The Girl in the Woods

Chapter 1

Apollo kissed my jaw gently before rolling away and sitting up. "I'm going to go see if Myrnah prepared anything for breakfast, I'm ravenous."

"Alright." I watched his tall form move silently through the shadows and out the door; even in the hallway it was dark - it was all to make sure the man I was in love with didn't crack and shatter from the innocent rays of sunlight lurking outside.

I laid very still for several more minutes, taking in the cool silence of the room and the blue tinged darkness floating in the air. I exhaled heavily and rolled over, wrapping myself more securely in the warm cocoon of the blanket.

 I'd been having the same dreams for a while now.

They weren't all of us swimming in the sun; others were of us driving down an empty road toward a blood red horizon, or of us looking up in awe at the sun from the peak of a mountain that was higher than the clouds. All of these dreams were beautiful and practically dripping with happiness and laughter, but I always woke up distressed and perturbed. After weeks of pondering these brilliant dreams, I finally drew a conclusion.

I was different from Apollo. At first I thought the dreams were telling me that it was him that was different from me - which I already knew, of course - but as time went on I realized the thing that was bothering me was the extent of how perfect he was. He was a marble statue that could shatter in the sun, and here I was, a human - I could survive in sunlight, but I was biodegradable, with an expiration date on my heart.

The thing that scared me about my dreams was the subtle message they were sending; if I didn't become immortal somehow, the idyll fantasyland I lived in with Apollo Ambrosia would come to an end. The idea scared the hell out of me! There was no way I wanted him - or his twin sister Astera - to turn me into a vampire; the prospect of pain sent my breathing into a hitched run. I couldn't become a shifter either - as far as I could tell, they were born, not created.

I am going to die one day, and leave Apollo to live on by himself for centuries and centuries to come. The thought filled me with pain, and not for myself.

"Lilah?"

I rolled over and looked at the door. Jannosh's huge frame filled up the doorway, and even in the darkness his ashy blonde hair shone like silver. His violet eyes were dimmed in the shadows, but his lovely smile made up for it. "Time to wake up, my sleeping beauty. You and Sir Apollo have some visitors."

"Visitors? Who is it?" I sat up, running my hands through my hair. I winced as my fingers managed to find all the knots.

"It's a surprise." Jannosh chuckled, his heavily accented voice reverberating through the room.

"I'm not really a fan of surprises." I grumbled, stumbling out of bed. I glanced in the mirror on the wall and groaned at the rat's nest on my head.

"Trust me, my love, you'll like this surprise." Jannosh glanced fleetingly at my monstrous hair. "I'll tell them you'll be down in several minutes."

He turned and left just as quietly as Apollo, and I sighed at my dim reflection. If Jannosh noticed my crazy hair, then that means I actually had to fix it. I grumbled again to myself as I searched for a comb; these "visitors" better be worth it.

---

It had been a full ten minutes after I'd first been introduced to them, but I couldn't stop staring at them.

Isidre and Ildor had to be two of the most perfect creatures I'd ever laid eyes on - besides Apollo and Astera, of course. They were both exquisitely perfect with white blonde, almost silvery, hair that seemed to float. Ildor, the beautiful male one, had hair down to his shoulders, and Isidre had hair that fell passed her hips. They were both delicately thin and just as pale as Apollo, however Ildor had a wiry kind of build that hinted at surprising power, and Isidre moved agilely and confidently. They both had silvery blue eyes and perfect cheekbones.