(Mark me)

CLAUDIA

The dry leaves from the trees dropped on me as I strolled into the garden. Thorsten and I had always loved sitting in the garden and chatting.

On the garden bench, we always sat, there were plenty of dried leaves on it. The leaves had dropped more than usual.

I got to the bench and swept the leaves off with my hand. I was preparing the bench for Thorsten’s arrival. If he was the one that came first, he would have done the same thing for me.

After getting the leaves off the bench, I sat and placed my right leg on my left leg. I adjusted my high-waist gown so it couldn’t cover all of my legs.

A beautiful flower tree was next to me, it was a pink cherry blossom tree. A faint smile crept across my face and I plucked a flower from the tree. I moved it to my nose and sniffed it shutting my eyes.

“I got you a better one.”

I heard the voice that always brought joy to my soul. I chuckled and bent my head to look at him. Thorsten had the most beautiful grin on his face, it made my heart flutter.

“You always do.”

I stood up and collected the blue cornflower from him, I moved it to my nose and sniffed it deeply.

“I’m sorry I arrived late, my mother wanted to use the most of me before I saw you. Luckily, I escaped before it was too late.”

“It’s fine, I arrived not so long ago. You are not so late.” I sat on the bench again, and he sat next to me.

“I hope I didn’t get you into trouble last night, you got home late.”

“You didn’t get me in trouble, my parents weren’t bothered about my coming late. They were bothered about something else.”

I looked at Thorsten and I saw that look on his face, the look he always had when he had questions that needed answers.

“What else bothered them?”

“They were bothered that I stayed out late with you.”

“I know and I’m sorry I delayed you. We were having so much fun and…”

He stopped talking when he saw the sad look on my face.

“…Tell me all that happened.”

I heaved a sigh and lowered my head.

“They told me about a prophecy from the moon goddess before I was born, they said I was fated to an unknown mate.”

I had a wan look on my face as I looked at him again, he was awkwardly silent.

“And?”

He softly spoke as I gulped before speaking up.

“I was asked to stay away from you.”

Thorsten clenched his jaw and bowed his head. He became restless and began to shake his legs speedily.

“No… They must have said that because they are pissed at me for keeping you out for so long. I’ll apologize to them.”

He smiled reluctantly and I shut my eyes in sadness.

“My family’s success is hung on my shoulders Thorsten, this isn’t about staying out late.”

He sprang to his feet and took some steps away from the bench, he held his head in his hand and turned to look at me.

“So you want to leave me? Do you want to just go with someone else? You want to throw away what we have shared?”

Thorsten was pained. I wasn’t caught off guard by his reaction to the news, I knew it was going to hurt.

“No Thorsten! I am not going to do that.”

I got up and walked up to him. I reached for his hand and held them, caressing them softly.

“You can’t go against the prophecy, this I know. But you not seeing me? That is too extreme.”

“I know, I don’t want to stop seeing you. I don’t want to throw all we have shared and that is why I came up with a decision.”

His face brightened and he gave me a nod, he looked so anxious to hear what I decided.

“Mark me.”

He furrowed his brows and looked askance at me.

“What do you mean?”

“Once I have your mark, no man can come near me anymore. I’ll be yours forever.” I placed my hand on his cheek with a smiley face. Thorsten stared at me slack-jawed.

“Claudia! That is dangerous! You can’t change fate, this would complicate everything. What of your family at stake?”

“Love conquers all Thorsten. What I feel for you is immeasurable. We can work out our destiny.”

Thorsten slowly reached for my hand on his cheek and removed it. My eyes bore into his wondering why he did that.

“That isn’t going to work. We need to think of something else.” He walked away from me and I turned to look at him.

“What else can you come up with? Tell me, Thorsten, do you have any better ideas?”

“No! But I’m not marking you and that is final! It is too dangerous!” He smacked holding his head in his hand.

I shut my eyes and exhaled. I thought he was going to be excited about it, but it turned out I was wrong.

“Do you love me, Thorsten?” I stared at him calmly waiting for him to answer.

“Claudia please…” I shook my head and he stopped talking.

“It’s a yes or no question, do you love me?”

“I… this isn’t about love Claudia.”

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I gazed at him.

“This is all about love! I am ready to do anything to be with you but you can’t do the same?! You never said the word to me before, does that mean this feeling isn’t mutual?!”

He stared at me with a sad face, I wanted him to prove to me that was I wrong, I wanted him to kiss me on the lips and tell me he would do whatever it takes to be with me…

But I was wrong.

“You never loved me.”

I mumbled looking away from him, I felt my heart thump against my chest. It threatened to explode.

I turned my back to him and broke into more tears.

My feet wobbled as I shuffled away from where he stood. I wanted to hear him call me back, to fight for what we feel for each other… I heard nothing.

He is a coward.