Make Your Move

Chapter 1- Honeymoon's Over

Chapter 1

 

Present

Date: February 8th

Location: Recife, Brazil

Time: 5:57 a.m.

 

The wind was cool against my skin hugging me briefly before slipping away into the arms of the other homes. The town and its people were just beginning to wake up, but for now there was little noise besides the birds and a few cars roaming the streets.

The sun began to rise painting the already beautiful country in different shades of pinks and oranges and I let a sad smile cross my face. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back and let my feet dangle in the open air, knowing if I went forward I would fall 8 stories. It had a certain freedom to it, to be so near death but to be in control of it as well was the most comforting thing I had ever felt.

“What are you doing?” A familiar voice makes me crack open an eye and look back to see Valentin looking quite concerned at me.

“I am enjoying the sunrise,” I say moving over on the balcony and patting the new space.

“Must you have to be so close to the edge to admire it?” His tone was slightly accusing but he still got on the balcony and snaked an arm around my waist, as if he was my own personal safety harness that would keep me from falling.

Upon waking up in a coffin and reuniting with my friends and family, and assuring them I wasn’t actually dead, Valentin and I got to spend the next few months vacationing in Brazil. It was picture perfect in most ways, we were right by the beach—our own private beach—the home was magnificent, and best of all no one had tried to kill us while we were here. This vacation was like an extra-long honeymoon, but the problem with honeymoons is that you eventually have to come back to reality.

It also didn’t help that I would wake in the middle of the nights screaming or in a cold sweat. I just kept seeing Levi’s face as he pointed the gun at me, I could still feel the pain as the bullet ripped through my skin, I could still feel the agony of thinking that I was going to die. When Levi wasn’t lurking in my dreams it was Ian and his eyes that used to be so bright were now so dull as dream versions of me were soaked in his blood.

Valentin said it was natural, the nightmares. He and the others were surprised that the bad ones only started to come now, as the past three years certainly had enough material to haunt me for a lifetime. Now that the main stress and worry was gone, the nightmares finally had enough time to take center stage.

I could tell it bothered Valentin. Since my ‘death’ he wanted to do everything to protect me and felt guilty he couldn’t stop the dreams. He had an abundance of guilt, now that the truth of him being M.L.A, the one to activate my list, came out. He felt he was responsible for every bad thing that happened to me, and I guess in a way it was partially his fault, not that I’d ever admit it to him.

“I don’t wanna go back,” I sigh and let my head rest on his shoulder.

I’d gotten a taste of normalcy and it made me not want to go back into the trenches of lies and secrets and backstabbing. Then again this wasn’t real either, this world we were in, it was only temporary.

“I know,” He kisses my forehead affectionately. “But we could never stay here forever.”

“Can’t we V?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could correct them. “I mean Mark.”