Painted Lies and Demon Eyes (SVTFOE Fan Fic)

Sins And Virtues

His words seemed to swim through my consciousness, a desperate cry. 

A tug at a tie. 

Then, a jerk. 

I was yanked - pulled back into my own senses. 

I woke up - my vision stirred. 

Against the fuzzy noise, a voice began to brighten and amplify. 

"Ego dimittere te! Ego dimittere te!" 

He chanted, over and over. His hand was a smoldering flicker, waving against my eyes. 

Reeling from the ledge. 

Snatched on the brink before falling. 

I blinked. His figure became clearer and more defined. The look on his face was panicked. 

I was waist-deep, kneeling in the water. A grip retracted. My hands lifted slowly. 

I stood up, staggering frantically over the stream's current and rocky, underwater ground. I tripped backward again, back down into the water. 

Above us, the trees' leaves rustled and its wood cracked and whined as it settled in the breeze. 

Darkness overtook the sky, along with the shine of the moon.

Something wasn't... right. 

Tom was reaching down, searching with his hands below the surface of the water - searching for something I could not see. When he finally hauled upwards, above the dark, shady water, the moon lit her face. Her hair settled, floating freely, her body drooped in his hold. 

"Star!" My voice broke. I tumbled over to get closer. Tom's hand came up and with it, I was thrust backwards, swept out of the stream and carried away by the gust of his flames. 

I struck a tree from behind and its branches reached like taunting limbs. They tugged and snapped in my wake. 

I fell headfirst, skidding into the dirt, leaves and twigs. When I looked up, he was staggering with her in his arms. He stumbled to the stream's edge, her loose weight anchoring him downwards. 

His footing was hefty and clumsy, knees buckling and arms giving out. His breath was short and rugged. 

I got up, moving closer, hurrying to her side. 

He turned her face gently. Her eyes were closed... almost as if she were just... sleeping. 

"Star?" He breathed. "Star, wake up."

No response. 

"Starship," He tried again. The wind whistled from above, filling the unsettling and still silence. "C'mon, Starship. Look at me... please." 

Not a flutter of her eyelids. 

Not even a twitch. 

He hissed, exhaling a breathy swear. 

I sunk to my weak knees, gravity pulling me down. 

Tom leaned over her, ear to her chest. He listened desperately. 

His eyebrows rose slowly, pupils shrinking - almost as if watching the adrenaline and sudden panic overtake him. 

He looked up at me. His stare was distant and cloudy. His angled ears fell. 

"She's... she's not breathing." He said, though his words became a gargled, shaken sound. 

I opened my mouth, to speak, to make a sound, but the words would've come. Instead, all I could do was shake my head.