Antithesis

Chapter 7

I was dreaming. This much I knew. The smell of fire wafted under my nose as my mother cooked breakfast. I couldn't see anything but the ceiling, but I knew the sound of my mother's humming even though I hadn't heard it in 18 years. It was a sound I would never forget and the rare dreams I had of her left me craving more every time.

The world began to fade, my mother once again escaping from my memory, but the smell of burning lingered. I crinkled my nose and heard a pop.

My eyes shot open. That was definitely not a part of my dream. All around me flames leaped and danced, a mad beauty to their hunger as they consumed everything in their hypnotizing dance. My muscles twitched, I could escape easily, Jack trained us for situations like this. Already I had three escape routes planned out. But, a pang held me back. Loss, I think. The faint memory of my mother lingered, and I hesitated, because for a moment the flames were no longer a cage, but a path to freedom, a path to my mom.

"What are you doing?" a voice dragged me roughly out of my trance. I quickly grabbed as many knives as I could, only the best ones that I held a special fondness for, and wrapped them in leather. They would grow hot in the fire and burn my skin otherwise. A hand grabbed my arm and led me towards the door of the inn. Briefly I glanced at the face of my supposed knight in shining armor. It was Will. What was he doing in my room? No time to dwell on that fact since as of now my room was being consumed by hungry flames.

My survival instincts kicked in as I saw Will's hand outstretched. "No! Don't touch the handle!" I yelled, but a shout and a string of cuss streamed from Will's mouth told me my warning was too late.

Well, it looked like I would have to save the both of us. 

Balling up my hand, I swung my arm into the window, shattering it. Pieces of glass pierced my skin, but the adrenaline rush kept me from feeling anything. If anything, I was excited. Danger woke me up, made me feel alive.

I basked in this feeling as I jumped through the window, landing on my feet, and turned to see if Will would follow. He did, dusting himself off quickly when he landed in the dirt.

The fire was eating at half of the inn. I needed to vanish, people would think we started it if they gathered and we were already there.

"Follow me." his voice asserted authority, something I was used to. I found myself following him as he melted into the shadows.

"Where are you going?" I asked, my voice a soft whisper, but he only shook his head and began to run.

I glanced around, noticing that lights were appearing in the windows of houses up and down the street. The shadows were fading quickly and soon we would no longer be hidden.

We reached the edge of Sherwood Forest and Will slowed down, his breathing even and unhurried even though we had just sprinted out of town. 

I prided myself on my fitness, but running barefoot on cobblestones left me stumbling after Will, and I knew my feet would be bruised when the sun rose. 

"Walk with me," was all he said as he started into the forest, his demeanor completely calm, a startlingly different man than the one yelling at me ten minutes ago.

Only out of pure curiosity did I comply with his request. I blindly followed the sound of his footsteps as he walked a familiar trail known only to him. 

"Motherfu-" I tripped over a rock and flew straight at Will's back, knocking us both down.

"Keep your voice down at night. Do you want the entire forest to know we are here?" he scolded,   his voice softening as he asked, "Are you able to keep walking?"

"Yeah, I'm fine I just stumbled." I mumbled. I felt embarrassed that I had tripped. I was elegance, finesse, I was not graceless and clumsy.

"Good, because we are here." His words hung in the air, but the world was silent, and I could no longer hear Will.

"Will, are you there?" I asked, squinting my eyes into the darkness around me. The moon was my only source of light, and it was guarded from the ground by the trees. I heard nothing, saw no one. 

I was not afraid, but vigilant, and unwrapped one of my knives from my cloth, keeping it close to my body. 

"You shouldn't have done that." Will's voice sounded from somewhere behind me, and I whirled around, searching the dark for any trace of movement, but nothing. My ears strained to hear the slightest sound.

A cloth, doused in something, covered my mouth and now I panicked. I slashed my knife at the arm holding the cloth and was rewarded with a hiss of pain, but the cloth only pressed more firmly onto my mouth and nose. 

Will's voice whispered in my ear.

"Don't fight, it will only delay the inevitable." 

The smell pervaded my senses, and the dark world spotted with the occasional patch of moonlight faded into complete darkness.

Hello lovelies! I am back, and I just want to apologize for my absence. I needed time to adjust to the start of school and all of the activities that come with it, and I felt that I couldn't write how I wanted to if I felt too pressured for time or if I was writing this at one in the morning, exhausted from lack of sleep. Really, my writing would have been so subpar. 

I will now update every Saturday morning for sure, and if I am feeling inspired or you guys motivate me, I will post extra updates throughout the week! I am super excited to be back and I only hope I can do this story justice to what happens in my mind. Remember I am still setting the scene so it may be slightly boring for a chapter or two more, but I will try to add as much action an romance as I can :) 

Love you all, please comment and vote, and maybe I'll post an extra chapter before Saturday!