Short Stories

Twenty-Eight: Romance

You pant in exhaustion. Your muscles are sore and are trembling like a pair of boiled noodles. The once beautiful landscape is now red and dark. The building behind you collapses and dust was sent spewing towards you, making you cover your mouth with your grime-covered hand and cough. Practically every building was broken and beaten down, and there was a dark gray smoke that seemed to linger over the city. 20 yards from you, you could see a small frail body lying motionless on the ground. Their tiny hand seemed to be squashed, and you could see bone fragments peeking through the mangled flesh. You fight back tears. You had struggled so much to get all the bystanders away and uninjured from the fight to only fail. You shakily get up on wobbly knees and face the villain staring down at you right now. You wipe away some blood on your face. Their purple tattered mask lies at their feet. Their dark purple cape is flowing behind them, and their black and purple suit is squeaky clean besides the few cuts you had made. You finally get a real good look on their face. To your surprise, they're actually pretty good-looking. You would've thought that maybe they were really ugly or funny-looking, so they put on a mask to have people take them seriously. Turns out it was just to keep their identity a secret.

They had probably the prettiest eyes you've ever seen in your life; their lips were plump and soft, and they were tugged into a smug smirk. You stare into their laughing eyes and give them a cold glare, baring your teeth at the killer and growling menacingly. They simply chuckled at your anger, "Darling. You're obviously losing. Why don't you come and join the dark side? We want you on our side, it's much more pleasant than stalking the night being a vigilante or being snapped away by a purple figure." They wave their hands in the air dramatically, as if to prove a point. You sneer at them and spat as hard as you could. Your spit landing a few inches away from their shiny leather boots. They give a small pout.

"If you want me," you scowl, disgust dripping from your voice, "come and get me." The villain paused. Then laughed at your sentence, sweeping a hand up to summon you towards them with their powers. You gasp at the sudden tug and stumble forwards to their feet. Your bruised knees fall onto the hard earth, and you slightly whimper in pain. The handsome figure bent down and put their finger under their chin, tilting it upwards as if to inspect anything wrong with your face.

"Oh, Darling. Want you in which way? Of course, all of them involve rope, don't get me wrong, but it's an important distinction to make before I capture you," They purred, their voice throaty and hoarse. Your eyes widen, and a heat crawls up your face. You stutter as you try to get the sentence out, "Y-y-you vile-" Your breath catches in your throat when they wink at you flirtatiously. You scramble backward as fast as you can, trying to get away from them. You clambered onto your feet clumsily and ran as fast as you can. Your sprint was cut short by a peal of booming laughter, and your feet trip over one another. The villain drags you back, amused at how befuddled you are with their antics. Your brain can't process what's happening and can't remember how you managed to evade their powers earlier. He plops you down into his arms, holding you bridal style. He leans his head down like he was going to kiss you, but he stopped short of your lips. He gave you a wicked grin as he stared at your flushed face, the disheveled mess of your hair, and the tattered clothes you wore, exposing most of your body.

They licked their lips. With a single gust of wind, you and the pretty villain have whisked away and never seen again.