Under the Sea

Chapter 03.

Scarlet had never in her wildest dreams imagined running away from her past.

After all, hadn't it been what she had fought for, day in and day out, for over a year now? To figure out who she was and where she came from? But to run away from it, from him? A young man who claimed he knew her and called her by her 'true name?' 

Unfathomable.

She was a coward. And this undeniable fact rung in her head over and over again as she distanced herself further and further from her prom night.

It didn't take Scarlet long to abandon the idea of trudging home in the rain in her heels. She'd kicked them off, plucked them up, and slung them around her index finger. Her dress was ruined, soaking wet and clinging to her small frame. The warm orange glow of the street lights illuminated the darkness cloaked over Friday Harbor, as the cloud hids the stars and the moon that evening. 

All 'Cassopeia' could think about was putting as much distant between her and that boy and that stupid prom as possible-- and she was doing a fairly good job. Until she heard a voice cry out over the unrelenting sound of raindrops against the pavement. 

"Peia!" Her heart wrenched at that name, as if it were a sad song she couldn't forget. Or in her case, remember. 

Him again. Of course. 

"I said I didn't want to talk to you anymore," Scarlet shouted back at him, her ever-polite demeanor was a contradiction to the blunt words she now spoke. "I don't know you. And I don't know who this 'Peia' is, my name is Scarlet--"

Scarlet's bare-footed saunter was no match for this man named Silas, who was in proper shoes, no matter how fast she paced toward home. Somehow, in a matter of seconds, Silas had caught up to her and once again, Scarlet had found him to be too close for comfort. 

"I can help you remember, if you would just let me, Peia," Silas held her arms tightly, refusing to take no for an answer. His sneer was gone, replaced by a look of anger. Perhaps even hopelessness. As much as Scarlet wanted to tear her eyes away from him again, and continue on her trek home, Silas looked captivating in the pale cloak of night and soaking wet from the rain. But the expression on his face, that was what really drew her in a second time. It led her to believe there was something much more complex about him than she could ever imagine. "Will you let me help you?"

"You're not making any sense. I want to know about my past, it's just..." Scarlet choked, holding herself in her arms in attempt to warm herself up. "I'm scared."

Silas looked startled to hear that come out of her lips. His mouth hung open and in that moment, Scarlet realized Silas was just as confused as she was. "You're scared?" Silas repeated. A small, dry laugh escaped his lips. "You've changed since you've been up here. You're..." he struggled to find the word as he wiped his brow, brushing away the droplets of rain that club to his face with the back of his hand. After a second he'd found a few. "Softer. More innocent. What happened to you?" 

And all very suddenly, Silas reached forward, pulling her toward him yet again, like he did earlier under the flashing lights on the dance floors, as if the puddles on the asphalt were their dance floor and the sound of the pouring rain was their music. But this time, instead of pulling Scarlet into another dance, he pulled her into something quite different. 

His hands cradled her face ever so gently, as if he was fearful he might break her. He pressed his lips to hers, caressing them gently at first, and then with more and more passion with each passing second. Scarlet's initial shock wore off unexpectedly fast as every part of her gave into his embrace, as if it were second nature. All too soon, she had to admit, he pulled away and she caught his unflinching gaze. He pressed a lock out wet hair out of her face and pulled her gaze up toward him.

It was all too much. Scarlet couldn't see straight, let alone think straight. The kiss left her feeling nothing but more confused about the man in front of her and where she came from. She desperately wanted to go home and put her memory issues on a back burner for a long, long time. Too many questions had been answered and too many new ones had began to overwhelm her, all in the span of one silly, little prom night.

"I don't know who I was before I woke up here," Scarlet choked, her voice rung with pain and confusion. Tears ran down her cold, rosy cheeks, mingling with the rain water that soaked her to her core. "But I do know I have a life here now and that whoever that girl was you knew before-- I'm not her anymore."

She uselessly brushed away her tears admist the rain, struggling to remain composed in front of this man she hardly knew. This man who had just graced her with her first kiss. Well, the first kiss that she could remember, anyway. Something deep inside her made her think it wasn't the first time Silas' lips had met hers, even if it was in a past life. 

"When you're ready, Peia. I'll be around," Silas whispered with a grave seriousness that Scarlet couldn't even begin to understand. "I'll help you remember. And I promise, I won't ever give up until you do."

And if Scarlet only knew one thing for certain after than night, it was that Silas meant that. He wouldn't give up until she finally remembered the big, scary mystery that was her life.  

With that, just as fast as he'd barged into her life, Silas had disappeared from it, leaving her very much alone under the warm glow of the street lamps. in front of her as she slowly made her way back to home, back to Tilly, and back to Crick.