Closed RP Once Upon A Dream

[Phoenix]

The buildings seemed to blur together as Sam moved as quickly as she could down never ending alleys. There were no breaks in the buildings, which were all taller than she could scale. No fire escapes to jump up to, no ledges outside windows to climb, nothing. She had yet to see a road as she ran, leaning into walls where she could to take weight off her leg. Every time she tried to fly, her heat sputtered out mere feet above the ground. And with an already broken knee, she couldn’t afford another fall.

Falling hadn’t been what had broken her leg, though, not at all. That had been something else entirely. Something far more terrifying than a fall, and far more deadly. It had been the most beautiful thing she’d ever laid eyes on, the most horribly wonderful thing she’d ever known. And it was somewhere behind her, chasing her. She couldn’t look back to see where it was, to see how close it had gotten in the last few turns. She needed to keep moving, even as the ground faded from asphalt to gravel to dirt and back again. She needed to keep moving, even as it started to get so dark that she could barely see where she was even going.

If she didn’t, the Hunt Song would catch her.

The Hunt Song, with its beautiful smile and its soft calls. The faint and happy laughter that seemed to echo through the alleyways to fall on her ears. She could hear it, somewhere behind her, though the distance was ever-changing. Calling her Sammy, calling her Songbird, calling her Apple Pie. Telling her that he was looking for her, that he was going to find her, to come out and come back to him.

“Don’t you want me to touch you? Don’t you want me to hold you? Weren’t you just asking?” His voice carried through the air, soft and gentle and almost sing-song in tone.

A violent shiver ran through her body. Sam wanted to turn around, to have him take her into his arms. She wanted that happiness and that joy to be focused on her. But she couldn’t. That happiness and joy only led to terrible things, things she promised Todd she wouldn’t let happen. She couldn’t give in, no matter how badly her chest ached for it. No matter the shaking in her core, the longing that ran through her, she had to keep running.

The Hunt Song couldn’t have her.

She turned a corner again, pushing herself to keep running even as she leaned into the wall and used it to support her weight for brief moments. Her knee screamed, and she continuously stumbled forward. She could barely move. The pain was radiating up through her thigh and down through her shin, and her knee kept collapsing under her weight. Sam was nothing if not stubborn, however, so she pushed on, trying her best to keep up speed. Her and Todd were evenly matched on speed on a good day, which meant the Hunt Song had an advantage here if it really wanted to catch up to her.

It was just a matter of time.​

 

[Wendigo]

The buildings were as clear and familiar to Todd as if he’d spent his whole life walking down this street – these streets – the neverending twist of alley and forest that blurred together in this perfect world. Nowhere for his little bird to fly off; nowhere for her to climb up, as fun as that chase would be. It’d been too long since he’d had a proper rooftop chase. They used to be his favorites, and sometimes he even dreamed that she’d made it to the top of one of the buildings, only to find the expanse even more endless from above.

But now his bird’s wings were clipped, and the chase, while boring, was building up the ache of hunger under his skin. The drag of her foot behind her, the uneven steps, the labored panting, they were all exquisite details in the otherwise quiet night.

He knew what had broken her leg. He remembered the crack under his foot as if it were yesterday – and, well, maybe it was. It could’ve been yesterday. It could’ve been a year ago, and yet it wouldn’t matter, because he had her now. She was his, she’d just forgotten her little promise.

When she remembered, his hunting song would catch up to her.

It was beautiful, the time that beat out with the sound of his heartbeat matching each shallow breath, each slow drag of her body against a building or the gravel or a tree. She was slowing down, and he knew that his words were resonating not just in the space between them, but in her heart and her mind and her soul, so intricately tied to his.

His perfect prey.

“Come on now, Sammy,” he called, in the deepest sweetness his voice could manage with its harsh edge; “Come on, where’re you going? You want everything I can give you, right? To be with me forever?”

She did. And she didn’t. And she did. His mouth watered as he caught her scent, thick drool that he had to swallow back as he slowly but inevitably closed the distance. She wanted him with almost as much animal ferocity as he wanted her – just a very different flavor, one that tainted her cinnamon-sweet apple pie scent and sent his mind reeling. She wanted him, of course. But she was a stubborn little bird. She’d keep flying until her wings gave out, and she’d still sing even when his teeth found her pretty throat. Just the idea of her flavor put a little more pep in his step, the warmth of her under his lips. She was so close now, and he could almost taste her again as he had so often. He would taste her again.

It was just a matter of time.

 

[Phoenix]

With her wings clipped, there was only so far that she could go. With her leg crumpling beneath her, dragging behind her, she had to stop. There was nothing else that she could do. She needed to run, but the pain was too much. With a shuddering breath, she leaned against a tree at the edge of the alleyway, clinging to it for dear life. What else was there for her to do, after all, other than give in to her fate?

She was his, now and forever.

Her breath was coming in short bursts, panicked almost. Erratic. She reached a hand down and touched the broken knee, feeling a sharp throb radiate through her leg. With every step, it hurt more. She looked behind her, and just as she did, she saw him. Unlike the earliest times she could remember, the last times he had caught her, he wasn’t in the mask and the coat. He was dressed in the clothes she had bought him. The long sleeved shirt and the jeans, with his hiking boots on. His face was visible, with the longer curls and the scruff coming in along his jaw.

