Undesirable.

Prologue

Prologue

The air smelled of wet dirt and the sweet decay of leaves. It was quiet here, except for the small chirps of the afternoon birds, singing to each other from the tree tops. If it was up to me, we would stop here and soak in the rays that were slowly warming up the watered Earth, but it wasn't up to me, and that was ok. We walked further along the empty forest trail, veering off into the untouched thicket.

"We're almost there."

Nodding, I shyly blushed into the collar of my coat, making sure my red cheeks could only be seen by me. I'd anticipated for this day for the past week, prepping and re-prepping my outfit over four times. It seems silly thinking about it now, but I had no intentions of messing things up. Not with someone that cute.

Watching our boots sink into the Earth with every step we took made me think of walking in a freshly bloomed meadow, having the thistles lay flat under my feet.

"Here." He stopped, looking back at me with a gentle smile.

I snapped from my thoughts, focusing in on the scene set before me. It was quite the portrait. As if planned on que, the sun shone down on the flannel and straw basket,  overflowing with fruits and cheeses, surrounded with small pillows for us to sit on. It was cute. Not usually one for romantics, it was a nice change to my normal antics.

He gestured for me to sit, lending out his hand as to help me balance. The jagged ground made the pillows look like a blessing just about now, and the cheeses eyed me up and down. Having noticed the soft growl of my stomached he chuckled and shuffled through the fruits, grabbing two plates for us to eat off of. His hands nervously shook as he plated the strawberries and cheeses. Gouda? I hope so.

"I wasn't sure which ones you liked, so I bought some options, Gouda, Munster, and Brie." He grinned as he softly fumbled with the strawberries. I'm just glad I wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"Don't worry, you got all the right options." I looked at him, softly smiling.

My gaze drifted to his lips, and him taking notice, I not so smoothly I looked into the forest in an attempt to "look casual." Nice one.

"This is a beautiful spot, how'd you come across it?" Change the subject.

"I like to hike on these trails, and usually make my own. Every time I did, I always ended up back here."

"How'd you know it was the same spot every time?"

"Look." He pointed to the tree that the basket leaned against. "If you pay attention to the how the trees grow, you start to notice the small difference in each. This one is old, you can tell by its' strong root system, and it slightly tilts to the right."

"Woah, it's amazing." I followed the roots with my eyes, seeing how it lifted the blanket in areas making it look like angry waves in the sea.

"Plus, I marked it with blue tape so I remember." He grinned, laughing gently, inviting me to join.

"Nice." Giggling I bit into a strawberry, juices escaping and splattering him on the cheek.

Laughing, he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand, and leaned his body towards mine, causing my stomach to do backflips and not want that strawberry as much anymore.

I gulped. We locked eyes as my heart beat so loudly I could barely hear the birds over the thumping in my ears. His hand lifted and caressed the side of my head, and my mind felt as if filled with static.

Kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me.

As if he could hear my thoughts, his eyes closed and our lips locked, and the world around us melted away. I felt like I was floating. As if everything around us dissolved away, and we were left with blissful emptiness. The moment could have lasted forever, until so rudely interrupted.

Plink.

Nope, not today.

1, 2, 3... Plink.

Really? Skys today are scheduled to be clear and sunny, with a high of 86.

Plink.

Talking through breathy kisses, "I think it's starting to rain."

"Rain? I don't feel it?" He gently pulled me by my waist to sit with him closer as my arms dangled on his shoulder. Verifying that neither did he want the moment to end.

Plink.

"It keeps getting me. Let's take this back to civilization, I guess." I playfully rolled my eyes, hoping he'd catch on to that being code for, take me to your place.

"Fine, fine, but this isn't over." He winked.

I laughed, turning away and brushing off the water droplets that had accumulated on my arm, only to notice a not so clear liquid smear across the length on my forearm.

Uneasiness swept over me, as the realization of the color sunk into my thoughts.

Red.

My heart sped up, but not in the way I had hoped, my breaths became jagged and my mind began to swirl. My gaze followed the length of the tree's trunk and my heart sunk. The once peaceful chirps of song birds now sounded like the chilling caws from death drawn crows. My throat let out a tear gut-wrenching scream as shock and disgust flooded over me, as my eyes locked with the empty gaze above me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me know what you guys thought!

Be prepared for many more twists and turns to come.

Comment and vote if you liked it!

Till' Next Time,
Lexi