"Hey it's you!" I shouted at the brunette, recognizing him from the week before.
He stared at me for a minute, trying to remember who I was, before breaking out into a huge grin. "Hey I remember you! You nearly ran me over!"
I laughed while I quickened my pace to get to where he was. Once I got there and our laughter died down, we settled into an awkward silence. I wanted to break it and say something, but my social anxiety kept getting in the way of that. So instead, I let myself get distracted by the tulips in the bark, swaying in the breeze.
The guy said something, but because I was so focused on the tulips, I didn't hear what he was saying. Didn't help that my brain registered the other people's footsteps, the bird calls, and the cars passing by at the same volume as his voice.
"Huh?" I said looking up from the tulips.
"I said that was a pretty nasty fall you took. Are you doing alright?" he asked.
I blinked, blanking out for a second, before remembering what he was talking about. "Oh, yea. I'm fine. A few bruises won't kill me. It was a miracle you grabbed me off my bike before I went into the roadway." And once again, the awkward silence blessed us with its presence. I looked around, trying to avoid making eye contact with the brunette.
In an attempt to break the silence, I took a breath and said, "So... nice weather we're having, isn't it?"
"Yea, I guess so," he responded, and the silence took hold once again. All of a sudden, he bent down and ripped a tulip out of the bark and awkwardly handed it out to me.
"F-for you," he said, a light shade of pink dusting his cheek. My eyes widened, at the unexpected action, and I giggled, taking the flower from his hand. Where was that charismatic ladies' man I saw a week ago who rescued me off my bike?
"Um, wow, uh, thank you...?"
"Kai. My name is Kai."
I smiled and said, "Thank you, Kai."
🎬 Kidnapped Romance
YouTube Channel: UCb0EOwy75EU8UQVbvkI-H8A
⚠️ An innocent beauty... and a famished beast.
She was running.
Branches slapped her cheeks, the gnarled root of an old tree suddenly caught her foot-
She crashed to the forest floor with a gasp.
The pain shot through her ankle like a blade, but she didn't stop. She pushed herself back up and ran again.
A low-hanging branch snagged her veil-rip!
Grazed her shoulder too.
Still, she ran. Her breath came in broken gasps.
She glanced over her shoulder.
No one.
Only the sound-
Heavy thuds. Boots crushing dried leaves behind her.
Her bare feet bled as she stepped on a brittle twig.
She winced, stumbled, but didn't stop.
Her heart was beating in her ears.
Louder. Louder.
She bit down on her lower lip, tasting blood.
Suddenly-
Thump!
She crashed into something hard.
"Ow!" she gasped and staggered back, thinking it was a tree.
But it moved.
A towering figure was in front.
She froze. Then-
"No!" she whimpered, trying to back away.
Too late.
A brutal tug on her hair jerked her head back. "Where to?" His voice was low and cold, his hand clenched tightly in her hair.
"Leave me!" she screamed, struggling violently.
He started dragging her.
"Let go of me!" She fought back, landing a weak punch on his stomach.
"Bitch," he spat. "Shut up before I loose all my patience with you."
And then-
He flung her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack.
In the moonlight, he looked some big bad Werewolf.
"Put me down!" she cried, punching his back, clawing-but his skin felt like stone beneath her fingernails.
He halted again.
And dropped her.
She hit the dry ground. Before she could crawl away, he knelt beside her-
Then straddled her, his shadow engulfing hers.
"No," she whispered, going deathly pale.
Eyes wide.
Lips trembling.
Heart shattering inside her chest.
An innocent beauty...
A famished beast.
⚠️ This isn't just romance. It's survival.
🥇#1 in Spiritual - many times. Alh