Chapter 1

Darkness rolled over the sun as if struck by the never-ending abyss of night. But of course, it wasn’t night, was it? It was day, the middle of day to be in fact. What was causing –

“Hello, Erika.” The voice startled me for a brief second, but then caught hold of the rather embarrassing enigma. The dark shadow that had cast its glare over the sun was in fact my fellow peer Geoff. He had walked directly between me and my view of the sun, casting the darkness across my line of view. In return, he had also spoken the two words that gave me this clue.

“Hi, Geoff,” I replied wearily. The shock that had made me such a fool still proclaimed me. If I had only paid but a bit of attention, I would have seen the person-shape, outlined by rebellious rays of sun. Why had I been so dense and senseless?

It was almost as if I was expecting a grand change that point in time. For example, it seemed that I was expecting human flesh and bone to melt into a blackness that clouded out all sight that day. This still surprises me. How could my unconscious dwellings have been so close to the true fate of time? How could I have unknowingly guessed the fate of the group that scattered about me? Whatever the truth, that part of my life has been played. There is no more reason to worry about it.

After my reply, I had expected more words to process from Geoff. He, in fact, had initiated the conversation. But, instead of rising his voice to speak, he just continued to stare through me. His golden eyes met my own icy blue ones, a and connection was formed between us. Never before had I noticed how perfect his eyes were. They almost seemed to radiate with a healthy golden tone, mixing in delicately with lighter creams and browns to give his eyes a beautiful stipulated pattern. Every speck of gold glittered limpidly, reflecting the water and trees that surrounded us and capturing them in a pupil of grace.

Slowly, my eyes littered down upon the rest of his face. I cherished the way his nose gently sloped downhill upon his face to form a thin, bulby curve, giving his face a passionate look. I cherished the way his lips formed, two soft, lonely peach roses that fell together silently in wait. How good it would to feel those roses, to brush them with my own lips. I cherished the way his deep brown hair fell defiantly upon his forehead, dipping courteously into the deep abyss that was his eyes. I cherished everything about Geoff, and in that one second, I knew he felt the same way about me.

I had known Geoff since 2nd grade, and never had I felt about him this strong passion. Perhaps, that was because I never looked into his eyes with such lust, with such meaning. I have never really cared to see what was hidden beneath human exterior. But now, I had, and now, I had found a longing in me so deep that I knew I must have loved him all along.

It was I who spoke first. I had to do something to calm the fire raging in my heart. “Geoff…” I couldn’t muster enough courage to continue. Perhaps words were not needed at a moment like this.

“Erika…” He echoed, not mockingly, but with full fervor. His gaze deepened. “Erika… I… You have beautiful eyes. And your eyes… they tell me that I must do this. Please, don’t be mad…”

Geoff paused for a second to savor the look on my face, then leaned in close. His face was just pure inches from mine, and his breath was heavy and deep on my face. From here, his eyes were even more dazzling. A shiver went up my spine as I lost myself in their mellifluous splendor once again. Everything was so perfect, so lovely, so…

His lips brushed mine, gently massaging my mouth. He was not urgent, nor insistent; but instead patient and loving. His tongue did not press to enter my mouth, instead, enduringly waited in his own mouth. It was blissful; it was serene peace. There are no words to describe this moment in full, except to say that it was a first kiss. First kisses always obtain a special mixture of mystery that cannot be fully described in words. Think back to your own first kiss, and imagine it instead in my body, imagine it with a boy with golden eyes that could light up the sun.

The moment seemed to last forever. Yet, in the path of history, it was but one grain of sand. It was but one tiny pixel of dust that would forever be engraved in our hearts. However, as I have previously stated, no portion of time is insignificant. None, none at all. So, even in this moment in which only I, a dying memory, cause pause to remember love’s destiny for us, this kiss shall still be called significant.

