Never Say Never (Arranged Marriage Love Story)

Chapter Three

|Chapter Three|

I had been running for what seemed to be hours, though only a few minutes. My legs and lungs were burning from the exhaustion, even though I was in fairly good shape from all of my weaponry practices. Those seemed to have little effect at the moment, however, as my lungs seemed ready to burst and my legs groaned in protest. I knew that I was running away from someone or something, but I didn't know why or from who. All I knew is that if I stopped and gave in to the groaning of my body, I was going to be in horrible trouble from my predator.

My eyes continued to glance behind as if I was expecting someone to be chasing after me or pop out and tackle me to the ground, but no one ever appeared and did what I seemed to fear so much. None of that mattered though, and I kept running as fast as my tired legs would take me. I couldn't stop now, nor anytime soon.

The area around me was dark. If it wasn't for the pale, bright full moon above my head, I would be left stumbling around in the dark. A thick forest surrounding my frightened being, but there was a small, raggedy path that I had somehow found and was currently scrambling along on. Pale moonbeams shown down on the rough, dirt long overgrown with weeds and covered in fallen leaves and twigs.

Overgrown branches hung low to the ground and over the area I was running on. They scratched my bare skin as I ripped past them carelessly, my skin becoming red and sticky from the blood pouring out of the wounds nature had caused me. My bare feet felt as if they were on fire as they constantly landed on broken twigs and rocks, but I couldn't let the pain stop me, not now and not ever. The pain and consequence of getting caught would be much, much worse; so I continued my deadly sprint.

The fact that I was going to tire out eventually played in the back of my head and I tried my best to keep it from surfacing though I was failing miserably. I was gasping for air, struggling to fill my lungs. I would collapse from exhaustion soon, whether I liked it or not.

Just stay focused, Luce. I tell myself. Focus on your breathing, you'll make it-

My left foot hooks underneath something hard, most likely an upraised tree root, and I loose my balance. My arms wave wildly in the air as I fall to the ground, a hoarse scream ripping through my throat. Crashing against the ground head first, my forehead collided with something sharp and pointed, leaving me dazed and stunned. A soft moan escapes my lips as I lay there confused and disoriented as the pain erupts in my head.

Somewhere in my head I knew that I needed to get back up and start running once more, but I couldn't quite make out which way was up or down with the fire raging in my head. Twisting myself onto my back, I open my eyes and see the forest moving above me in circles, and wait a minute. Were there two moons?

Once the spinning seemed to slow and one of the moos seemed to vanish in thin air, my hand finds my head and I gently probe at the injured area, moaning as my fingers glazed over the sensitive areas. Taking my hand away, I realized that my fingers were coated in something wet and sticky. Blood.

The blood kick starts my brain and I remember that I needed to get the hell out of here before I got caught. Groaning, I find a nearby tree as support to pull my protesting body up from the ground. Once on my feet, my legs buckle and I fall on my knees. The world swirled around me and left me feeling very nauseous. Why was everything spinning so much?

I close my eyes and slowly count to ten, before attempting to stand once more. This time, however, I leave my hand on the tree so that I didn't fall and have to start the process all over again. Once up on my feet, I open my eyes and shake my head in an attempt to clear it and stop the all the spinning. Once the world seemed to come to a slow halt, I take a deep breath and start my running back up, proud of my will-power and determination.

My dreams of escaping were quickly smashed as a hand grabs my golden locks and jolts me back after I had taken just a few steps. My scalp exploded in a new pain as my hair was nearly pulled out of my head from the force off the attack. Screaming, I expect to hit the rough ground once again, but instead I fall against a hard and solid body. My body hits their chest and I collapse in their arms as my body looses the motivation to try and move away, despite my screaming commands in my head. It was useless, I wasn't going anywhere, as I was caught in the spiderweb.

The person's arms lift my unmoving body off of his chest before roughly pushing me into the tree I had used to prop myself up earlier. A small whimper escapes as a small branch jabs into the small area of my back between my shoulder blades. Thankfully I didn't hit my throbbing head on the rough bark behind me. My head hung limp against against my chest as I closed my eyes and tried to stop the nausea and the spinning woods around me. As my head started to clear and the pain started to lessen, a hand clenches my chin and jerks it up.

My eyes flutter open and I find a pair of icy blue ones grinning maliciously down at my dazed figure. As the world stops spinning and my vision clears, the person's features come into sight and I come to realize that Ashley, the Salamian Prince, was standing there holding me captive.

