She nodded, and I started moving, gathering sticks and putting them in a pile while I tried not to stare at her. In a few minutes I was crouched over some pine needles blowing on a spark. Her hair brushed my cheek as she leaned over me. I dropped my lighter from suddenly clumsy fingers as I struggled to bring the fire to life without looking up at her soul. I finally got it lit. As I fed twigs to the flames, I noticed how heavy the silence felt between us.
“Do you come up here often?” I wasn’t sure if she could even answer questions.
“With my brother Devlin.” Her voice surprised me. It was a little like hearing a corpse talk, only corpses probably didn’t have such nice voices. It was husky but sweet. When I looked up at her she looked confused like her voice had surprised her as well.
“Good. It’s good to have family. At least that’s what they say. So do you go to high school here? It’s a beautiful building. It’s always nice to see old architecture so well preserved.” I paused for a moment then kept talking, mostly to distract myself from her soul. “I love woods. I love to walk around in the darkness never knowing what kind of dangerous thing I’m going to run into. I like fast cars too. Do you… never mind. I saw you at the funeral; that was quite a storm.” Even as I said those last words I realized what I should have already noticed. The wind had picked up, thinning out the fog. I heard lightning from the direction of Dariana’s house. Her mother had found out that she was gone. We probably had some time since she would not be easy to track, as I knew from experience. Of course, I had a bright fire that would draw them right to me.
I hesitated to douse the fire, caught in the girl’s gaze. Flickers of firelight reflected in her eyes as she stared at me, her hands over the flames. When I realized that she was going to burn herself, I reached forward without thinking. When I caught her hands in mine to pull them away from the fire she gasped, and I had trouble breathing as her soul slid between the skin of our hands. I tasted her soul through that touch.
She leaned towards me over the fire never dropping her eyes from my face. I pulled my hand away and felt a bitter taste in my mouth. I moved quickly to put out the fire while she watched me with a desperate hunger that matched how I felt. Her soul was the most beautiful, sweet thing I’d ever seen and now tasted. It would take all the willpower I had to leave without it. I had built up a remarkable reservoir of willpower but it was vanishing the longer she looked at me, strands of her hair standing out dark against her pale skin, her lifeless eyes begging me.
“You’re warm.” It was half whisper as she made a helpless gesture towards me with her hand.
I sat for a moment trying to think what could possibly make a situation like this right.
“I’m sorry about the fire but it looks like rain. I think I’d better take you home now.”
“Oh.” She sat there staring at me looking even more dejected until I reached a hand to help her up. She took it quickly, grasping it with both hands as I pulled her to her feet. I stood for a moment trying to ignore the taste of her soul while she clung to me, then turned and started through the woods. I tried to block out the taste, the sight of the dispossessed soul hovering between us, but with every step her hands crept higher up my arm, until at some point she put her freezing cold hand on my back. I think I kept my manly calm, but I may have yelped.
She had one arm wrapped around me, and the other hand clung to mine. Her head rested on my upper arm while we walked. She moved her legs, but mostly, I pulled her along. I felt a rush of anger at the stupidity of it all. Here I was dragging her home so she could be cold and die there slowly instead of out here quickly. I slowed then stopped and turned to her so I could look down at her face. She had more color to her cheeks. She almost smiled as she leaned towards me rising on her tiptoes.
What was she waiting for? I was no prince charming with a happily ever after to offer her. Her soul hovered between us, making a sound of indefinable sweetness. A soul had never sung to me before. In a few days it would fade, her life would snap, and her soul would vanish.
Her eyelids drifted shut, and her cold breath touched the skin of my neck. I realized my hands were tightening on her arms, feeding my heat into her. I felt her soul, sweet and tantalizing around the edges, but the real brightness and beauty was deeper.
I didn’t make a decision to kiss her. One moment I was a breath away, and then her mouth was on mine, her breath became mine. Her soul sang, the taste sweeter than I’d imagined. I felt it wrap around me along with her arms, tangling fingers in my hair until something changed. The sweetness became too sweet, an ache that grew along with the coldness, as I drowned in her flavor. I realized that it wasn’t me doing the tasting. She was taking my warmth.
I tried to pull away but she held on as she ripped all the heat, rage, and life out of me. I lost the feeling in my legs and slid down her, feeling the buttons of her coat scrape my cheek. I tried to hold onto something, but everything disintegrated as I slid into darkness.
House of Slide: Wilds, Part I Page 17