Blue Roses

Chapter One

chapter song~ never alone by barlowgirl

We're running. More like flying really. We ran as fast as we could across the hard ice and snow. Terrified as I was, knowing I was with him made me feel safe.

The pack of wolves were gaining on us. He reaches back and grabs my hand, pulling me along faster than my 9 year old legs can go. He's only two years older, but so much faster. I feel sharp pain in my left calf and cry out, falling to the ground, he loses his hold on my hand.

I scream his name, "Mark!" and he turns, fear etched in his face. I kick the wolf off of me and struggle to stand. Mark helps me to my feet and we run. I ignore the burning pain in my leg and push myself faster and faster.

We reach the edge of the forest and stop, deciding whether or not to go into its snowy white cover. We both know the risks, much worse than a few hungry wolves.

I look up at him, and he looks around, his green eyes bright with desperation and fear. I finally look down at my leg, its a mess. I look away and notice Mark staring at it.

"I'm fine, just a scratch, we need to hurry."

I say, but I can tell he doesn't believe me. He grabs my hand and we start running again, hearing wolves howling nearby. It doesn't help i'm leaving a blood trail. I stop, and he tugs my hand.

"Come on jade, we have to keep going!"

He says urgently. I shake my head,

"Mark, i'm slowing you down, you have to run, find help, save yourself."

I feel tears threatening to spill over onto my cold face. He stares at me, almost looking angry.

"No, NO! i'm not going to leave you here for the wolves. Not gonna happen."

He shakes his head violently. I smile up at him sadly, knowing what I would have to do. I squeeze his hand,

"Mark, if you don't start running, I'll turn around and run straight to the wolves, now go! And don't look back until you've found help."

Tears spill over onto my cheeks, and I let go of his hand. I give him a nudge in the other direction. He looks mortified at what I just said, but realization sets in that I meant it.

"Alright, fine... I'll go, but jade, please try and at least hide."

He begs me, I nod unable to speak. He kisses the top of my head like he always does, and looks down at me one last time before turning and running away, not looking back. I didn't realize it then, but I would never see Mark again.

I struggle to get just past the tree line, crouching in the bushes. Wolves race past, not stopping near my hiding place. I sigh in relief, but to soon. one doubles back, scenting my blood. It howls and the rest come running back. I shake and bite my lip to keep from whimpering as one comes closer to where i'm hiding. It finds me.

I stare Into its eyes and I know i'm done for. It lunges at me and grabs the arm of my snow coat, dragging me out into the clearing. The rest circle me and the one that found me bites into my arm. I scream as loud as I possible can and I squirm, trying to get away, which only makes it worse.

It covers me in bites and scratches. I start to see black dots in the corners of my eyes, everything going fuzzy. I'm barely conscious when something runs out of the forest and attacks the wolves, kicking them and snapping a few of their necks, the rest run away whimpering.

I moan and the mysterious being comes over, kneeling down beside me. It picks up my arm gently, but I still cry out in pain. It raises my arm to its face and bites my wrist, surprisingly it doesn't hurt. everything goes black.

When my vision starts to clear, I see it is a man, but not necessarily human. he had dark hair and pale skin, crimson eyes. I knew exactly what he was. My eyes widened and I wanted to get away, until I realized the pain from all the bites and scratches were gone.

I sit up, inspecting my arms and legs, finding them perfectly healed, not scars, or anything. I look back over at the man. He puts a cold hand on each side of my face, and twists, snapping my neck, then disappearing as my body falls back into the snow.