Part Fourteen:
 

Rating: PG. Pretty mild in terms of controversy.
 

Mary-Lynnette Carter looked up into the vastness of the starry sky above her and was overcome with the familiar feeling of awe that often came with it.

There was so much out there. So much that the human race hadn’t discovered, and probably wouldn’t for a long time. It made her a bit depressed to think about it. All those things that would be found long after she was gone, that she would never be able to see.

I’m only eighteen, Mary-Lynnette told herself. I’ve got plenty of years ahead of me, and I plan to discover some of those things.

Mary-Lynnette shivered a little. There was a slight breeze, and she hadn’t brought a jacket. Sitting on the hood of her second-hand car, she set down her flashlight and rubbed her arms. Hunching her shoulders against the wind, she gazed at the stars once again.

It’s all so big, Mary-Lynnette thought. Suddenly she felt very small, and lonely, and... incomplete.

Well, that was no surprise. Mary-Lynnette had been feeling incomplete for a year now, ever since she had sent Ash away.

Ash. She sighed. She’d been thinking about him a lot lately.

It had been over a year ago when she had met her soulmate, fallen in love with him, and sent him away. Mary-Lynnette remembered watching Ash walk away last summer, going off to make up for the things he had done in his past. As he had walked down that road, headed to God knows where, he had taken a piece of her with him.

Maybe I should have had him stay, Mary-Lynnette thought. God, the way he looks he can have any girl he wants, and more... And me, being an idiot, told him to leave. What was I thinking?

No, she told herself firmly. It’s better this way. The things he’s done... I don’t think I could’ve dealt with most of them. I needed time, I needed to finish school...

“I needed him,” she whispered into the cool night air.

Mary-Lynnette realized she had spoken aloud and silently admonished herself.

I’m going crazy, she thought. I’m losing my freaking mind.

But oh, God, I miss him so much...

Mary-Lynnette finally gave up trying not to think about Ash. It was a lost cause, and she knew it.

Then something horrible occurred to her, and she gasped.

What if he’s not coming back?

He is coming back, she assured herself. He has to... Oh, God, what’ll I do if he doesn’t?

Ash said he’d be back in a year. Mary-Lynnette hadn’t heard anything from him in over twelve months. Had he decided she wasn’t worth the trouble of trying to prove himself?

Her mouth opened in horror. He wouldn’t do that. He-

A twig snapped.

Mary-Lynnette became very still. Her first thought was that it was Ash, but that was ridiculous. Also, he was a hunter. He wouldn’t make any noise.

Very slowly she reached out her hand and picked up the flashlight. It would make a good weapon, if necessary.

What’s the matter with me? Mary-Lynnette thought. I’m being paranoid. It’s probably just Mark. Yes, that’s who it is. It’s Mark and-

Mary-Lynnette’s eyes widened in fear and alarm. A man was stepping out from among the trees, and it wasn’t Mark.