^ This is what I listened to while I wrote this, and it will definitely make this chapter feel more real if you listen to this while you read, I suggest starting at like, 8:03, it just aligns everything up and so when the climax of this chapter happens, so will the climax of the music yk, ^
(tw; violence, domestic abuse.)
~+1 Year Before Briar And Amayaa Meet +~
~%7 YEARS BEFORE AMAYAA AND CHROLLO MEET%~
Amayaa twirled a strand of inky black hair around her finger and looked outside, the sun cast a bright, warm haze over the dotty lavender fields that resided out of her window. She got up and drug her hand over the pearl windowsill,
After her ball, the Zoldycks had stayed at the estate for a few weeks on vacation, and made countless deals with the Volpe family head holder,
Muddy thoughts ran rampant, she felt like she could do anything at this moment, she waited impatiently and grabbed the note encased in a letter, running a thumb over the Zoldyck seal and unconsciously smiling to herself, she hooked her nail under the seal and slit the letter open,
Amayaa,
Please meet me in the lavender field at 2:15,
Illumi,
She hastily looked at her watch,
1:58,
Amayaa brought a hand up to her white lace corset and picked at one on the stitched designs, her long white sunday dress softly embraced her ankles every other moment, the numerous silken layers flowed softly in the steady and warm airstream,
She pulled on a soft pair of white ankle socks that had lace designs dancing up her calves,
Amayaa picked at her cuticles hastily before prancing out of her room, she ran down the long halls, feeling the course carpet underneath her feet,
The maids watched and scoffed,
Paintings flew past her, her relatives she had never known, their faces pressing into her view, she looked away and focused on the door to the lavender field, her escape lied right outside that door if only she could get to it faster.
She pressed into her run even further, using all of her energy. When she finally got to the seashell white doorframe she rested there for a few moments before pushing open the doors, she scanned the fields for a few moments before locking onto a tall figure standing in the middle of the field,
Amayaa ran a hand through her hair pushing it back, a soft warm temperature resided on her cheeks.
She could see him clearly, she just needed to get to him. Amayaa pressed herself into a run and slowly got closer and closer to the figure standing in the lavender fields, the delicate aroma flooded her senses and she began to develop a calm feeling as she sprinted towards him, her dress writhing behind her, her firm corset preventing deep breaths, soon she had gotten about arm's length from him as she threw herself around him,
He felt her presence but allowed her a dramatic entrance, he pulled her around to face him in a quick manner,
She was very disheveled and dark raven strands fell on her cheeks and forehead, her bright and cold sage green eyes bore into his unlively black ones, he smiled a little, he reached up to brush away the strands of hair from her face, she smiled her bright smile as he parted his lips to speak,
"Hello May," He said in barely a whisper,
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest.
"Are you okay? You seem awful worked up, " He said with his normal tone, she gripped him by his breast pockets in his coat and said, "All that running, I'm not used to it," She said with a little chuckle and a deep breath, when she caught her breath she started to rock them back and forth, trying to get him off balance, he looked at her with an adoring look, taking moments to admire her face and the meer sound of her breath,
In a quick moment she had rocked them to the point where they were very close to falling face-first into the ground, he pulled himself over her as they fell, and put a soft pillow of aura behind her head so she wouldn't take any harm from the soft impact.
She took shallow breaths underneath him, his knee pressed between hers, his face only inches away, Amayaa looked at his eyes, then his lips, before pulling his face into hers, they locked in a gentle embrace, for a few moments they just laid there, consuming each other, wanting more.
Amayaa pulled away first, resting her head back on the sodden ground the smell of lavender ruminating around them, the wind plowed through the field, slightly blowing each strand of raven hair from its original place,
She looked up at his face, he was perfect, in everything he did, nothing about him was flawed in her eyes, she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out, she closed them again before finally croaking out,
"I love you," It was barely audible but Illumi's keen ears picked it up, he smiled a soft smile upon the impact of those words, and part of him felt like everything would work out before a sharp ruthless pain throbbed in the back of his head.
His smile faded,
And soon hers did too,
"Take it back," He said trying his best from holding the disgust from his voice,
"W-What?" She stuttered sheepishly,
Had she judged this wrong? Was it not the right time? She was sure it was, it felt right, and she couldn't help letting those words creep out. Something twisted her insides, and it churned, it hit like a hard gut feeling, she was out of breath.
Take it back?
"Take it back Amayaa." He said, his eyebrows twisted into an infuriated expression,
Something stung at her eyes,
"No," She said, looking up at him with a bewildered look.
Everything hurt.
Her lungs ached and burned,
Her cheeks red and awaiting the salty caressing of tears,
They stung at her eyes, flowing out and draping themselves over her red and freckled cheeks.
Her throat was dry, she swallowed the bundle of thorns that grew up her throat,
"I can't take it back!" She screamed as she cried, throwing her hands up to push him off of her, she flipped them both over and sat on his waist and hit him,
The tears kept flowing, and flowing,
He grabbed her wrists as she continued to try to scratch and hit him,
She squirmed as he restrained her,
"Stop it! Get off of me Illumi!" She screamed hoarsely, terror-filled her as he looked down at her with a strange expression,
It seemed as if he enjoyed her pain and terror,
How did things get to this?
She let out a blood-curdling scream before he raised his hand and struck her, hard. Blood trickled from her forehead to her cheek,
It wasn't enough to get her unconscious, and her eyebrows twisted into pure terror,
He scowled and brought his hands up to her neck, his fingers wrapped around her throat very nicely, the familiar lavender smell antagonized her senses as she scratched at his hands around her throat, the pressure was immense,
She could taste the blood rising in her throat, it was salty and tasted like iron, the world went fuzzy around her as she still attempted to claw at his hands, she had dug fiercely into his hands, and blood curdled around his hands and dripped down to her throat, his eyes still kept an unamused expression as he continued to strangle her.
She thrashed and thrashed under him before the world bled into darkness, she lost her vision but she could still feel, his hands around her throat, the blood dripping down his hands and down her forehead, taste, the blood in her throat, warm and metallic, hear, the wind flowing through the trees and lavender plants calmly as she struggled to hold on to her consciousness,
First, her vision fully went, then her hearing, she couldn't hear the calm tussle of the wind anymore, then, her taste went, the metallic flavor of her own blood left her tongue, the last thing to leave her was her touch, his warm hands around her throat, his warm blood around her throat and her warm blood trickling down her forehead.