Running With the Wave

Chapter 51

Hunter:

For the first time since deciding that what the men do to the women is wrong, I know that I made a decision I will never regret. Even when I killed Father, there was something in me that told me that maybe, just maybe I could get him to understand and he wouldn't have to be dead. Here, though, holding Era in my arms for what could be the last hours of my life, I'm positive that I could never have chosen any other option than this.

"I'm sorry," she tells me once Darh is gone.

"For what?"

"For being the reason your life has to end."

"Oh, Era..."

I press her closer to me, kissing the top of her head.

"That was never your fault. It's theirs, the men's, fault."

"If you had never met me..."

"Then I would still be training as a Keeper, miserable and with no love in my life. A big hole in my heart that only you can fill would forever be empty."

"But you would still get to live."

"What I had before wasn't really living. It was just an illusion."

She tilts her head up and I gently brush my lips against hers. I move down her neck, kissing her, and she sighs with pleasure. I move my way up and kiss along her jaw line, then lie down with her. Era puts her hands on my shoulders and lifts her legs onto mine, then kisses my forehead. I smile, and take my hand and move it to her chin, gently taking it and guiding her lips to my own. She presses her mouth to mine, no longer gentle. Eagerly, my body responds to her and I press harder too, kissing her greedily. Era is mine and I'm hers and that's the only right thing in this sick world. We let go at the same time, gasping for air.

"Never leave me." I rasp, still catching my breath.

"Never." Era murmurs, her lips brushing my cheek.

She rolls off of me and lies down on the floor beside me. I turn onto my side and look at her beautiful face. Sure, her tanned skin is dirty and streaked with tears and blood, her chocolate brown hair a tangled mess, those bright blue eyes filled with pain and loss, but all the same she is gorgeous. My sunshine. The single candle in all this darkness. My eyes wander to the wound on her leg that had made me leave her in the closet, and I quickly swallow down the bile that rises to my throat.

"Here." I say, taking off my shirt.

Era's stares at me, surprised.

"What are you doing, Hunter?"

I shake my head and tear my already tattered T-shirt into strips. I take one and hand her the rest.

"Hold these." I push them into her hands when she doesn't take them from.

"Hunter-" Era begins.

"Please, love. Just a second and I'll explain."

She hesitates, then takes them from me. I smile gratefully at her than take the strip and move to her leg. I lift up her leg and wrap it around the wound as gently as I can. It's too late to stop the blood flow, but maybe if I bandage it it will help her a bit... Era screams in agony, but I do all I can to focus on my work. It's for the best, I repeat in my head over and over again, because knowing that is the only thing that makes it bearable to see her in so much pain. Finally, I tie off the knot and take squeeze her hand.

"It's over, babe. I'm sorry, but I had to do that." I say gently.

She doesn't answer for a while, then her breathing returns to normal.

"It's okay... Just, I don't understand why you couldn't warn me." Era mutters, but a faint smile plays on her lips.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I murmur awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck, "I guess it didn't really make a difference, but you had already lost so much blood... I felt that I needed to do it as quickly as possible."

She laughs, her face brightening up a bit. Leaning forward, she pecks me on the cheek.

"These may be the last minutes of my life," Era whispers in my ear, "and we may be trapped in a dark cell, but at least we're together."

I move closer to her and we lie there in the dark, waiting for a certain doom and filling our hearts with our love for each other.