The Girl With the Dragon Eyes

Chapter 5- The Hunt

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to," Michael tried to comfort her.

"No, it's fine," she said, wiping her eyes. "Anyways, we had been seeing each other for about a month or so when a storm hit. It was much like this one; pouring rain, yet, gentle. We were in the roofed forest, picking apples for my parents. We came to an open area near my house, so he set the basket down I had brought and ran out into it. He stood there for about half a minute, letting the rain soak his body. He noticed I hadn't followed, so he came back to me....

~Flash Back sequence~ .....

"Come on! It's just a little water!"

"Row, please, you know I'm beginning to gain my abilities..."

"It'll be fine..." he holds his hand out to Iris. "Trust me, I'll be right here."

Iris hesitantly reaches for his hand, then grasps it when she does. He slowly leads her out. A raindrop hits her forearm, stinging just a little bit. She nervously winces.

"Just relax... Let it all slip away," he comforts her.

She steps out fully, and now, the rain doesn't sting. Instead, it feels rather cool.

"See?" he says as they are both now getting soaked. "You'll be safe as long as you're with me," he says with a smile. He begins to stroke her dark, wet hair, staring into her eyes. He then leans down and kisses her. She kisses back, his hand still on the back of her head. Both of them are thoroughly soaked. A flash of lightning streaks across the sky, causing them both to jump, breaking their embrace.

They begin laughing, then start to run toward her house.

"The apples!" Iris realizes they forgot the reason they were out there.

"I got it!" he runs back, grabs the basket, then they both take off again, holding hands.

~~~~~~~~~

"That was one of my last happy moments. But it was the best," Iris stared out the window as she spoke.

Michael had listened intently. "So then what happened?"

Iris looked down at the table. "Our secret got out...." she looked back up at Michael.

~~~~~~back into the flashback~~~~~

**"Out of nowhere, he barged into our house while we ate our lunch..."**

"They're coming!!" he yelled.

"Who?" Iris' father asked.

"The soldiers! I overheard them talking about arresting you! They said a watchman had spotted you using your powers to kill a spider that had been killing sheep. You need to-" he was cut off by the sound of banging at the door.

"In the name of the king, open the door!" a soldier yelled.

"Iris! Into the back room!" her mother yelled.

~~~~~~

"He helped me escape by smashing through the back room's window. Then we ran to my family's designated meeting point. In case something went wrong and we were separated.We waited a few hours, but no one showed up. We finally decided to go look for them. We left a sign in case they did make it, but..." She stopped, wiping her tears away. Then she began to weep as she spoke, "we got to my house... and... The soldier's had set it on fire..." She stopped to try and regather herself. She calmed down enough to speak clearly. "My parents' were..." she stopped to keep from crying. "They were laying outside the house... c-cover... Covered in blood..." she couldn't hold the tears back anymore. She put her head down into her hands, bawling.