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Overcoming the Dark: A Short Story

Lapis
We flew through the wilderness, trees flashing by so fast you couldn't tell if it was leaves or pine, not that we had the time to identify trees. We were too busy running for our lives. Shadows flashed passed and we could still feel the warmth of the lava lake, now far behind. Side by side our toughened bodies raced in harmony as we approached the forest at the base of the Wisteria Mountains. My eyes flashed back and forth, not searching for the thing chasing us, but for obstacles in our way. Looking behind us was too risky.
"Lapis, it's gone!" Apparently it wasn't too risky for Alex.
"You idiot! You know what happened when that one chick in the bible turned to look behind her when she was fleeing her city? Well she turned into salt!" I yelled, plopping myself down on an overturned log.
"I don't think I'm going to become salt." He said sadly, probably thinking about how we hadn't seen any type of book, much less a bible, in the past five years. There was no record of any human civilization in this horrible place. The only thing here was things of nightmares, life draining demons, sickly ghouls, and large beasts. Just like the one we were running from now.
It was a ghastly, wolf-like creature but much bigger and its once gray fur matted with the blood of a thousand kills. Its howl could kill if one got too close and its jaws could snap a spine in one bite. He was different from any monster we had yet faced but not as difficult as the demonic sorcerer from two years ago. The only thing those two had in common was they were annoyingly persistent.
"THAT IS NOT THE POINT!" I said, choosing to become oblivious to his need for compassion.
"We should probably keep moving," He said, changing the subject, "We can't have lost it entirely." I wanted to reprimand him for changing the subject but my heart melted at his dejected gaze, so I got up and followed him into thicker woods.
Silence dominated the atmosphere as we walked, it wasn't that he couldn't talk; it was just that he wouldn't. I had stepped on one of the invisible mines that surrounded his inner being, and now he was silent.  Alex had it harder than me. Whereas I had grown up in an orphanage with no one to love me and no one to care about me, Alex had had a wonderful life. His family had looked out for him and he had been at the top of all of his classes in senior year. Best of all, he was in love. The picture of his girlfriend is still in his pocket. Alicia had ironed red hair, smooth tan skin and lovely blue eyes. She was pretty to say the least. Then Alex had somehow came to be here (he never talked about it), in this terrible place. He lost everything.
When Alex had first fallen in I had been down here for three days, and was being slowly murdered by a skin-eating demon...
The blurry figure threw the demon across the small cavern with the strength of a champion football star.  The green, scaly monster rose up to its full height and turned his red glowing eyes on him, as each inched forward, both looking for any hint of vulnerability. The demon found it first. A great fist came around at lightning speed and connected with the jaw of my attempted savior. There was a sickening crunch as the bone snapped and they flew into the stone wall of the dank cave and there was a rustling noise as he slid to the stone floor. If I wasn't trying to kid myself, my rescuer was unconscious.
I curled up, feebly attempting to shield myself from the resume of the slow and painful process. "If only I could cry," I thought to myself. I would sob for this other person who so valiantly tried to save me.  I turned my head painfully to the side to get a better look at the doomed person on the wall opposite me. From what I could make out it was a brunette male. Setting aside the already swelling, bloody jaw it was obvious that (to put it in the pettiest of terms) was hot. He had probably had it all before he stumbled down here.
My musings were interrupted by the roar of the skin eater. His long arms dragged on the ground as he thumped over to where the boy lay, staring down at him with his red eyes aflame. The demon raised its arm and so, powerless to do anything, I covered my face so I didn't have to watch the death of my knight.
Of course, back then I didn't know anything about Alex. I would have never guessed he could still fight. He did though, and defeated the demon, actually bringing down the cave on top of it. He did a lot for me back then, for I was just an unfortunate girl and he had all the muscle. After a while I got stronger, and I even saved him once or twice but I never forgot what he did for me. I will be eternally grateful to him.
Alex and I have mulled over where we are for some time now and the closest thing that we could come up with was "hell dimension".  Somehow we both fell into hell but if we did die, neither of us remembers it. It all made sense though, the demons, the lava, and the endless demonic biomes.
