EleganZe

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Hands that were held tightly together and eyes that were locked at one another – they were the typical lovebirds whom hum a tune only known between them. Aaron and Luna was one such pair, carelessly strolling along the busy streets. Despite the skyscrapers that hung fancy television screens and buildings with multimillion dollar designs, the streets were flooded with people – people that were connected by a certain degree of separation, ever so physically close yet ever so distantly related.

“So, where are we going for dinner tonight, Luna?” Aaron asked.

“Home, no? Like, last night, some guy was praising my cooking,” Luna remarked, giggling at the same time. Having fallen a few steps behind, she tapped her high heels in a rhythm until she caught up to his pace. She stared at the ground and the motion she made in an attempt to fuse with his movement. Soon, their shadows overlapped, forming a single entity.

“Ok, but what does that have to do with where we’re going to eat?”

“Everything. That you would rather pay for someone else to cook. That you would rather possibly share the dining table with someone else. That you would rather I do as I’m told. That...”

Her long series of questions caused Aaron’s eyebrows to almost join together. He had to interrupt her. “Ok, ok. I get the point. I just thought you wanted a break. I didn’t mean to...”

“So?” Her beautiful glistening eyes stared at him, waiting for his answer.

“So, you’re always my one and only chef, if that’s what you’re after. I’ll try to run away from foreign dishes next time.”

A soft breeze caused Luna’s long hair to belly dance along with her footsteps. Envy eyes from behind admired her everyday catwalk. Although she never purposely acted seductive, the air that surrounded her and the fragrance from her scent alone allured Aaron. His eyes were never once off her and when they were, they were closed. Luna pouted with a hidden smile in her heart. Six feet two was in no way a feat, but for her to be slim and yet reveal hints of her close-to-perfect curves via a white tight fit shirt and a blue and black checked short skirt were. This contrasted against Aaron, who was five feet five and simply wore a black jacket and a pair of blue jeans. He was the type of person that could easily be fused within a crowd and not be readily noticed. Fortunately, his baby-face like appearance gave him something to hold onto.

They turned from the main road into a deserted street. It was a huge contrast from the appearance of the city. To the sides were walls spray painted with tags of various sizes and colors and nothing more. Further in front was an overfilled bin that had its lid almost popped off. Flies circled around it attacking the contents that leaked out. Luna tightened her grip on Aaron’s hands when she saw dead rats to her right.

“Woah!” she danced in awe when she heard the sound of something squished under her shoes. At a glance, it was a dead cockroach. Using small steps, she avoided the rest of the remaining corpses.

Halting, Aaron reflected on the scenery, “Yeah, that’s the city. A place where idiots attempt to create glamour and beauty by hiding the ugly in places they don’t expect others to notice. Of course, they tend to forget that not everyone follows their ways.” As though only having just realized Luna’s distress, he immediately diverted his attention to her, helping her and her high heels out of the dreaded mess.

Once it was all over, they walked on, back in their own rhythm. Meanwhile, Luna slowly tucked her free hand inside her skirt. In striking a balance between concealing an embarrassing look and trying to get her fingers past her hips, her legs involuntarily glued to the ground. Unaware of the situation, Aaron almost faltered.

“Sorry,” Luna said, avoiding exchanging direct contact with Aaron. “Guess what color I have on today?” Taking a deep breath, she pulled out a smile and looked at him with glittering eyes.

Aaron covered his forehead with his palm. “Um... how would I know? Your whole cupboard is full of jumping p-bunnies.”

“Oh. You want to find out?” Removing her hand back out from her skirt with ease, she licked her index finger before sucking onto it.

“Luna. It’s pink. I saw it this morning.” In fact, I stripped it off last night. He kept those last words to himself.

“So silly of me,” she mumbled, finger still in her mouth.

Light consumed their vision as they reached the end of the street. Aaron guided Luna to turn left. Not far in front was a small cake shop. The walls on the outside were painted green and to its side were a newsagency and a pub that was closed.

Luna almost faltered when she heard a creepy voice. “You’re in the way of a new era,” it said.

“Did you say something?” she asked Aaron.

Aaron looked around innocently. “No. You heard something? Anyway, let’s go inside. The cake’s waiting.”

“Ok,” Luna responded, reasoning that the voice must have been her imaginative creation.

They entered the shop to find an old lady at the counter. A variety of cakes surrounded her like guardian angels hidden beneath the glass. She beamed at them a smile whilst waving at a leaving customer. “What would you like?” the old lady addressed the couple. “It’s all freshly made.”

“Let’s add a cake to tonight’s menu,” Aaron declared as he stared at the row of cakes on display. His fingerprints smeared the glass.

“Sure, but I’ll make sure it goes on your face,” Luna replied.

“Right, which one? How about chocolate?” His eyes rolled from left to right.

