** This is my first story to actually record, so please be patient with me. The story starts off a little slow, but things get interesting in chapter 3. Please rate and review, I need as much feedback as possible to make this the best it can possibly be. Thanks in advance!

-Eternity Awaits Us

Souls Entwined

Chapter 1

"Keep holding on, when my brain is ticking like a bomb, cuts the black, cocks the gun, up in to get me. Sweet, bitter words, unlike nothing I have heard, sing along, mocking bird, you don't affect me!" She sits up, the words still echoing in her head. No, wait, that wasn't a dream. It took her a moment to remember that she had changed her ring tone to "Coming Undone" by Korn last night, and her phone was ringing. The girl scrambles for her cell, looks at the screen, and thinks. "Oh God, it's Dexi. What could have happened?" The thought runs through her mind right before she hits the receive button and whispers a faint "hello?" into the receiver.

"Athryl? Oh God baby, they came. They took everything. Those bastards left me with nothing. I don't know what to do…" She hears him sob softly on the other end of the line. Dexi didn't cry. Ever. That, and the horrible news, tore her heart and other innards to shreds with every sound.

"No! Oh my God, are you ok? Please tell me they didn't hurt you."

"No, I'm fine. I managed to get away. I'm in a safe place. Well, as safe as I can be outside, anyway."

"Where are you? I'm coming, whether you want me too or not." She glanced at her digital clock beside her bed, and noted that it was five minutes after midnight.

"No, please come. I'm at the burrow. Be safe. I love you."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes. I love you too, baby. See you soon." Click. End of conversation. She jumps out of bed, pulls on her favorite black jeans and a tank top, and quickly throws on a fishnet top over it. Athryl runs to her window, pulls it open, and jumps out. She couldn't risk running upstairs to go out the front door. She sprints to the front of her house and almost collides with her motorcycle. She starts the crotch rocket with one kick, guns the engine, spins the back end around and speeds off into the cool, black summer night.

Once she gets onto the road, she finally let herself think. Who were these guys? Why can't they just leave him alone? She knew the answer to that one. It was those junkies he was forced to call family. They had ruined his life, and he never did anything to deserve it. These people that endangered Dexi were looking for money his family had taken a loan on and never paid for. It infuriated her. She forced herself to calm down; he didn't need to see her mad right now. Out of habit, she looks at her speedometer. "Holy Shizz!" She exclaimed. She was going 120 in a 45 mile per hour speed limit. Oh well. Dexi was the love of her life, and he needed her right now. She wished she could go faster. She arrived at the point where the motorcycle could no longer provide helpful transportation eight minutes later. She killed the crotch rocket's engine, and hid it behind some overgrowth. She was pleased with herself. Her original prediction of fifteen minutes had actually been off by a whole five minutes. She ran as fast as she possibly could up the huge hill, across a rickety bridge spanning a height of a good seventy-five feet, and jumped into the forgotten tunnel halfway down another hill. This tunnel was the burrow. As soon as her feet hit the ground inside the burrow, she saw him standing by the opposite wall. By the little light there was, she could see that his black, slightly curly hair was a mess, windblown from running, maybe. His face was wracked with pain and grief, and his thin cheeks were stained by tears all the way down to his strong jaw line. Athryl ran to Dexi, burrowing her thin, pretty face into the hollow of his neck, wrapping her arms tightly around him and pushing her body against him as if she was trying to completely surround him with herself. He leaned back against the wall and hugged her back, glad that she was with him now. Athryl sighed, "Are you ok?"

"No," he replied, "but it's not like it matters now."

"It does matter, dammit!" She could almost cry. The two of them didn't talk anymore; they just sat down, still holding on to one another. He pulled her into his lap and rested his head against her back. Athryl turns around, straddling Dexi's waist. Not wanting him to think she meant it as a sexual act, she rests her head on his shoulder and wraps her arms around him again. "I'm so sorry," she says into his shoulder. He hugs her tighter and replies, "don't worry about it, at least I still have you." She smiles, bringing her head off of his shoulder to look into his deep green and gold eyes. His hand slowly rises to her cheek, and he traces circles with his thumb there. Though he was trying hard to not show it, Athryl could see the pain and confusion in his eyes. She then thought, as she had so many times before, that if she could take all of the foul things out of his life, she would do anything to have it done. This was the first time that they had come so close to him, and she realized how easily she could have lost him forever tonight. She thought back to two years before, when she didn't even know that Dexi existed. Athryl wondered how she survived back then, until she remembered that she almost didn't.