sparks fly~ paul lahote

ⅹⅲ. sleep, according to embry

Late at night, when Diana felt just a little too lonely, she went out for a run. This night particularly, she started at a normal human pace, but when she made it to the woods she became a blur.

She pulled loads of air into her lungs and pushed the breath out violently, hating that it wasn't real, that she didn't have to. She could hate with everything in her, but the thing about Diana? She couldn't bring herself to regret.

Yes, she loathed herself for past failures and wrongdoings... but she never regretted it, she never regretted any of it. The killing was something she got used to, not that it was hard.

She liked to remind herself that she was eating animals just like she had when she was human, only slightly differently. It eased her conscience. However, it also helped that she never felt alone in her killing.

She was always able to say that there were people like her (other vampires), doing worse things. And then, she met Christopher. The then 22-year-old shifter, blinded at birth, had turned her whole life upside down.

She never completely understood how imprinting worked. She only assumed that it was, for wolves, the equivalent of a vampire wanting to drink their mate dry... if that mate happened to be even the slightest bit human.

Diana had stopped running a while ago, now she just walked. She tried laughing at the fact that, though they were together for 15 years, they had never gotten married. Her laugh, however, became a strangled cough.

The truth of it was, that even though she would've followed her dear Christopher to the end of time, she hated that marriage was never a priority for him. Diana couldn't exactly blame him though, they had forever and marriage was the last thought in either head.

Still, though, Diana loved him. Truly, and completely, she loved him with every bit of herself... every bit she had to offer. Unlike most of these tragedies, however, Christopher loved her too.

'As much as Romeo loved Juliet' he'd tell her, late at night when it was just the two of them. 'As much as the sun loves the moon' he would sigh into her hair as they watched the sun give its light to the moon. 'As much as the leaves need the tree,' he'd say, '-that my darling, is how much I need you.'

Diana shook herself, she hadn't realized she'd stopped walking. A twig snapped and Diana did nothing to greet the boy that wandered over to her.

"I thought you might be out for a run," Embry sighed.

Diana chuckled, "And what, dear boy, made you think that?" She looked over at him, a small smile dancing across her face.

"Paul."

Diana's smile dropped, just a bit, "What do you mean? What about him?"

"He can't stop thinking about you. He wants to see you, talk to you, he just doesn't know how. He's torn between loving who you are and hating what you are."

The two started walking, Diana was silent for a moment. She didn't know what to say.

"I mean, I am the enemy," she tried, chuckling. "The fact that I am his imprint has got to be a little disappointing, don't you think?"

Embry shook his head violently, "No. Not at all... well, not anymore that is. You're just... new territory, really."

Diana went quiet. In all honesty, she had wanted to see Paul, too. She just couldn't get past the fear that he might hate her... the fear that he would change things for her. She didn't want another mate, and she especially didn't want that mate to be a wolf.

"Tonight, while on patrol, he kept thinking he could smell your scent. He kept wondering if you were nearby, if he should go see you, then I smelt it too. I didn't confirm that with him, but I might still get my ass whooped later for coming to hang out with you when you're his imprint."