Loving the Wrong Man

The World Outside

It wasn't until I turned sixteen (he was eighteen) that the truth was finally told. We weren't really in a prison, guarded to keep us inside. We weren't really under a curfew- it was a bedtime, for safety.

The truth was, we were in something of a dome of Light, one of two in the entire world. Outside, the world had slipped into Chaos. The Evil king was the only one standing. Darkness, Good, and Light had all been dethroned.

It was my job, apparently, to find the Rulers of Dark, Good, and Light. Why me? Something to do with my bloodline- my dad is apparently of Evil blood, and my mother is Good or something.

I was shoved out into the real world, literally. Dave willingly came with me. Two of my parents' friends (Jake and Derek) came as well. We were all armed, and for the first time in my life, I saw the Chaos of the world Outside.

I let Derek take the lead. He was terrifyingly tall and overly muscular, with dark skin and hair. He was moody, but friendly enough to me. Everyone says he has a soft spot for my sister and I.

Our plan was to first check the Palaces- why not? So we were following him, as he knew the Outside world best. We followed him to the easiest Palace- Good.

It was completely destroyed. Burned to the ground, it looked like, and if not burned then someone took to every wall and tore it down.

We split up to search the ruins; I found myself walking through the ruins of the foyer. I look around for any sign of any life, and freeze as I hear the rubble shift behind me. I turn, as he stands up.

He's tall, very tall, with blond hair tied back out of his face. His eyes are strikingly amber- I can see them from here. His face is smudged with dust from the ruins, and slowly he looks at me. "Sh," he says suddenly, glancing over his shoulder. "Don't scream, please don't scream," he says quickly, slowly walking towards me. I'm too startled to do anything about it until he's right in front of me. "Don't scream," he said again, glancing around once more. "You're friend has already tried to kill me once. I don't want to encounter him again."

Up close, his eyes almost seem to glow, giving them a very reddish tint. His hair is light blonde, not quite white. He has a scar on his chin, a bleeding cut above his eye, and quite the wound on his leg.

Derek. He definitely encountered Derek.

"Okay," he let out a relieved puff of air, "You're not screaming." He turned, limping back across the room. He bent down and picked something up off the floor, pocketing it. "So, who're you?" he asked, clearly regaining his wits. I didn't really know if I was allowed to answer that question, so I answered it with questions of my own. "Why does it matter? And who are you?"

Something about this guy rubs me the wrong way.

"Me?" he chuckled softly. "I'm Seth. And now that I've introduced myself, you are...?" he looked over at me, giving me am appraising look. "I'm Rose," I answered slowly, but no recognition passed over his face at the name.

Apparently my parents were famous heroes or something like that before the war. I'm not really sure why I thought he'd know me, but I did.

"Well, hello, Rose," he smiled slightly, sitting down on a large chunk of stone. "What're you doing here?" I asked him, wishing Jake or Derek or Dave were here. "Same think you are," he said, picking up a backpack I hadn't seen before and pulling out a tshirt, ripping it and wrapping the makeshift bandages around his leg. "I'm looking for something." He stood back up, keeping most his weight off his injured leg. "What're you looking for?" I asked curiously, glancing around the deserted ruins. "I could ask the same of you," he said, turning to face me. I can't decide whether I'm awed or terrified by him. I mean, he's not unattractive- but, no. My parents warned me about people out here. They can't be trusted, at the least.

"Rose?" I hear softly from behind me, and next thing I know, Seth has drawn two guns. I turn to find Dave standing in the ruined doorway, his eyes fixed on Seth.

Well, this is great.

Seth didn't react the same way to Dave as he did to me.

"Dave, this is Seth. Seth, Dave," I say calmly, hoping to ease the situation. Dave, of course, trusts me, and walks to stand by my side. Slowly, Seth relaxes, putting the guns away. "As long as it's not the other one," he grumbles, shifting his weight off his injured leg.

As if on cue, a knife is against Seth's neck, and Derek appears behind him.

Although Derek is hard to miss, with his height and build and all, but he could practically be a ninja if he wanted to be.

Seth freezes, Derek smirks. "Everyone alive?" Derek asks.

Seth curses as he recognizes Derek, making Derek laugh. Next think I know, Jake is here, too- but there's the fact that Jake actually is a ninja. Derek, on the other hand, is more like a tank. He's there in the open killing everyone. Most everyone I know is an assassin of some sort.

Maybe I need to rethink my life.

But no. Dave isn't an assassin.

Jake is standing with a gun at Seth's head, Derek has a sword at his throat, Dave and I are armed. Not to mention that Seth is wounded. I really don't think this is fair.

I step around Jake, facing Seth. This is my mission, after all; I'm in charge. I think I'm in charge.

"Alright, Seth, I'll ask again. Why are you here?" I say, trying to sound brave. Seth laughs shortly, but Derek applies pressure to the knife.