“You pick, you pick,” said Luna, releasing her hold of Aarons hand. A stray white cat had caught her eyes. It sat on the corner of the shop, yet when Luna approached it, it leaped out onto the road. Curious, she followed it out. “What are you doing here, little kitty? Are you lost?”

“You shall serve as the catalyst for a new era to come,” Luna heard that same voice again.

The cat had disappeared. She rubbed her eyes. At the same time, hands covered her mouth and waist. The thought of being gang raped crossed her mind. Swinging her legs as they were brought off the ground, Luna resisted but to no avail. Her arms flung frantically. “Aaron...” she wanted to say despite her lips failing to budge. A weird scent was brought to her nose. The arms that held onto her let go, causing her to fall lifelessly onto the ground.

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“I picked one,” announced Aaron, walking out of the shop with the packaged contents in one hand. “Luna?” He asked, carelessly glancing around. She was nowhere in sight. “Where did you go?”

Unzipping his jacket pocket, he reached for his cell phone, yawning. Selecting her number, he dialled. The ringing tone echoed in his right ear. No one answered. He moved on.

Walking up the street past a grocery store, Aaron paused when he discovered a white leather handbag on the ground. It was neatly rested under the grocery advertisements as though someone had purposely left it there. He picked it up, creasing his brows. This looks terribly like Luna’s. His mind fought against opening it up to browse the contents. It’s hers. I remember that mark. What happened? She wouldn’t leave her handbag here. Luna?

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All of a sudden, a loud collision-like sound caught Aaron’s attention. It was as though something shattered and crashed. He picked up a loud hiss, this time confirming it was a few meters ahead. Sirens sounded and horns went off. With the handbag over his right shoulder, he followed the direction of the sounds. He found himself blocked off by a wall of people filled with chatter. As though police intervened to make way, a small gap was opened up between the waves of people. Aaron took his first step forward, but found that at the same time he could no longer hear the people around him. Their voices had died.

When he had reached the center he saw a dead body. A puddle of blood surrounded it. It was pale and lifeless. The packaged cake slipped from his hand as his eyes lost the liveliness it once had. Black and white was all he could see – old images of his past flashed in his mind. He could see Luna – smiling, crying, sulking and panting yet he could not see himself in the pictures.

Covering his eyes with one hand and his mouth with the other, he desperately wanted to take his senses away from the horrid truth. An acidic taste in his mouth almost caused him to vomit. Blood continued to seep out of the dead body.

“Luna? Luna!” Aaron suddenly yelled, snapping out of the trance. He rushed towards the body, embracing it, not caring out how bloodstained it was.

He stared at her big eyes that were half closed. He panted. He froze. He did not know how else to react. Tears were absent. Only fear and trembling hands accompanied his pounding heart. That very moment, he heard the sounds of wings flapping – big wings that created gales. Something had cast a large shadow over him. The people disappeared in his eyes. He could now only see an angel that could not be described – a holy light had blinded him of its features.

The angel waved its sword. Aaron felt his heart throb for the very last time.

Without Luna the world would be dark again, without light and without hope. She had pulled me out of the grave that buried my heart in this dull world. It was when we met that I understood I lived for a reason – I live for her and only her. She was never the angel, but my devil, my devil that pulled me into the depths horror. I feared, one day that she’d never be around. I was terrified that she would lose interest in me.

“Good bye,” she said. A holy light surrounded her as her wings began to beat again.

Aaron had fainted on top of Luna’s body. He kissed her lifeless lips, marking the departure of their romantic love from the world.

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In his sleep, Aaron heard a faint female voice whisper in his ears. “What would you do if I said I had the power to grant you a second chance? Would you repeat the past? What if I said that the same source of power could also be used to stain the world with blood? Everything comes at a cost and for what price will you pay for Luna?”

Author’s Notes

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V3 voila. Truth is, I once wrote like this, but I could never control it – consider it rage style. Control seems to be a bit better now, except the long lengths of time required to boot up the description engine if you may call it.

Time for credits...

Inspired to change to this new style by the great Joa (MJE) - *bows in respect* (unless it’s a hug that you’re after). You’ve been a great help too, throughout. So, much Joa requires a hall of fame.

Also have to thank people that helped out along the way for V2 (besides the great reviewers) – warangel820 for the numerous ongoing suggestions and some corrections by daughterofmusic early on. End of credits. Hope I haven’t missed anyone. Otherwise, let me know.

Hence from V1 Elegant Emotions to V2 EleganZe to V3 *secret title*.

To give you some insight – this is romance on the outside except sci-fi and fantasy are evil little monsters that try to get in the way of the lovers with naughty tentacles. It’s a story with layers and mystery as I don’t like to have things said so plainly – aka the fun part.

For everyone that complained about my lack of description and unclearness – how does this version sound?