MANHUNT

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I broke down into a pool of tears. why? Because it isn't exactly easy seeing the one you love in great agony. I remember seeing him lying there-his shaggy hair darker than coal was wet from the evening fog of the damp grass. This wasn't the man who wanted to fight for true love that everyone else thought was wrong,this was a weak fragile body,not even worth the title of a man. I screamed at him in turmoil. Part of me wanted to tell him 'I told you so' but the other part wanted to hold him close and never let go. I did neither. Instead I laid on his muscular body as it radiated everything I loved: warmth,happiness,protection and comfort.

I would have done anything to hear his soft velvet voice which was an oxymoron to his rough and rugged looks. I would have died to see the slightest glance of his piercing brown eyes which had finally come to a close. He was perfection. Absolute perfection but he was dying,and I could feel my whole world coming to an end. He coughed and slowly opened his eyes "don't ever forget what we had,baby." At this moment I felt a ball of saliva building up in my throat,and speaking became a battle. "No." My voice was almost inaudible. "No" I repeated louder. "NO!" I shrieked. At this point he wrapped his arms around my waist and we layed on the damp grass together.

"Imogen,I'm not going to make it" he whispered "No! Stop, just stop,the ambulance is on their way-its going to be fine,I-" He interrupted me by placing his cold finger on my lips "shh,baby let's enjoy our last moments together and when I'm gone- don't mourn for me,move on,and enjoy your life,I want you to-" his breath became shorter,at this point he was unable to speak. I lay on his chest,unable to respond. My mind overflowed with questions: Where are the ambulance? Who did this to him? Am I going to lose him? We lay in silence until he caught back his breath "Imogen,I want you to be happy. You must be happy" his eyes watered but he continued to speak "When I'm gone-" I interrupted,I couldn't allow him to go on "You're not leaving me-you promised...you said you'd never leave me."

"No Imogen,you're wrong,please just let me say this-when I'm gone I want you to-" his voice became shaky and we were interrupted by the siren of the ambulance.

Yes! It was a miracle. They found us. Everything was going to be alright. I caught him smiling at me and we both laughed together,my gaze glued to his piercing brown eyes,I placed my hands on his jaws and kissed his perfectly shaped lips uncontrollably. It was the best feeling ever, that warm tingling feeling, everything was perfect-until his jaw bones froze and his piercing brown eyes were no longer piercing-just brown and remained in a fixed position. He was gone. Everything stopped. My world ended.

I shivered in disbelieve. My heart was now pumping cold blood; I tried to blink away the tears that now blurred my vision, however I couldn't hold it back. Soon after I could feel a salty river running down my face. It was almost impossible to breathe.

"Help!" I screamed, unfortunately I wasn't very successful as my voice echoed throughout the vast landscape.

I could hear the footsteps of several paramedics coming closer "Caden,wake up" I shook his body eagerly "wake up!" With a failed attempt I tried again "Wake up" at this moment I heard one of the paramedics say "I'm sorry ma'am but you must now step away from the body" I felt the urge to stand up and punch him in the face; how dare he refer to the love of my as just a 'body', but all my energy had vanished and I could only lay on Caden's large muscular chest,hugging him tightly.

I was disturbed once again by this fat man in uniform staring down at us

"have you got a problem?will you just leave us alone-you weren't here when we actually needed you. Yes that's right-you killed him. proud? Yes, you should be, since everyone wanted him dead anyway."

"Ma'am I can see your angry, is their any form of relation between you and the body-your dad perhaps?" I slowly stood up, my eyes sparking with ferocity and my hands closing into fists daring him to repeat once more the words that had torn my heart into fragments. I grabbed him by the collar "No, he is the love of my life,this man-" I turned around to point at Caden only to find his body had disappeared.

"NOOO!" I screamed at the other paramedics that were covering his body and taking him away. "Leave him alone, let him go, I said let him-" I was cut off by the force of the fat man pulling me backwards "calm down dear, I will try to contact your parents" the thought of this frightened me, I couldn't bear to see the sight of the joy on my mothers face when she realised that the man who she'd always hated was dead.

"No, no there's no need for that, I will be fine-i can make my way home"

and with that been said I ran into the woods as fast as my long legs would carry me,I refused to settle until justice was served,until I found the real villain,until I found the man who murdered Caden.