Khlōros

Chapter One

"Mark!" Lauren chirped into his house as she opened the door to let herself in. An eerie silence filled the house; the only sound being the clip-clop of her heals. Her white flowing gown trailed behind her in ocean like waves as she walked through the halls.

"Mark?" Lauren called, stressing the K for effect. With a bright smile, her delicate hands twisted a strand of hair.

"Come out, come out wherever you are..." she giggled guessing this all to be a game. She searched through the house looking for him. She opened the bedroom door; empty. Then she looked into the living room, empty. Lauren started to wonder if this was a big joke. Deciding it was she searched the entire house; finding no sign of him she was about to give us as she searched the last room, the dining room.

Lauren found the room to be lit by candle light, a white cloth draped over the long wooden table. her heart filled with joy. So this way why he told her to dress up, he planed a candle light dinner! She walked over to the table and traced her fingers over its lacy fringe. She closed her eyes as mind wandered back to meeting him in seventh grade, her having a huge, self defined: dorky crush. She thought finding the secret notes in her locker. Then she thought of his blushing face when she caught him putting one in after she staked out behind the trash can to find out who it was. She could still feel the bravery it took to walk up and confront him, and the shock she had when he turned and ran.

When she touched her face and could still feel the tears that fell from her eyes as she cried her self to sleep that night. She could still her phone ringing off the wall with concerned friends when she didn't show up for school for the rest of the week. Lauren blushed to herself as she felt the embarrassment when she showed up to school that Monday with her hair in a mess and no makeup when the teacher sat her beside him assigning them as lab partners. She thought about that night in the library where she had her first kiss. Lauren touched her lips still feeling his kiss. She could remember the sadness of there break up Junior year, and the jealousy when he dated other girls.

Heaving a heavy sigh, she remembered prom night, standing alone on the balcony, then feeling a hand around her waist. she could still feel the hat breath on her neck then a voice she couldn't recognize say, 'I love you.' then foot steps came and the person disappeared. She thought she imagined it when Mark's date came out onto the balcony crying, not knowing she was there. Then she thought about how she walked to the main room when someone grabbed her hand and asked her to dance: Mark.

Her heart even felt lighter suddenly, she could still feel the joy when he pulled her close and hugged her telling her that he never got over her, that she was the only one for him. They were together ever since that, because Lauren and Mark finished so many classes in high school and such long hours in collage he was able become a lawyer in two years, her a teacher in three, just getting out last week.

Lauren walked to the other side of the table then gasped when she saw a figure on the ground, Mark, she instantly dropped to her knees by his side her eyes full of worry.

She looked at his face and was instantly reminded of the word khlōros. A Greek word used to describe the color of death. In English khlōros would translate into white or pale but he wasn't white, he wasn't pale. he was khlōros. It was a color she heard of in her Sunday school classes as a kid. It was the color of dead flesh. Grey with a yellow green tent...ashen.

Mark gazed up at her with unblinking eyes. Eyes that would never blink again. She looked from his face for a second to see his hand clenched around a small velvet box. The soft, curved look of a ring box.

Frozen in place, she silently screamed. The noise too high pitched to even head correctly. Everything was starting to spin around her and she leaned to placed her hands on the ground next to herself.