He broke away with the ease of a graceful dancer performing in a well-practiced routine. Slowly, I regained feeling to the outside world, and could hear our fellow peers screaming once again in the background, could feel the sun beating it’s rays into my face. I could also hear my heartbeat, loud and clear above them all. It thudded at a quick pace, beating to the sound of the melody our kiss had created.

Our eyes met each other again, and this time Geoff spoke without hesitation.

“Erika… I love you. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you, back when we were little kids. Sure, it was just puppy love then, but now, it’s… it’s an obsession, a passion… I just can’t explain. You know I’ve never been good with words… But… I hope you felt that kiss as much as I did. I hope you feel what I feel for you. Please, say you, please tell me you do feel for me…”

Astonishment filled me. That little speech… it was perfect. Geoff was right, he never was very good with words, but this ode to love, this passionate response…

“Geoff, I – That kiss was amazing. And… Your eyes. I’ve just never noticed them before. They’re so golden, so filled with emotion. I just can’t physically describe them. How could I have never noticed them? All these years, they’ve been on fire for me, haven’t they? And all these years, I’ve turned away from the light into the dark. How could I? I’m so sorry, I just don’t know what to say.” This jumble of sentences was not what I had meant to say. I had wanted to tell him how when he kissed me, I felt his passion and my desire overlap and become one… It was my first kiss, a moment I had been dreaming about since I first developed emotional feelings about the opposite sex. But was the passion that had rooted in it just a mix of my desperation for love, or a true feeling?

“Geoff…” I began. How could I tell this to him? How could I tell him that I wasn’t sure if my feelings for him were real or imposed by my loneliness? His face glowed back at mine, waiting, praying for me to answer him. I just wasn’t sure I could.

“I’m sorry,” I began. “I – I don’t think this will work. I mean, I felt that kiss, I felt all the passion you sent me in it. But I’m just not sure if my feelings for you are true or if they have just been created by my desperation for a boyfriend. I - ,” My voice wavered at this point, and I couldn’t continue. I had finally received the kiss I had been lusting for my entire life, and now I was turning it down.

“But, Erika, you said you had feelings for me. Why does it matter if they are imposed or real? Just follow them, and see where it takes you.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I just…” Water flooded my eyes, causing tears to form and run down my face. “I…”

I couldn’t take Geoff’s confused stares anymore. His passionate eyes longing for my love had deepened and turned to a misty brown color, almost as if mourning the absence of my love.

I turned from his face, which still imprints clearly in my mind today. It haunts me to think that this is how I left him forever, alone and saddened by the loss of his love. I’m not sure that I will always remember that face, and it frightens me. That face is the epitome of human feeling, and without it, I may be lost to the emotions of my people and myself.

Disturbed by the sentiment dripping in my mind, I began to speed away from Geoff and the rest of my high school class. Forget love. It was all an imposed emotion, wasn’t it? An imposed emotion to keep us all in peace with each other and bring new life into the world.

My feet clobbered over the freshly moist dirt, soaked by the tide that had recently receded. I had no destination in plan, no stopping point for my running fury. I was just going to keep sprinting until all my hope was depleted.

A few screams entered my ears as I slipped away from the 11th grade class picnic. They were most likely teachers, threatening to punish me for straying from the group. But who could not stray from such a devoid world of true sensation? Everything was constructed wrongly, every guideline set to follow a mistake. Love was not true, love was only lust. Every soul who claimed to have found their soul mate had only really found a person worthy enough to fill their desperation.

Desperation – that’s all love was. I had felt love many times, my entire life was love. Each second of my day I yearned for someone to hold me, to love me. How foolish I had been to realize I had felt love all along. Love was only satisfied when we found someone foolish and desperate enough to create passionate feelings and pretend to have found something that doesn’t exist. In reality, we were all just desolate, lonely creatures who could never really connect with anyone, never really feel their lust or their pain or their emotions.

Of course, I know better than this now. Love is really out there, despite how you may feel or think. I have found it since then, and have also lost it. That tiny little kiss and burst of feeling cannot compare to the loss of love that I have suffered.

