Souls Entwined

Chapter One

Chapter One
Elle's POV
*Six months after the trial, eleven months after escaping*

Finding peace amongst the calamity of life was the only thing that kept me sane. I could feel it some days, the ticking, the slow wind of insanity tugging at the corners of my mind as the world flew by.

Peace didn't come naturally, not for me, at least. Not anymore. I had to actively seek the quiet, the places and moments where I could finally find some rest. Over the last year, I learned that peace was guaranteed only when I was with him.

A silence settled over my thoughts when he was around, and it was easier to forget the things that caused my nightmares. He was my solitude amongst the chaos, and I often wondered if he understood the effect he had on me.

He was trying to sleep, or maybe he already was. It was hard to tell sometimes. His body reacted to mine even in unconsciousness. His fingers would tighten around mine if my hand slipped from his, and if I moved even slightly, he would follow. If I asked, he would tell me it was because every part of him belonged to me, but I knew him well enough to realise it was because he knew what it was like to live without me.

I studied him, my heart hammering in my chest as my senses fired warnings. His hand was holding mine to his chest, his touch cool against the warm sun, and his legs hung off the end of the picnic blanket. He looked young, his eyelashes brushing against his cheeks and his lips parted, breathing softly as though the world's weight wasn't slowly pushing down on him.

My chest was caving in, making breathing harder, and I suddenly couldn't look at him without an unexpected sensation building behind my eyes. It was too much, too soon.

Even though he was the only place my mind could rest, it wasn't working, and my thoughts raced until I lost control and started spiralling.

I felt like a hurricane was raging, but the damage was isolated to just me.

I studied my surroundings, trying to focus on something other than the whirling thoughts. I felt the blanket's scratchy fabric beneath me and Kaden's chest rise and fall. I could hear the river trickling and see the crystal-clear water. Flashes of colour spotted the water, catching in the light as small fish swam by.

I followed the reflection of the trees up until I was looking at the treetops, squinting into the light, staring at the patterns made with the sky. Green and brown shadows contrasted against the blue. Something so simple shouldn't be so mesmerising, but it was, and I could have lost myself in the gentle shift of patterns as the wind skimmed the tops of the trees.

I felt Kaden's eyes fall on me as he blinked languidly. I'd lose my focus again if I risked turning towards him, so I stared up at the sky, hyper-focused on the gentle sweep of his thumb across the sensitive skin of my wrist.

I cleared my throat, but my voice still cracked as I asked, 'What can you hear?'

Fear had become an everyday sort of thing, slipping into most of my thoughts. I didn't feel it so much with him, not when I could read his body language so well.

He was relaxed enough to sleep to let his guard down, which told me there was nothing to worry about. But I still asked because a part of me had to.

His eyes slid shut, and the feel of his eyes on my skin started to dull. He took a deep breath, shifting to lie on his back, holding my hand against his chest. 'I can hear the water,' his voice was hoarse, a low murmur in my ears. 'It's not moving very fast, but about a kilometre from here, it gets shallow, and the sound changes.'

He took another deep breath, and it was almost impossible not to ask what he could smell in the air, but I didn't. 'I can hear birds, too many to count.' They were always one of the first things he told me about. It mattered if they were singing, silent or shrieking, or if he could hear their wings flapping in a panic. 'They're calm at the moment, though half an hour ago, a fox passed by some of them and frightened them.