The Violet Line Read Free Page A

stock cube to the water. I watched it bubble, nervously chewing my lip as I became lost in my own thoughts. I didn’t hear Sam come up behind me and only noticed he had when his arms slid around my waist and he laid his head on my shoulder. I sighed, releasing the breath I hadn’t noticed I’d been holding onto.
    “ You’ll be careful won’t you?” I asked, trying to hide my mounting concern about something he did regularly; I just couldn’t fathom my feeling of fear.
    “ I’m always careful,” he replied laughingly, “and anyway if I have any problems I’ll just put them under my gaze; you know how good I am at that.”
    As he was talking he had turned me around to face him. I tried not to look into his eyes. I knew he was messing with me, trying to reassure me, but I didn’t want to be reassured. I knew enough about my own powers not to completely disregard a feeling I had, especially one this insistent.
    “ But Sam, I have a feeling something terrible is going to happen but I don’t know what and it’s worse than any other time you were going out looking for food. I know you need to eat but maybe you shouldn’t go tonight...?” Faltering, I came to a stop as he pulled away from me and leaned against the sink.
    “ Jade, I have to go; I’m not risking you again. Would you really want me to take that risk; I could turn on you. How could I live with myself if I hurt you- or worse…” He stopped then and turned to face me, spreading his hands palms up away from his body,
    “ I love you too much to let your fears stop me from what I have to do so we can be together.”
    He looked at me; his eyes held no power in them but I still felt drawn to him. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his body, burying my face against his chest. I tried to hide the fact that I had started to cry. Silently the tears ran down my cheeks to soak into his grey cotton shirt, leaving behind a darkened stain that oddly reminded me of a blood stain.
    “ I know that, but I just need you to come back to me and I feel as though tonight everything is going to change, we’re going to change…”
    Placing his fingers under my chin, he tilted my face upwards to look at him. He brushed away the salty trails that covered my face and looked at me; his eyes had a fierce and intense quality to them that I had only ever been given glimpses of.
    “ How I feel about you won’t ever change; my love for you is eternal. I won’t ever love or want anyone the way I love and want you. We belong together, and if it ever happens, then death can’t even keep us apart. I will always find you no matter what. I burn for you.”
    With that he bent his head to mine and kissed me. Our lips met and it felt as though a fire consumed him; he kissed me like he never had before. It felt wonderful and exquisite but I also felt as though part of my soul was being ripped from my body.
    I opened my eyes and he was gone. Touching my fingers to my lips; I almost expected them to be burned. The kiss felt like an expression of our connection but to me it had a fatalistic feel to it, as though our goodbye was of a more permanent nature than just Sam going hunting.
    I turned back to the cooker and my dinner preparations as I mulled over where the feeling might be coming from. As we said goodbye the pasta had boiled dry. Sighing, I added more water to it and tried to salvage what little there was left that wasn’t stuck to the bottom of the pot. I took the tin of soup from the cupboard and added it to the drained pasta.
    I knew Sam would never willingly give me up but that thought alone couldn’t stop the fear from gripping my stomach and twisting it into a knot. I tried to relax and take some calming deep breaths. Sam wouldn’t be gone long, just a few hours. I’d watch some telly and check my emails, maybe go to bed early; anything just to help me pass the time.
    Putting my dried pasta and soup into a bowl, I sat down on the sofa and flicked on the TV.