The True Alpha: Invictus // jjk

22: The Snow

It was so cold. Hani felt so cold. She felt... oddly freezing, a sort of cold that she hadn’t experienced before. When she inhaled in the air, her lungs cried out in pain; for no matter, with how much strength, she took a breath in, it did not reach her lungs. It froze before arriving there, only to vanish in a sudden movement. With a lot of effort, she tried to open her eyes; her eyelashes battled against each other, struggling to make even the slightest of flutters.

           Above her the skies were slightly grey, yet, she could not be certain of what she was seeing. Her sight was wavering, it was dizzy and glossy. Slowly, she attempted to move the toes of her feet – once more, she found them to be freezing cold, numb, barely, it seemed, alive. She could tell she was laying down on something soft and mushy; she felt the grass under her hands. Confused, Hani tried to piece where se was at. The last thing she remembered was... Lucca’s words and now, she was outside?

           A gentle breeze waved through her hair and strangely, the girl’s eyes followed its direction, almost instinctively. Flowers surrounded her; petit white flowers, whose petals she could shelter in her hands, if she were... only to reach them. Magnolias, she remembered. There were so many around her, yet neither of them, for strange as it sounded, reached near her, didn’t even dare to touch her. Not even when a perky wind grazed past them, shaking them.

           There was silence. The world felt empty to her – she could not shake that feeling. The feeling that she was being left behind, completely erased by the nature that surrounded her. Her body kept on getting colder and less and less, she could move her eyes, to study her surroundings. Only a feeling lingered on, very stealthy, and only now, strangely, she realized – her belly was not cold, but warm, hot. And so, with what seemed the last of her strengths, she shakenly moved her hand there; otherwise such a short travel, turned into a lifetime.

           The hand sank into a gooey substance, rather sticky as well. It was warm there, she was certain, now that she had touched it. Strange... she thought. And with a curiosity, that could only be painful, she brought the hand closer to her eyes, so that she could expect the substance. The sky was getting darker and even with the very light sunlight that she was afforded, the substance’s colour was clear – Red. Dark red, blood red. Hani was bleeding.

           “And she bleeds... death waiting at the door, knocking to come in”

           That voice... it sounded familiar to her. Like she had heard it before, not now but a really long time ago. It was a threatening tone; the one that dripped from the voice. Hani was certain she had to move, at least stand. Yet, now, more than ever – her body failed her. Panic shot through her veins, and desperation started piling up in her eyes. Why wasn’t her body responding to her? Why wasn’t it moving? WHY WASN’T SHE MOVING? MOVE! MOVE!

           “And she cries... how beautiful. It is such a shame that we are stuck in this cycle. Constantly, being pulled to one another by fate, treading the same paths, meeting at the same junctions. Our meeting is always exhilarating thought. And the closing act is always my favourite. I’m always forced by destiny to kill you and you to die by my hands."

           Her body was shutting off. Only tears ran down her face. From the corner of her eye, Hani caught a glimpse of someone approaching her. Slowly, with no hurry to reach her, to catch her – there was nowhere Hani could go.

           “Forever... enacting the moon. Dying, Living, Rebirthing. Living like gods... never once, escaping the pain. Never deserving of an end. You and I. Immortality... and at what cost?”

           Hani’s sight started wavering. White dots started blurring her sight and her body got colder; fear and cold sprinkling her entirely. Even the warmth of her belly was vanishing under the crashing weight of the snow that fell. Everything became coated in white. The voice kept on echoing in the silence. And a spot of red, shy and timid, revealed itself to the girl – a pair of red shoes.