Victims of Love [Romance One-Shot]

Victims of Love

Victims of Love

The night was warm and the stars twinkled far above as I gazed up at them, smiling peacefully as soft music and chatter sounded from around me. It was a perfect evening; fireflies danced in the air and a chirp of crickets could be heard from my right.

The dinner was a relaxed affair – my parents particularly enjoyed inviting over friends and acquaintances, especially as it was my nineteenth birthday. The overall atmosphere was calm and relaxed, the way we'd intended it to be.

A party guest came up to me and wished me a good birthday, to which I inclined my head in a gesture of thanks. Behind him stood a slightly shorter figure, who was revealed when the man moved to walk away.

Our eyes met, and I had a peculiar sense of déjà vu, as if I had met him before. Realistically I knew that this wasn't possible, however his eyes stood out to me instantly. They were a curious shade of gold and green – sea green in colour with a slight golden ring around the pupils.

He gave me a half smile and I stood, unable to glance away from those captivating eyes.

"What's your name?" I asked breathlessly, flushing a little at the tone of my voice.

Seemingly amused, he replied "Cayo, and you?" His smile was now far more genuine and honest and curiosity shone through his eyes, as if he felt that he too had known me previously.

I grinned, reaching out my hand for him to shake.

"I'm Alisa"

He quirked an eyebrow and reached down, kissing my hand.

"It's good to meet you, Alisa."

I smiled with happiness, and bade him the same. It was at this moment that I knew that I felt something for him, and it was with giddy joy that I accepted his number less than an hour later and said farewell with a hopeful heart.

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Our relationship continued to grow steadily for the next few months and I can honestly say that I had never been happier in my life than at that time. He was sweet and charming – and when he asked me on a date, I agreed instantly, glowing with happiness and pride.

There was one thing about Cayo that was different though – he refused to meet me in the daytime, only at night. I broached this subject several times, but my persistence only yielded results on our third date. As he stared anxiously down at his clenched hands I processed the idea that he was cursed to live only in the night, and came to a conclusion almost instantly. It wasn't his fault that he had been cursed; in fact, he had no idea why it was so, only that one people knew they stayed away from him, out of disbelief or for fear of the same thing happening to them.

I told him firmly that I would always remain by his side, and those unique eyes widened in evident delight, as he took one of my hands in his and sank to the ground on both his knees, almost as if in awe; as if he hadn't expected me to agree. We left that evening, travelling to a remote area in the middle of a forest some twenty-one miles away. I knew that my parents wouldn't understand Cayo's predicament, and as I was legally an adult I decided that love was more important. Still, writing a letter to explain what I had done was one of the most difficult moments of my life, and I cried on Cayo's shoulder more than once while writing it.

I had decided a fair while ago that I did indeed love Cayo, however I had never told him to his face – I was just too scared to. It seemed like a mighty declaration, and I still held some small worry inside me that he might not feel the same way.

So I bottled it up, never quite getting up the courage and hating myself for it.

Months passed, and we grew increasingly dependant on each other, going into the nearest town less and less as we began to grow and harvest our own food. Our life seemed perfect as it was, with the obvious exception of Cayo's curse.

But as he got nearer to his twenty-first birthday Cayo began to get more irritable, and his eyes lost the playful spark that had drawn me to them in the first place. His appearance appeared more and more gaunt, until finally on the eve of his birthday he appeared to be nothing more of a shadow of his former self.

Throughout this I wept bitterly, and pleaded for him to come back to me. But he couldn't hear; he was in a state of deep depression, and he had no desire to keep living with the curse any longer.

It was on that evening that I found him passed out on the floor of our bedroom, his face pasty-white and his skin sunken in, emphasizing the edges of his skull. His chest was moving slowly, his heartbeat weak and faltering.

I rushed to his side and knelt beside him, hugging his body to mine, tears wetting my cheeks as his heartbeat grew softer. As dawn broke, I despairingly asked him to stay and told him the one secret that I had never shared before; the fact that I loved him.

It was almost as if a switch had been flicked on inside his body; as I watched colour came back into his face and his body regained the weight that it had lost during his seclusion. His chest rose and fell in a more even rhythm, and his heartbeat grew steadily stronger.

As Cayo's eyes opened and locked onto mine, I wept in happiness as I saw that the vivid colour and sparkle I so loved had returned to them. His hand gently reached up and brushed away a tear, and a smile curved his lips as he watched me.

It was then that I realised that the sun had risen, yet Cayo was still here. He seemed to realise this as well, as his lips parted in surprise, then in delight as he saw the sunrise for the first time. My love for him had broken the curse; never again would he be confined to the night.

He looked back at me, and I saw a glimmer of tears as he stared at me.

"I love you too, Alisa" he whispered, before enfolding me in a heartfelt hug. Joy was an insufficient emotion for what I felt as I held him close, still gazing into those beautiful eyes.

At last we were truly free.

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So I wrote this in 2017 during a creative writing course and it's pretty much the only romance I've ever written ^-^ It's probably overly cliché but I just wanted to do something a bit-lighter hearted than my usual stuff with a happy ending c:

Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!

- Hollie (Azanthiel)