✓ | 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍, j. hale [1]

XX. Truce

Evelyn stood across the street from her childhood home, the heat from the flames radiating onto her skin in waves. Beads of sweat were already starting to drip from her temples to her chin.

"Mom! Dad! I'm coming!" She shrieked, breaking into a run towards the front door. The sounds of the wood crackling and the roaring fire were deafening, but even above that she could hear the heartbreaking wails of her mother and father who were trapped in their bedroom. Her heartrate quickened along with her legs as she pushed her body harder.

But as she ran, the house seemed to be moving further and further away from her; the faster she ran, the faster her home retreated. She started crying as she realized that she would never make it in time, but still, she kept on running. Please! I have to save them!

"Evelyn, stop."

Instantly recognizing his voice, she did as he said, and slowly turned around. Jasper stood a few feet behind her, but he looked... different. He was not the kind-hearted man she had come to love. This man resembled an emotionless statue, his arms crossed over his chest and his face frozen in a frown. The multitude of scars along his body seemed to glow menacingly in the firelight as if they were burning, too. She took a hesitant step towards him, but when she saw his eyes she faltered; they were black and cold, not a trace of sympathy in sight.

Still, she knew she needed him. "Jasper, please, I have to save them. You have to help me!" She pleaded, but all he did was shake his head.

"You have to let go, Evelyn. It's time."

She was starting to panic now. Here he stood, unconcerned, while her parents were dying in a house that was impossible to reach. "Let go? I can't! Jasper, they're my parents!"

He shook his head again, his black eyes flickering from the flames behind her. "I'm not talking about them."

It took her a moment to fully grasp what he was saying, but when she did, she instantly felt deathly cold. She turned, and the burning house was no longer behind her. All that was left was a dark, empty road that seemed to stretch on for eternity. When she whirled back around to face Jasper, he was walking away from her towards the dark forest beyond.

Again, she began to run. "Jasper, don't go! Please don't leave!" She screamed, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please, I love you!"

He didn't stop or look back. The trees seemed to reach out towards him, the branches like crooked fingers pulling him into the tree line. In seconds, the forest had swallowed him up completely. Evelyn ran harder, ignoring the sharp claws of twigs cutting her face as she flew through the trees. Somehow, she knew he was gone, but still she pressed farther into the forest.

"Jasper, wait! Don't do this!" She yelled, but by the echo around her she knew that there was no one to hear her. When she finally reached a clearing, she was met with complete silence. There was no wind, no sounds of wildlife, nothing. The air around her seemed to be caving in on her, suffocating her lungs and crushing her skull. Evelyn shut her eyes tightly, her hands gripping her head as she fell to her knees.

"Please don't leave me," she begged, but in her heart she knew that she was completely alone.

Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, everything vanished. She felt as if she was floating in nothingness; there was no pain, no worries, no suffering. She wished that she could just stay there for the rest of eternity.

Evelyn blinked, and she felt the ghost of soft fingertips running through her hair. Though she didn't see her, she knew that it was her mother.