No Angel
At the top of a secluded hill, a green jeep sat parked in the silver summer grass. Save the chirping crickets, the night was clear and quiet. Below them, the sleeping town of Bayville was silent and dark. The occupants of the jeep had leaned back their seats so that they faced a never ending expanse of sky. What kept them from falling completely were the metal bars that served as an open ceiling.
The girl turned her head to look at the dark-haired boy that lay next to her. A boy that already showed so many characteristics of a man. Behind the smooth skin, his brown eyes were deep with too much knowledge and experience. Behind the cocky smirks, the cigarette that dangled from his mouth was set firmly between his lips. He’d been alone for so long that he was completely unreachable. She’d fallen in love with an enigma and she longed to solve the riddle. She wanted to see through his deep eyes and smoke his cigarettes. She wanted him to know that she loved him.
Touch my skin and tell me what you’re thinking, take my hand and show me where we’re going. Lie down next to me, look into my eyes and tell me, oh tell me what you’re seeing.
Her green eyes followed the trail of smoke that traveled upwards. It reached for the glittering stars above it. There were so many, up in the safety of the inky blackness, but the smoke would always disperse before it could touch one. The girl lowered her eyes to the source of the smoke. The butt glowed a fiery red in the relative dark. Its angry fire barely cast a light in this relative tranquillity. Maybe that was why it was so angry. It was caged in a case of tobacco leaves and toxins. The way it smothered in its poison was like the way she smothered in her skin.
At the thought, her eyes wandered to her covered hands, which lay across her stomach, and then traveled to the boy that lay next to her. The envy she felt in his ability to touch was overcome by a wave of love that was too tightly restrained. Like the fire in the boy’s cigarette, she was bursting to break out. Instead of heat, she was cold. She tired of sleeping in a bed of ice.
So sit on top of the world and tell me how you’re feeling, what you feel now is what I feel for you. Take my hand and if I’m lying to you, I’ll always be alone, if I’m lying to you.
Despite the warm balmy air, she shivered. The boy that looked like a man turned to her. Removing the cigarette from his mouth, he said, "you cold?"
"Actually, Ah am," the girl admitted. She leaned against his shoulder as he put a muscular arm around her. It comforted her to be in strong, unyielding arms, especially since his were warm.
They were silent again. He continued to smoke his cigarettes and the smoke that rose off the end continued to fail in its efforts to reach the stars. The little red embers crept higher and higher up the filter and steadily neared the boy’s lips. When it got too close, he stuck the cigarette in the jeep’s ashtray. The fiery red was instantly smothered into gray ash. A single breath would make it blow away, and no one would ever know of its existence. She watched all this with a detached sadness.
"Hey."
"Hmm?"
"Ya ever think about what it would be lak if ya touched me?"
The boy looked down into her imploring eyes in startlement. "What? I mean, I guess yeah, but we can’t anyway, because, you know."
"Ah know, but what if we did anyway. Would ya?"
He removed his arm from around her and sat up. The girl sat up as well, watching him. When he searched her eyes, he found them still. They were like the eyes of a feline as they watched and waited for his response. His were confused.
"You’re serious about this?" He asked doubtfully. Across from him, the girl nodded. Through the darkness lit up by stars and moonlight, her green eyes glowed.
See my eyes, they carry your reflection, watch my lips and hear the words I’m telling you. Give your trust to me and look into my heart and show me, show me what you’re doing.
He watched her in surprise and confusion. What did she mean by her words? He couldn’t touch her, not without knocking himself unconscious. She would absorb all his powers and abilities, and also his mind. No one had ever seen so far into him, and he didn’t know if he was ready for that.
The girl seemed to read his thoughts. "Ah can be your first," she said softly. Her white skin shone bright in the dark. The illumination of it rivaled that of the moon above. She smiled slightly, a teasing glint in her solemn eyes. She leaned closer to him, pushing him against the jeep door. He could smell her herbal shampoo and her pearly skin beckoned. His eyes traveled to the covered skin that he knew would be pale as her face.
He wanted her, though not necessarily physically. Getting sex was easy, and she meant more than that. Much more. He wanted to know her and be joined with her. If he let her touch him, she would be able to see that he loved her. Even if it killed him.
"You can be mah first, too," she whispered in his ear before backing off.
So sit on top of the world and tell me how you’re feeling, what you feel is what I feel for you. Take my hand and if I’m lying to you, I’ll always be alone, if I’m lying to you. Take your time, if I’m lying to you, I know you’ll find that you believe me, you believe me.
"If you want, I will," he stammered, unsure. "If you really want to see."
A smile curved the girl’s sullen lips. "Ah already know all yer secrets, Dominic." She watched in amusement as shock entered the boy’s face. Did he really forget that she’d absorbed his memories once before? This time, she wanted it to be mutual…and voluntary. "Now let me show ya mine," she said in a husky voice.
He nodded numbingly. "Okay." With cautious fingers, he reached for her face. His tan fingers shadowed the white skin that was so bare and taunting. Two fingers grazed against her cheek, and both teenagers jerked as explosions went between them.
When he opened his eyes, he found her watching him. "Marie?" He asked weakly.
The girl smiled in assent. This time, he noticed the dark colors that encircled her eyes and the tears within that marked something sinister in its emerald depths. He shivered at this, and his dark eyes illuminated fear. She seemed to read his thoughts. After all, she’d just acquired them all.
In a sudden movement, she pinned him against the seat and kissed him. He felt a moment of bliss which sent him spinning on an axis of abyss. The pitch black smothered him in a crushing blanket that was absent of light. "Stop." He tried to gasp through the insistent tongue and lips that were killing him. Trying to push against her, he found that he couldn’t move for the spinning disoriented him and he found himself in uninhabited space.
On the edge of the universe, the edge of death, he could see light, a brilliant light. Then in an eclipse of blackness, the girl slipped away from him and he fell.
Feel the sun on your face and tell me what you’re thinking. Catch the snow on your tongue and show me how it tastes.
She watched the limp face of the boy lying in her arms. The man was gone and what was left was the boy. And what a big, strong boy. Her lips were warm and she pressed them against his cold ones without getting a response.
Gently cradling his head, she leaned him against the seat and watched him. His face was pale and lips were cold, but he was still beautiful. May his eternal slumber carry him to the stars he’d always reached for. With a tender smile and wet eyes that no longer glowed, she opened her side of the door. Rogue stepped into the silver summer grass and her feet could feel the ground. With a backward glance, she disappeared into the night, leaving Lance to wait in the open jeep.
Take my hand and if I’m lying to you, I’ll always be alone, if I’m lying to you. Take your time and if I’m lying to you, I know you’ll find that you believe me, you believe me.
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~So exactly what happened? Technically, Rogue killed Lance and left his body in the jeep. Whether she was releasing him from a world he hated, kissed him so she herself could feel love, or she committed cold-blooded murder is up to your judgment. I personally go for choice one, and slightly two.
Symbolism
Jeep = gateway to Heaven (notice how Rogue left Lance "waiting" in the jeep?). The fact that the jeep had an open top foreshadowed what was going to happen.
Hill = step up to Heaven. Another foreshadow of what would happen in the story.
Smoke of the cigarette = Lance’s quest for peace and happiness in this world, which he could never find (notice how the smoke always dispersed before it touched the stars?)
Burning embers in the cigarette = Lance and Rogue both feel trapped, since neither of them are happy in this world, and the embers are a metaphor of that. It also shows how Rogue is trapped within her skin, being unable to touch.
There’s the gist of it. If ya’ll got specific questions, I would love to answer them. ^_^ I wrote it so I, at least, must be able to understand this story.