1 Bittersweet <1>

I was walking down the gravel road, covered by a thick canopy of trees, alone with my thoughts and the sound of gravel crunching under my feet. The birds weren't singing a tune of joy, but one of lament, despair.

The smell of an incoming storm filled my nose and brought me back to reality. I looked around, trying to decipher where I've ended up. Unable to do so, I decided to keep moving forward when drops of rain started tapping on the canopy overhead, some of them making their way down. I used to like rain back then.

After some time, the rain became a heavy downpour, and the canopy of trees opened up into a miserable meadow of flowers, being waterboarded by the heavens. A silhouette was standing in the middle of the meadow, holding something in its hand.

I decided to get closer, and as I did, I realized that the silhouette had long black hair, stuck together because of the rain, and was wearing a plain white dress.

The squelch of the mud gave me away, and the woman turned around, our gazes meeting. A pale complexion, her soft cheeks and nose slightly flushed because of the cold rain, deep saffron eyes that seemed to devour your whole being. Those luscious rose red lips...

I fell in love in an instant.

She was, simply put, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Her plain white dress, hanging off her shoulders loosely, was soaked by the rain, her underwear showing through it. I glanced away, embarrassed, before walking up to her and putting my jacket over her shoulders, saying ''You'll get sick if you stay out in the rain for too long, miss.''

She looked at me strangely, as if bewildered by my behavior. I took a glance at what she was holding in her other hand, blinking several times to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

A kitchen knife, covered from the tip of the blade to her hand with a red liquid, which pulsated with the smell of iron. Blood, I realized. Did she hurt herself?

Upon looking down, I realized whom the blood belonged to. A mangled body was lying at her feet, a puddle of blood mixing in with the overflowing meadow, providing the nearby flowers with precious, precious nutrients.

''Oh,'' I managed to say, before passing out from the sight of blood.

I don't know if I should consider these as wet dreams or nightmares. Perhaps a mixture of both. With shit like this going through my teenage mind, it's no wonder I fell for her despite everything. I was nearly as fucked up as she was. I still am.

I dreamed of making love to her in the middle of the flooded meadow, our tongues intertwined. Our naked bodies, sleek from the rain, keeping each other company, warming us up from the inside.

I dreamed of her in that white gown, covered in fresh blood, standing in the middle of the meadow, grinning at me like a demon. I'd start running, my gasping breath drowned out by the sounds of the storm, the gravel below my feet always threatening to slip away. With each heartbeat, my muscles became weaker, my breath grew more ragged…

I would keep running before feeling a hot, paralyzing pain below my shoulder blade, feeling the blade enter my lung through my back, piercing through the muscle wall, and then sliding out, making me scream in pain.

My legs would give out and my lung would collapse, taking away my ability to breathe. Her laughter, accompanied by the soft gurgle of my throat filling up with blood. The final musical piece I would ever hear. She would turn my body over, her face near mine, before whispering something in my ear and kissing me, taking away the last of my oxygen, strangling me with her lips.

The kiss of death...