Lady of the Water

A/N: Please Read and Review! :)



He barely felt the sun on his face as he stepped out of his car. He barely noticed as she followed him into the park. He barely saw the children and their parents playing on the playground, and he couldn\'t hear the barks of the dogs running through the trees to catch frisbees and butterflies.
All he knew was that he soon found himself at his destination, a secluded area of the park where a small stream ran through the gathering of trees. This had always been his favorite spot, ever since he was a boy just hitting puberty, when the days seemed to be filled with thoughts of sex and unjust authority. The future was brighter then, and he would jump his way across the busiest part of the stream, where the water ran it\'s course in a swirl of water over the colorful pebbles, and sit on the large rock just in the center. He could think freely there, without the constant interruptions of his mediocre life that had seemed so consuming then. He knew better now..
And so here he stood now, in the place that was his escape, and one that he had strayed from for years, though never truely forgotten it\'s peace. And he suddenly became aware that she was standing next to him, close enough that he should be able to feel her heat, but he didn\'t. There was nothing but the cold ash in his mouth as he tried to breath past her essence, and he knew he could anytime drown in the sweet agony her song would provide.
He suppressed a humorless chuckle as those thoughts rushed in the torrent of his mind, already imagined as the cool crisp water he was watching with his own eyes. Leave it to him to be a wanna-be poet to the end. It was a sardonic, and slightly depressing thought, and he made his way to his usual rock, skipping across the smaller stones and doing his best to balance, though the rubber soles of his sneakers slipped slightly on the worn surface of the ancient rocks. His heart beat quickened with every close call until he clambered onto his stoney throne....and she followed, a close shadow at his side, pressing in against him, making his skin tingle.
\"So, this is it, is it?\" she spoke finally, her voice barely carrying over the sound of the water below them. \"Yep,\" he awnsered, kicking off his shoes and placing them beside him. \"This is it.\"
She nodded and watched him, and he didn\'t dare turn to meet that gaze. He never did anymore, but he asked the question he always did. \"What are you thinking about?\" She said nothing for a long moment, choosing instead to watch him with those fathomless black eyes. She ran a finger down his arm and he felt his skin burn like she had run a lit match across his skin.
\"They don\'t believe you.\" her voice had a sudden rasp to it that hadn\'t been their before, but one that he was accustomed to all the same. She was angry, but he didn\'t feel the usual fear that the realization had caused in him so many times before. He didn\'t feel anything anymore. \"They never believe you. And how could they? How could they possibly believe a low being such as yourself, a pathetic, disgusting creature like you could possibly be gifted enough to see me?\" He made no response, just continued to look into the water, kicking his toes through the icy currents, feeling the wetness between his toes.
She leaned closer, her lip right against his ear, and he had to fight back a gasp of pain at the feeling of his lobe being set aflame. \"Why have you brought us here, Love? Are you running away from me? Are you running away from them? Maybe yourself. It will do you no good I\'m afraid...as long as you live, you will be here, with me. But you knew that didn\'t you? Perhaps that\'s why you brought us here....\" Her voice trailed off and he finally turned to her, his shock having long since faded at her appearance.
She was thin, almost skeletal, her slightly grey skin stretched over the sharp contours of her cheek bones. Long hair, as black as any night sky fell over her wasted body in shining wisps, and her onyx eyes shone with a strange exuberance that somehow clashed with the meaning he saw behind them. He always saw death there, and it seemed to prove that death had a life in itself. Her dried lips were set in a frown as she seached his face. \"They don\'t believe you,\" she repeated. He sighed and nodded. \"They don\'t believe me.\"
\"And what do you intend to do about that?\" The tone was soft, but the question harsh, and he knew that she knew.
\"Why should I do anything?\" he asked, still watching. \"What makes you think I would choose to give your gospel? Your gospel of death, of rot, when I could instead choose to live by it\'s example?\" She smiled a kind of sick smile, as if the thought pleased the sadistic side quite nicely. \"So, this is it, is it?\" This time there was a broad grin forming on her lips as he pulled the gun from his pocket. He nodded, his hand shaking, suddenly afraid but resolute. \"Yep,\" he answered, pulling back the action and placing the barrel to the base of his skull. \"This is it.\"
And as the bang echoed through the trees, the water carrying it for miles, all thoughts were lost to him, and her memory faded into the background, only to be seen in records the doctor\'s had kept of his mind, but never seen by the eyes of man again.
The red mixed in with the colors of the pebbles and the cool, blue rushing water in such a way that would have been pleasing to his eyes.....