Beyond the Lonely Oak (Star Crossed series book 1) (completed) #Wattys2018

Prologue

   

There was so much blood. A crimson inferno of fear. His face kept slipping in and out of her vision, a mirage of molten beauty that she couldn't keep solid. He had become an intangible photograph, and that photograph was burning away to embers.

She screamed, pulling at the restraints around her wrists. Why couldn't they understand? She wasn't crazy; she was desperate.

More blood, bright red and brilliant against the white. They had warned her that if she couldn't stop hurting herself, they would give her the needle again. Didn't they realize, that once the pain was gone, he would be too? She thrashed and pulled wildly at the restraints, forcing her body to feel alive despite the medication and magic that was pulling her away from herself.

"Don't leave me!" she yelled over and over until her voice was raw and painful.

A woman's face came into view, the lines of time ravaging the familiar landscape. How had she aged so drastically?

"Grams?" she muttered. Her grandmother had been trying to say something to her, her face taut and concerned, as she reached out and placed a hand on Ava's moving body.

The room around her had grown chaotic. Three nurses ran in to hold her down. Her grandmother was still speaking, but Ava couldn't focus on anything other than her own desperation.

He would be gone soon.

She let out a terrified scream as they thrust the needle into her arm. Not from the pain, but because she knew it was over, the grip she held on herself was slipping away. The person she had been was now mere fragments of black fuzzy consciousness. She would never find him again. He would be lost in the stars forever. Not even a memory in her forgotten world. Her body involuntarily relaxed, and with one last breath, she whispered "good bye."