Rose could not sleep either. Tonight was the night when she would finally be able to complete Eye of the Storm. This particular scene was about the final chase. Violet and Petr were running away from Manus, the Travellor of Worlds, the Destroyer of Worlds. His army, which consisted of the banished children of forbidden love, were hot on their trail. They both rode on the carriage driven by the fastest horses in the land, Ebony and Ivory.
She hoped Michael did not screw this up and she hoped the butler did not screw up his part either. The weather, she noticed, looked like it would be perfectly suited to the story too.
Michael had done well but that was because he believed their love to be real. Typical, she thought. She wasn't too hot on the idea of telling him after about how this was all just an act. That would mean facing him with the truth he didn't want to hear which she dreaded. She usually just forgot about the other person whenever she was done with fulfilling the fantasy. Most of the time they tried to contact her but she ignored them and if they got too insistent, then she would just tell her father and he would take care of the rest. Her father thought she was a princess. It was just too easy.
She remembered one of the boys she had played the part with of a romantic Western film she had seen. He had fallen in love with her too and had attempted to kiss her later against her will. She couldn't quite remember his name. Bart? Burns? She really could not remember but one of the workers had heard her cries and summoned her father. She didn't know what he had done but he had taken care of it.
She held a hardcover book in her hand which she had finished a few moments ago. It had been a love story set in a war-torn country about two neighbours who loved each other dearly. Rose knew who would be perfect to play the part of the other lover. A rich family, the Pattersons, had recently acquired a homestead nearby and they had already become good friends with her family. The Pattersons had many children but one boy in particular had caught her eye. He was rich, tall, strong and still worked in the farmstead just like the boy in the story. She had already undergone the preparations to begin the story with him next week.
Rose got out of the bed and put on the purple lens on her dark brown eyes.
***
When the clock struck twelve, Michael quickly and carefully got out of bed. He slowly closed the door and was off one his journey. He looked carefully around the cabins making sure no one was out there before making his way to the meeting spot.
It was a humid night but Michael was shivering with anticipation. Michael looked up at the moon that was shrouded in clouds and prayed it would not rain on his walk there. The clouds gleamed a dark purple from the moonlight reminding him of Rose's eyes. Those eyes that he found himself lost in. He knew they were fake and yet he couldn't stop thinking about them.
Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the crossroads and leaned against a signboard. Everything was so quiet.
Too quiet, thought Michael looking up at the sky. The calm before the storm. The night was exactly how he had imagined in the story. The thought warmed his heart. It really was meant to be.
After a while, the quiet was then shattered by a faint noise and Michael whipped his head to the side. In the dark, he could see a small light approaching him. He heard a horse neigh and knew that the carriage had arrived.
The carriage stopped in front of him and Michael looked at the driver. His identity was hidden underneath a black mask which did not turn towards him as the carriage stopped. It was as if the man did not even register Michael's presence. The clothes he wore were the same black of the mask and Michael would not have even seen him if not for the lantern dangling at the front.
The door of the carriage opened slowly and Michael forgot he existed for a moment. The purple eyes were staring at him from the lighted carriage compartment along with the perfect set of teeth smiling at him. He forgot all his worries in that moment. All the fear and anxiety he had felt washed away into the purple of her eyes.
She wore a lavender coloured shirt that just covered her bellybutton and hugged tight at her body. Dark purple trousers complimented the shirt and too brought out the curvature in her body. Her hair looked slightly unkempt and there were various tears in her clothes. Her cheeks looked flustered as well as if she had been through a lot. She fitted the persona of Violet exactly the way she had imagined in the story.
He hesitated before entering the carriage. Not out of fear, but because he felt inferior entering inside. He had that feeling whenever he was with her. As if he was in the presence of a goddess. He sat across her and he could feel the warm electric buzz between them pumping through his blood.
She gave him another smile and just as her smile faded, lightning flashed through the window before thunder bellowed. He let out a huge gasp. A respawner! How?! How did he find me?!
That's when a light thumping sound began to come from the roof and Michael realized that it was starting to rain. He relaxed turning to Rose whose face was filled with dread. She instantly changed positions sitting next to Michael and putting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm scared, Petr. I'm scared. They're after me. It rains blood outside, they're here. They're here to take me away!" She snuggled against him and the warmth from her face made him tingle.
She was so convincing that Michael had to check if it really was raining blood out there. Michael remembered this scene from the story. Violet and Petr were running away from Manus, the Travellor of Worlds, the Destroyer of Worlds. His army of the banished Walminions were hot on their trail as they rode on the carriage driven by the fastest horses in the land, Ebony and Ivory. Rose clung to Michael just as Violet had clung to Petr as the carriage drove forward.