'Is everything okay?'

I lift my head from the pillows. They are stained with my tears, and my shoulders hurt from the sobs. Archer holds a cup.

'Here, have this.'

'I don't want anything, Archer.'

Archer rolls his eyes. 'I insist.'

I sit up and take the cup, placing it on my side table.

'Hey.' He implores again, never the one to give up. 'Is everything okay?'

I snap. It's all too much, too fast, and when the emotions overwhelm me, I let them. 

'Everything is peachy, Archer. At first, I was this girl living the "it" life in Cali, okay? Then one day, my arch-nemesis decided to have a little fun and hang out at my apartment. My dad announced that my mom was pregnant with someone else's child and that they were getting a goddamn divorce. My boyfriend of forever cheated on me with the closest person I have to a best friend. My brother died,' My voice breaks. 'And I am this close to getting fired because I haven't been to the office at all. So yeah, Archer. Everything's peachy, everything is fine.'

Archer looks shell shocked. 'I'm sorry I didn't mean to - '

'Kiss me.'

He looks like someone beat the shit right out of him now. 'What? No.'

'Please kiss me, Archer.'

He doesn't protest this time. I pull him down to me, closing my eyes as I kiss him, just enjoying the feel of his lips against mine. I love how he makes me feel, with the blood rushing to my face and my veins lighting themselves on fire. I moan, and he groans, his fingers slipping beneath my shirt and touching my skin for the first time.

The moment our skin touch, electricity crackles. His hands inch higher, his lips tracing the length of my jaw, my head swimming with pleasure. He pauses, his hands on my shirt.

'I don't want to force you.'

I shake my head. 'You aren't forcing me.'

Archer grits his teeth. 'This. I don't want you regretting this.'

'No regrets.' I inch closer, taking his face in my hands. 'I promise.'

This time, I kiss him. I kiss him harder, fiercer, with all that I have. And he kisses me back, his hands no longer hesitating as he pulls the shirt away, making my body sing and hum, as he pushes me to the brink of heaven, over and over again.

No regrets.

I just want to forget.

/*\*/*\

It's a dark alleyway, and it stinks of urine and leftover food. It reminds me of the old woman who spoke gibberish. 

'Hello?' I ask, my voice wavering. 'Hello, anybody here?'

Tap, tap, tap of the water. I can hear the traffic of the roads, but I can't actually see them. Every sound is pronounced, but I can't see much.

'Hello?'

'Shut up and go on your knees.'

I flinch. The voice sounded very close to my ear. 

'Excuse me?' I ask, my throat parched, my voice coming out rather squeaky. 

'I said shut up and go on your knees, bitch.'

I fall to my knees. They hurt as the hit the gravel, and I let out a hiss as someone pushes my head to the ground with the sole of their boot.

'Shut up.'

I bite my lip to stop any more sounds. I try to gauge my surroundings, to find out how many people are here, but my senses seem muffled. I can't even hear the traffic anymore.

'You thought you could run from Klotho?' The boot digs into my neck, and it takes all of my strength not to scream out. 'Klotho, the most powerful one? You thought you could break the curse, after all?'

'I don't know what you are talking about.' I wrest against the boot holding me in place. 'You've got the wrong person.'

'Haha, joke. Where is Lachesis?'

'Lache what? You people have got the wrong person, I swear.'

The boot withdraws. I reach for my neck gratefully, my fingers grazing against the imprints. 

'She has no clue, B.' 

'She is mortal now. Must be the curse.'

The voices in the dark talk with each other, but I have no idea what. Suddenly, I'm pulled to my feet roughly. 

I twist within their grasps. They laugh at my meagre attempts to free myself. 

'It's all over, Kaitie.'

I stop, my muscles going lax. 'How do you know my name?'

'We know everything about you. We know how you have been suffering. We know how much pain you've been under. We are going to set you free.'

I frown. 'Set me free? From what?'

Chuckles. Evil, cruel chuckles. 

'Why, from life,of course.' 

A gun is pointed at my head. It's all that I can see now, the barrel of the gun just inches from my forehead. My eyes cross, the gun fills my vision. I can feel my body trembling in fear.

They are going to kill me. 

'For Klotho, the kind and the benevolent.'

I blink, my muscles frozen in place. I want to duck, to crouch, or even ninja kick the gun out of the man's hand, but all I seem to able to do is stand and stare back at the mouth of the gun.

'Goodbye, Kaitie.'

Bang.

/*\*/*\

'Kaitie, Kaitie. Calm down.' 

Archer's arms are around me, and I realize that I've been yelling. I pant, trying to get my breathing under control. 

'Bad dream?' Archer looks uneasy. 

I am shaken to the core. I am going to die. Today.

I am going to die today.

It's like a piece of information with which you don't know what to do. It repeats itself over and over in a loop in my head, and I just can't seem to bring my body back to life.

Archer hugs me, kissing my bare shoulder. I pull up the sheets to cover myself and withdraw to the edge of the bed.

'Archer. Last night was -'

His face tightens. 'Last night was not a mistake.'

I sigh. 'Of course, it wasn't a mistake. Last night was amazing, but it is not going to work out.'

He frowns. 'Why not?'

Because I'm going to die.

'Because we have a history we can't just ignore.'

'That didn't seem to be a problem yesterday. Stop bullshitting me, Kaitie. What did you dream about?'

'What?' 

'Tell me. Whatever you saw, freaked you out. Just tell me what you saw.'

I tell him. I tell him everything I remember, everything I understood, everything I didn't.

I expect him to berate me for being childish and insecure, but he says nothing. A shadow passes over his face, and the only emotion I see are the sheets clutched firmly within his grasp.

I have to tell him. He might think I'm crazy or irrational, but he deserves to know the truth. 

'Archer. This isn't the first time. I've been having these dreams ever since I turned twenty three. I see the future through them. I saw my parents divorce, Tristan, and Jeremy's death, before it even happened. And now, this. It is going to happen. I can't stop it.'

'You've tried?'

'Yes. It warps back onto the same track. It comes full circle. It ends up where it is supposed to end up.'

Archer gets up. 

'Okay. Okay, listen to me. Stay here, okay. Stay at home. I'll be back in an hour.'

He gets up and begins to put on his clothes. 

'You know who this Klotho is?'

Archer hesitates. 'Yes.'

I frown. 'What does Klotho want with me? What is the curse bullshit stuff? Do you have any idea?'

Archer picks up his jacket. 'Somewhat, yes.'He plants a kiss on my forehead.

'Archer. Where are you going?'

He purses his lips. 'I lost you once, Kaitie. I'm going to do anything not to lose you again.'

/*\*/*\