Candles

P R O L O G U E

BRANCHES TORE AT MY SKIN as I tried to move them out of my way. The wind attacked my ears, screaming in them, telling me to stop. My arms moved back and forth quickly, arguing against the wind, motivating me to keep going. My feet constantly hit the ground and the sound was loud and repetitive. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes and I could not let them fall. I would not let them fall. Crying only made me feel sorry for what I had done and I would stop. I could not stop...not now. My thighs ached due to my lack of exercise but I kept moving. I pushed my body forward through the pain.

"Sydney!"

Hearing his voice made me want to stop right there and wait for him to catch up. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and let him hold me. I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued to move the tree branches to the side. One managed to claw at my left cheek and I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from crying out in pain. The tears began to fall and I wanted to yell at myself for letting them escape. I should not be crying.

Not right now.

My name echoed throughout the woods and my heart was aching. His voice was loud, so full of pain. I was the cause of his pain. He should not be chasing after me. He should be back at the house with everyone else. Our friends were probably trying to figure out where we were. I frowned. Those were not my friends. They were Harry's. He continued to shout my name and each time my name echoed throughout the darkness, it felt like a bullet to my chest.

"Sydney, stop!"

I looked over my shoulder to see if he was getting close. I could see a light off in the distance and I knew the light was coming from him. It was dark out and the light was giving him away. He knew I could see him coming. Why did he still have the light? I turned my head back around and just as I did so, my shoulder slammed into the nearest tree. I whimpered as I gripped my aching shoulder with my other hand. My feet came to a stop and I placed my back against the tree, trying my best not to scream. The pain was excruciating.

More tears spilled out of my eyes and I shook my head constantly. I should not have looked back to see if he was close. Now, my shoulder was aching and I had come to a stop. I wanted to curse myself for being so idiotic. He was getting closer and my feet were glued to the ground. I was not able to move and this made me cry even more. I could hear him getting closer and I forced my eyes to close tightly.

"Sydney," I heard him take a deep breath. Both of us were exhausted from running. "Didn't you hear me calling you?"

My bottom lip trembled. There was another bullet to my chest. His voice was soft and tired from all of the yelling he had been doing. I almost wanted to hug him. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell he was holding a candle. The heat from the little flame touched my face and when I opened my eyes, his emerald eyes met mine. His eyebrows furrowed together as he watched me carefully. The candle flickered and I looked down at the ground, ashamed.

"Why didn't you stop?" he asked me, the pain in his voice growing. "I kept calling you and...and you wouldn't stop."

"You need to go," I whispered. "You shouldn't be around me." I tried to get away from him but he put an arm up against the tree, blocking my path. "Move your arm." He refused to listen to me. His eyes buried into mine as if he was searching for my thoughts. "Harry, move your arm."

He sighed but did not move his arm, "What's gotten into you?"

"You wouldn't understand," I told him, hoping he would move.

His eyes softened, "The man that was looking for you back at the house..." I stayed quiet as he started to put two and two together. "Was what he said about you true? He wasn't lying? You actually did that?"

"Please," I begged. "I have to go and you're only getting in my way."

"Stop trying to run away!" he shouted, letting the candle drop from his hand. It landed on top of the damp leaves and the flame died out. We were in the complete darkness. "You can't just leave and expect everything to be okay. What about everything that happened? What about our friends? What about all of the people you've met while you were here?"

"I've put them all in danger!" I cried. "I put them all in harm's way by staying here! Now, move your arm and let me go!"

"What about me?" he asked, his tone cold. "What about us? You can't just run away and pretend the past seven months of our lives didn't happen. But none of it matters to you, does it, Gwen?" My eyes widened and my body shook with fear. He knew. He sighed and I could tell he was running fingers through his hair. "Why'd you stop running?"

"I hit my shoulder against a tree."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I lied.

"You don't have to run," Harry protested. "I can keep you safe. I'll find someplace safe for you to stay until we can get this all figured out. Just...Just don't go. I can't lose you. What if you leave and I never see you again?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and a tear dropped. Why was he making this so difficult? I wanted to hit him for making me feel this way about him. He was such an ass to me at the start. I hated him for the longest time. But when he started warming up to me, I loved him. God, I loved everything about him. And now I had to let all of that go to keep him safe.

"You can't be here," I told him. "Go back to the house, Harry. Go back to your friends and go have a great time. Forget about me and forget about everything we had. It doesn't matter anymore. None of it does."

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Harry—"

"I love you!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the woods. "I can't just forget about you. I refuse to forget about you. You're my world, Sydney. If I lose you, my world will crumble. Don't you understand that? I'm not going to lose you over this madness!"

"I'm sorry."

Harry opened his mouth to argue but I pushed him. He staggered back and I was running again. More tears fell from my eyes and I no longer tried to fight them back. I was a coward for leaving him like I did but in time, he would grow to understand why I did what I had done. He would not be upset with me anymore. In fact, I knew he would be happy for me. He did not have to hate me because I already hated myself. I hated myself for putting myself in this position. I hated myself for falling in love with all of these people, knowing I would have to leave them at some point. I hated myself for falling for Harry. I hated my heart for disobeying me.

"Sydney, wait!"

My feet carried me as fast as they could and my vision was blurry now. I knew he was chasing after me again; this was a game of cat and mouse. He was the cat and I was clearly the mouse he was following...hunting. He should not be chasing after me anymore. He now knew the truth and he should be getting as far away from me as he possibly could. Why was he chasing me when he could be running away? I wanted him to get away from me. With it being completely dark out, I knew it would take him a while to find me. He dropped the candle and that was his only chance of locating me.

"Dammit, Sydney! I told you to stop—"

A gun was fired and I covered my ears, falling onto the wet ground below.