Finding Cupid

Chapter 15

POV: Eros

I was running from something. For the first time in my life, I as scared for my very existence. My fear was tangible, a cold clammy sweat that poured down my body like a rainstorm. I was immortal, but I was terrified because, for once, I was actually threatened by something, by someone. Branches snagged at my skin and tore at my clothes, but I was not stopped. I was running as fast as I could, my breath coming in short, shallow gasps and my legs burning with the fires of hell. I had never been so scared in my life, but I could not stop running to focus on my fear.

"Run, Eros," a voice clouded around my head and penetrated my thoughts. It was a female voice, oddly familiar but unable to place. "Run."

I keep pumping my arms and legs faster than I ever thought possible. I try to transport myself to somewhere safe, but I stay in the forest I am darting through, my feet moving quicker and quicker in direct proportion to my fear.

"No," another voice commanded. This voice was more impactful, less wispy - her tones were clear in my foggy mind, and I wanted to listen. She was like a sharp gunshot through cloudy air, like a cure for a plague. I wanted to hear her speak again, so I ran faster. Maybe if I disobey her, she will speak again. "Stop, Eros. Stop."

I knew that voice. I knew the person who spoke with that voice. I knew her...

"Alice?" I called out, even though running had taken my breath away. "Alice, where are you?" I welcomed the idea that my little angel could be in the forest with me. Even though I was terrified, it would be less scary if I were with her. I slowed my pace to a stop and took stock of my surroundings. "Alice?"

Shuddering sobs resonated through the forest and I had a feeling that they belonged to Alice, but I could not pinpoint their location of origin. I tried calling her again.

"Alice, you have to tell me where you are! I cannot help you unless you tell me where you are," I called out to her. The spongy moss that clung to the trees that surrounded me absorbed my voice so that my Alice could not hear me. Either she could not hear me or she did not want me, because she did not answer. Sobs continued to echo through the forest - how was it that she can make a sound when my voice could not escape the trees? "Alice, please, I am begging you!"

"Eros," she croaked out, but loudly so that I could hear her. "Eros, you did this to me, and you need to find me."

My girl was hurt because of me, and that fueled me to push harder, to keep running until I saw her. And, eventually, I did see her. She was curled on the forest floor, dirt streaking her beautiful face and caking her hair and clothes. Alice looked like death, but a sweet death. The kind of death that I would have welcomed. A silver dress hugged her body, but I could hardly tell because the debris of the forest covered her like a blanket of snow on a street. She looked like a part of the forest, like something as beautiful and natural as a flower that only grows in the darkest corners of the earth. Roots began to wind over her body the second that I set my eyes on her, and she writhed in pain as they constricted her blood flow.

"No!" I was screaming on the ground, trying to pull them away from her, when the light footsteps of the thing that I was running from suddenly gave way to a monster. I did not even look up. That was my mistake. Alice shrieked, warning me of something, begging for me to leave. "I can't leave you, Alice, I can't." I curled myself over her and pressed my lips to her forehead, knowing that the monster was behind me, but also knowing that I could not look away from Alice. I did not even flinch as a knife plunged into my back.

I woke up gasping for air, my skin coated in a cold layer of sweat. Alice was still curled up on me, her soft breaths hitting my skin like waves. She was okay. It was reassuring to know that she was alive, but the dream, the nightmare, had me in a state of terror. I wrapped my arms around Alice and pulled her close to me.

"I've got you, baby," I murmured. She stirred in my arms before settling back into my arms. "You're okay."

All I wanted to do was lay with Alice and just tell her how beautiful she was and how amazing she was. I just wanted to be with Alice in any way that she would let me. I could feel sleep tugging at my eyelids, but I just wanted to lay there with the beautiful brown haired girl that I had somehow convinced to trust me, despite her natural instinct to be wary of men. Even though I knew it was the arrow that was making her lust for me, I could not help but think that there had to be something more between us. There had to be more than just a chemical reaction.

I brushed her hair away from her face, tucking the strands behind her ears and trailing my fingers down her jawline. Soft peach fuzz tickled at my fingers. The soft skin of her neck was warm from sleep and tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on the top of her forehead. A small smile graced her lips and I could tell from her fluttering eyelids and contented breaths that she was having a good dream. She was safe.

I let my eyes fall shut again.

Crimson droplets leaked from the gaping hole in my chest and fell onto Alice. She was unhurt, and that was all that mattered to me. Her beautiful eyes were pools of water, her face streaked from fallen tears.

"You're hurt," she whispered, struggling against the roots holding her down to reach a hand to my bleeding chest. "You're hurt because of me."

"No, no sweetheart, this isn't your fault," I reassured her. "This isn't your fault. It's okay, Alice, it's okay."

I could feel the air through the hole in my chest but I still focused on making sure Alice was okay. I was in crippling pain, struggling against my need to pass out and let the pain take over. I wanted my body to heal itself, but it could not do that when I was trying to use my strength to free Alice from the forest. I wanted her to leave, to get herself to safety, where she could be happy and comfortable. Where she wouldn't be terrorized by the problems that I brought her. I could still feel the monster looming over me, but I couldn't move away from her, I couldn't leave her. Alicealicealicealice had taken over my mind and my body and my heart and all I wanted was her to be okay.

"I love you, Alice, I swear on everything I've ever loved that I love you and I want you and... oh, Gods, Alice, I know it has only been a week, but I love you," I leaned down to press my lips to her forehead and to hold her torn hands, but she barely even registered it. She had begun to go a soft purple from the restricted blood flow, but she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

"Turn around," she whimpered, her eyes falling shut. "Turn around."

Using all my energy to turn myself around, I finally looked at my monster. The attacker had a sly smile and cold eyes and...

"Hello, Eros." A smirk. A wink.

Psyche.

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A/N:

Hai guys! :) So I know this chapter is far from my best work, but the amount of homework i have is ridiculous so this is about as good as it's gonna get. More to come soon! Thanks for reading guys :)

xxx emily