Chapter I

  Cliffside Lovers Part I

  In a small clearing on a woodland Mountain’s side a lovestruck couple snuggled under the Moon’s gaze on a hiking honeymoon. The air was cold and sharp but the combined warmth of their thick blanket shawl and the cosy campfire in front of them helped blunt the frigid air.

  The lingering scent of hot chocolate blended into the smell of wet dirt and fallen leaves, intertwining with the natural ambience of the old woods. They were supposed to be hiking on a different mountain but during the drive Ava spotted a Woodland Mountain and furiously insisted they climb that one instead.

  Theo was reluctant at first, giving in only when Ava repeatedly tried to grab the steering wheel. But now he was beginning to see why she was so insistent. Despite the merciless cold, strange absence of all living creatures and the thin membrane of mist that crawled across the ground and clung to your feet, like hands grasping to pull you deeper into the Tree’s shadows...

  It was a nice place. Especially when you had a cute girl to cuddle and a campfire to keep most of the creepiness awa-

  Suddenly, Ava broke the comfortable silence.

  She spoke in that sickly sweet voice, the one she uses when she wants Theo to do something he doesn’t want to do “Snuggle-Bunny~ can you put out the fire please? I can’t see the stars with all this light.”

  'THIS BI-’ NOPE! Theo stopped the thought in its track. They were on their honeymoon right now, he couldn’t call his wife a bitch, even if it was only in his mind!

  ...

  Well, not yet.

  Plastering on a cosseting smile, Theo tried reasoning with her “Babe, it’s cold and dark. I’m pretty sure only thing keeping us from freezing to death IS the fire.”

  Ava didn’t quit, snagging his arm into a bear hug, she whined “But I wanna see the staaars!~” Before puckering her lips into a pout.

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  ‘BIT-’ Theo took a sharp breath in, held it and breathed out. Pushing down the rising sting of annoyance, he moulded his face back into a pleasing smile, ready for round two.

  However, just as Theo opened his mouth to speak. The cold bit him, ripping the words from his throat. A draft squeezed in between them as Ava slid the blanket so it was loose around her shoulders.

  'THAT’S IT! I’m putting my foot dow-’ Theo froze as he stared down at the small women embracing his arm. The blanket now revealed a clear view of her cleavage as Ava continued to look up at him with her watery doe eyes.

  "Pretty please~" she purred coyly, cradling her chest against his body "For me~?"

  . . .

  Standing up, Theo braced the frozen air. Grabbed the water bucket and doused the fire before scuttling back into the warm, supple SAFE! Comfort of the blanket... And his Wife.

  “OH MY GOD! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH~!!!” Pouncing on him, Ava ferociously kissed Theo’s cheek as he silently stared at the campfire’s corpse. A cloud of vapour was still billowing from ash and logs as it joined hands with the swirling mist below.

  When Ava finally calmed down she raised her head to stargaze. Theo looked up with her. There were no stars.

  You couldn’t see them through the web of branches that grew from the monolithic trunks of trees. The blinding light of the Moon, drowned the canopy with ethereal rays that got trapped between the gaps of leaves and branches. Theo always thought the moonlight was weird, It felt too violent, it was sharp and jagged like fangs of an old predator ready to clamp down on its prey.

  Theo glanced at his newly appeased wife, despite vibrancy of the canopy above the ground stayed drenched in shadows. He just made out the spellbound grin that had been sculpted onto Ava’s face but clearly saw her wide eyes shining in the dark as though they were filled with Moonlight. A silhouette of canopy above was engraved into the reflection of her eyes, appearing as a net ensnaring the Moon.

  Theo tried poking her a few times but she never reacted, the only thing she saw now was stars.

  A silent thought suddenly crept through Theo's mind as he continued to look at his wife 'She’ll be the death of me...'

  Sup, hope you liked this chapter. Sorry if the use of fonts and sizing was a bit jarring but you can't give me all these aesthetic toys and expect me NOT to play with them >:)

  EDIT: Ok, so it's not gonna take a few days for me to write. In fact I'm going on indefinite hiatus.

  Full story short, I crashed out mentally and am now trying to recover. I'm probably gonna try and write something else but I'm gonna space myself from this story for a while.

  I do hope that I can find the will to come back and write this book one day because I really like the premise and characters.

  Anyway, sorry and thank you for reading :)

  P.S - Here's the full book cover, I drew it, remembered that book covers were vertical, thought about just doing it sideways but decided just to crop it instead (despite the temptation since it would be kinda funny)... Ok never mind Imgur deleted it for some reason