The Reincarnated

Chapter 8: Roses are Red

"Are you sure, you are okay?" Damien kept his pace moderately slow to accompany her.

"I'm alright Damster. That must be the hundredth time you've been asking me the same question." she replied curtly. The use of his nickname reassured him more that she was indeed fine, if not all right. They continued walking back to the thick dark woods. This time she was unaffected by the eeriness and dark atmosphere of the forest and walked straight yet calm. It was already night time and the dark only made the trees appear more menacing but compared to the danger she just experienced, this is just on a lower scale.

"I'm sorry Chesh, but the shark theory might appear more convincing to me, than the merman living under the sea. It might just be a cramp kitten." he tried to lighten up the mood, but she didn't respond with a witty retort.

"Damien," she stopped abruptly for a moment and she looked at him straight in the eyes. "Do you believe me?"

He sighed. "Cheshire I do believe you. It's just that, I seriously did not find anyone around the coast. Are you sure you did not see his face? Nothing at all?"

"Positive. It was dark and I can't see him."she stated disconcertingly. They continued walking until Damien spoke again.

"We really should report this to your parents Cheshire," the mere use of her complete name prompted utter seriousness.

"Damien please do me a favor, and don't tell them about this. It would ruin the night. I don't want them to worry. They've done so much for tonight and I don't want to destroy it." she rambled and without even knowing it, tears started pouring down her cheek which she wiped away immediately. "Its not like they can do anything about it anyway. It'll pass. Maybe I was just being delusional. I'm sure it will pass." She tried to convince herself.

He cupped her cheek and wiped more tears streaming down her cold face. "Kitten you know I can't do that. They need to know about it. They might find some explanation. We need to tell them. "

"Please Damien, just do me a favor this one time," she pleaded with her dark brown eyes wet with unshed tears.

Silence lingered for a moment until he sighed and considered it. " It pays to have a stubborn girlfriend." he exhaled. "Fine, I won't, but after the ball, we will tell them about it, together. Okay?" Cheshire nodded with a grateful smile in response and they continued treading through the forest.

They reached the end of the woods and his motorcycle finally came into view. Damien took his helmet and she seated herself comfortably behind him when a thought hit her. " Damien, the flowers! We left the roses on the tree. We need to get back!" she exclaimed.

"Kitten, you almost got drowned on the sea, you are proposing a mysterious person wanted to kill you and you are still worried about the roses?" he gave an exasperated sigh and scratched his head wearily.

"May I add that you were the one who gave it to me and that it also cost too much," she muttered.

"Are we seriously gonna risk another long walk to the dark woods because of that?" he mused.

"Well I wanted to keep it, " she murmured.

"I'll buy you another one if thats what you want," he promised.

"No, its fine Damster. We'll find a way to retrieve it somehow," she quickly replied. Damien only nodded in agreement before opening his bag to put on a new plain white t-shirt and only then did she realize that he was still not wearing anything on top. Damien noticed her gawking which brought a small smirk on his lips .She quickly turned away, and her cheek suddenly felt warm. "Chesh, put on a jacket. You might get sick and you are freezing cold," he handed her his thick black jacket but she reluctantly accepted it. "We really should hurry up Damien. It's getting dark. Mom's worried about me. The hall is probably flooded with guests. It's getting chilly cold, too."