BOOK ONE - Scarlet's perfect world gets turned upside down when life begins to drain of color. After losing her parents, Scarlet realizes she has the power to see things no one else can.
Struggling to bring it all back to normal, she finds herself o...
The question he brought to the table only made Scarlet's body tremble more. Folding her hands while they fell against her stomach, she tried to hide any movement he might notice. Rejection was the only thing for her to be afraid of at this moment. And here it was. A pause fell between the two of them for only a moment, but it seemed like ages. Finally, she decided against rejection. It wasn't going to happen today.
"Yes, you Silver. You were always there for me." She inched closer to him, their feet almost touching, and lifted an arm to place on his shoulder. "If it wasn't for you, I...I don't know where I would be right now."
"What do you mean? We've always been together."
"I know," Scarlet answered. "I'm talking about all the times you've made me smile and laugh, let me rant over dumb situations, cry my tears on your shoulder. Just...everything. Without you, there would be no us. I couldn't live without that."
She stopped, taking a breath, letting the silence wash over them. Hopefully he would respond the way she wanted him to. That single way that would free all of the butterflies trapped in her body.
He stepped as close as he could toward her, his lips parted but no words coming from his mouth.
The two of them stared into each other's eyes, Scarlet only hoping that he was thinking the same thing she was. Would he kiss her? Nerves made her entire body tremble, but she would jump for joy if that's what he would do. She wanted to tell him everything, but was too afraid of his reaction. Now that it was out in the open, he was taking too long.
Before she had a chance to react, he was leaning in. His eyes closed, but she continued to stare in his direction. It was finally happening! She closed her eyes, almost falling towards him. Then she remembered her parents, how they could be in danger if she didn't save them. No matter how much she wanted to put her lips on his, her parents came first. He would understand, wouldn't he?
Clearing her throat, she opened her eyes, almost regretting not kissing him as he came closer. But there were priorities. "Silver..." she trailed off, stopping before putting her words in order. By now he blinked, staring at her with a blank look on his face. "We can't do this. My...my parents. They need me."
The sigh he gave her almost broke her heart, but neither of them moved even though they were in each other's arms.
"You're right." His voice was so close to a whisper, the blue eyes not letting her go. "What does the clue say?"
In the midst of being caught up in the moment, Scarlet could've easily forgotten about the clue. Somehow, the rock landed at her feet without her even noticing. She chuckled. "I was paying so much attention to you I ended up dropping the rock."
"It's not my fault you're attracted to this face." He stuck his tongue out at her, circling his hand around his face as if it was the best thing on the planet.
"Oh shut up, you idiot." Laughing again, Scarlet slapped his shoulder, so thankful that the two of them could go back to normal without anything awkward. She picked up the rock, looking at the crimson writing.
"What's it say?" He looked over her shoulder, smiling.
"Strolling through the dark
You'll find creatures with a spark
Be careful while you walk
Or you may just be in shock," Scarlet read from the writing. "What do you think it means?"
He shrugged. "Hard to tell. I don't know exactly where this person is talking about and I don't think I've ever seen anything similar to it either. Maybe we should head back home. There's a chance we'll find it on the way back."
"And there's also a chance that we won't. We can't just leave, Silver."
"Scar, it's not like we're going to find it here. We already found the clue here. Going back to your house and trying to decipher it would be the best option."
She frowned, grabbing his hand as they walked forward. "Are you sure?"
Nodding he said, "What other choice do we have?"
Scarlet gave him a small smile as the two of them walked back to her house. The one place where the worst things happened on her seventeenth birthday. Since then, some great things have happened too. No matter what, she wanted everything to go back to normal. But when she lifted the sunglasses from her face, the colors that were around when she climbed the volcano slowly started to disappear. The drizzle of the color leaving as it made its way up forced her to watch, the squeeze of Silver's hand bringing her back down to reality as she slid the sunglasses over her eyes. Life would never be the same, but they continued on anyway.
The beautiful house that was once colored like the rainbow didn't look the same anymore. Whether it was from the long walk and being exhausted or the color being completely gone, she didn't know. But at this point it didn't matter. Finding a seat before her legs collapsed became the next priority. If it wasn't for Silver's strength holding her up, she'd probably be on the ground in seconds.
He led her to the doorstep, both of them sitting down as they faced the blue sky. Luckily that was still a color she could see. Then she figured out why her house wasn't the same. The beautiful colors that spread all the cheer throughout the neighborhood were leaving. In fact, most of them were gone by now. She knew Silver could still see it all, but the sadness hit her in the chest as she realized she may not ever see her house the way she used to. Uncertainty became a real question in her life now and whether she would ever be able to see the same again made a small tear run down her face.
Still holding Silver's hand, she rested her head on his shoulder. His breathing brought her peace. Just being with him changed her whole world and she wanted nothing more than this. If only it could stay this way, but she knew it couldn't. All of the thoughts in her brain needed to disappear, except for the ones about her best friend, but none of that happened when Silver opened his mouth to speak.
He rubbed her back for a moment, letting the last few moments of silence rest between them. "I know you don't want to talk about this, but we need to figure out where this clue leads."
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