After Dark

I failed at following one rule, and this happened. 

A girl my age pointed a gun at me for stealing her boyfriend. 

"I've no idea who your boyfriend is," I said in a low voice.

I tried to sound calm, but the truth is, I feared for my life. Why did I have to wander that far from my own campsite? Because I wanted to see…

"Zane! You idiot."

"Oh." I got it then.

The guy who rescued me from the Rabids, a kind of blood-thirsty creatures, was this girl's boyfriend. He kept me in his room to look after me while I recovered from the attack.

Deep down, this place crept me out.

"Are you always this stupid?"

I could ask her the same since I just met Zane. I had had no time to seduce him. I resisted the need to roll my eyes at her. After all, I wanted to live.

The girl with the gun smirked. See? Creepy. Shivers ran down my spine. I had to think of something or I had a feeling I wouldn't make it another day.

Where did Zane go anyway?

"Julia! What the hell are you doing?" in a second, Zane appeared in front of me. And the next thing I knew, he disarmed Julia.

"She tore us apart. Don't you see it?" Julia said, crying. Talk about being dramatic. This time, I rolled my eyes.

"Get the hell out of here, Julia," Zane said, his voice unforgiving. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. She didn't need to point me with a gun to make her point.

The only ones with killed were Rabids. Not people. Rabids were the enemy. Not each other.

"But-"

"Just go!" his voice boomed through the room. 

I flinched, taking a step back. Julia ran out of the room, leaving us in a thick silence. I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything stupid. Instead, I focused my attention on the paintings on the far wall.

Pretty, I thought.

In slow motion, Zane turned to me. I swallowed. His piercing blue eyes met mine. I fell prey to those eyes, just like the first time I saw him. When he saved me.

"Pack your things. We're leaving." His tone gave no room to arguments. "Now, Arabella," he said when I didn't move.

"Why now? I don't understand."

Zane closed the distance between us. "Because one, she won't stop until she kills you. And two, because if we don't go now, we won't make it to your campsite before night falls."

I nodded. The words caught in my throat. And after taking a deep breath, I started to put my things inside my bag. 

Zane grabbed a raincoat and his bag pack. We left the campsite through a back entrance. Thank heavens no one tried to stop us. I wanted to tell him something. But what could I say? He got into this mess because he saved me from death.

"I'm sorry," I said after minutes that felt like hours.

His eyes landed on me. It made butterflies fly in my stomach every time he looked at me. It felt like he saw me. The real me. And I wanted more of that feeling.

"For what?" he slowed his steps.

"For causing you so much trouble."

Zane shrugged. "I didn't like it there anyway."

"What about Julia? She seemed to care about you a lot."

He chuckled. But it sent a bad vibe through me. "Believe me, she didn't care about me. She just wanted someone to dote on her. So, she'll just find someone else."

"I’m curious. Why were you with her if you didn’t care about her?"

Zane stared ahead, his shoulders tense. "I guess I liked to feel needed. Like I belonged. It was all an illusion though."

"Oh." What else could I say?

Sighing, I pulled my hood over my head. My hands went inside my pockets. As I looked up the sky, I grimaced. I loved the rain, but today was a terrible day for it. I just hoped we made it home before a downpour fell on us.

Halfway to my campsite, Zane suggested we stopped. I sighed with relief. "Sounds great," I said. My feet hurt already. 

"I've got to ask," Zane said. I stopped unclasping my bottle of water and met his eyes. God, a girl could lose herself in those eyes. No wonder Julia did. "Why did you wander that far from your campsite the night I found you? I don’t get it."

Every human being had one rule. Stay inside after dark. It was the golden rule. Even if Rabids were almost extinct. That rule remained. It kept us alive through this whole horrible experience.

I played with the cap of the bottle. "I wanted to see the wildflowers."

Now that I said it out loud, it sounded ridiculous to risk your life for such a thing. But I grew sick of staying inside the walls around the place I called home.

