Chapter One: A Writer's Romance

Chapter Two- Unspeakable Things and Unfortunate Dreams

Ellis Anne

"I think that perhaps we should stop seeing one another," Kane said softly, refusing to look at me. I shook my head slowly, not wanting to believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"After everything we've been through together," I whispered, "you're doing this now?"

Kane nodded, still looking away. I walked towards him and stopped when I was standing in front of him, just inches away.

"Sofia, don't," he told me, his voice strained. "All that happens when we're together is destruction. And maybe that's just a coincidence, but if we stay together, we'll never move on from everything that's happened to us." A tear slipped down my cheek, but I stood fast and reached for his hand. He flinched when I touched it, but he didn't pull away.

"Moving on and forgetting are two different things," I told him, moving just slightly closer. "You can move on without forgetting. What you're trying to do is forget, and if you do that, everything that has happened... It'll cease to mean anything." Kane shook his head, but I thought I might be getting through to him. I prayed I was.

"Sofia, don't do this to me," he said after a long time. "You know I'll break." I did know. I knew he'd break if I kept pushing, and at that moment, I almost didn't care; for if he didn't break, then I would. But could I do that to him? Could I do that to the man I loved more than myself?

"I guess I'll be the one breaking," I decided finally, stepping away from him. "I love you, Kane. I do. Just remember that while you're busy forgetting everything else that's happened." And I turned on my heel and began walking away, tears bursting from my eyes like a broken dam and pouring down my face in rivulets of liquid fire.

I didn't look back at him as I left the roof and ran down the stairs. They were the same stairs where he and I had first kissed, just after I'd been attacked and almost died. The same stairs when he'd first told me he loved me. The same stairs where I'd first found hope in the chaos that my life had become. And suddenly, I couldn't go down any more steps, and I collapsed halfway down a flight and just sat there sobbing into my knees. I didn't know how long I was there; it could have been seconds or hours, but regardless, time seemed to dissipate entirely when I felt the hand on my shoulder.

"Sofia?" a voice I came to recognize in my dreams said gently in my ear. I let out another sob and buried my face further in my knees. Kane's arms circled around me then, and I stopped breathing. "Sofia look at me," he whispered against my ear. "I need to see you." I shook my head, but he just slid his hand under my chin and brought my face up to look at his. He looked tired, like he'd run a marathon through a minefield, but he looked determined.

"Kane, you're killing me," I told him, my voice breaking. "You're hurting me worse than any demon we've fought ever could." He let his breath out through his teeth.

"Sofia, you were right," he said, bringing his other hand up so that he had one on each of my cheeks. "I can't forget what's happened. I realized that as soon as you left the roof. I won't... I won't forget you. Stay with me." I opened my mouth to say something, but my lips were stopped by his...

I sighed and hit the save button as soon as I reached the kissing scene. The rest of it I could somewhat get through, but I just wasn't feeling the lovey-dovey stuff that day. I'd already written all the fun action scenes for this particular section of the book, and all that was left was the resolution, so I felt pretty good about my progress. That, and it was only eleven-thirty. With this in mind, I got up and stretched, threw on some skinny jeans and a Black Keys t-shirt, and headed out to get a drink or two down the street from my apartment complex.