And oh, those eyes. Those blue eyes that she couldn’t bear to look away from, the eyes that changed everything about her life. She loved those eyes. Those blue, blue eyes. They were lit up with joy as he looked at her, as she came into view.

She pushed herself up and tried to run, tried to keep moving so that her soulmate couldn’t kill her. And how he would, he would tear her apart if he got his hands on her. Those hands that had held her so gently just a few hours before would rip her apart. Her soulmate, her lover, her wonderful Todd was going to end her life once again.

She ran, as fast as she could, as the buildings melted into trees. Then, she was running along a dirt path, with a canopy of trees overhead. The forest spread endlessly around her, and the minimal light she had been getting was gone.

That was when she tripped over the root sticking out of the ground.

She hit, hands first, then knees, then with a scream of pain she collapsed on her side. She wanted to hold her knee, to cradle the broken joint, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have time. He was gaining. She could hear how close he was now. On instinct, she tried to push herself up and off the path and into the trees. The path seemed to twist though, and follow her. Follow her around the tree, through the underbrush that slowed her down, and deep into the winding darkness.

She couldn’t do it. Her heart was thundering, ready to burst out her chest. Her leg was shaking, and even the adrenaline wasn’t enough. Her body ached and shook and she slowed. She almost tripped again, falling against a tree. She slid down it.

It was just too much.​

 

[Wendigo]

The forest was even more familiar than the streets, the cold, dark expanse welcoming him like a childhood bedroom. It was his playground, his perfect terrain, built for him to move through smoothly and evenly. No root caught his foot, though his pace quickened when he heard her fall. He didn’t need a marked path; the road was even no matter where he tread, his step high and light enough to keep him out of any trouble until she came into sight.

She was so small. He always noticed her size first, noticed that were it not for the sensation of rightness and perfection in this hunt she’d be much too small to care about. But the air was full of blood and panic, blended evenly with apples and cinnamon and vanilla. It didn’t really matter to him what she was wearing; he didn’t even see her clothes, just the soft white skin that would flake away like a pastry crust under his teeth. Long gone was the irritating red armor that he’d have to tear off and peel away to get to the delicacy underneath.

He heard her body collapse against a tree, heard the slide of her back against its bark. Almost at once he slowed down, pacing up to her like a stalking cat, eyes bright in the otherwise dark forest.

“Giving up so soon, Apple Pie?” His lips were wet; he couldn’t control it, those soft, physical manifestations of his hunger that only emphasized the throbbing cold beneath his skin.

And now he’d caught up to her. Now she was his, to do with as he pleased. And he knew there was so much more fight in her than this. But he didn’t say anything about that, just crept forward, step by aching step, until he finally knelt down at her side. He held her golden eyes the whole time, never so much as blinking. She was his whole world now; everything came down to her. Maybe it’d always been destined to come down to her. Maybe it was kind fate – kind to him, at least.

And his hands were almost kind as they took her hand, one palm over her wrist, the other interlocked with hers. She wouldn’t fight. She never did, poor bird, paralyzed as she was in his stare. She never fought, only begged, only asked foolish questions.

There’d be no kindness when his hands locked on hers, and pulled it free of her arm.

 

[Phoenix]

The pain was unlike anything that Sam had ever felt before, though it must have been something like it, in order for her to feel it now. She was stunned into silence for a moment as the blood began to rush down her arm, as she watched him lift the hand– her hand, god that was her hand– up to his lips and take a bite. She could only think that he looked so beautiful, so euphoric, that it made her want to cry. He held her eyes as he chewed, those brilliant blues consuming her.

That was, before the pain rushed her, flooding her system and making her cry out. He had left space for her to move, to run, and run she did. Through trees and underbrush, through branches and bushes, things that seemed to exist only to be in her way. Things meant to slow her down as Todd started to play catch and release with her. Every time he finished a piece, he caught her again, before almost lovingly stripping her of another piece. He moved his way up her arm, and when there was nothing left, he took the other hand.

When she finally collapsed again, she found she couldn’t get back up. Her legs were shaking too much, so horribly, that she couldn’t move any further. She let herself collapse onto the earth, looking up above her. She stared for a moment at the distant lights, the stars that were dazzling in the sky. They twinkled just like his eyes. She felt tears cutting through the dirt and blood on her cheeks, twisting through the gore as they fell.

This was the last time she’d see the stars. At least, for this time. They would do this all over, again and again. She would always let him have her, piece by piece, inch by inch, until there was nothing left of her. Because she was his and he was hers. They belonged together, two halves of a whole.

And if this is what he wanted from her, he could have it. He could have everything. Maybe then he’d understand how much she loved him. Maybe then he’d love her back the way she wanted. The way she needed. Maybe then he would crave her with every fiber of his being, the way she did him. Maybe. Maybe.

His steps were coming closer. She could hear the softness of his footfalls, approaching her slowly and leisurely. With a shuddering breath, she tried to push herself up. But without her hands, without a full arm, there was simply no way to stand back up. She felt her breath pick up.

“Todd. Todd, please. Don’t you recognize me? Why are you doing this?” Her voice was soft, faint, and higher than usual as she begged him. She turned her head toward him and looked up at him, splattered in her blood, looking at her with a soft eagerness she couldn’t identify.​