Bleak Hearts

Bleak Winter

Octavia April Jones 15th November 1940

Spyder Michael Daniels 14th November 1940

The coffee shop was filled with the aroma of dark roasted coffee. It was a quiet place not far from Brooklyn bridge, in fact it was the 100 year anniversary of the bridge that day. A very cold day, icy streets sent many people into the cafe for a chance to warm their hands and their bellies. Spyder was one of them. His dark chocolate hair flecked with snow that quickly melted when he stepped inside, eyes of the deepest forests scanned the room, falling across the line of about three people. Oh wait, make that two. quickly unwrapping the motherly knitted scarf from his neck, he tucked it under his arm and stepped into the line before anyone else came through the door. Before him stood two women in their mid twenties, around his own age. One stood in a bright blue coat, extraordinary long blonde plaits falling down her back, whilst the other was in a much darker orange coat, long hair again but not quite as long as blondie's, a waterfall of jet black hair cascading across the back of the coat. The blonde moved away quickly, leaving himself and the darker haired girl at the counter. A standard latte was his regular, Cara had already started to prepare it as the man had stepped inside, never quite sweet enough though, he would pour five sachets of sugar into the hot drink.

Spyder caught the side of the girl's cup as it was handed to her, her name written across it though he only caught the end of it 'via' written in thick black marker. Cara placed both paper cups beside each other and each customer went to take their own. Octavia's pale hand grazed over Spyder's and for a split second, Spyder was floating. His heart slamming into his rib cage at 100 mph. Thin lips slowly parted on the male as his hand wrapped around his cup, eyes shifting to the female who simply uttered a quiet apology before leaving. Not once did his eyes leave the woman as she stepped out the door and onto the pavement. He even watched her breath curl in front of her as she walked by the window. 

It was a slow process at first. The feeling of familiarity, the gleam in his eyes as something set a spark in his brain. Then it grew like a fire, not just every kiss they had shared but every bullet and every concrete ground that seen an end to his life. Every gentle mother to every callous father, even siblings and children never born in his world. Every time, he thought up a new plan, a new way to get them out of this, he would watch over every time his plan was foiled. 

Frozen. Stuck in one place, the coffee starting to burn his fingers where he held it too tight and let it spill over. It felt like forever had passed when his legs began to move, one foot in front of the other and out onto the street. The $3.30 he had just spent on the coffee was nothing in his eyes when the love of his life, his soul mate, the only soul in the world that ever connected with his had walked right out that door. Spyder's feet skidded on the ice as he ran, he couldn't see her but she could't have gone far. As he moved around a corner to see a mass of people marching passed, an ocean of commuters and tourists that threatened to mow down the poor man. He was too late. Once again he had lost her. 

Octavia cleared her throat, standing behind the brunette with a curious smile on her face, coffee in one hand, Spyder's scarf in the other and beautiful cerulean eyes on Spyder. Her hand moved out towards him, holding the scarf out like an offering.

"I believe you dropped this"

Octavia took a slight breath as she spoke, something sparking as she looked up at Spyder. His eyes never left hers as he took the scarf from her hand. It must have slipped from under his arm whilst he ran. He had no idea how she knew to bring it to him or why she should even care but for that moment he didn't care himself. As he muttered a small thanks she opened her mouth to speak.

"Have we met before?" 

Her tone was soft and rather quiet, though it didn't sound much like a question. The woman looked away for a moment, her eyes moving to her coffee cup as she heard the quiet whisper on Spyder's tongue as he spoke her name. She didn't want it to be true, not this time. His name danced across her tongue but her lips would not part to speak it. Instead she took a step back, and another, and then another until she was pushing back through the crowd, watery blue eyes barely able to see as she moved people from her path.

"OCTAVIA!"

Spyder cried out, his mind emptied quickly leaving a question in his mind 'why?'. Why would she run away from him. What was so different this time? Or had she simply not remembered him. The questions would have to wait as once again Spyder's feet began to move, beige boots pounding against the ice as he ran after her. The shriek of a car made his heart throw itself against its cage again. He was always too late. Her body lay in the road, mangled under the wheel of a bright yellow taxi cab. The light brown of the coffee swirled with the crimson blood that spread across the ice. One foot moved backwards, then another and another until Spyder was running. Running the opposite direction towards Brooklyn Bridge. He was going to fix it next time, next time it would work he was sure of it! All he had to do was remember and he knew he could do it. There had to be a loophole, he was sure of it.

As he reached the top of the bridge he paused to take a breath. His feet began to ache and his heart started to break as it punched against his ribs, threatening to break every last one of them. Hitting the water from this height would be like hitting concrete, it was something he knew far too well. The barrier was frozen and icy under his grip, making his hands twice as shaky. His eyelids slipped over the green orbs of his eyes and he drew in an icy breath. People were near by but he couldn't hear them, as his fingers slipped off the railing he couldn't even hear the rushing water below him. All he heard was a child screaming.

Octavia April Jones 15th November 1940 - 3rd January 1970

Spyder Michael Daniels 14th November 1940 - 3rd January 1970