🖤🖤

Imagine that you are a balloon —the only thing that holds you to the ground is a thin piece of string.

Now imagine that string is cut and you are just floating.

That is how I felt; light, unable to connect to the world, and unable to open my eyes. I could feel my heartbeat quicken at the realization. I could hear a rapid beeping, and I could hear my own exhalations. I had to put effort into every breath, focusing on my lungs expanding and constricting.

~

(Earlier that day...)

My hands gripped into my hair, perched on the edge of my couch, hand hanging between my knees. Angry tears rolled down my face and I was consumed by silence. Lenna had tried to come by earlier but her desperate knocks quickly faded at my lack of response.

I just needed to sleep, my brain was working on overdrive. I was mad at myself, at Klayton, at Destiny, at Artemis... it was too much for one person to handle. I went into my bathroom, grabbing a bottle of NyQuil. I took a long sip and began to drift off minutes later.

I thought I had finally found some peace in the madness, but I was greeted by my biggest source of grief.

Artemis appeared like always.

A bow slung over her back, her white hair somehow flowing despite the lack of wind. This time she had a permanent scowl on her face. I immediately tried to make myself taller —I wanted her to know that I wasn't scared of her, and that if anyone should be afraid it should be her.

"I don't know what you think you are doing Adira, but it is going to be you who won't last through this process." She sighed, as if she was exasperated with me. It was like she had this conversation before.

She has, the thought rang through my head. The reminder made me narrow my eyes. I decided to tease her a little — I mean, it was my dream anyway.

"What do you mean?" I said in a higher pitch mocking tone. I put my palms to my chest as if I was shocked by the allegations. Artemis stepped forward in a threatening manner, but stopped and looked closer at me, more specifically my eyes.

Anger flashed through her eyes, I could almost see the darkness pass through them.

"Don't play stupid you pathetic human bitch, I came here to warn you. Stop this stupid little mission before it kills you—"

"No. The only person that is going to die is you!" I shout towards her with equal passion.

At my words, a burst of laughter fills the air surrounding us. Except it wasn't light and happy laughter, but more of a cackle. The weight of noise consumed the air, making it hang heavily around my head.

Artemis began to walk around me in almost a taunting manner but my new found speed allowed me to turn just as fast; so we never broke eye contact. I didn't dare speak and break the silence.

I wanted her to explain what was so damn funny.

"Destiny always leaves out the most important parts. She wants me dead so badly that she is willing to put anyone's life on the line. Do you see how you are changing with every piece of me you manage to harness? Growing stronger and faster? But you are also getting impulsive, you are consumed by hate. It is because you're weak. Because you're human."

The words were spat out of her mouth as if they burned her tongue. At this point, we had both come to a standstill and were staring each other down venomously. She continues.

"Even if you manage to kill me, the transition will kill you too. The chances of you surviving are so slim no number can quantify it,"

I felt my breathing cease and my heartbeat slow. This couldn't be true. She was just trying to mess with me, I assure myself.

"Then why are you trying so badly to kill me?" I mean for the words to come out harsh, but they instead come out as a small squeak. I hate myself at that moment for proving that I was as weak as she said.

"If you remember, I didn't try to at first. I tried to block you from the supernatural —from Klayton, your mate. But once you made contact with him I had no choice. I knew that it was only a matter of time before you figured it all out; it was just a guess at how long."

When she talked about Klayton, my heart seemed to pick back up to a regular rhythm. Even in the moments when I wanted so badly to hate him, my body —our bond— responded to even the slightest of mention. Artemis's words shook me out of my little world.

"And that is exactly why... once you meet your mate there is very little chance of being able to separate your emotions. They will be a part of you forever, and even when you want to get rid of them." Her face squeezed painfully at her own words, and for a moment I saw a genuine emotion, one of few when it came to the Moon Goddess.

"Wait, did you have a mate?" I am shocked at my own question, but I was so curious I couldn't stop the words from flowing out of my mouth.

"Yes, and I killed him hoping I would release the part of me that was made for him. Unfortunately, Destiny is crueller than that —it is the one thing that I will never be able to get rid of." She said it so casually, almost as if she was proud of the accomplishment.

A gasp leaves my mouth.

Artemis had killed her own soulmate.

Any remaining question surrounding her humanity was shot out of me; she had none. The thought of Klayton dead made my chest squeeze painfully. I couldn't fathom what kind of person it would take to kill someone who shares a piece of their soul... and she had the audacity to call Destiny cruel.

"I am not happy with you Adira." She takes a threatening step forward, although I don't move. "You have killed my friend, and mark my words I will make you pay for it when you least expect it! I will be there to ruin you; blood for blood. You'll never get them all Adira, give up now while you can save yourself some dignity."

I watch as Artemis takes off her bow and arrow and in one swift movement, aims it at my head. She didn't even hesitate before letting the arrow go.

And then I woke up.

I was sweating, breathing heavily, and the first thing I saw was the red book —the one with all of the drawings. Anger struck through me and the anger was just another reminder that Artemis was right; I wasn't myself.

