Wither

Chapter 3-A Kiss in the Woods

After Magical Weapons class, I left, aiming for the girls' dormitories. "Ember, can you wait a second?" a voice called from behind me. I turned around.

"Hi, Jet," I said with a smile. "Anything you need?"

"No, no, well, unless you count you following me," he said. I nodded and he led me outside. Rain pattered onto the sidewalks. He pranced through it. I hissed as a drop touched me.

"Do we really have to be outside while it's raining?" I complained. Jet just chuckled and grabbed my hand. There was a forest students were allowed to go into right next to the school. He led me into it. The rain was a drumming against the the canopy, making an almost soothing rythm. The thick layer of leaves blocked most droplets from falling.

"Come on; we're almost there," he reassured me. I nodded again and stayed by his side. He led me into a cave, where bright orange glow bugs shimmered. A pool of water lapped at the rocks at the back of the cave. "This is my favorite place to go when I feel strong emotions, conflicted about things, anything I don't want to talk about to a human," Jet gave a rare and beautiful smile. I grinned back.

"It's...amazing, Jet," I sat by him, our hands almost touching. I gazed at the setting sun, aflame in the blue-turning-indigo sky. "You know, while I was...gone, I saw your twin brother, Kai."

"Ah, yes, him..." Jet said thoughtfully. "He was never like the rest, I guess."

"Yes, he had a rather, uh, large liking for Poof," I winked, "if you know what I mean."

Jet chuckled. "Always a taker for innocents, since he considered himself such the dark one."

We laughed together as he sun set. I sighed contently and closed my eyes. Suddenly, I felt Jet holding my face in his hands. Opening my bright blue eyes, I gazed into his shining, coal-black ones, and he lifted my face to his. As the sun filtered through the leaves, our lips brushed for a tantalizing moment. Jet grabbed me and another kiss was planted. We lay there. On the ground. In the middle of the forest. Kissing. (~PenguinPoof6 . Excerpt from one of my best friend's books, Surviving the Anger. If you like my books, I'd recommend you check out her Surviving series!)

I heard a crunch in the woods, like footsteps, but I didn't care until I heard a bewildered gasp. I broke away from Jet, looking around to face Seto. He stared at me, shocked, and dropped a bouquet of orange, red, and yellow flowers.

Backing away, Seto broke into a run. Jet just shrugged and made a move to start kissing me again, but I dodged, getting to my feet. "Hold on a minute," I said. Jet nodded and I burst off after him.

"Seto, wait!" I called. The only identifier of my friend was a flapping purple cloak. I pressed after him, calling his name desperately.

*Seto's POV* /short\

I ran through the forest, horrified at what I thought I saw. I could hear Ember calling my name, but I didn't care. Not about her, not about anything but the awful thing in the cave. My cloak flapped wildly as I rushed away in a blind panic, ignoring her calls. I knew rationality would take over soon, but for now I embraced the shock that took its place.

*Ember's POV*

"Seto!" I screamed. He didn't even look back. "Seto!"

Seto urned a sharp corner, and I clumsily followed, slipping on the mud. "Seto, please!" I sobbed. I was about to call him again when I tripped on a tree root, landing face first in the mud. I scrabbled for a hold in the slippery dirt, but ended up with a mouthful of crap. I spat it out and screamed his name, over and over and over.

As I lay there, I began to feel my hairs go on end. Abruptly, lightning struck a tree by me. "Seto!" I screamed, barely rolling out of the way before it crashed down. I passed out from shock.

*Seto's POV*

I heard a crackle behind me. Ember screamed my name once more, and I whipped around to see a tree fall over. A massive dark oak. I gasped and ran over to her, hopping over the enormous tree. She was barely breathing, and they were shallow and short. Her eyes were glazed over and when I took her pulse, it was fast as the lightning that almost killed her.

I couldn't bring myself to leave her. I picked her up, oddly reminded of that time more than a year ago when we first met. I swallowed and retraced my steps through the storm to the cave.