Blanket of Stars [completed]

✩ Seven Can't Love You More

"True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart."

✩ Devlin(Seven) Can't Love You More

Half way through the night, in the tangled mess of blankets and pillows, I woke up. The cabin was dark, foreboding, and empty. I could hear the wind howl outside, the sound crawling up my arms as a serpent. The twin bed next to mine was vacant.

I stumbled out of bed, tripping on the baggy sweats. A loose eagles t-shirt clung to my torso and Devlin's old sweatpants warmed my legs. In the dark, I looked for my sweater. It was freezing inside, even with the coals in the fireplaces and piles of comforters. Finding my sweater piled near the edge of the bed frame, I quickly slipped it on and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Devlin?" I called his name two, three times in a row. Maybe he had gone to the bathroom but the door was open. Thundered roared outside and the rain collided with the roof. Like nails jarring against a wall, the raindrops drummed an unpleasant, stormy symphony.

The kitchen lay barren, only with the fireplace livening the darkness. I walked back into the room. The chill raising goosebumps on my spine.

Suddenly wind seeped through the cracks beneath the door, it fought against the front door, dead bent on the winning the war. The door flew open and the cabin was flood with the stormy air. Another gust barracked inwards. It extinguished the fireplace, suspending the entire cabin in an eerie, murky black.

Was the wind strong enough to break the door's hinges? The answer was no. I placed my hand on the sodden wood. The door was unlocked. That means Devlin was outside, in this storm, while I silently slept indoors. Had he lost his mind?

I rushed outside. The woods swayed with the storm, more like they danced- the pine and aspen's narrow tips were bent westwards. It was a terrifying sight, the kind that made your heart crawl out of your mouth then sink back in. I had hoped Devlin would be sitting on the patio steps, underneath the now extinguished oil lamp but he wasn't there.

He was nowhere to be seen.

It wasn't a question inside my mind. I had to look for him, even if it meant facing that storm. I walked back in and gathered a tarp and flashlight from the white cabinet. I left the protection of the patio, headed in the opposite direction from where we had come. The tarp provide some protection against the rain as I huddled my body in the blue plastic cloth but it was of no use against the wind.

Mud soaked my legs till the knees. Even with the sweatpants rolled up to my thighs, they were still caked with soil.

The forest was dead. No animals or sound was heard other than the storm. After searching for three or so hours, I realized how deep I had come into the forest. In every direction, all I saw was tall trees and the jagged outline of the distant mountains.

I knew if I went further ahead, I would lose myself. I wasn't familiar with this places and the chances of finding Devlin were zero to none. Rain pelted against my back, few drops falling into my eyes. I collapsed by a nearby trees. My arms hugged my legs. I looked up. The canopy of leaves was protecting me from the rain.

"Where the hell are you?" I whispered. My insides were frozen with fear and panic. Had I done something wrong? Slowly, the scenes from the night began replaying in front of my eyes. I tried desperately to grasp to every word while my eyelids became heavy

He smiled, a dimple appearing on his left cheek "They're hard to kill, aren't they?"

"What?"