Dark Hour

Part 3

I waited until I was certain that Lucky was asleep. I mean, I was one hundred percent certain that he was, I could hear him snoring from down the hall. I was still in my daily clothes so I crept out of bed. The silence was painful as I skipped the stairs I knew would creak. I opened the front door only half a foot wide, knowing that if I pushed it any further, it would let out a shrill squeak; like a dying mouse.

I jogged down the sandy path to the beach. The wind tugged my hair over my searching Cambridge blue eyes. I knew what I was looking for was hopeless, but I had that stubbornness that came from one of my parents. My mother? Maybe it was my father? I knew neither of them, I was an orphan, my mother had died in child birth and my father had left when she was still pregnant with me. I guess I got my stubborn gene from my mum's side. She was stubborn enough to keep going without him. . .

I was now just balancing on a slippery rock observing the beach with my sleep tired eyes. I knew that there was a one in million chance of me seeing the figure again, but I was bored and longing, and in my opinion, that's a somewhat common feeling. I scrambled onto another rock. This one was over looking the stretch of sand they called a beach. My heart thudded unevenly in my chest as I searched one more time. When I was positive that no figure was going to leap out at me, I spun around precariously and slipped down onto a jagged rock. I screamed in pain when I felt the tip of the rock slice open my thigh. I tumbled down into a secluded cave that held the sound of the sea. I screamed in agony when I tried to get up. Judging by that amount of pain I was in, I reckoned that the rock got the artery in my thigh.

"Help!" I screamed. "Somebody, anybody, help!" I continued to scream like that until I'd lost so much blood I couldn't sit up without getting dizzy. I looked down at my leg one last time and couldn't help but attempt another gurgle for help. A small lake of blood has crawled its way to the frays of my jacket.

I lay back down in the dirt and moaned in a combination of annoyance and suffering. I heard a pitter patter of rain and I knew for certain that no one would find me and that I would die alone and helpless. I stared at the ceiling. I'd never really wondered about how I would die. I'd never really wished to know nor wanted to. I shut my eyes, I'd never imagined that death would be this painful. I knew that my foolishness and stubbornness was what had gotten me into this mess. But in a sense, it was kind of the figure's fault as well. I opened my eyes and tried ignore the pain swelling in my thigh and hip. I knew that hoping for a miracle was pretty stupid thing to even consider, but I knew that it couldn't hurt me if I gave it a go. I squeezed my eyes shut;

I don't even know how to do this right, but I'm praying for a miracle. I don't even know who I'm praying to. All I know is that I'm probably going to die in less than five minutes, more or less. I hope that Lucky isn't to heart broken and eventually forgets that I even existed, that he will find someone good and settle down. My dying wish to whoever-you-are is that anyone who loves me now will forget anything to do with me, so that the only person suffering will be me. Thank you to whatever force I'm praying to.

I opened my eyes and screamed.

I screamed for two reasons; one, the pain was unbearable, and two, a boy was tying my wound up very tightly. I stared at him through the dizziness and managed to get a few words out.

"Who're you?"

He looked up and I sucked in a shocked breath, he was, without a doubt, the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. He had wide chocolate brown eyes that were rimmed with dark, long lashes, his creamy complexion went perfectly with his swollen peach lips and freckled cheeks. He had slightly curly, ebony hair. The boy was wearing a long, black pea jacket and a button-up white shirt underneath. But the thing that I couldn't help thinking about the most was, why would a perfect boy like himself help a common girl like me?

"My name is Apollo." He answered calmly.

I had to hold in my look of surprise. "Oh yeah, like the god Apollo, or was it after a family member?"

The boy chuckled and went back to working with my thigh. "After the god of course."

I nodded as I took in his handsomeness one more time. I tried to pinch myself but I fell back down onto the dirt and gave up. I guess miracles do happen after all, I thought. The more I thought about the boy and how he magically appeared to help in the middle of a downpour in a secluded cave on a restricted beach the more I put the pieces together.

He was the figure I'd seen yesterday.

I pushed myself up onto my elbows and had a good look at the so called 'Apollo'. "I saw you yesterday, at the beach."

He didn't look up, ignoring my statement, Apollo continued to wrap cloth around my thigh until I couldn't see the blood stain at all. Then he sat back and leaned against the cave, placing his head carefully against the smooth rock.

"Yes, that was me." Was all he said. I moved my leg a little and winced, the blood may have disappeared, but the pain hadn't.

"You saved me." I stated, slightly annoyed. "Why?"

He looked at me in surprise, he must've heard the slight tone I'd said it in. "You're not grateful?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I am, but, you came to help me to get praise? To have fans? To be on the front paper of the daily Herald? I'm just a poor common girl, and you look like a rich model who likes to make people feel bad just by looking at them."

Apollo looked at his hands. "Is that what you think?" He said quietly.

I gaped at him. "What am I supposed to think?"

He shrugged and looked at me with round eyes. "Well, for one, I'm not a model, and two, I'm not looking for fame. I simply heard your screams and came to help. Is that so bad to you?"

I thought about this for a moment. "Thank you." I eventually said. "For saving my life and you know. . ." I mumbled my ending and Apollo looked away from me. I could see his cheek lifting into a smile. I smiled away from him to, just to make it seem less awkward. I didn't want to admit it, but, I felt like this guy could help me in my troubled life. Maybe in return I could help him with whatever he needed help with.

I made up my mind there and then that I would repay him (obviously) for saving my life, whatever he needed me for, I'd be there to help.

Maybe we could be friends.