Madinina; Island of flowers. A very suitable nickname for the beautiful island Martinique.
The island, a Caribbean one, was abundant with flowers. Naming just a few colorful and intriguing flowers wouldn't even make up 1% of all the species of flowers that supported the island.
At first, all the color the island had hurt Amber's eyes. She could never get used to the bright and pretty views of flowers and liked unsaturated and muted things. However, even she couldn't deny the beauty of the flora of Martinique. "Oleander... Orchids... Bougainvillea..." Amber recalled while appreciating mother nature.
As much she wouldn't like to admit, she "kind of" got distracted from her original task. No, Amber, focus. She told herself as she turned away from the beautiful views and headed into the luxurious tropical forest inland. The ex-assassin could feel sticks and branches of bamboo, along with other trees, poking and cutting her skin but she couldn't see very clearly; the sun had already set and the thick forest prevented even the moonlight from touching the ground.
"Oh, shit...!" Amber cursed under her breath as she lost her balance and almost tripped, "Gotta be more careful. Damn, I can't even see properly."
It felt like ages to Amber as she walked. It wasn't until about an hour that she realised she could have been lost. She thought she had memorized her destination. Boy, was I wrong...
Suddenly, she felt a soft breeze behind her, interrupting her thoughts. It was almost as if someone was breathing heavily but without any sound as the ex-assassin was sure she hadn't heard anyone creeping up on her, at all. It being her natural instincts, she spun around with a gun already in her hand.
Amber stared into the darkness for a few seconds before going forward again. Might have been my mista-
Crash!
At first, Amber was confused. She'd squirmed and put her hands forward onto the ground after realizing she was completely horizontal. But why did the ground feel soft and like a sweater? Moreover, why was the ground moving as if it was alive?
It took her a second to understand what had happened. Amber, while looking behind in suspicion, had collided with someone in the dark and fell on top of that person, who, she assumed from the masculine features she'd felt, was a man. Her assumptions were proven correct when she pushed her body up and away a few inches from the stranger's chest and somewhat distinguished, through the veil of darkness, a vague vision of a man with blond hair and slight beard, staring right at her. She could feel beneath her, the woolen sweater, a pair of jeans and... what was that weird bulge that was where the sweater ended...?
It was at this point that Amber realized she'd been staring for too long. She immediately stood up, the man following suit, and apologized, "Sorry about that." The ex-assassin dusted herself a bit even though she fell on top of a human...
"It's okay." A somewhat hollow yet deep voice, which seemed soar, came in response.
Amber felt that was the end of it so she went past the man, proceeding on with her mission. A very deep silence fell which was suddenly cut by the same man's voice, stopping Amber in her tracks, "Why are you running around in this forest at this time of the night?"
The ex-assassin ignored the stranger's question and started walking, but she was interrupted by that stranger blocking her way from the front all of a sudden - which didn't make sense to Amber; even though it was dark, she could tell by hearing his breathing and no sound of footsteps approaching her that he was standing still behind her, so how did he just appear in front of her?
"What are you doing here?" The stranger asked again.
Amber opened her mouth to say "none of your business" but closed it immediately as an idea popped in her head. Instead she said, "Well, I'm lost at the moment." Which she was in the darkness.
"Is that so?" The man commented. "Well, my cottage is just a few steps away. Over there..." he pointed towards his left but nothing could be seen - it was all very dark after all. "I have a map of the forest which might be helpful."
Bullseye. Amber thought silently. "Yes, that would be helpful, indeed." After that, they shared no words and walked towards, apparently, the direction of the cottage. If that man was there so late, he must've known his way in the forest, which was what Amber needed. It took them just two minutes of walking before arriving at the cottage.
"This is my cottage." he announced.
"Really? I totally couldn't tell." The ex-assassin, crossing her hands and rolling her eyes, commented with sarcasm. She knew that they'd just met and she should've been nice, he was a stranger after all. But fuck being nice. If the guy was going to be pissed, so be it. But to her surprise, she was sure she distinguished a smile of amusement on his face, while he opened the door.
Upon entering the cottage, Amber still couldn't see a thing. But it seemed that the man had strong rod cells in his eyes as he could easily find the things he needed. Soon she found that he'd started lighting candles. So old fashioned, he could've used a flashlight.
Then again, the atmosphere that the now lit candles had brought had suited the man's features, which Amber could now see better. What seemed blond hair in the dark, turned out to be off-white, almost with a grey hue, hair. His skin was not only pale, but also had a very faint blue glow, which obviously wasn't normal at all. As if to complement the eerie look, his eyes were an unusual grey color; they were lifeless, dull, empty, as if the man were dead. The only thing normal about the man were his oversized black woollen sweater - which was odd to wear in such a weather - and a pair of jeans.
But his body's features were so captivating - in both, good and bad ways - that his clothing had no effect on normalising him. It, without her knowledge, left a spellbound effect on Amber.
"Have a seat, please, while I find the map." The man, again with his voice sounding as hollow as before, told Amber. But his voice had a different tone this time, like a smirk, as if he'd acknowledged the effect he had on Amber. And that confused Amber even more.
But she did as told anyway, taking her backpack off and sitting down on the bed that was right beside her. A few moments later the stranger's moving image appeared beside the ex-assassin with the map in hand. Unfolding the old and torn paper, the man sat down beside Amber, which made her somewhat uncomfortable, and handed her the map. "Where exactly do you need to go?" He proceeded to ask afterwards.
This is one nosey man, Amber thought to herself. She tensed as she thought of what to say. "I need to meet up with a few people."
"Oh?" The man said gesturing to the backpack that belonged to Amber, "Why are you carrying such inventory might I ask?"
To the man, the ex-assassin seemed to tense a bit, but if she really was so, he couldn't tell; for her hazel eyes were steady and showed no change. A moment later she spoke, "That's irrelevant here. I'll cut to the chase." She flicked her bangs away from her face and, looking up, continued, "I'm looking for a cave. That's where the people I need to see are."
For a moment, in those dead and dull eyes of the stranger, Amber noticed a change; it seemed as though he was shocked. He looked away and muttered something under his breath, but the next second he'd come back to his "dead persona".
He pointed on a certain spot on the map and said, "There is a cave right here, it's perpendicular to this cottage."
"Thank you." Amber said to the stranger and stood up. The ex-assassin picked up her backpack, giving the map to the man but the man made a gesture with his hand and said, "You may keep it."
Hearing that, Amber quickly put the map in her backpack and opened the door, leaving that cottage. When she put her foot out, however, she stopped after a few steps. Something strange had happened in the cottage, something she didn't notice somehow. As she swept off the sweat that had just started dripping down her forehead, she realized how the temperature outside was more than that inside the cottage. The man had lit candles inside of the cottage, which should've been a major source of heat, but strangely enough, there was a slight chill in the air of that cottage. It didn't make any sense to Amber but before she could think of the topic any further, she heard a familiar voice.
The tall figure of that man came closer to Amber when she turned around. He stopped right in front of her and stretched out his hand, in which was a handkerchief, "You left this at my cottage."
That was the only thing that was said at that time. They did not exchange any other words as Amber took her handkerchief and continued to head towards the cave.
When she was finally far away from the cottage, the man raised a card to eye-level and looked at the picture of girl with honey-colored hair, that reached right below the ears, and hazel eyes, that were stern and intimidating. "E. Winters..." he pronounced as he read the name written on the card.
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Word Count: 1648