Ignited ✔️

1:7

River had a stormy look in his eyes as he stomped over to me. His jaw was clenched and his muscles were tight as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me away from his car.

"What happened?" I carefully ask.

I didn't want to fuel his fire but he was scaring me.

His grip tightened on my hand and I felt his fingernails digging deep into my skin.

"River let go" I demand

I wasn't sure if he heard me because he just kept pulling me further in to the woods.

"River! Let me go you're hurting me"

He instantly drops my hand and stops walking. I grip my wrist and rub the red area.

He turns around and glances down at my wrist.

"I uh- I'm sorry." He mumbles turning his attention to the ground

I furrow my eyebrows as I watch him. His fists were clenching and unclenching repeatedly at his side. His eyes were so dark and his jaw was clenched so tight.

"River what happened back there?" I whisper

He squeezes his eyes shut and grips the roots of his hair as he starts pacing. He was anxious and agitated.

I hesitantly take small steps towards him and reach out to touch him when he suddenly snaps his eyes open and punches the tree in front of him.

I flinch back on instinct as he screams

"Fuck!"

His chest is rising and falling quickly as he struggles to even out his breathing. His arms are rested against his sides and his jaw is still tight.

"River" I say gently.

His head snaps in my direction and I watch as his lips part slightly and his eyes go back to their normal beautiful hazel color.

"Um I-" he stops himself from finishing.

His eyes meet mine and I watch as his body relaxes.

"I need to get you home" he says in a quiet voice.

My eyes trail over his tall thin frame and stop when I see the blood dripping from his busted knuckles. I grab his hand and hold it up to inspect and I feel his body tighten again.

"We need to get this cleaned up"

I could feel his gaze burning a hole in to the top of my head. I tilt my head up and look deep into his eyes again. I couldn't place the emotion I saw in them.

"Princess I-"

He stops when red and blue lights start flashing.

"Shit! Run!"

He grabs my hand and starts running, pulling me behind him. He weaves through trees and ducks below low hanging branches as he pulls me deeper into the woods.

My wrist was sore from where he grabbed me and I'm pretty sure I've broken a toe from all the rocks I've stumbled over. His grip never faltered. And as terrified as I was right now, the feeling of his hand in mine calmed me in a way I didn't understand.

"It's just a little farther" he says

"What's a little farther?"

He doesn't respond just keeps dragging me through the woods.

I stumble once more and go crashing to the ground. I extend my arms in front of me and prepare for an impact that doesn't come. Instead a pair of warm calloused hands are wrapped around my waist.

"Are you ok?" He asks as he helps me stand.

I nod my head slowly and wipe my hands on my jeans. River grabs my hand again and walks a few more feet to an abandon shack. He pulls me with him as he opens the door and walks in.

Darkness envelopes up as we step inside the shack. And when I say shack I'm serious. It was a small three room building with a tin roof and two windows.

"Where are we?" I ask as River shuts the door behind us.

He shrugs off his jacket and throws it on the dusty couch in the far corner.

"I found this place a few weeks back, I'm not sure who owned it before but I've been hanging out here when I need to..." he trails off

"Need to what?"

He's silent for a long moment.

"Escape"

I follow him as he he walks towards the back of the shack and disappears in to a room. I hear water running and a few things clattering to the ground as River curses under his breath. I step inside behind him to see him cleaning the now dried blood off his hand.

The skin on his knuckles were torn and red. His attention was solely on his hand as he used his thumb to scrub the blood away.

His eyebrows were drawn together tight and the hazel of his eyes had darkened again.

"River?" I call out in a near whisper

He doesn't respond or react at all just keeps his focus on his split knuckles.

I watch as he grabs gauze and wraps it tight around his knuckles. He clenches his fist a few times before he brushes past me and goes back to the couch.

He digs through his jacket pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes and his cell phone. He quickly stuffs his phone in his front jean pocket and grabs a cigarette out of the package before returning the pack to his jacket pocket.

He sticks the cigarette between his lips and pulls a lighter out of his other jean pocket. The lighter clicks and a small flame appears. He brings the flame to the end of the cigarette and lights it before returning the lighter to his pocket.

He takes a deep breath then releases a puff of grayish white smoke from his nose.

"River?" I try again

"I'm not gonna put it out so don't ask" he snaps

I flinch slightly at the sharpness of his tone but a wave of relief washed through me. At least he was talking to me.

"I-I wasn't"

He glances over his shoulder at me and narrows his eyes as he takes another long drag of the cigarette.

I wrap my arms around my torso as a chill takes over my body.

"You should probably get some sleep. We'll be here for awhile" he says not looking at me.

I nod my head then realize he can't see me.

"There's a few blankets and a pillow in the back room I usually sleep on when I'm here, you can use them."

"Where will you sleep?" I ask

"Couch" is all he says as he blows out yet another cloud of smoke.

His one word answers were starting to tick me off so I do as he says.

"Goodnight River" I call over my shoulder as I make my way down the hall and to the makeshift bedroom.

I didn't hear a reply before I shut the door.

I take a quick look around the room. It's not a huge space but it's enough to make a decent bedroom. On the floor in the middle is a sleeping bag and a pillow, along with a blanket on top, there's a small solar lantern in the corner giving just enough light to the small space. There are blackout curtains on the windows and a small duffel bag on the floor.

I go to the duffel bag and rifle through it until I find a white T-shirt. I strip out of my clothes and pull the shirt over my head before removing my shoes and socks.

I slid under the blanket and lay my head down on the pillow before snuggling up and wrapping the top blanket around me tight. I take a deep breath and inhale River's scent; sandalwood with a faint hint of smoke.

And for the first time in a long time, I'm finally able to fall asleep.