Wednesday Briefs: Your hump day dose of flash fiction

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today, I'm continuing with Clare's story. At first I thought about writing a little something different for Valentine's but... I couldn't leave Mikelo and Clare just hanging like that. 

The prompts I used and adapted to the story were: Cupid,and hearts

By the way, if you haven't commented already, Tali Spencer was on the spotlight yesterday talking about writing sensual scenes and giving away a copy of her recent release Dangerous Beauty. You have until Friday to enter!Also, tomorrow Adonis Devereux will be stopping by with another giveaway. So don't forget to visit!

Now without further ado...  

Little Luna 4

Clare watched her cousin say her vows with a smile plastered on her face.

“Cupid definitely did his thing with those two, huh?” Felicia’s friend whispered wiping away the stray tear in her eyes.

She nodded politely, her eyes never leaving the couple but her thoughts were very far away. She hadn’t heard from Mikelo again, not since his last email and his ominous words that swam constantly in her mind: I’m waiting.

She hadn’t replied. She erased all his messages and for the first time since their game began she became terrified. She thought about going to the police but decided against it. They’d think her crazy and call the doctors on her again.

Clare followed the crowd outside as the bride and groom abandoned the historical church, smiling and waving at everyone, their hearts and their love reflected on their beaming faces.

Shaking her head, Clare waited until almost everyone had left toward the party before making her way to her own car. Her thoughts were gloomy as she remembered her previous nervous breakdowns. She’d had two in her lifetime. One at fifteen, when she’d been accidentally locked in a basement with a friend. The other time, she’d been twenty two and had woken to the sound of water dripping and chimes ringing in the wind. Doctors said that due to her traumatic experience as a child she’d panicked both times due to the darkness. It wasn’t the dark that scared her.

Unlocking her car and throwing her purse in the co-pilot seat, she reached for her sneakers and took off her heals. She’d barely finished tying her shoelaces when something caught her attention. Leaves rustled in the forest in front of her but there was no wind, no reason for the trees to move. Her brow furrowed she walked toward the sound, stopping at the invisible line that separated the trees from the cement. Nothing moved. Shivering she wrapped her mantle tightly around her and began to turn around.

Plop.

She gasped. No. It couldn’t be.

Plop.

She was far away and Feli had assured her the bunker was gone.

Plop.

Her feet moved at their own volition, inching toward the sound that called to her like a snake charmer’s flute.

Chime.

Clare stopped, her eyes lifting toward the sky from whence the sound had come. Large charcoal eyes stared down at her from above.

“I’ve been waiting, Clare Luna.”

“Mikelo.”

The smile that grazed his features sent fear and something else coursing through her. She moved away, one-step at a time, barely registering the impressive jump that landed him at her feet.

“Clare.” Mikelo extended a pale hand toward her and she stopped as if commanded. Her pulse was erratic and the mark in her shoulder throbbed as she searched his face. She remembered him now. The young boy with eyes as dark as the night that shone as bright as the stars.

“What do you want?”

“Don’t you remember me, little Luna?” She flinched at the hurt in his voice but shook her head. His smile died and his voice took an edge that made goose bumps appear on her flesh. He knew she was lying. “We had a deal.”

“I was a child,” she blurted.

“As was I, my little white moon, as was I, but a blood promise is a blood promise.”

“I can’t.” Tears filled her eyes. How could she have forgotten the promise?

“Hush, my little Luna.”

Abruptly, Mikelo was there, his hands wrapping around her and pulling her into a comforting hug that scared her more than the knowledge that he was not of this world. She wanted to break off the embrace, to run from him but his presence was overwhelming, the touch of his fingers threading through her hair and scattering the pins there, soothing.

“I will protect you, Clare Luna. There is nothing to fear.”

“You—“Clare glanced up at him, avoiding staring at the horns that grew at the top of his head and curved back to lie against his long white hair. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and Mikelo gathered it with his thumb, the clear liquid dancing over the calloused digit like magic. He brought it to his lips and kissed it away.

“You cried that day too,” he whispered.  

“How could I not? You were going to kill me.” Clare attempted to move away but Mikelo held her tightly, his dark gaze boring into her.

“Not I, little Luna, my people.”

“But—“ She beseeched him with her eyes. He had to let her go.

“You made a promise, Clare,” he said, his tone unexpectedly rough.

“I was a child,” she repeated, knowing it was futile.

Mikelo shrugged. “You were bound to me that day. You will obey that promise or –“

“I will die,” she whimpered.

“Yes.”

To be continued...  

Now go read some more Briefers:  

Nephylim     f/f

Lily Sawyer      m/m 

Tali Spencer     m/m

Cia Nordwell     m/m

MA Church     m/m

MC Houle     m/m

Julie Lynn Hayes  m/m

Victoria Adams      m/f