The Wretched and Divine {Black Veil Brides}

9 - Overture

    What the hell was she doing here?  My mind was a chasm of worry, of pain and agony at the idea that she was here watching as I died.  In a way, it was a sick masochistic, narcissistic way of saying goodbye to her.  I couldn’t help staring at her, those hazel eyes widened to morose proportions of immense fear and sadness that I couldn’t begin to understand.  Her hair was a tangled mess as she relinquished the hood that kept her secret from the world.  It made me wonder what she was thinking, why she would bother to reveal herself when she knew they were all looking for her.  Staring at her made it hard not to fight against my bonds; all I wanted to do was jump off this goddamn balcony and run to her.

    I didn’t mind saving her one more time if it meant I could hold her again.

    It was hard to imagine that I was hopelessly in love with this girl, this person I barely knew.  Maybe it was just staring my fate in the mouth that made me feel these unexplained emotions that made no sense.  All I wanted was to wipe those tears from her cheeks, protect her from any anger or grief that might afflict her.  I watched her with a distance that I found hard to maintain, hoping that maybe it wouldn’t hurt so bad when they lopped my head off or whatever the hell they were going to do.  She just stood as a beacon of flame in the crowd below, the pavilion lined with marble and stained in places where there had been death.  Light stood out just as her namesake told: a light in the darkness.  She was the last good thing I was going to see before my lights went out for good.

    The determination in her fiery amber gaze made a heat burn through my core, weaving into bits and portions of my belly and heart until I felt on fire.  She was not giving up, this was not the tale of her saying never.  I could read it plainly on her face, but I couldn’t see what she was planning.  If it meant putting herself in danger, I wanted to say something to stop her.  I pleaded with my gaze and tried to tell her it was okay, I could die and be a martyr but it did nothing to erase the resolve written in those eyes.  All at once, she shook her head and broke our stare.

    And all at once, my heart stopped. 

    She had whipped out her bow, an arrow clearly notched and poised for the kill.  Was she aiming at me?  Was it to make sure my demise was not painful or by the hands of these bastards?

    No.  There was hate in her eyes and a battle cry in her voice, her heart singing to me in all resplendence.  Tears dotted her cheeks, but she appeared as fierce as any warrior.  This was the reason I wanted her, the reason I had saved her in the first place on that day she watched her brother die.  I could see she was not about to allow someone else she knew meet their maker.  She was aiming for the man who held me down, teeth bared as she whispered something to herself. 

    “Light.”

    The word escaped me before I could stop it.  What the hell had she done to me?  I was a man who would lead the people to salvation right?  This woman had come and rendered me incapable yet I could see that she was willing to risk it all just for the chance to save me.  She was here and she had soon loosed the arrow aimed at the man’s heart.  I gazed at her for a moment, wondering what would happen if I made it out of here alive.  What was I going to do if and when I faced her?

    A smirk started to form on my mouth as the scene unfolded in slow motion.  The arrowhead pierced the armor of the man who held the knife to my throat, the leader of F.E.A.R. screeching to get the woman who had shot him.  Blood poured out over my head, somehow making everything more clear to me. 

    I knew what I was going to do.  I was going to win this fucking war; I was going to win it and it was, in part, going to be for her.  She brought the fire out in me, the good and the bad.  I was not going to let this be the end.

    I was going to tell her.  This…this was all done for her.