Redemption

Chapter Eleven: The Story of Kapanathy

I knew that Micah had looked familiar, and now I remembered why- I'd dreamed about him the night before he showed up to save me.

I found it peculiar that Micah had been in my subconscious before I'd ever even met him. Maybe it had been such an emotional week, that it was playing a toll on my mind, manipulating images from my real life. Maybe I had never actually dreamed of Micah, but my overactive imagination was making me think it was him.

Even as I thought this, I knew it wasn't true. I had been dreaming about Micah since before we'd met, plain and simple. No amount of logic could explain why this would have happened, but it did.

Micah looked so different in the dream, that I hardly recognized him. Dream Micah was happy, constantly smiling, whereas I hadn't seen the real Micah show so much as a smirk; he only scowled.

There was something different about his eyes, too. Both pairs of bright green eyes belonged to Micah, but they were altered in my dream world. There was love and passion in them, whereas real Micah had a permanently hard glint.

A sense of melancholy came over me.  Why couldn't I get that side of Micah as a protector, the carefree man with the beautiful smile, and gregarious eyes? Instead, I got the intimidating, uptight version who blatantly hated me.

I glanced over to Micah, who was sitting near the entrance of the cave, fast asleep. In his unconsciousness, he looked younger and lighthearted, although he still had a hard crease between his eyebrows from worrying so much. He seemed so lost in his own dreams, that he wouldn't even notice if I left...

Now is your chance, I thought.

Knowing I would never be able to escape when he was awake, I had to seize this opportunity. I got to my feet and quietly grabbed my backpack. Holding my breath, unwilling to make even the slightest noise, I stepped carefully around Micah's limp body toward the ledge of the cavern.

Once I was at the cave's entrance, I let out a deep sigh. I was so elated at making it this far, that I didn't notice that Micah's deep breathing had stopped.

Suddenly, I felt a tight grip on my leg. I panicked and yanked my leg, resulting in me falling face first on the ground. I looked back with wide eyes, to see Micah's hand on my ankle.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, reaching out a hand to help me to my feet.

I hesitated. With a sigh, I reluctantly gave him my hand, and he pulled me effortlessly to my feet.

I had to stifle my gasp of surprise at the electric current flowing through me when our skin touched. I saw the fleeting look of confusion and wonder in Micah's eyes, as we gaped at each other. I knew that he had felt it too.

Micah pulled his hand from mine, and used it to rub the back of his neck, awkward. His features softened slightly.

A blush crept into my face and neck. I allowed myself to look up at him, peeking slyly from under my eyelashes.

From this proximity I could see that he was far taller than me, definitely over six feet. We were standing so close to one another that I could see every detail of his soft face- the small stubble of a mustache forming, a small, white scar below his lower lip, the way one tooth turns inward ever so slightly.

Micah was very handsome, that much I couldn't deny. If only his features weren't sullied by his anger and his bad attitude.

Micah noticed my staring. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and let his eyes fall to the ground. I blushed even deeper.