Iridescent

The Meeting

To anyone who may be reading this, thank you, I hope you like it. This is just an introduction, I will post the first chapter soon. Vx

"Some people bring out the worst in you, others bring out the best, and then there are those remarkably rare, addictive ones who just bring out the most. Of everything. They make you feel so alive that you'd follow them straight into hell, just to keep getting your fix." - Karen Marie Moning, Shadowfever

The Meeting

So, here goes. It all started about 12 years ago, back when i was a kid, hell it might have started before that, but this is when everything really 'kicked off'. My school was a 10 minute walk away, across a field, through a small wood, and down a tiny lane. On my way home one night the trees loomed over me, much greater than ever before, and where once there was light, shadows now formed. I don't know what it was about the woods that night, but i couldn't shake the odd feeling which had edged its way up my spine. Thinking back on it now i wouldn't have got myself stuck like this if i had followed my gut reactions and run home, but curiosity made me stay dead still, ears strained for any sound. That sound, or lack thereof, should have told me everything i needed to know, every creature alive in the forest that night was silent. Tingling grew in my limbs, starting at my fingertips and then spreading outwards until my whole being hummed. The forest around me stayed silent.

Now i should probably tell you a bit about myself before i continue. My name is Hope, once you hear my story you might see the irony in it, i have slightly tanned skin and waist length, wavy, black hair, as well as piercing blue eyes. Hours after i was born i was taken to a priest, and left. My mother was close to death, coated in blood and dying, clearly not your conventional mother, but hey she was mine and that always counts for something, right? She left me with this man, hoping that my name might help me realise what i was to her and what i could be to everyone else. Of course until now i was ignorant of this. It is known that Pandora's box released the worst evils into the world, but left in that box was one thing. Hope. Without Hope all is lost, that's the thing isn't it? I'm not quite so sure. Anyway, let me continue.

So there i stood, alone, surrounded by a blanket of darkness with my entire body buzzing as if connected to a socket. Everything around me slowed to the point of almost utter stillness. The branches blowing in the wind stopped. The leaves floating in the air stopped. The flowers swaying in the undergrowth stopped. Everything halted. Slowly, carefully i turned. Before me stood the most beautiful creature i had ever seen. He was tall with skin that seemed to glow in the darkness; his hair a dark brunette, thick and floppy; his facial features more stunning than a sculture chiseled by Michelangelo himself; but most halting of all were the iridescent wings reaching from the tops of his shoulders to his knees. I stood in complete and utter amazement at the man before me, slack-jawed all i could do was stare.

I was only 8 at the time, innocent and naive, and there right in front of me stood a creature from fairy tales. He was captivating. After a while he spoke.

"Hope" he whispered. How he knew my name i couldn't fathom, but he continued. "I have waited so long to set my eyes upon you. Such a very long time. I've spent my entire life searching for you and yet i do not wish i found you sooner. I am so very, very sorry"

I was so confused! This beautiful stranger acted like he knew me, like he had been awaiting my presence, yet i knew not who he was! Suddenly he surged forward and grasped my hand with his own.

"Do not worry scintillula i will be watching out for you, i will be waiting for you. No harm will come to you, and when the time is right you will be mine, and i will be yours. Forever."

I was scared. I didn't understand! I couldn't even comprehend what he was saying. I lashed out, my vulnerability and confusion evoking anger. The tingling, the buzzing, the humming built to a crescendo and i released it. All around me the world sped up, the man disappeared, and i was left alone once more, alone in a large crater in the middle of the woods. This was the beginning, the meeting which changed my life forever.