As they walked down the faded trail, Skylar kept saying to herself, ‘Why did I ask that? I was the one just sobbing into his shoulder.”
They didn’t say anything to each other, just walked. Skylar enjoyed the silence.
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Skylar remembered back to when she was little when her father would talk to her and Chris about their mother.
“She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever met,” he’d say, looking at each of them with what could only be love in his eyes, “And you two have her special birthmark,” he said as he booped Skylar’s nose, making her giggle. “Which changes just like the moon.” Then he sighed and said, “You look so much like her, Skye. You really do.”
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Back in the present, Skylar thought of that memory, and even though it was sad, it made her smile.
Skylar wished she could love somebody as much as her father did. He would look so happy as he would tell the fantastical stories of how he and her mother met, and the excuse that she disappeared shortly after Skylar was born.
It troubled her, thinking of how she never truly met her mom. Why couldn’t she at least see what she looked like? Why could her mother not stay just long enough for Skylar to feel her love even years after her disappearance?
As they continued to walk, a slight breeze brushed by her, giving Skylar the impression as if someone had rested a hand on her shoulder.
She rested her own hand on it, feeling haunted by that strange happening.
Skylar was thinking so hard about the subject that she didn’t even know that they were at the edge of a steep hill.
“Okay,” Luke said, reaching for her hand, “Let’s do this together.”
His brow was creased in concentration, and as Skylar stared into his eyes, she felt something awaken inside her. He looked so handsome, and she briefly remembered his arms wrapped around her, his body warm as she sobbed into his shoulder.
Skylar looked at his hand, feeling her face grow hot, then took it gratefully and said, “Together.”
Skylar pulled her bo staff from her back and as they began to walk down the hill, Skylar used the bo staff to keep their balance.
As they made their way down the hill, Skylar felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. The forest was eerily silent.
“Something…isn’t-” Skylar started to say but her foot got caught on something, a twig or a vine, and she tripped.
Skylar lost her balance and the two of them began to slide down the hill, tumbling as they went.
By the time they got to the bottom, Skylar’s head hit a boulder and she blacked out.
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Skylar woke up to her head throbbing, and when she put her hand to the back of it, she felt it was wet. Holding her hand up to her eyes showed that it was blood.
Skylar’s vision blurred, and she felt light-headed.
Its coppery smell left her feeling sick, and the sight of it made her woozy and light-headed. This was why she could never kill anybody, at least with a blade. She couldn’t handle the blood.
“Skylar? Are you okay?” Skylar heard Luke ask, his voice muffled. She saw his blurred figure kneeling in front of her, reaching for her hand.
She felt her eyelids flutter, and she gratefully took his hand, because if she had tried to get up herself she would’ve most certainly fallen.
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“I-I’ll be fine,” Skylar said to Luke, although she didn’t feel fine. She felt like someone had put her in a glass jar and shaken her up.
Her body was covered in scratches, cuts, and bruises, and she felt like she might pass out from the head injury and the sight of blood.
“Are you sure?” Luke’s muffled voice said, “You hit your head pretty hard back there,”
Why was Luke’s voice muffled? It sounded like Skylar was underwater or in another room.
“I-I…” Skylar’s brain knew what to say, but it was like her mouth couldn’t compute.
“Children,” Skylar thought she heard a joyous voice say.
Luke turned to the sound. So Skylar really wasn’t just hearing things.
A woman stood before them, her dirty blonde hair in a loose braid, with a white, flowing dress and pink eyes.
“Come, come, you look like you’ve come a long way. Come in, come in, I have food and shelter. You must be exhausted.”
Luke looked to Skylar, who was still in a daze.
“Come on, Skylar. You have to rest. You're hurt.” Luke began to lead her to a pearly white mansion, towering over the tops of the trees.
Skylar felt like something was wrong. How could this woman seemingly appear out of nowhere? But she probably just hadn’t see the grand house before. She had hit her head pretty hard, after all.
Luke held her hand and gently led her into the house, although Skylar’s gut still told her this was a bad idea.
Luke led her to a couch and asked the stranger if she had some bandages.
“Yes, I do.” She answered, and was back in a minute with a long strip of bandages.
Luke started to bandage Skylar’s head, and the bleeding stopped.
After some time, her vision slowly began to clear and Luke’s voice wasn’t as muffled as before.
“You…you need to take care of yourself, too, Luke.” Skylar said as he began taking care of the biggest gashes on her arms.
“I’ll be fine,” Luke protested, although Skylar took note of the cut across his forehead.
As Luke bandaged Skylar up, she stared at his eyes, those bright blue eyes she was hypnotized by. His freckles glinted on his tanned skin, his arms strong as they wrapped bandages around her arms.
Luke was so…handsome, she thought, and he cared, too. As he got closer to finishing cleaning her up, she felt heat rise on her cheeks, a strange feeling deep in her gut.
She didn’t know why, but her heart fluttered as she felt his body heat close to her. He was so close, Skylar felt like at any moment he’d wrap his arms around her again, just like when she had been crying before. She wanted so badly to be in his arms.
The stranger came and went, bringing in food and water, blankets, and pillows, being the best host she could be.
Luke finished cleaning and bandaging the worst of the cuts on Skylar, and finally began to work on his own cuts.
When they were done getting bandaged up, Skylar and Luke heard the stranger shout that they should go into the garden at the back of the house.
Luke nodded at Skylar, and helped her out of the house.
She sat down by the fountain, and Luke laid on a hammock, enjoying the sun. A small smile spread across his face as he rested.
Skylar ran her fingers through the water, feeling the coolness of it against her fingers. Her head still hurt, but the water calmed her, and she closed her eyes to stop her head from spinning.
When she opened them, she saw the woman standing over behind Skylar, as her face flashed into something evil for a moment, distorting her features and making her eyes, which were pink before, red.
As Skylar turned and looked at the woman, her features went back to normal.
“Hello, Skylar,” the woman unsettlingly smiled. She lifted a finger, touching Skylar’s forehead, and her vision went black...
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