My breath was heavy and deep, and my legs felt like lead weights. I knew that I could not continue this mad dash for much longer. Gradually, I came to a halt, and placed my hands on my knees out of weakness. I had traveled to a secluded place encompassed by a wide variety of leafy trees and the calm lake. Here, was the perfect place to contemplate my feelings.

I spotted a boulder on my left, and proceeded to it, sitting down with exhaustion. Now I could sort out whether love was true or generated from hate.

I might have been able to do this, too, in which case I would not have been so sour in my future ensuing and adventuring. However, a voice spoke that chilled my spine and lighted the hairs that covered my arms.

“What are you doing here?” It was a deep and powerful voice, and it came from behind me.

Instinctively, I turned to the voice, and instinctively, fear filled me. The one who had spoken was a man, a man cloaked in a black shirt and jeans. His hair was dark and short, and his eyes matched peculiarly. He seemed abnormally out of place, as if he didn’t belong here on the shores on Lake Erie. Now I know that he was out of place, so out of place that he didn’t even belong in this century.

However startled I was, I managed to ramble out a reply,

“Why do you care? This is a public beach.” It seemed a fair enough response, as it was a public beach area. Nevertheless, he just smirked a malicious smile, forming shallow dimples on his high cheekbones.

“Why do I care?” He laughed malevolently. “The reason I care is the reason for which you exist, my dear Erika. How do you think you came to be here with me?”

This caused the tiny fear that had been sprouting in me to grow into a full-fledged panic. How did he know my name? And what was he talking about?

“Ah… my dear Erika. So beautiful, with your auburn hair and blue eyes. You know, blue eyes are a rare thing to have in your time. But in mine, it is even rarer. I have never seen a single soul with blue eyes from the time in which I was created. Well, except for you.”

The man in front of me was crazy. That had to be it; any other explanation was unfeasible. If only I knew then what I know now, that any thing is possible, any idea that is conjured in your head can be played out for the world.

“Your beauty is so appetizing, Erika. It feeds me, you know that? It drives me. I must have you!” He made a step to approach me, but then halted and massaged his temples. “No, no, I cannot have you yet. Not yet, not till the future has arrived. I will not be tempted till it is time.”

What was he talking about? He… he wanted to rape me? I had to get help – fast.

Immediately, I began to sprint once again, back towards the last day of school picnic. I had still not completely rested from my previous endeavor, and so I began to pant instantly. This time, however, I knew I could not stop, for my life depended on getting away from this madman.

After I had taken only a few strides, a hand grasped my shoulder roughly. Caught off balance, I toppled backwards into the soil. The wind escaped my lungs, and I found myself gasping for an air I did not contain. A body climbed on top of me, and placed his hands on my face, as if cherishing my pain.

“Oh, such a sweet, innocent face! I wish you could keep it forever, my dear, but you can’t, and you know it.”

It was the man. He had caught me. There was no way I could escape. My back felt like it had cracked in two, and I still couldn’t catch my breath. His weight was heavy on my medium-frame, and nailed me to the dirty beach floor.

He began to lean in and force his face onto mine, but something I couldn’t see stopped him. He paused, as if frozen by an Arctic wind, but then responded quite suddenly.

“It is time! I am sorry, my dear Erika! This must wait for another time! Until then, farewell!”

He lifted his weight from mine, and I felt free again. My eyes had started to glitter with blackness from the lack of oxygen, and so, for a few moments, I just lay there and tried to catch my breath. Finally, my breathing rate had slowed, and my vision returned. Sitting up slowly, I tried to recap all that happened.

However, my gaze was very suddenly caught by a large mass moving on my right. I glanced towards it, and almost screamed. A large tidal wave loomed only a football field’s length away, and was steadily approaching.

Please read and review this for me! I feed off of comments, so please tell me whether you like it or not! This was actually a dream I had, and I really hope to continue it!