years. Cobwebs covered the walls and ceiling, and there were footprints in
the dust where she stepped.
Tears sprung into her eyes, and she brushed them angrily away. "Stupid
allergies", she made excuses. The woman pushed long sliver blonde hair
out of her eyes and she had to fight another round of tears that sprang from
their blue-black depths.
She had lived for ages as an immortal, but her memory was perfect. She
remembered the love, the laughter and the friendships that were forged in
this place. She remembered wild debauchery that could go on for weeks.
Trailing her hand along the wall, Shalott followed a path that others had
long forgotten. She walked past a ballroom, a dining room and a great
meeting room. Taking ancient stairs, she made her way to an abandoned
chamber room. The tapestries were faded, but in her mind's eye, she saw
the colors as if they had been there yesterday. The room she had once
called her own still held a bed and table. Pulling open a drawer she found
a perfume bottle. Left behind in her departure, the perfume had long since
evaporated. Shalott placed the bottle back into the depression it left in the
dust and exited the room. Going back the way she came, Shalott thought
about the way Fate had cast her lots. She had lost her friends, the ones she
had laughed with and cried with. Now all that remained were memories
she clung to like gold.
Once back in the main throne room, Shalott took a final look around,
before exiting again into the sunshine. There, a handsome man waited. He
had refused to go in, saying he wanted to make sure the car was ok in this
bad part of town, but Shalott knew better. He couldn't enter this place. Not
after his father and sister had faded away. Cupid had once been a god of
War, but as time went on, he out lived his need. The other gods left the
mortal realm, going to somewhere unknown. Cupid stayed behind for her,
and for their family. But he was no longer a god; no longer worshiped by
warriors worldwide.
Hurting for him, Shalott slipped the ancient key back into her purse and
took one last look at the temple. Even in these modern times it was still
protected. No robbers came near it, fearing the ghosts that lurked there.
The only Ghosts Shalott feared were those in her mind.
Anyone watching would have seen a gorgeous couple in their mid to late
twenties, leaving the haunted ruin in haste. Anyone who knew the truth
would have seen an ancient god and his immortal wife always coming
home.
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