Prologue: The Angel

     Prologue: The Angel

     It should have been cold in the forest.  The leaves crumpling beneath Austyn's bare toes appeared laden with a glistening frost, but to the touch were as warm and inviting as a sandy beach, stretched smoothly out before her feet.  She could never remember how or why she came to the forest, only that, above all else, she had to hurry.  Something was slinking on the edge of the trees… no, not something - someone.  If her long legs could not propel her forward in time, it would be too late, and this strange person would not be seen.

     Nonetheless, she allowed herself a childish laugh as she ran, her long, shiny brown hair billowing softly in the breeze as she went, her eyes of churning brown, amber, and gold turned upward to a thin ray of yellow sun.  The forest was beautiful, as always.  Not due to color, for all color was dimmed from the white, snowlike substance that powdered the ground beneath her, and she could never decide if it really was snow she tread on, or tiny pieces of stars and clouds that twinkled and roiled happily along the forest floor.  This blinding white all but submerged the surrounding vegetation, but spots of brown and grey on the tree trunks brought her to mind of some sort of sweet candy she'd once tasted, but couldn't identify.  All powdery sugar and chocolate, all happy memories and hopes.

     But, as always was the way with such fantasies, the clouds and stardust soon frizzled away, and their warmth with it.  Austyn came to a reluctant and frightened stop, feeling the subtle warmth of the leaves and sunlight trickle away from her skin, to welcome a murky cold.  As this happened, the forest transformed before her eyes, and in the deepest recesses of her mind she began to wonder if she was in fact still in the forest at all, or instead in a deep cavern, below the forest.  Had she somehow wandered into this familiar cave?  The trees - or where they stalagmites? - seemed to echo the sudden gloom of her spirit.  Not knowing what else to do, she sat down and drew her knees to her, shivering in the new chill as craggy rock scraped her bare toes.  She felt that she ought to be afraid, and yet… there was some odd comfort in this solemnity, as if she had already experienced it, many times before.

     Then, from behind either trunk or rock, he appeared.   At first, merely a shadow, then the sun seemed to beam down specifically upon this person, illuminating him and where he walked, but leaving the cave still in dark silence.  Austyn's eyes traveled immediately to his well-remembered face, and found his ice blue eyes to be unpleased.  He was beautiful - no other word for it - and those swirling orbs of blue seemed to hold in them a promise, a secret, of something at once both ancient and deeply sacred.  His skin took the sunlight well, as if it had been long accustomed to its rays, and welcomed its warmth.  His hair was an intense, glossy black, though she could see in the sun tips of gleaming white.

     Immediately she rose from her resting position, smiling and daring to move closer.  "You came back," she exalted, reaching out an arm, as if to touch him and assure herself he was truly flesh and blood, and not, in fact, a masterpiece of her own mind, "I knew you would…"

     But he gently back-stepped from her reach, avoiding her touch.  "No, Austyn," he replied, "It seems you have discovered a way to find me.  Did I not tell you, upon our last meeting, that it was my wish that these rendezvous ceased to continue?"

     His rebuttal was a knife in her chest, but she choked back the distress.  "Always so formal," she commented instead on his strange form of speaking, "Don't we know each other by now?  You - you know about me.  More than I've told you about me, for sure, and I - I cannot even convince you to tell me your name."

     His angel's face was hard, but his eyes were filled to the brim with regret.  "This is unnatural, Austyn," he said, "What if your family knew about me?  I do hope no word of my existence has escaped your lips in their company.  I've told you of the danger in these meetings, so why then do you search so fervently for them to continue?"

     Now Austyn stepped forward again, this time in anger instead of yearning, her brow furrowed beneath her dark bangs in protest.  "If us being friends is so unnatural, why would you come to me, huh?  You may have forgotten who started all this, but I haven't!"  Her hands clenched into fists at her side, but she knew hitting him would do her no good.  Such an act would cause her only infinitely more pain.  Her body shook beneath the weight of her indignation.

     This time, a look of concern escaped from the bounds of his cool stare, and for a moment, she thought he would step forward, as he often did when they fought, and apologize.  But his stare went suddenly cold and fierce again, and he turned his back.

     "Why must you torment me so?" he asked after a moment, his usually controlled voice now pleading, "Why must you remind me of that mistake?" he turned back around, but it did no good.  His face was such a spinning whirlpool of emotions that she couldn't even begin to gauge.  

     Her throat constricted at his words, not meant to be cruel, but still piercing.  "Mistake?" she mumbled. "Your mistake… you regret… you… you wish you hadn't…" but if her tears were to remain repressed, she could not go on.  She bit her lip.  Anything, any other pain, to distract her from the ripping in her heart.  The brilliance of the sunlight around him only further stung her eyes, and she closed them to avoid the harsh remorse he couldn't hide.

     When a warm hand brushed her shoulder, it was all she could do to remain upright.  In all the times he had allowed her to see him, he had never, never once touched her.  She opened her eyes and lifted them, finding his angelic face startlingly close to her own.  She drew in a surprised breath.

     "Austyn," he began softly, gazing into her chocolate eyes as she gazed into his icy ones, till his closed.  He moved his hand from her shoulder to her hair and pressed their foreheads gently together; it was all Austyn could do to remember how to breathe as he whispered, "I shall never, in all of my life, regret knowing you." She kept her eyes open, and hesitantly lifted her fingers to stroke his smooth cheek.

     To her despair, the moment her fingers brushed his skin, the trance was broken.  He opened his eyes and backed away suddenly, leaving her feeling painfully alone.  As she watched him, he began to walk away, though it seemed more reluctant than she'd expected.  "Wait!" she yelled, before he could get too far, but she knew better than to chase him, "Please, if I really won't ever see you again, just tell me your name!"

     He halted mid-stride, and answered without turning around, "I can't.  Goodbye Austyn.", and then he walked forward again, as the cave slowly began to metamorphose back into its comforting white.  This time, she did chase him, jogging to match his tall strides.  He sighed, hearing her footsteps behind him, and turned around again as she came to him.

     "Please," she begged, "I promise, I'll never try to find you again… I just want to know."
     He focused a blank look on her for a moment as a sudden wind began to blow.  Her hair waved softly around her face, and he carefully pushed a strand of it behind her ear.  She tried to memorize his face even more flawlessly, knowing he wouldn't let her see him again.

     "My name is Simon."

     The wind became more fierce, and she covered her eyes from its onslaught.  When she opened them, he was gone.  All that was left where he'd stood were some floating sprinkles of stardust, and a single, thornless rose.  As everything else was in the forest, it was a bright and simple white.  She stumbled to her knees and picked it up, but the pearly petals turned to frosty powder in her hands.

     Then, she woke.