To Break (Masky X OC)

Chapter One

Local legends spoke of a woodland woman who lived in the surrounding woods in her cottage. Legend goes she rarely leaves her home and that she lures people in never to be seen again. She is supposedly known to have flowing hair and piercing green eyes, skin covered in dirt, mud, and dried blood. She spoke in an ancient unknown language. Finally, she was known to have killed her soulmate and many others soulmates. She showed no mercy to those she deemed unworthy of their soulmate. Some saw her as a protector to hurt soulmates and others saw her a monster. She saw herself as a liberator of those who were oppressed by their soulmates. However, years ago the woodland woman disappeared and faded to just a legend. Her cottage still stood proud in the woods. No one had been brave enough to check it out for fear of being killed or worse. Years later, the fear of the woodland woman dissipated and she was reduced to an old ghost story.

In this world, soulmates were everything. Very few people were born without a soulmate, and those born without one were deemed doomed to life alone. Soulmates differed from red strings, to words, to symbols, to colors, or even the dreaded Hanahaki bond. Through generations, the way to find a soulmate began to hybrid and mix so two ways would merge into one way. For example, Caoihme Callaghan had a tattoo soulmark that was black and white. Once her soulmate was found, her tattoo would gain its colors. Soulmate bonds were almost always romantic. Some weren't. On the very rare occasion, someone would get something called a platonic soul bond. Platonic soulbonds were usually formed through great acts of friendship and trust. Platonic soulbonds were rare but not entirely uncommon. There were just too many people who would rather betray a friend than stay by their side till the end. Unlike soulmate soulbonds, a platonic bond could be easily broken.

Soulmates were forbidden from killing their significant other. If a soulmate killed their partner, they'd be subjected to soul guilt, a guilt so powerful and heavy it was a death sentence. Soulmates, if the bond was strong enough, could feel their partners feelings and emotions, share a mind link, and/or share pain and wounds. None of these were particularly rare, but to have more than one was rare. Rare, but not impossible.

Caoihme Callaghan never liked the options. Sure, sharing emotions would be cool, but she found it would be extremely complicated. What if she was happy and her soulmate furious? Would they feel happy or angry or both? A mind link would be horrifying to her. Why would she want to invade someone's privacy like that? Shared pain and wounds is a big no for her. She may have a high pain tolerance, but what if her soulmate was murdered? Feeling their pain as they died? No thank you.

Caoihme had recently moved to her new home she had inherited from her deceased mother. Her new home was very much a fixer upper, but she didn't care. With help from Collin Harper and Clara Asher, her home was fixed up nicely. Instead of a rundown house, it now looked like it had just been built. Flower beds surrounded the house and behind her home were large vegetable and fruit gardens. A green thumb was something Caoihme definitely had. Caoihme's soulmark was a tattoo on her wrist, a cigarette with wispy smoke. Even though it was in black and white, Caoihme couldn't help but like it. Sure, a cigarette wasn't the best symbol, but it could have been worse. All smoking did was ruin your lungs. It wasn't like a cigarette meant her soulmate was a bad person. Although most people assumed that.

Standing at five foot seven, Caoihme was average height, skin covered in reddish brown freckles, her eyes were an emerald green, and her hair a bright, fiery red. She wore brown pants with a white tank stained by mud and paint with a green jacket. Her feet were usually bare, but when in public she wore a cute pair of brown flats with equally stained socks. On her upper arm was a CGM and she had an Omnipod on her stomach. Although being a T1D, Caoihme didn't let her illness hold her back. In fact, she tried to be better to prove she could do things others could.

Despite being new to the area, Caoihme found part-time jobs with a morning shift at the local cafe and an afternoon shift at a greenhouse. During the winter she worked at the local library. All in all, Caoihme loved her new home. The people were nice, the land was beautiful, and she didn't feel like an outsider. Not many people insulted her Irish accent too much. She tried her best to pronounce words slowly so people wouldn't be confused listening to her speak.

Everyday Caoihme saw people with their soulmate and each day she pretended to act like it didn't hurt. For years she searched for hers, but she never found them. Caoihme had always had a happy-go-lucky attitude and a positive attitude, but she hated being alone without her soulmate. She looked down and yawned as she opened the door to the greenhouse. She put on the company apron and went back to tend to the plants.

"You look upset. Tell you best friend all about your problems, Keevs!" Caoihme laughed and elbowed Collin in the ribs, earning a yelp and a smirk of satisfaction appeared. "Hey!" he protested, rubbing his side. Collin was about an inch taller than her with brown eyes and shaggy light brown hair. He liked to wear blue and brown clothes.

"And why would I tell you?" Caoihme grinned, rolling her eyes. "You'd just tell everyone else." She picked up a pot of roses and moved it to a more lighted area. "You can't exactly keep a secret with your loud mouth."

"Caoimhe, you wound me," Collin dramatically cried, resting a hand over his heart. Both burst out into laughter. "No, seriously, what's up? It's strange to see you in the moody blues when you are all sunshine and rainbows."

"I am not all sunshine and rainbows. I prefer sunshine and warm clouds," Caoihme smirked, spraying Collin with the hose. "It's nothing, Collin." She assured him. "I'm fine. Please, stop worrying." She subconsciously rubbed her wrist. Collin noticed and his smile faltered.

"Still looking, huh?" Collin asked softly. Caoihme tensed and slowly nodded. "I know it's hard. I'm just lucky I found Hayley when I did. This may be hard to hear, but not everyone finds their soulmate." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You do know we are here for you, right?"

Caoihme nodded, wiping away a stray tear. "I know, Collin. Dank you," she smiled brightly and nudged him away before he could ruffle her hair again. Her hair tended to be on the wavy side with lots of straggly strands.

Collin bit back a laugh. "I know it's your accent, but it's hilarious! I seriously love your accent, Caoihme," He wheezed and hunched over, holding his stomach. Caoihme rolled her eyes and went back to watering the flowers and other plants.

"'a 'a keep laughing, you idiot." Caoihme and Collin spent the rest of the shift tending to plants, selling some to customers, and gossiping with each other. Collin and Hayley were some of the first people to warm up to Caoihme when she first visited town. Haylay's parents owned the greenhouse and Caoihme, being a huge gardener with a green thumb, was eager to help out. And even more eager when she was hired.

As the sun began to dip beyond the horizon, Collin locked up the shop while Caoihme changed into a cleaner pair of clothes. "Hey, how's the garden coming along?" he asked as they walked to Caoihme's car. "I haven't seen it since you first started it. I remember when you planted your first plant."

Caoihme paused and tried to think back. She could have sworn Collin had visited recently. Shrugging, she looked back at him after she inserted her key into her car door. "It's been doin well. you should comb over sametime and check it out," she offered.

"I'd love to! Hayley and I are free Saturday morning," Collin eagerly accepted the invitation. Caoihme grinned. "How does ten sound?" he asked, opening Caoihme's car door for her.

She got in and nodded. "Ten it is," she confirmed. Caoihme took her keys and turned the engine on. Collin stepped back and let her drive off. Caoihme took the scenic route back to her home. She enjoyed looking out over the fields and looking through the trees. As the sun went down even further and darkness fell, Caoihme felt unease as she went to unlock her door.

Her door was unlocked and slightly open. Someone had broken in.

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A huge thank you to Shreeader  for making this cover! I absolutely love it!

Thank you all for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it! Comments are appreciated. I love hearing from you all. If I got anything wrong, please politely let me know.

Have a wonderful day!

~Kat