"Lapis," said Alex, just loud enough for my practiced ears to hear.
"Yes?"
"There's something following us, over there, on the left."
"The beast?"
"No, listen to it," he commanded in a whisper.
I stood silently, letting the smell of pine wash over me, the feel of a cool breeze, and the taste of hot air drying my mouth. I tilted my head slightly to the left and was able to hear a faint rustling like fast feet flying through the forest.
"Vampire," I breathed.
"They're faster than us so we can't outrun them," said Alex with a nod.
I pulled a customized short sword out of the lining in my skin tight body suit. Both had been a gift from the elves three years ago and I had taken good care of them. I ran my fingers along the edge of the blade, confident in both its and my abilities. "This vamp is going down."
Alex nodded again, pulling out his own broad sword and coming to stand beside me, facing the woods that we had just pushed through.
I crouched low, letting my spidery legs hold my weight and shifting from foot to foot, eyes twitching back and forth and my whole body just trembling in anticipation. Vampires were definitely something I could handle. I grinned and knew that the red light of the hell dimension would glint off my teeth, giving them a sinister, bloody look.
The rustling grew steadily louder and in about 10 more seconds there was a vampire standing in front of us. I always laughed to myself when I compared twilight vampires to these demons. They did have yellow eyes but, far from being enchanting and even father from being sparkly. Its skin was so pale, it looked like unblemished paper, its lips shone red and it's fingernails were like 7 inches long. The facial features were over defined and there was no hair on its shining head. Plus it wasn't 17. It looked like 50. Its face was curled up in a familiar hunting snarl.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alex's fingers twitch once. That was our signal. He lunged upwards and I lunged downwards, blade swinging at the legs. Because of my slight more agility I was able to take out the legs a fraction of a second before Alex cut off its head. This was our battle strategy and we carried it out now. I barely dodged a lighting fast blow from one of the vampire's pale fists and sped between its legs, sword whistling through the air to strike bone and muscle sinew. The good thing about vamps was they didn't bleed but I turned away from the muscle spilling out of the legs. I dove out of the way as I heard the fatal strike of Alex's sword on neck bone and wrinkled my nose as I watched the head of the vampire roll to the ground then turn to dust.
I turned to look at my partner and saw the battle fire alive in his eyes, smiling at the emotion that he only showed when fighting. It was one of his better emotions, and I guess you could call what he usually was depression. But it wasn't really, he was just… broken.
I didn't usually like to judge people on their dominate emotion because that wasn't who they really were. I had seen many sides of Alex, his sadness, his fears, and even his occasional joy. I know I make it sound like he was entirely doom and gloom but he and I had become close over the years, and I knew him.
I was positive of this when he turned his face to me, red light melting into his skin, and grinned wide, showing all of his pristine white teeth. His muscles strained through his back clothing, drenched in sweat and his hair falling over one eye. With much surprise, I realized that this was the first time I had really looked at him without trying to avoid his eyes. His shone into mine with the fierce joy of battle. Alex's sword was sheathed once more and I realized I hadn't even taken the trouble to put mine away; I was much too busy staring. Blushing, and hoping he couldn't tell in the red light, I slid mine into its hiding place. This was not the place for fantasies. And besides I had no right trying to interfere with his lingering feelings for his past lover. Wait, what was I saying? I'm not interfering with anything. I had just glanced at my partner for a brief second! That meant nothing. Then why was I….craving something from him?
"Lapis, are you okay?" a voice asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"Huh?" I looked up. "Yeah, I'm fine, sorry." What an idiot I was! Just staring into space! I didn't even think of him in 'that way'. Despite my internal debate, his look of sincere concern melted my heart.
"Really, I'm okay. We should probably keep moving we're wasting time."
"You're right, let's go." He jogged off into the trees and I caught him looking patiently back to see if I was following.
. . .

"Hey can we stop for a second?" His voice was cheerful, but his breathing was heavy.
"Sure," I answered, slightly confused. We had barely gone a mile.
"Thanks." I watched as he sat on a rock. Sharp eyes found what he had been hiding.
"You're hurt!" I exclaimed in disbelief. How could he not have told me? What was up with him?