Immediately hundreds of questions fill my mind as I try and figure out what was happening. Why was he here? Why was I running from him? Why was I so scared of getting caught by him? Did he want something from me?

What the hell was going on?

I try to wiggle out from his hold on me, but it only resulted in him tightening his grip on my chin and wrist. His fingers dug into my skin and I cried out in pain.

He seems unmoved by my pain and instead removes his hand from my chin and brushes it gently against the side of my face in a soft caress. His fingers then find the cut where I had hit my head on the rock and his fingertips softly brush over the wound causing me to flinch back in pain and fear.

A soft chuckle emits from his mouth as his eyes glint down amused at my fear of him. I stare back in shock, my mind running as I tried and figured out what was happening and why. Lost in the recesses of my mind, I didn't realize what Ashley was doing until pressure was applied to my slightly opened lips. A soft gasp escapes as his own lips, soft yet firm, took advantage of my shocked state and he slips his tongue in between my parted lips. As his tongue explored ever crevice of my mouth, he wraps one hand around my neck in order to pull my head up and deepen the kiss. The pressure around my wrist disappeared, but it was only so that he could wrap his arm around my waist to pull my body close to as well to make escape nearly impossible.

My fists pound uselessly against his toned chest in an attempt to get the prince off of my body and break the contact. It was all in vain, as he was much too strong and I too weak.

I decided that I would have to bite the invading tongue in order to break the kiss off and get him off of me, but he broke the kiss before I could attempt it. He didn't, however, break the contact our two bodies made and instead rested his forehead against my own. His cool, minty breath hit my face as he stood there with his eyes closed breathing heavily. He smelled like spearmint and rain, an odd combination, yet it smelled good.

"How are you so beautiful?" He breathes, his voice angelic sounding, as his eyes open once again. It was when he spoke that I realized I had never heard him speak before, but it was beautiful. "You're just human, so how are you able to seduce an immortal?"

Seduce? How was my kicking and hitting seducing him? Did I hit my head too hard earlier?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I gasp out as my eyes glare up at him before trying to push him off of me once again.

He chuckles before standing back up to his full height which was several inches taller than me as my eyes only met the hollow of his neck. He unwraps the hand from around my neck and reaches for something in the back pocket of his pants. My eyes widen in horror as the moonlight glints on the shiny, sharp object he now held in his hands.

I was going to die.

But then again, that didn't make any sense at all. Why make a marriage contract when my "fiance" was going to kill me before the contract could ever be fulfilled?

Despite the odds of me dying seeming slim, my fight or flight response came and I tugged at the arm around my waist, trying desperately to get out of his embrace and save myself from this demon. I was not going to die at the hands of this man.

"Struggling will only make it worse," He breathes in my ear, his breath tickling the skin.

I scream and squeeze my eyes shut, praying that my death would be quick and painless. I wasn't going to beg for my life, especially not when it was him that was going to kill me.

The area of skin over my heart seems to bust into flames as a intense burning sensation comes across the area. My body flinches in pain, yet no other part of my body was affected. I didn't feel as if I had just been stabbed through the heart, yet I wouldn't know what it felt like all the same. I hesitantly open my left eye and instead of seeing the hilt of a dagger sticking out of my chest, I saw Ashley carving something into the skin instead. Tears prick at my eyes as the pain seemed to grow with each passing second as it felt like he was carving and burning something onto my skin at the same time. I didn't know if you could die from pain, yet I yearned for anything that would make the pain stop.

After several long seconds, Ashley removed the strange object off of my skin as he seems to finish whatever form of torture he had decided to inflict. The relief was instantaneous, though a faint burn residing on the skin. My breathing had grown loud and ragged, as silent tears ran down my cheeks bluing my vision from seeing whatever he had done.

I didn't know if I really wanted to see what he had done, though.

His free hand grabbed my chin and lifted it to where he could look at my face and he makes a soft "tsk" sound before wiping the tears away from my eyes with his thumbs.

"Now you're mine and only mine, Lucy." He says as his lips curl up into a satisfied smirk. "Nothing can take you away from me, not even yourself."

My eyes blink in surprise and I was about to question him, but when I opened my eyes back up he was gone. The only trace that remained was the soft scent of spearmint. Before my brain could process what the hell had just happened to me, darkness seemed to wrap itself around my body and vision. My body starts to tremble as my legs lose the strength to hold myself up and I tumble to the ground and into the black abyss.