The absolutely unbearable pain. She had never been in so much pain. It stretched across her stomach and onto her slender arms. Was she dead? Maybe, on one could live through this. At that moment she wished than she was dead. And then she screamed. Whether it was to test if she was alive or from the pain tearing through her body, she screamed. It was loud and shrill, eroding the back of her dry and delicate throat. The scream, for whatever reason, helped fight the pain. Expression had always helped her when she was in a bad situation.
"Get up. Now." She told herself. People would probably think she was crazy if they could hear that tiny voice in her head. Absolutely bonkers. "You will die if you aren't already." With a final push and a great effort she sat up, slowly and painfully bringing her stiff shoulders and back off the grassy ground with a tearing sound as the greenery below her tore. Her bottom and back flashed with the same pain that was slowly spreading throughout her entire body. The terrible pain.
"What happened?" She said aloud. The words burned her throat to the point of tears and she squealed loudly. She made a mental note not to speak again unless she needed to. Stalling. She was only stalling and she knew it. She didn't want to see what was causing the terrible burning. Just look down. You're so weak. Mean words. Mean words had always motivated her. So she did. She looked resulting scream was so loud she was surprised the village hadn't heard her. She knew there had to be some youngsters running around somewhere. Why hadn't they noticed her absence yet?
Her stomach had been slashed multiple times but it was nothing compared to her limbs. Her arms and legs had been sliced to the bone with the addition of horrifying bite marks, skin and muscle hanging off her yellowing bones pitifully. She was bathing, bathing in blood. The usually thick red liquid had dried considerably, sticking her skin and clothes to the dirt and grass beneath her. How was she still alive? Nearly all of her blood was laid around her like a crimson blanket, leaving her skin a greyish blue. Oh God. She repeated it over and over again in her head. It became her mantra. Oh god, oh go, oh god. She screamed once again, letting several sobs slip through the pained sound.
"Please don't cry." A small voice said from behind her. She jumped, causing more fiery pain to shoot through her body. Help. It had to be. The voice was so familiar. Where had she seen it before?
"It'll be okay, Annie." The soothing voice circled around her to her front. The young girl was about eight years old, completely untouched by whatever had attacked Anima and the forest. Annie knew who she was instantly. She knew her since she was an infant, loving her like family. "Cupid?" She said softly, holding out a mangled, bloody arm. Cupid hushed her and kneeled down to touch the teenager on her cheek. Cupid was deathly cold and her normally golden skin was a sickly pale blue.
"What happened?" Molly helplessly stuttered. The pain slowly began to fade away, leaving behind a strange numbness. It was a refreshing change from the searing pain that was flowing through her earlier but still uncomfortable and Annie would prefer if she was back to normal. Cupid pulled her arm away from Annie just long enough to to point out the huge grizzly bear on the very edge of the treeline. Behind her lingered three young cubs.
Memories began to flood into Annie's foggy mind and she began to cry. She curled into a ball, bring back a bit of that pain and sobbed into Cupid's shoulder. Cupid hummed to her in a very motherly way. It was odd being cared for by someone so young, usually
"It'll be okay."
It had been six months since what happened. The days and weeks were filled with depression, which she spent with the boy's family. His mother, May usually sat around the cabin she shared with her daughter drinking tea and sobbing. Annie wasn't sure if her being there made the poor old woman worse or better, she never did say. Despite May might have been feeling Annie went. It comforted both herself and the boy's younger sister, Cupid. The girl looked just like her brother, the same brown hair, the chocolate eyes, playful smile. Annie loved to see how excited Cupid's face became when she saw the teenager.
"Hey, Annie" She would say softly, often wiping away stray tears as she did. Annie would give her a half smile and a look of empathy. She missed that terrible boy as much as Cupid did. Eventually Cupid would recover enough to talk playfully to Annie, asking her to play games or do normal girly things.
"Hey Annie, wanna braid hair?" or "Annie, I found this huge bug outside. Wanna see it?" Annie would always say yes, even with her intense fear up insects. The little girl became a sister of sorts to Annie, something she actually enjoyed. Cupid was a lovely girl, always so polite and nice. She welcomed Annie into her life with open arms even with the rather shaky start to their relationship.
"Are you going out with that witch again, Jack?" She would always say. Annie was standing at the door when she would say it, usually hurting her feelings badly. Annie wanted to be friends with her. She tried. After Jack's death they both needed support. Of course it was worse for Cupid, she had watched her brother die. Annie could only imagine how awful that had been for her.
"Wanna go to the pond?" Cupid asked sweetly one day. It puzzled Annie but she didn't ask, just nodded her approval. "Just don't tell your mother." Annie said. May wouldn't like knowing that Annie had brought Cupid to the place her brother had died. Annie wasn't fond of worsening the woman's constantly glum mood even more.
The walk there was short but hot. Annie looked at the pond, no longer dangerous without the ice. It hurt to look at, seeing Jack's helpless look when her eyes grazed over the surface of the water. Jack was her boyfriend, she wasn't just some obsessed fangirl. She had a right to be sad, a privilege of sorts. She'd seen that helpless look before. Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound.
