Chapter 43: 43__Stuck in a loop

The walk across the road was uneventful.

Maia hadn't know what to say or how to react to Jaxton Black's strange behaviour, so she'd just gotten up and decided to do as he'd ordered.

She swung her arms, squinting around at the unfamiliar area as she walked. The company’s office building was located on a busy commercial street. Cars and people passed by all in a hurry and a flurry, but the sight was one that seemed so staged to Maia’s eyes.

She looked at the people and they seemed to have no particular destination, as though their only mission was to walk and to walk fast.

It was eerie and yet it confirmed for Maia that she indeed had been transported into a novel.

The characters who were mere extras didn’t even have something as basic as a facial expression. The author hadn’t bothered so write anything besides that they were walking fast.

With a sigh, Maia looked up and saw the green light turn red just as she reached the other side of the road and stood before the Deli.

Before she could go into the store, a thought suddenly struck her and Maia stopped.

It was rather strange, wasn’t it? The way the crowd did nothing but what the author described them to be doing. Did they not do it, or *could* they not do it? What if they were physically incapable of doing anything outside of the writer's will?

What if that was it?

What if everything in this world could only and would only happen as the author wrote it? The people on the streets walked just as the author described, the cars and traffic matched too.

Her head buzzing with thoughts, Maia leaped into a stranger’s path and grasped his arm.

“Excuse me, Mister! What’s the time?”

The man stopped walking when she grasped his arm, but Maia was shocked to see that he hadn’t even turned to look at her. His blank gaze remained settled on some invisible point far ahead and his arm remained limp in her hands.

“Hello?” Maia called.

He didn’t even blink.

As soon as her hands released him, the suited man took off at a fast-paced walk once more, head lowered like a business man dying for his morning’s coffee.

She released a disbelieving scoff and looked around at the people walking past the Deli. A woman came a long, a heavy hand bag in her hand and a phone to her ear.

She was speaking loudly, so Maia thought it would be interesting to see if she would respond.

“I told you, Jimmy!” she was scolding into the phone. “Book the photographer for two pm! Two PM! Not five! I’ve got dinner with my crabby mother-in-law!”

Maia thought this was a good moment to grab the woman’s arm and leaped forward for it.

Just like the business man, the woman stopped walking. But she, too, did not look at Maia.

“I told you, Jimmy!” she began again. “Book the photographer for two pm! Two PM! Not five!”

Maia’s hands went limp from shock and, released from her grip, the woman continued walking.

Maia stood, staring dazedly around her.

Oh, God. That’s why. That’s why Jaxton Black wouldn’t respond to her attitude and snarky words. He was programmed. They all were.

Every scene written by the author couldn’t change even by a single sigh.

Maia shivered. This entire world being unable to run outside of the author’s writing could only mean one thing.

And that was that, no matter what Maia did, she would certainly end up falling in love with Jaxton jackass Black.

She was stuck in Elaine Cranberry.

****************

“Don’t go prancing off and forget your tasks!” Cassie yelled. “You spot anyone who looks like Rogan, you scream. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Clover as she skipped towards the half of the forest she was assigned to search.

“Stay safe, Clove!” Cassie yelled again.

Clover waved a hand. “Yes, mother!!”

Snickering at the sound of Cassie growling at her sarcasm, Clover skipped further into her corner of the large forest.

She came to a halt and looked vaguely around herself for a moment, picturing Rogan from all angles and keeping an eye out for anyone who matched the description.

A rapid turn of her head to look in a different direction made Clover see stars. Squeezing her eyes shut, she swayed against a tree as she tried to regain her balance.

Okay. So she’d lied.

She hadn’t been awake for a day. She’d just woken up and had tottered her way to the stairs where she’d heard everyone talking about how Maia had gone missing.

Clover knew Maia had helped Rogan heal her. She also knew that Maia could have possibly died doing so.

The gratitude swelling her little horsie heart wouldn’t let her sit still while Maia was in danger. Even if she’d just risen from her deathbed herself.

Once she got herself back under control, Clover pushed herself upright and dragged her hand away from the dry tree trunk.

This form had weakened even more by her hopping around to convince everyone that she was fine. The effort had been immense, and now Clover was beat.

There was no other way. She’d have to use her stronger form.

With a smile tugging at her mouth, she tipped her head back and released a breath, loosening her muscles and drawing up the true form of her soul.

In a few seconds, there was a large, gloriously white Unicorn galloping through the forest.

Clover felt a hundred times stronger this way. She galloped fast through the forest, just enjoying it for a moment. She was ten times faster than your usual horse, making her little more than a white blur with a flash of rainbow coloured hair as she ran.

The dark space that wedged apart a corner of the forest appeared, the river that created it flowing peacefully.

Clover trotted over to the edge of the water and gazed down where the water was slowest, admiring her reflection. She gave her fancy mane a toss and nearly purred with delight. What a pity that there was nobody to witness the beautiful sight that was her Gemini form!

“Hello, there…”

Startled, Clover looked up, blinking her purple eyes at the sight before her. It was a man standing on the other side of the narrow stream.

“Aren’t you a pretty little thing,” he whispered. His eyes were filled with awe as he gazed at the Unicorn. “A real unicorn, huh. We don’t see many like you back home.”

Clover was about to bask in the attention and flaunt her stuff for the admirer, but quickly halted her exhibition.

She looked closely at the stranger.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Blonde hair. The Rogan look-alike?

“Come on over,” he invited, holding out a hand. “I won’t hurt you. Come here…”

Clover snorted. Like hell she would.

Before the stranger could move another inch, she dashed away from the water and galloped back into the forest on this side of the river. Clover ran faster and faster, pushing her strong leg muscles to their limit.

There was no way she would approach that guy. He could be the kidnapper and Clover had heard too many tales about Unicorns being trapped for their beautiful hair and for the effects of their horn in spells. Not this unicorn!

Hopefully, she’d lost him. She’d tell Cassie and Cleo and they’d come over here and nab the bastard.

She threw a vague glance over her shoulder, certain she’d lost him. Clover nearly stumbled from the shock.

The man was right on her tail!

With a distressed whinny, she pushed herself harder, running as hard as she could. How on earth was he managing to keep up?! What was he?!

She glanced over her shoulder again, only to find that he’d vanished.

When Clover’s head whipped back to the front, the man zapped into her way like a demon from hell, making the poor Unicorn slip and fall from the fright.

Clover scrambled about, trying to get back on her feet.

The man chuckled and crouched before her.

“Now, now, horsie,” he joked. “I just wanna be friends.”

Clover stilled. She saw it then.

The green glow of his eyes and the sharp lengthening of his fangs.

Not to mention the outlandish gorgeousness smacked onto his face.

He was a damn Vampire.