"What, this?" he asked gesturing to the damp red spot on his leg that I had noticed.
"YES THAT!"
"It's not a big deal. That vamp just managed to claw me with three of his fricking long fingernails. Really, I'm fine."
"Well we have to at least bandage it. Let me see it."
"No, it's okay." What? Since when could he not treat a wound?
"Let me see." My voice dropped lower, more dangerous.
"No."
"Stubborn much?" I asked lightly, coming up to stand in front of him. I knelt down and because he was expecting me to lift up his pant leg, he wasn't fast enough to get away. I put my hand on the wound and pushed hard.
Alex threw his head back, with his lips pressed tightly together.
"That's what I thought," I said, smiling up at him from my place on the ground.
I ripped the blood soaked part of his pants leg off and gasped a little. This was not just a few cuts. His leg was torn open, almost to the bone and the blood still ran down. If this had been anyone else, they would have fainted from blood loss way before now.
"Lapis…" he said quietly, his voice trailing.
I ignored him, settling down to start cleaning and bandaging it. He grimaced the whole time, but didn't faint or make any noise at all.
When I was done I stood up. "That's it," I stated, "We camp here."
"What? But it's still early!" Alex complained. I glared at him.
When a fire was crackling merrily and Alex and I lay on the forest floor I decided now was the time.
"Why didn't you tell me you were hurt, and why did you attempt to refuse me treating it? I just don't understand; it's never been a problem before."
"I don't know."
"Alex, you idiot! That wound was serious, why did you think you couldn't tell me?!"
"I don't know." I stared at him in utter surprise. He hadn't shut himself to me completely in at least three years. I was tempted to keep arguing but common sense told me that it would get me nowhere. Neither would whining or complaining. I decided to trust him. He has done enough for me where I didn't have to question his actions.
"Okay then. Good night Alex." I smiled to myself when I saw the look of content on his face. I had made the right choice. He would tell me when he was ready.
                 .      . .
Alex
Dark ocean waters consume me always. They never ceased trying to drown my sense of being, take away all positive feelings and thoughts. The waves rise up against my desperate struggles and silence them in one cruel slash. The sea is becoming especially angry, it wants me all to itself but something else wants a part of me. Lapis.
"Hey Alex, wake up!"
"Gah… What time is it?" I was greeted not only by her but by the pain in my leg as well… I stopped thinking about it. It made me think of other things like why I wasn't honest with her and the hurt look on her face. Why didn't I tell her? I didn't know. I had been honest. I honestly don't know.
"Early morning!" she answered cheerfully. "Since we didn't get far enough yesterday, I figure we'd better start early today!"
I groaned. I was not an early person. She knew this of course.
"Come on, get up."
"…No."
"I made breakfast."
"If it's not monsters I'll eat it."  She frowned. All there was were monsters.
"No." Now I was just being stubborn. Although, the pout on her face was quite adorable and worth refusing food.
"If you don't get up, I will feed you like a mother bird does its babies," she threatened, eyebrows set in diagonal lines and an evil yet playful smile on her face.
"Okay, okay I'm getting up!"
We talked and laughed while we ate, Lapis telling the most amazing jokes that I had never heard before. All of the sudden I realized that what she was really trying to do was distract me from all of my physical and emotional pain. A warm feeling spread though me when I thought of this, the warmth of her, of Lapis.
Alicia. Damn. Her name sent the cold ocean waters sweeping through me and the warmth was gone, just like that. The memory of Alicia still dominated the seas inside of me, making them cold and harsh so I could never forget her. Never.
"Alex. Alex… ALEX!"
"Huh, oh what were we talking about?"
"Just about bunnies in hats. Really it's no big deal. You spaced out though, it was kind of funny." Lapis smiled a warm smile but the oceans were upset. They didn't want the emotions she gave me. They wanted me to only feel pain and loss.
Desperate for a subject I could handle I stated the only thing I could think of. "Lapis we need to get going." Damn it. Why did I have to say that?  Sure. I'm a tough guy and everything but if I was being totally honest with myself, this was going to be painful.
