Be My Valentine

Two Strangers and the Moon - S. Liongate

** TRIGGER WARNING**

Contains attempted suicide (unaliving)

Two Strangers and the Moon - S. Liongate

Song: Evanescence, Bring Me To Life

I thought I knew what the hardest part would be but with each insistent breath hissing through my lips I knew I was wrong. Hindsight was a b***h.

The moon peeked through a blackened sky, curled like a single gold eyelash. A few stars, no more impressive than a renegade flake of glitter, did what stars did; hovered above with glittering indifference. A chill flashed over me, brought on by the rough caress of sea air and the icy sea spray it delivered over my bare arm. Salt was a heavy taste but I couldn’t tell if it was from the sea or from myself.

I thought this would be beautiful. I thought it would be quick. Only a little courage and no chance to change my mind. In a way I wasn’t wrong there. I couldn’t change my mind. I was at the mercy of the universe, of fate, of coincidence.

Ragged breaths that I kept taking despite desperately wanting them to cease made my body burn. How long? How long would this world force its cruelty on me? A slice of heat cut over my cheek; a tear. I couldn’t move. If only I could cry enough tears to raise the ocean up to drown me. I should have picked a spot where the tide came all the way to the base of the cliff. I should have chosen a place where the stars filled the sky with their quiet magic instead of being shunned back by the pollution of the city lights. I should have checked the phase of the moon, taken the night where it was full and round, used the silvery light to guide me, then maybe I would have missed the outcrop.

Darkness. It came with a blink. The paltry lick of moon was gone. I took it as a sign of the end. My heart stuttered when the darkness spoke.

~

“Hello.”

It was a normal thing to say but, I supposed, not in these circumstances. Unusual circumstances were commonplace for me. Rather contradictory, really. The woman didn’t reply but she heard me. The leap of her heart, a strong rhythm punched out of place by my simple hello, told me so.

“I,” the sentence died, my mind abruptly erasing and replacing my normal monologue with something new. “Would you like some help?” I wasn’t sure why I said it, or in what context I meant it. Usually, usually, the woman sprawled over the rock outcrop, comparable to a dropped egg that oozed from fractures - never to be whole again but not fully broken, would be a guilt free meal. I would speak soft poetic words, a comforting speech about kindness, mercy and deliverance to the arms of death. If it gave them peace in their final moments, I didn’t truly know, but they were easy words and they soothed me. Made me feel of use, rather than a monster. Gave me a kinder purpose in my world of endless night.

Her lungs bubbled, foam made of her own blood frothed at her lips. She didn’t answer with words. A small flex of her fingers, a gesture that could have meant many things, drew me in. I knelt next to her, unbothered by the cold rocks and their rough edges. I took her hand.

Beneath the skin blood flowed, warm, full of life - defiant in the face of reality. Midnight hair splayed over the ground, looking wild as if she were dancing in a storm, gave vibrancy to the way she’d landed. An elegance courted this death she’d chosen for herself. I stared as if she were a reflection, my mirror opposite - life in death.

~

“You looked beautiful when you fell. Looked like a wish dropping into a well.” Death told me, his hand holding mine. Pain leached from my body, stolen by his touch. “What pain plagued you, drove you to step from the cliff edge?” Cool fingers, a cold that soothed rather than bit, swiped a strand of hair from my face. Knuckles tenderly grazed my cheek, stole the now icy tear track, replacing it with trails that settled my soul. “I bet it was a boy, a silly boy.” His voice was silk on silk as I wondered if he did this for every soul he gleaned. Did everyone receive this comfort in death?

I choked on a breath and he held me tenderly.

“I wish we had more time, here in this moment - or perhaps another moment, one far from here where our eyes meet and magic swirls in the air, where we long to taste each other’s souls rather than blood.” Death spoke with longing. The world became his arms. “I will give you every moment from now until the end of time.” Lips whispered against my ear, kissing the lobe, along my neck. My pulse quivered.

~

Was it selfish of me to steal her from death’s tally? Probably, but under the night sky, moon almost fully burrowed in its midnight robe, I took her for myself. At my back waves crested, falling against the slim beach, the sound a hushed applause while she moaned under my fangs. It was my venom that poured into her but in my mind I imagined it was hope, it was a new beginning, it was an end to me being alone…

The author details are just below. As a fun extra we have a spotify playlist! Each author chose a song for their piece. Does this short story remind you of a song? Or is there a romantic song that captures your heart? Leave a song and artist in the comments and (if it’s on spotify) it will be added to the play list.

Find S Liongate on Inkitt

The Wrong Hope - Dark, Twisted, Brutal - The story of a young girl’s hope and the depth of a man’s greed. Free. Complete

Claiming the Remnant - Love, Magic, Fae - In a world new to magic trouble is underfoot. War looms. A thief finds herself in a strange predicament at the palace. Free. Ongoing.