Evanescent

13

"I'm sorry Lia, I-I shouldn't have told you," He wrapped his arms around her and brought her to his chest as tears streamed down her cheeks with the thought of all that she had lost.

"H-how are you here? How did you survive?" She managed to choke out in between sobs.

"When the government agents came there was just enough time for a lucky few of us to hide in the woods," His gaze shifted to the trees that stood tall and proud, his eyes twinkling with gratitude, "We heard every scream and saw every bullet fly, but we couldn't do anything to stop it, it was torture. And when it was over we were forced to retreat into the woods and start anew, like it had never happened" He looked at her and brought her even closer, holding on to the last thing tethering him to the ground.
"I couldn't save you Lia, I couldn't save my best friend." He was now the one breaking, his strong arms becoming weak and his voice cracking with each word. They were each others rocks as they sat there, both needing each other to breath. For an eternity they sat there as they both grieved the past that had taken so much from them. The past that had taken everything but each other.

She rocked back in forth in his arms as his head rested in the crook of her neck, both pretending to be someone they were long ago.

"Lia," He mumbled softly as she wiped the last tears from her face, though her breathe was still sporadic and her lungs still choked on the air. She leaned into his voice, the only thing keeping her sane and tethered to the cold ground.

"I just wanted to say, just in case we don't make it out of here-" His voice trailed off, letting himself avoid the inevitable.

"W-what do y-you mean?" She stuttered choppily, "We're going to make it out of here, w-we have to, we're Lia and Rion." She held onto the hope that them being there, together, was all it would take for the world to be kind and let them live their lives together.

"Just in case, I need to tell you I l-" The air became bitter as a rush of chills ran down Audelia's spine.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A sharp voice broke through their moment, it's coldness numbing.