Into the Darkness

Chapter 1

She shivered in the darkness as the cold, harsh winds and snow cut through her skin like a thousand tiny knives. She found herself wandering a frozen desert, with nothing in sight for miles. It seemed hopeless to go on, but she figured that she must. She was wearing only jeans and a short-sleeved black t-shirt, which was just low cut enough to show the fresh scar on her collarbone. The pain was unbearable. Her head hurt, along with every bone in her body. She felt like she'd been hurled into a wall. She couldn't remember anything of the previous day, and most of all she couldn't remember how she had ended up in this terrible situation. She could remember though, all the times that she'd spent at her grandparents in Colorado, all the times she had seen it snow there and all the times she would play in it like the snow was the most amazing thing in the world. It had never been like this though; it had never been this terrifying. She wondered, as she often did a lot when she was scared, if she would ever get out of this unforgiving place. She had to believe that she would. Someone had to be coming for her; they just had to be. That is how it worked in the stories right? When someone was in trouble, the hero presented himself. She waited and waited, but no hero came.

The snow stopped, the wind was suddenly and eerily quiet, as if for just a second the earth stopped turning. Then out of nowhere came a bright light. Even though she still felt the bitter cold surrounding her, she felt comforted by the light. She wondered if she was finally dying in this coldness, because this light was so strange and abnormal. And if she was dying, why did she feel so alive? Out of nowhere, she felt a sense of heat through her body, but then it was gone as quickly as it had come. She felt her body losing all of its strength and her eyes closed against her will. She was slipping away little by little. Then she felt a brush on her cheek as soft as a feather. In addition, the cold disappeared.

She woke up lying on a red couch with a soft blanket on top of her. As she sat up, she could see that she was in an unfamiliar room. It had a fireplace, which was blazing, and she also spotted many long bookshelves that were full of books from top to bottom. She assumed that she was in a library. Just as soon as she was going to get up and figure out where she was, something familiar entered the room.

He was tall, tan, muscular, and he had the brightest brown eyes she had ever seen. He was beautiful. There weren't any words to describe Evan. He was like a drug, and though its cliché, she was addicted to him. His smell, his voice, everything about him made her want to do something crazy.

She first met Evan a few years ago when she was working in a restaurant. She remembered him being there with a friend, but she only noticed Evan. It was getting closer to closing time, so there were only a little bit of people in the restaurant and she had time to spare. She watched him from afar as someone took his order. He didn't even seem to notice that someone was watching him. While she watched him talk to his friend and mess with play with his straw wrapper like some people do, she felt as if she and he were the only ones in the restaurant, the only ones in the world. She was awoken from her gazing when a bell chimed for her to pick up a food order.

She went to the pick up window and froze as she realized that the only table needing food was the one with the guy who she'd been staring at for the past five minutes. She figured that she just had to get it over with. She got to his table and set the food down in front of each person.

"I hope you enjoy" she said with a really enthusiastic voice, one that she normally doesn't use with other customers. Evan smiled at her, a delightful, pleasing smile. She felt her face get hot.

"Thank you." Evan replied. She turned around feeling embarrassed that she had been blushing, but she figured he got that all the time, looking the way he does and smiling the way he does.

Her shift was over, so she went out the back way and stood against the wall for a few minutes just trying to make her feelings for him go away. She tried convincing herself that he was just some boy. Then she felt someone's presence beside her and when she saw who it was she jumped, not out of fear, but surprise. It was Evan. Somehow he had known that she had been back here or had he been looking for her? She didn't ask him, the only thing she could manage to say was "Hi" which he replied with a "Hi" and then she just stared at him happily, not even caring that there was an awkward silence. Then he asked what her name was. She told him and he told her his. His friend called him, but before he returned to his friend, he touched her hand briefly and said goodbye. She was too paralyzed to say anything as she watched him walk away. That was the last time she ever saw him, until now.

"Are you okay?" Evan asked while handing her a cup of liquid that looked like milk, she wasn't sure so she set it on the table next to the couch before she answered his question.

"Yeah, thanks to you, I assume" she replied. Evan, who had a concerned, worried face when he had entered the room, was now smiling and staring straight into her eyes as if he were trying to figure out what she was thinking.

"So how did you know I was lost in the snow? Do you have magic powers? Or are you superman?" She hoped she didn't sound too childish, because both of these answers were obviously impossible.

"Neither" Evan said, while looking down at the maroon colored rug that lay directly in front of her feet. He seemed to be somewhere else, not in the room, but somewhere off in his mind. He moved from where he was standing to sit right next to her. He was surprisingly quick. She thought maybe it was just an effect from the cold; it was probably making her hallucinate a little bit. She realized that theory might have been true when she noticed Evan place his hand on top of hers, which was lying on the thigh of her leg above the blanket. Then he entwined their fingers together. He looked at her for a moment, his eyes glistening in the glow of the fire. He smelled of strong cologne; it was irresistible. She wanted to just lay her head on his chest and fall asleep. Evan's hand released hers; he looked at the fire before standing up.

"Lin, I'm sorry, I have to go." Evan said. He took one more glance at her and started toward the door.

"Leave...? But--" he left before she could say anything else. She had never been so angry. How could he just walk in here, hold her hand and then leave? She felt the same as she did the day she met him when he had left; in awe and upset that he hadn't stayed longer, even just for another minute. She thought of a way to ask him all the questions that she had bottled up inside without him sensing that she had feelings for him. In fact, her feelings for him were very strong. There was just one problem; she didn't know where Evan had gone. She decided to look for him since he couldn't have gone that far. She stripped the blanket off, got up, opened the door and stepped out.

That's as far as she made it. Strong hands grabbed her delicately and held her so that her back was against the wall. It was Evan. It seemed that he hadn't gone far at all.

"Lin, there's something that I need to tell you." Evan told her.

"What is it?" Lin said while staring into his wonderful brown eyes.

"I...I...I've been dying to kiss you since the first time I saw you in that small restaurant." Evan told her.

"I have something to tell you too Evan." Lin said. She just loved saying his name. It was one of those names that if it belonged to someone special, you could never get tired of hearing it or saying it. She felt that Evan was the greatest person who had ever come into her life.

"I've actually been dying to kiss you since that very moment also," she said, and then she was kissing him. Evan grabbed her hands as if she would float away, but he held them gently as if she were a leaf about to crumble. She might have, if he hadn't moved his hands to her waist. As he did that, she placed her arms around his neck. The last time she had been this bold was when she stood up to a mean girl in first grade after she had stolen Lin's juice box in the cafeteria, but that only prompted a laugh from the mean girl. This boldness resulted in something so much better. She never wanted this moment to end.

Suddenly her stomach growled, a long embarrassing growl, which frustratingly interrupted this amazing moment. Suddenly she recognized how hungry she was. She honestly couldn't remember the last time that she had eaten something. Evan and Lin stopped kissing, which upset Lin a little bit.

"Would you like something to eat?" Evan asked with a laughing smile on his face. He offered his hand to her and she took it eagerly while agreeing.