The realization didn't stop me from picking it up the small book and throwing it across the room. I was shocked when the binding didn't tear from the impact. Instead, it just landed with a thump after hitting the wall.

I wasn't even aware of what I was doing when I scooped up the book and grabbed a lighter from my desk drawer. I found myself outside, at the back of my apartment building, lighting the edge of the book on fire. I held the lighter close to the parchment pages, moving it slowly back and forth. Once the flames licked up the spine of the book I threw it to the ground.

It was when the book connected with the grass that I felt the hit in my chest immediately.

Was this book a piece of Artemis too?

A familiar burn ran through me confirmed that I was right. Why hadn't I thought of it before? I had one of the pieces in my possession this whole time; literally in my hands.

I clutched my stomach, trying to ease some of the pain. I expected the feeling to quickly fade like it had before but it kept growing.

I couldn't breathe.

It felt like I was drowning but I wasn't surrounded by water.

I couldn't move.

It felt like all my limbs had been filled with lead.

I couldn't think.

My only thought was 'I am going to die'.

I could hear the sound of an ambulance but I couldn't see. I felt like I was still standing but I wasn't sure. All of the voices that surrounded me were foreign. The touch that I could feel on my skin was alien.

I was alone.

Even though there were people there, I had never felt more deserted.

~

(Present...)

Imagine that you are a balloon —the only thing that holds you to the ground is a thin piece of string.

Now imagine that string is cut and you are just floating.

That is how I felt; light, unable to connect to the world, and unable to open my eyes. I could feel my heartbeat quicken at the realization. I could hear a rapid beeping, and I could hear my own exhalations. I had to put effort into every breath, focusing on my lungs expanding and constricting.

When I became semi-conscious this time I could hear better. I could hear what sounded like doctors, or maybe nurses talking —talking about me.

"We aren't sure who she is yet, a pedestrian saw her on the ground unconscious and bleeding from her nose. When the paramedics got there they said her vitals were insane, that they had never seen blood pressure or fever that high. But now we can't find the cause. It's like the symptoms manifested out of nowhere,"

~

I wasn't sure how much time had passed until I came around again. This time I could see light behind my eyelids; I considered that progress, it was no longer just darkness.

"We finally got permission to go into her phone. Her name is Adira and I think her boyfriend is on his way," The words come from the same nurse that was talking about me earlier.

Hope coursed through me —they had called Klayton. The overwhelming feeling was enough for me to crack open my eyelids, even though the movement made my eyes sting. I heard myself groan, which caught the attention of the nurse.

I was suddenly being poked and prodded, being asked if things hurt. I lifted my head, which felt like it had been filled with rocks, to find a nurse and a doctor inside the room with me.

"Glad you could join us, Miss Hayes! How are you—"

The doctor is cut off by Klayton bursting in, his eyes sweeping the room until they landed on me. I was surprised when he didn't immediately grab me. He instead turned to the doctor and spit out through clenched teeth.

"What happened to her?"

The doctor sighed as she took a chart of the nurse and flipped through it. "We honestly aren't quite sure, but I do know Adira is very lucky. The vitals she presented on scene were so high she should easily be dead. In my personal opinion, I would say it was almost inhuman."

Klayton turned to me and his eyes locked with mine, they were swimming with a thousand regrets. I was so focused on him that I barely noticed the staff leave the room.

We didn't speak as he helped me out of bed.

One of the nurses came in and out explained that my clothes had been cut off and disposed of. Klayton placed his jacket on me, it covered my ass, unlike the flimsy gown I had been provided. She handed me a plastic bag of items. Things that were on me when I collapsed. And amongst my phone and lighter, inside the bag sat the red book.

It looked as it had never been touched by fire. I gasped and dropped it on the ground. I immediately muttered an apology and bent down to pick it up.

I almost died and I didn't even collect the piece.

My eyes filled to the brim with tears that threatened to spill over. Klayton watched the scene unfold carefully. I'm not sure if he fully understood what was happening but he picked me up, carrying me in his arms like a bride, and I didn't protest this time in the slightest.

I'm brought to his car, where I'm gently placed in the passenger seat. I watch as he takes his spot in the driver's seat but didn't attempt to start the car.

"How long was I there?" My voice cracks with emotion, my dry throat betraying me.

"Three days Adira." His fingers tighten against the steering wheel. "I-I was so mad about before, that I left you alone. I never even thought..."

I wasn't even listening. I had been there for three days. Three fucking days.

How was that even possible? What did that book do to me? I look back up at Klayton and he held my gaze as he mumbled, almost to himself, "I can't lose you Adira, I just can't."

He leaned his way over the dash between us and pulled me up to his chest. The warmth made me slump farther into him. His embrace so tight my ribcage hurt.

I wanted to cry, we both had been so stupid. However, Klayton wasn't done making stupid decisions.

In our warm embrace, his mouth suddenly found my neck. I had no time to react before his teeth sank deeply into me.