Lapis looked at me for a very long time and I got the helpless feeling that she was staring right into my tortured soul. She saw the physical pain of my leg wound making everything slightly blurry around the edges. She saw the psychological pain of living in a hell dimension for five years with nothing to hold onto. She saw the waves of Alicia drenching my heart in darkness. And just for a second, I thought that maybe she even saw herself trying to compete with the ocean. She saw it all in one concerned, understanding stare.
As she stared I felt the cold ocean become a little warmer, the darkness become a little bit lighter.  Lapis was like a pure whiteness, attempting to bleach black. And now she was succeeding in making it gray. The gray was so confusing.
"Alex, you aren't going anywhere," Lapis said. And she was giggling?!
"What's so funny?!"
"You dumbass."
I smiled.
A rustling behind us made us both jump. The bushes to the left were trembling and the trees were shaking. And for a good reason. Out of the brush rose the beast, horrible fangs exposed in a definite hunting snarl. We had been found.
"LAPIS!" That stupid idiot! While I had been watching it emerge, Lapis had been slowly sneaking forward and now she charged the monster, short sword held high.
The beast's eyes automatically focused in on Lapis' small figure. It raised its massive head and lifted a paw as big as my torso, aiming it right for Lapis.
"LAPIS!" I yelled again. My mind shut down and my body was what controlled me. My legs propelled me forward despite the pain and I ran like I used to run as a quarterback for my high school's team. My arms reached out, whole body stretching to reach her, to reach out and catch Lapis like she had caught me.
Just in time I felt the warmth of Lapis' body in my arms and we skidded painfully to a stop between the legs of the beast.
Lapis turned towards me but instead of the expected surprise on her face there was a look of trust. She raised her hand in front of her face and gave her fingers a definite twitch. The signal.
I grinned. I took off, springing towards the head of the giant wolf, now close to the ground, looking for his prey. I could feel my injured leg pulsing and throbbing, I could feel the burn. I could even feel the blood once more running down but Even though I felt it, the pain didn't register, it just wasn't important enough. I ran straight up to the bloodstained muzzle, wrinkling my nose at the horrible breath. The beast went cross eyed for a second as he noticed me charging at him. I jumped high in the air just as he began to yelp. Lapis had done her job. I drew my broad sword in midair and as I landed I swung downwards to land, not on its neck (that was too big) but on its eye. The beast howled and jumped backwards. Hanging on for dear life, I fumbled with my sword, trying to get it into the bottom of its furry neck but as the wolf ducked and whipped my sweaty fingers lost their grip on the handle and it clattered to the ground. Not good. I shut my eyes. I wasn't going to get out of this one. When I am forced to let go, my spine or my neck will snap as I hit the ground.  That would be the end. The ocean inside of me reared up but stopped as suddenly as it had started. For the first time in five years all was calm and peace rested within. This was the end.
All of the sudden I felt a shudder below me. The beast gave one last shudder and fell to the ground. Something warm ran through my fingers.
"Alex! ALEX!!!" A voice called to me though the din. Lapis. "Alex." Lapis' voice was much closer now, near my head. The pain in my leg was taking over, everything was blurry even her voice wasn't exactly right. "Alex…" Such a beautiful voice.
"Lapis…"
"Alex!"
"Listen to me… I'm sorry."
"Don't talk Alex…" she pleaded.
"No time…just listen… I'm sorry for living in the past for five years. I'm sorry for not realizing that I wasn't alone…" I coughed. I have to finish this.... But the darkness is spreading. "Lapis…" A finger was pressed over my lips, silencing me entirely.
"Shut up already, ya dumbass. You're not going to die."
Before I could do anything something soft and warm replaced the finger, crushing my lips gently like laying on a plush mattress. Everything dying inside revived its self, everything dark became light. The ocean was subdued in white sand, coating its dark depths in purity. Alicia… The name of which I had hung onto faded away, replaced with a new one, its brilliance outshining the deceased. Lapis.
My teacher asked us to write a short story about anything we wanted, so this is what I came up with.
I'm honestly really proud of it. A+ here I come!!!
© 2012 - 2024 buffyvampireslayer39
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