Never again will I love someone.  Never again will I feel the pain in my heart.  I would rather die than love someone again.  Something will just happen to them.  I'd probably kill them too.  Never again.  Never again.        

Ch. 1

           Emethyst lays on that hill for days.  After about a week, another storm comes.  She hasn't moved since the last one.  Winds rage, thunder rolls, and lightning strikes.  She doesn't move.  Her heart is gone.  She's too weak.  No food for days takes a toll on her.  She just lets the storm roll around her.  Her fury made for her. 

          The winds pick up and the lightning strikes not far from there.  She hears something in the wind.  She doesn't pay much attention though.  She doesn't care.  Then she hears it again.  Closer this time.  A small flame of recognition flutters in her gut.  She refuses to acknowledge the small piece of her heart that is hoping.  She pushes it away.  She crushes it.  It's gone.

          Lightning cracks a few feet away from her.  She feels the electricity in it.  She feels the heat.  She doesn't move.  She doesn't care.  She'd rather die than keep living with the pain in her heart.

           She hears someone running up to her from behind.  She doesn't even turn around.  She feels the electricity in the air.  She knows another lightning strike is about to flash.  Suddenly she is pushed off the mountain.  As she falls, she sees lightning strike right where she was laying.  She hits the ground.  Everything goes black.

        When she wakes up, the sun is shining.  She is in a cave.  She has no idea where she is, but she doesn't even care to know.  She's too weak to stand.  She's about to let herself fall asleep again, when a lion walks into the cave.  Emethyst doesn't move.  She doesn't care.  But, she's curious.  Why did he save her?  Why did he care about her?  Where was he from?

        He was a young lion.  Maybe a year older than her.  He painfully reminded her of Jay.  But he wasn't.  There's no way it could be him.  Jay was dead.  The only mark she could see on this lion was a scar running down his back. 

        He was dark like Jay, but maybe a little bit darker.  Maybe.  His mane was out of his eyes unlike Jay too.  But what he also didn't have was the light strip of hair that Jay had at the front of his mane.  There was no way this lion could be Jay.  Only Jay had that mark.  He said he got it from his mother's side of the family. 

       The lion comes in with an antelope.  He sees she's awake and pulls it toward her.  "Here.  You're too skinny.  Eat."

       His voice is soft yet rough in it's own way.   Emethyst notices he keeps her from seeing the left side of his body.  She doesn't care.  She's not going to eat.  She's going to let herself die.  Then she smells the antelope.  Her hunger overpowers her mind. 

       The lion tears off pieces of the antelope and gives them to her, always hiding his left side.  "My name's Cole.  What's yours?"  He doesn't want to push her, she can tell, but he sll just happen to them.  I'd probably kill them too.  Never again.  Never again.        

Ch. 1

           Emethyst lays on that hill for days.  After about a week, another storm comes.  She hasn't moved since the last one.  Winds rage, thunder rolls, and lightning strikes.  She doesn't move.  Her heart is gone.  She's too weak.  No food for days takes a toll on her.  She just lets the storm roll around her.  Her fury made for her. 

          The winds pick up and the lightning strikes not far from there.  She hears something in the wind.  She doesn't pay much attention though.  She doesn't care.  Then she hears it again.  Closer this time.  A small flame of recognition flutters in her gut.  She refuses to acknowledge the small piece of her heart that is hoping.  She pushes it away.  She crushes it.  It's gone.

          Lightning cracks a few feet away from her.  She feels the electricity in it.  She feels the heat.  She doesn't move.  She doesn't care.  She'd rather die than keep living with the pain in her heart.

           She hears someone running up to her from behind.  She doesn't even turn around.  She feels the electricity in the air.  She knows another lightning strike is about to flash.  Suddenly she is pushed off the mountain.  As she falls, she sees lightning strike right where she was laying.  She hits the ground.  Everything goes black.

        When she wakes up, the sun is shining.  She is in a cave.  She has no idea where she is, but she doesn't even care to know.  She's too weak to stand.  She's about to let herself fall asleep again, when a lion walks into the cave.  Emethyst doesn't move.  She doesn't care.  But, she's curious.  Why did he save her?  Why did he care about her?  Where was he from?

        He was a young lion.  Maybe a year older than her.  He painfully reminded her of Jay.  But he wasn't.  There's no way it could be him.  Jay was dead.  The only mark she could see on this lion was a scar running down his back. 

        He was dark like Jay, but maybe a little bit darker.  Maybe.  His mane was out of his eyes unlike Jay too.  But what he also didn't have was the light strip of hair that Jay had at the front of his mane.  There was no way this lion could be Jay.  Only Jay had that mark.  He said he got it from his mother's side of the family. 

       The lion comes in with an antelope.  He sees she's awake and pulls it toward her.  "Here.  You're too skinny.  Eat."

       His voice is soft yet rough in it's own way.   Emethyst notices he keeps her from seeing the left side of his body.  She doesn't care.  She's not going to eat.  She's going to let herself die.  Then she smells the antelope.  Her hunger overpowers her mind. 

        "It's not like it matters, but it's Emethyst."

        "Why wouldn't it matter?  I won't let you kill yourself.  I've watched you on that hill for days.  Then when the storm came and I felt the coming lightning strike, I knew I wasn't going to let you die."

         "I don't deserve to live."

          "Why?" he asks.  He's not pushing, he's curious Emethyst notices. 

         "I don't want to talk about it," she answers.  "It hurts too much."

         "Ok.  I'm not going to push you.  It's not my business."  He turns around to leave, always keeping his left side away from her.  "By the way, Emethyst is a beautiful name.  'Mind if I call you Em?"

         "No, I don't mind.  You can call me Em."  With that she lays her head down and goes to sleep.  He could kill her right now for all she cared.  But, she knew if he was going to hurt her, he would have already. 

         Em doesn't care if she lives or dies, but this lion, Cole, intrigues her.  Why does he hide his left side?  Does he want to help her, or does he just want her for a purpose?  Em doesn't care.  Her heart is gone.  She'll take any abuse without sound.  Something just came back alive in her heart.  The knowledge that someone cares.  Even if it's just a tiny bit, someone cares and it helps her realize, her life's not over yet.

        Em goes to sleep that night, crying for the first time since Jay died.  She doesn't want to live to remember, but something inside her does.  She doesn't understand it.  A feeling that he hasn't left her yet keeps her from giving up. 

        She knows it's just the hope in the absence of her heart.  The hope that will never leave.  She just wants to either forget, or die.  She hopes one comes