Cupid was running happily around the pond, running her fingers through the too long grasses as she did so. She looked so carefree in that moment, just enjoying being there. It melted Annie's heart and soon she joined her in the celebration, dashing around in games of tags and allowing the smaller girl to tackle her. It was the most fun either of them have had in months and it felt so much better than the terrible depression that they were always swimming in. It shocked Annie when it ended abruptly.
"Annie." Cupid whispered warningly from in front of Annie . The tone of her voice made the teenager tense and her childish laugher quickly died. Why was she speaking like that? The younger girl was frozen in her spot starting just behind Annie. "What?" Annie asked quietly with worried eyes at her friend. Her lack of answer scared Annie even further and a bead of sweat began to race from her hairline to her jaw. She followed her gaze, turning on her heel come face to face with a beast. A grizzly. She froze in fear. Behind the bear wear three small cubs.
"Cupid. Run." Annie said slowly. The bear began to stalk toward the raven haired girl, making her heart race faster and faster. "No." Cupid replied sternly. Annie was amazed by her bravery but grew angry at her rejection to Annie's protection. The teenager didn't have time to scold her before the bear growled, charging immediately afterwards.
"SHIT!" Annie screamed uncharacteristically as she jumped in the giant's path, creating a pitiful barrier between the bear and Cupid. Blood-curdling screams, crunching, tearing, and growling followed.
The scene played quickly in her mind but she felt every single moment of it. Whatever was left of her sanity probably fled in that moment. Cupid looked down at her apologetically as if it was her fault they were both dead. She was indeed the one that had asked to play by the pond in the first place. Annie wasn't about to blame this poor girl for that. Never.
Annie was a mess of sobs and tears. This was terrible, absolutely terrible. Is this what always happened when people died? Is this what Jack had to go through? Waking up freezing and dead? The poor boy. The pair sat like that for what felt like an eternity, time not really matter in that moment. Suddenly Cupid tugged out of the embrace, her face looking even sadder than it had before. "Annie, I have to go." The little girl informed tearfully. Panic. Panic is what she felt. Never had she felt such an intense panic in her sixteen years of living with the exception of the moment that bear charged.
"Where? Where are you going? I need to come with you." Annie pleaded helplessly. Cupid wouldn't really leave her. Annie had to protect her. Cupid looked at her confused for a moment. "You're different, Annie. You can't come. I just don't know why." No. Oh God no. Please no. Annie looked around for a way out of the situation, searching frantically and for the first time actually taking in her surroundings.
"Beautiful" She muttered to no one. The colors were everywhere. The trees had a brilliant white aura making them look pure and angelic. The rest of the plants were identical, enveloped by the crystal aura before it melted into the swirling mass of colors that surrounded everything. Her emerald eyes scanned the clearing of the pond, desperately searching for more colors when she spotted the bears. Pure white. They looked back at her.
"Do you see that?" She whispered in awe to Cupid, hoping she wasn't crazy. Cupid stepped in front of her to see her face. Cupid glowed a deep red color and a waves of will-power rolled off of her blue form. "I don't see anything, Annie. What is it?" She asked in a worried tone.
Different. She was different. Cupid was write. "What do you see, Annie?" Cupid asked, still confused by the teenager's odd behavior. "The colors." Annie said as she shakily stood to her feet, looking a lot like a newborn deer on her still moderately numb limbs. The pain had dulled to nothing but a dull ache, the wounds beginning to close and seal themselves shut, leaving behind lumpy scars. She stumbled around, viewing the colors that were all around her. How could Cupid not see them? They were so bright. She reached up to touch the colors, just to see if she could. Nothing happened at first, just slight vibrating movement around her hand. "Come on, it's okay." She said gently out loud to the colorful particles as if they listened to her soothing words. The colors collected in her hand, becoming dense but retaining a sort of smokey shape.
"Oh my goodness." Annie heard Cupid gasp from behind her. She was obviously in disbelief, but of what? She can't see the colors. "I see them. It's in your hand. How can you do that?" The teenager didn't answer. She was too wrapped up in the colors that were following her fingertips like satin ribbons. They caressed her digits gently, feeling much like the grass she had been playing in. She turned around to look at the younger female. "How long have I been out?" She asked curiously, the colors still running over her fingers. Cupid shrugged.
"A day or so." She said before nearly skipping up behind the teenager, giving her a bone-crushing hug. Annie smiled brightly, wrapping her hands around Cupid and pulling her closer. Cupid pulled away reluctantly and beamed up at her.
"I need to go, Annie." She said sadly with another quick hug. Annie gave her a small grin and patted her gently on the top of her head. "Do what you need to do, Sweetie." She assured sweetly and messed her hair considerably, leaving it as a messy mop on her head. Cupid pulled away from her and began to jog towards the edge of the woods, turning once last time to send a wave to Annie.
"Bye, Annie!" She squealed excitedly. Annie chuckled at her enthusiasm.
"Bye, Cupid."
Okay, so that wraps up Cupid for a while. I have recently read that Cupid actually dies at some point and becomes the guardian of love. I'm not sure I liked that. No, I definitely don't, doesn't that seem too predictable? Maybe it's just me.
Also, I had to edit this over because I found the name Molly in there. That is just a starter name I sure for everything until I come up with a final name. I male one is Nikolai because let's not lie, that is the classiest name on this green Earth.
Until next time