"Arabella-"

"I get it, okay? It was stupid. I should've at least brought someone with me. I know. I should’ve listened to my father. But..."

Zane sat next to me. My breath caught in my throat and my thoughts became a jungled mess. He needed to go back to his seat, which happened to be a log.

"It wasn't about the flowers, was it?" Zane tucked a small flower in my ear. I didn't dare to move. What was happening? 

"No." I leaned in without meaning to. "It was about feeling alive." 

Everyone only thought about surviving. But what about feeling alive?

"You're right," Zane said, his voice thick with emotion.

"Am I?" I said. My voice only a whisper.

He chuckled, and this time, it was a good sound. One that brought a smile to my face. "Yeah. We need to let loose a little bit. Life is about more than just making it to live another day. I'm starting to realize that."

He caressed my cheek for a moment. I wondered if Zane would kiss me. Would I be okay if he did? Who was I kidding? Of course, I wanted him to kiss me. More than that, I wanted him to stay with me at my home.

However, I doubted Zane had any plans to stick around at my campsite. Though I had nothing to lose by asking him, did I?

But Zane went back to his seat, leaving me all kinds of confused. It was now or never. "You know, my father would love to have someone like you in our campsite," I said in a rush.

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Someone like me?"

I blushed. "Someone brave, and strong. Someone who risks his life for lost girls who wander too far from home."

He grabbed his bag pack. "We better keep moving, princess."

I gasped, my eyes going wide. "How do you know?"

Before the normal world ended, I was a princess. Now I was just Arabella. And I liked it that way. It gave me a freedom I loved.

Zane winked, and I fainted inside. He was too handsome. "I knew you look familiar the night I saved you. You just confirmed it though."

The rest of the way, we made small talk. I enjoyed his company more than I cared to admit. And the closer we got home, the more I dreaded having to say goodbye to him. 

"We made it just in time, princess," Zane said. His voice brought me out of my thoughts.

I nodded. In no time, darkness would fall. It meant he had to stay, right? That made me smile, and when his curious eyes landed on mine, I blushed.

"You're staying, right?"

"Why? Are you worried I'll get eaten by Rabids?"

"Yes! And this isn't funny. I don't want to lose someone else."

Zane mumbled a curse. "I'm sorry. I'll stay the night if that makes you feel better. Ok?"

"Okay, Zane."

That night, as I laid in bed staring at the ceiling, my mind kept going back to Zane. He would leave tomorrow morning. Just thinking about it hurt. I wanted him to stay.

And something inside me said I needed to get out and find Zane, that if I waited, I would regret it. With my mind made out, I padded down the stairs.

My father turned our castle into a campsite. A safe place for people. I loved it here, but sometimes it felt like a prison. Not tonight though.

As I searched for Zane, I felt a heavyweight pressed down on my chest. It hurt to breathe. I stormed outside, my feet moving on their own. I let them carry me and I found myself in the far gate under a light rain.

But my attention fell on the tall figure in a raincoat. "No," I said in a low voice. I placed a hand to my chest. "Zane!" I walked towards him. "Where are you going?"

"I-"

"You can't leave." My chest raised and fall. "You can't leave me. I... I need you to stay. Please." Did I really say that? It seemed like I did. "besides, you said you would stay."

Zane ran a hand through his messy hair. "Why do you want me here?" he gestured to the castle behind me. "It seems to me that you have it all, princess."

I shook my head. "But I don't." I took a step closer. This was it. I needed to say it. "I have everything I might need, but I don't have the most important thing."

"And what is that?" Zane said in that deep voice I loved. 

"A partner. Someone who makes me feel complete. And that's you. I feel alive and safe and free when I'm with you. I know we just met but-"

I never got to finish. His lips fell on mine and I stopped thinking. My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him to me. This, right here, was my missing piece. I let myself get lost in our kiss. 

"I like you too, Arabella," he said against my lips.

Hugging him, I laughed at his words. He smelled like rain, wood, and home. Perfect. 

"So, just to be clear, you're staying?"

"Yeah. I'm staying."