Page 9 of Stained Protector

It was a few months back, a year at most, that an urban legend was whispered after dark about a malevolent figure snatching sacrifices.

It’s true, factual as the filed police reports and tearful families, but the rumors loom with uncertainty on skeptical minds. Families fund searches, and residents forget until the next disappearance, at which point more conspiracies of supernatural forces emerge.

Whether the whispers are reliable or there’s a connection to my apartment, the faint footsteps behind me are as real as the heavy rain soaking the cotton of my clothes.

Afraid and cold, I speed down the empty street. Five steps land me under the brightest glow of streetlights, but the danger behind pushes me to the next light.

Raindrops splash on my hair, clinging to the ends and streaking under my clothes. There is no life beyond the racing cars down the street, and a torchlight of hope drips fuel under my feet as I rush closer to the noises.

A pinch of recognition, a familiar sensation clinching the back of my neck, instills raging terror in my burning muscles. Eyes lurking in secret stare fixedly on the back of my head, and it’s an unmoving force of clustered wasps.

Chills flare up my arms.

The wind picks up, whipping frosty bites on my skin as a hand grazes my head. It’s cunningly gentle, that mere second of touch, and a nasty tug on my drenched hair reels my eyes up to the dense ashen clouds.

A scream lodges in my throat, my head spinning with searing pain as the brick wall cuts the side of my head. I hear the man call a woman’s name, one I never heard of, and coos with a note of concern that nears berating.

“Why reject me when you’re nothing but a piece of useless—”

I can’t hear what the rest is; the pain numbs my senses too quickly, leaving my body slumped to the attacker’s mercy. The disgusting snort when he drags his nose along the side of my neck draws a gurgling cackle from him, remnants of copper fanning my cheek as the smell unfurls a quiet gag.

“What are you doing to my wife?”

The furious sound of rain stops, and the man gripping my hair forcibly snatches his hand back when a long shadow lazes on my freezing skin. I topple to the side when he shoves me forward, his footsteps hurriedly fading away like a rat scampering back to rancid darkness.

The edges of gravel dig into my palms as I push myself up, my dazed eyes prowling up a pair of long legs and the blistering polish of blue in Levi’s eyes. They meet mine, and I’m drunk on the composure and dauntless power spiraling in his pinned pupils.

Then, he smiles. The forgotten memories resurface, rushing to be the first recognition of his name on my tongue.

Two years ago I graduated from college and went to celebrate with my family. A night with laughter, happiness, and confidence for the future was sullied when I fell behind with bags of gifts after my family went to get the car.

If it hadn't been for the choked shout of someone in pain, I would’ve kept walking past the dark alleyway behind a restaurant.

Levi, donned in fitting black clothes, effortlessly held a man who looked bigger than him by the throat with his hand. Veins strained against the back of Levi’s hand, and muscles swelled with power, but he was calm and nonchalant.

He turned to me and ignored the purple-faced man.

“Congratulations, pretty.”He had the most riveting yet heart-wrenching smile.“Go on, have fun tonight.”

That day, a blue-eyed soulless snake slithered into my dreams.

Why didn’t I recognize him?

“Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you,” he says as he crouches down.

The threat of death clouds my mind. A blink of light, the emergency vibration of an Amber alert, lands wickedly across his face as my heart pounds against my ribs. The similarities in my memories are overwriting themselves, mirroring the replicated smile from two years ago.

It’s beautiful, the way he smiles so effortlessly charismatic, yet the simple act can bring about such a visceral reaction. His gaze ghosts over the chills flowing over my shoulders, zoning into the dark alley until eight erratic heartbeats pass my ears.

His eyes edge back toward me; each second and all burning trails send waves of dread surging through me. The alert stops and shuts down the bright screen, but once the serene sapphire is lightened, it doesn’t dim with the swarming duskiness.

The derisive air seeping through his body relents, instantly leveling the agonizing heat under my shivering skin.

Down the alley end, a kicked beer bottle shatters against the wall.

No words from my dry throat, just a cracked hiccup. Levi opens his arms, slowly approaching me like a frightened animal, and holds me against his chest.

He’s warm, almost burning my freezing skin, but it’s a jarring sensation that breathes refuge into my ears. I bury my face into his shirt, tears running down my scrunched cheeks as pain wracks my shoulders.

---