Atlântida

Single Chapter (Eng version)

Birds fly from their trees as I approach the open field. She is lying on the grass, looking up at the half-orange sky. The last lights of the sun touch her skin, almost making her glow, the memories of the day before coming to my mind like a storm. I can remember the words exchanged before and during the storm.

— I will go with you wherever you go. My home is you.

— My heart feels the same, my love.

Those were words I would never take back, never forget, but the ones that came during the storm...

— I don't care if they disapprove. I don't care if we shouldn't be together. What I feel is what matters.

— I do care. Two women together would never be accepted.

— Let's run away, then.

— I can't. My family is here.

— I could be your family like you're already mine.

— That's not how it works.

We drifted apart after that. Literally and figuratively. We stopped talking to each other and went to a corner of the city. Away from each other's gaze and from the awkward stares of when we were together. We never did anything to let them know what was really going on between the two of us. But I believe we spent so much time together that they started to get suspicious, especially after I turned down a marriage proposal from one of the lords of the small town. I don't know if they could ever accept women together, but I wouldn't mind running away with her whenever they found out we were more than two friends. I wouldn't even mind living in the middle of the forest if it meant staying with her for eternity.

I lie down next to her. The green grass tickles my naked arms through the long dress. I hear a sigh coming from her and close my eyes. We know it's complicated, and she has plenty to lose, unlike me, who has already lost everything. Or almost everything.

— I'm sorry I can't save us... — Another sigh. — But we are like Atlantis, destined to fall.

— We knew we were building it on shaky ground, which could sink at any moment. But in my head and in my heart... — It's from my lips that now comes a sigh. — Why does it have to end?

— I don't know. Maybe I wasn't meant to love.

Before I can answer, I hear noises from the North, straight from the road to town. Steps are coming toward us. I stand up and pull her back between the trees, keeping us hidden at the beginning of the forest that everyone was afraid to enter. Her breathing is fast by fright, and I can feel and hear her heart racing against my chest as we hide behind one of the trees. Our gazes meet again, and I can see the fear in her eyes.

— You can love anyone because you were born to love. — I leave a light seal on her forehead. — And we can still run away...

— Please, not now.

I nod and close my eyes for a few seconds. It's enough to know that whoever passed by was already gone. I warned her and told her that she could return to the city alone, without worrying. And so, again, we part.

I keep thinking that maybe we met at the wrong moment or at the wrong time. For someone who had lived so many years, waiting a few more should be nothing, but I was starting to get impatient with everything. I might have eternity in my hands, but she didn't. In a few years, she would grow old until she stopped breathing, but she held on to the idea. Nothing seemed to change in her mind. She seemed stuck in that idea that her parents and the archaic society put in her mind. Thinking about it, I decided I would wait only a few more days, maybe a month, and if she didn't change her mind, I would leave this town by moving to the next one, as I had always done until I met her. And I tried, I swear I tried to take these thoughts seriously, but every day we spent together, she seemed to give me more hope that she would change her mind.

Just like that day, the day everything changed. With my head lying on her legs, she caressed my short hair. We were in the open field, in the grass that tickled my arms, watching the sun go down, as we did almost every day during this one month that passed. She was singing to me while I had my eyes closed and my hearing focused on her voice. It felt like the two of us were the only ones in the world, nothing else. I opened my eyes to behold her beautiful face and her eyes shining as she sang and the weak sun reflected there. The most beautiful woman in the world stood before my eyes, and her soft voice and the caress she gave me made me want to stay and never leave her.

When the birds flew by in the sky above both of us, that's when everything changed.

They weren't just passing by. They were running away. I could not hear the many footsteps because of my inattention to the world around us. Paying attention to her melodious voice, I didn't hear the people walking toward us with different weapons. The first thing we felt was the stones, with one hitting her right in the head. It wasn't strong enough to put her out, but it got her dizzy. Seconds later came the spears, sharp and shaving through our skins. Lucky for us and unlucky for them, none actually hit. Everything happened very fast, but when I realized what was happening, I got up from her legs, pulled her out of there, and needed to take her in my arms and ran into the forest. They didn't follow us, but I kept running until I was sure I was far enough away that I couldn't even hear their hearts. When I stopped, I put her on the ground, and that's when I saw the arrow stuck close to her heart. She is still breathing, and her eyes are open, but I can hear her faintest heart slowly stopping.

— I'm scared, my love. The pain is making me even more afraid.

Her voice is flawed, her breathing even more so. Your eyes slowly start to close.

— Stay with me, love. I can't lose everything I've ever known and loved...

One of my hands is on her cheek, caressing, and when I feel her heart slow down even more, I bring my lips to her neck, and with my fangs out, I bite right above her artery. The poison travels through her body quickly. Her heart stops for good, and my hand caresses her face as I feel her skin becoming icy like mine. Her breathing no longer exists. Slowly her heart beats, weak, light, just enough to keep her half alive. Her eyes open wide and frightened. I needed some time to explain what happened and that she was now, like me, a vampire. I thought she wouldn't like it, but knowing that the people she trusted were capable, she was grateful that she could now live with me anywhere or anytime. And so it happened, us together from place to place, age to age. Because we would have eternity to be together...