Evanescent

7

"Okay, I'll go with you." She whispered, her decision weighing her down as the guilt tore at her insides. She desperately wanted to let go of everything that held her back, the iron chains the only thing keeping her from giving herself completely to Orion and his sinfully precious smile.

"Wow," Orion muttered under his breath, barely audible as the wind picked a strand of his hair and laid it at an awkward angle, "It's never this easy."

She didn't dare inquire what he was talking about, not wanting to overstep her already small boundaries.

"I hope this place you're taking me is worth it." She tried to keep herself from adding on the fact that she could very well be locked up forever, if not longer, because of this. She wanted to lament her agreement, to regret ever responding to him in the first place, yet she found herself too elated of what she could discover to worry about her guaranteed demise.

"I'm offended that you'd think it wouldn't be." He placed his hand on his chest, mocking a look of horror as Audelia softly laughed and shook her head.

"It's going to be absolutely life changing, I promise you that."

She watched in awe as his eyes lit up like a child, the brightness overshadowing the darkness that plagued the city. Orion acted so innocent as he stood in front of her, the dark shadows under his eyes covered with a raw grin.

"Well we may want to get going to this "life changing" place, the morning's almost over." She watched his eyes expand and his mouth fall open, almost as if a wave of panic had ruined his calm persona. He quickly glanced at something that coiled around his wrist, his eyebrows furrowed and alarm barely concealed. She truly had not known the time of day as it was forbidden to even take the quickest glance at a clock during work hours, her only indication that afternoon was approaching the heightening of the sun in the empty sky.

Without warning she felt herself swiftly being dragged, her arm outstretched as her feet adjusted to Orion's quick pace. She sprinted across the empty platforms that lined the pathway, the trains long fled, Orion's tall form only a few steps in front of her. He refused to let go of Audelia's hand, his knuckles white as he pulled her as gently as he could away from where she knew she was expected to be. She felt her thoughts lose all strings tethering them to reality, the freedom that came with the breeze whipping her cheeks and rays of sun licking her hair distracting. She'd never felt so unimpeded, her smile not wavering as she watched the mess of buildings and empty train tracks fall behind her, out of sight out of mind. She didn't bother fighting Orion as he took each twist and turn, his eyes set ahead of him as he glided with such grace it was almost like he'd done this many times before. Without as much as a glance to reassure that she was okay she felt her feet slip off a steep ledge that she was positive had simply appeared out of thin air. She was flying, the only thing keeping her grounded was his hand and she couldn't have been more grateful. She felt as if she was floating, her eyes shut off from the world around yet the rest of her senses giving her a vivid sense of what was happening. Audelia was never one to be frightened by heights or falling, her ordinary life too safe to worry about minuscule things like that. Now that she lay falling into what she could only assume would be her passing, yet with his familiar presence she couldn't bring herself to care. When the harsh sense of gravity caught up with her suddenly she felt him slip away for the briefest moment, the absence causing fear to rush through her veins, her mind preparing for the impact. She flailed her limbs, trying to find someway to find him. Her whole body rushed to save itself.

When she'd felt the heat of the sidewalk against her skin her body froze, her teeth clenched and eyes shut as tightly as she could force them to close, she was no longer trying.

"So are you going to thank me or what?"