Chapter Text
It had been exactly one week since you ran away from home. Well, some place that didn’t feel like a home anyways. You ran as far as you could, while trying to still be discreet. Who would’ve thought that in an apocalypse, you’d still have to be more worried about actual living people than the ones who were infected. After all, its easy to run away from home, but home will always follow you. In your case, in the form of two scars along your cheeks, on each side of your mouth.
Being a saraphite, of course, also brought it’s perks. You were agile and fast. You could communicate without using words and you’d never be scared of heights. You were also protected by a higher entity, however, you couldn’t recall ever feeling protected. Was she really holy? Were you truly adored by her? Were your people, out of all the others in this world, really the chosen ones? The enlightened ones? And if so, on what terms? Why couldn’t Lev stay? Why wasn’t he loved by her? What made him different?
In your small, secluded society, everything seemed perfect, but it only took one step away from the others, to realize that there was nothing special about you or your beliefs. You were just as human, as vulnerable as everyone else.
These thoughts haunted you, but right now there was something much more important occupying your brain. “I need a place to stay the night…” you said frustratingly, while looking up at a grey, clouded sky.
It hadn’t been raining the whole week, but now that you were completely isolated in the middle of a forest, it was the perfect moment for nature to let its water fall on you. It started pretty light, but you knew the worst was to come, so you had no choice but to start running.
You alternated between running and fast walking for about ten minutes before you came to a stop once you saw a small wooden cabin. Was this real or just a figment of your exhausted imagination, you couldn’t tell, but nonetheless, you walked towards the door. After opening it and having a look around, you found food and wood to burn. It seemed as though the cabin had been used recently, if the warm ashes in the fireplace were anything to go by. This scared you. How could it not when there was such a high possibility of it having been used by a Wolf. But you had no other choice.
There was a small staircase that led to the upper floor. Judging by the even layer of dust spread across the entire division, you could tell that whoever had been here, didn’t use the second floor. But it felt too risky of an assumption. Far too risky to confidently sleep there.
When in moments of trouble, you were taught to look up at the sky. Ask for your prophet’s help. Be humble and make yourself small in the face of the plentitude of it all. Maybe your prayers were answered after all, because once you looked up, you found a trapdoor that was easily camouflaged with the rest of the ceiling. Bingo. This was your chance to survive.
After looking around for a bit more, you found a long metal bar that helped you get the trapdoor open. Once it opened, stairs fell down and with them even more dust. The stairs were tricky to climb up, but you were used to climbing. This wasn’t a challenge for you.
The attic was completely vacant. Not one piece of furniture added to it, which made it a bit colder, but it would do.
You laid down on the hard wooden floor for about 2 hours looking at the sky getting dark through the window on the ceiling. Once it was pitch black, you closed your eyes. You were so tired, you couldn’t bring yourself to stay alert and fell asleep under the thought that you were safe up there.
A loud bang was what woke you up. With wide eyes, you got up. It was still dark, but you could now see flashes of light coming from the cracks on the floor. Someone was downstairs.
You tried to stay calm, but nothing could convince you to stay the night. Maybe if you left through the window, you could be sneaky enough to not alert whoever entered the cabin. And so you did. With your climbing skills, you found yourself on the roof in no time.
The cabin stood at a low height, which made it easy for you use the wooden planks to get down, until your feet touched the wet grass. It was still raining, but you knew there was still time before the actual storm arrived.
This is when your plan to leave went downhill. One step in the direction of the trees and the front door opened. You quickly hid, but something in you, probably the part that had never left your small community, wanted to see. Wanted to know what the others were like. The faithless ones. The doomed.
Everything you knew, was taught to you by the elders, however, these were just men and men are flawed. They lie and they are not all knowing. Beauty was taught to be a myth in your community. According to seraphite scholars, you could only find beauty in the prophet and her teachings.
But you knew beauty when you saw it. You found the sky beautiful. Flowers, the soft voices of women, the joyous tears on the faces of your people, once they saw family coming back from another patrol. These were all beautiful things.
And her.
She was beauty itself.
Not a delicate kind of beauty. A brutal one. Bigger in stature. Strong. Flawed. Somehow, perfect.
Her skin was freckled. Even the expanse of her wide back, which you could now see, because she removed her shirt to… bathe? In the rain?
The woman let the droplets of water fall on her and used her callused hands to spread it across her skin, clearly trying to get rid of the dirt and blood that adorned her.
You wanted to get closer. You had to. You knew what this was. This admiration. The same one that made you run away from home.
Some gods want power, some want gold, some want fame. Your goddess wanted a sacrifice. This was your sacrifice. Looking away. Walking away without glancing back. Without wanting. Lusting.
May the prophet forgive you, because this time, you will not answer to her.
You stood there, watching in enchantment. Greed would, however, be your downfall.
“Who’s there?” she said in an aggressive tone, while looking around. You must have moved, for suddenly, the girl looked right in your direction.
You could see the struggle in her eyes, as she realized she had no weapons on her. Surely she could see the fear in yours.
“Fucking Scar!” she yelled running towards you.
Run. This was all you could think. So you did.
You were fast, but she was faster and soon you were pinned to the ground by her strong hands.
In one swift movement, she punched you right in the gut. And then again and again. And then she stopped. You opened your eyes, only to find her staring right back at you. That’s when you realized you weren’t crying or screaming. You were simply there, awaiting your destiny.
Something changed in her expression, though you couldn’t tell what exactly.
Suddenly, her firm, warm grip left you.
“Leave! Right now! And don’t let me see you ever again, cause I won’t be as nice.”
One second you were looking at her pale face, that held a look of confusion. As if she didn’t know what she was doing and why. The next second you were running as fast as you could towards the trees, away from the cabin and her strong gaze.