Warning: Mature content head.

A few centuries later

Odette POV

People walk to move from point A to B.

I don't.

I run.

And that was what I had been doing since my brain began to store memories.

I run whenever I can. To climb stairs, to go to the market, to go to school. 

I never take the carriage. I "run" my dog to the park, not "walk".

Every day after school, I train. I'm the fastest, faster than the boys.

The funny thing? 

I was never a fan of the activity. 

I was only sixteen when my sister was forced to participate and never returned. I was four months old last time my mother kissed me. Or at least I was hoping she did it, before she left for the Games ... and so, I grew up without remembering the feel of her caresses or the memory of her bright smiles.

"Odette, can you go to the market to pick up some milk and eggs?" Dad's head popped from the door of his office.

"Sure, anything else?"

"No, darling. Unless you need more bananas or beans for your proteins." He knew me and my habits well.

There was a certain eerie aura at the market. It looked more like a funeral. People crowded into small groups, quiet chats instead of the typical ferment and cheerful shouts. 

It was that time indeed... The Games.

An interesting way to put it. A sarcastic, bad joke.

Because I would have called it: nightmare, a sentence to death, a ticket without return. A jump into a black hole.

All I was left with was a father and a younger brother.

And I intended to come back to them. Alive.

"Have you heard? Some of them were spotted this morning on the outskirts of Saint Winifred," Old Fred, whose wife was taken away many moons ago, when I was just energy in the universe, commented from his shrimp stall.

"What do they want? Mate with our cattle too?"

"Won't be a surprise!"

"Yeah, they are disgusting beasts!"

"I told you to keep the guns loaded and buy more garlic."

"Isn't it enough that they already destroy our families every six years?" Uncle Craig grunted from his own stand, selling terracotta. At least his wife had managed to escape and not got caught.

But she had died sometime after her return. Heartache, they said. After The Games, she was no longer the same, for some inexplicable cosmic reasons.

She kept muttering and moaning a strange name.

A strange symbol was found on her forehead. 

Signs of sexual assault too, though she never confirmed it...

Our village was located on a small valley on the edge of the Cantata Silvam, which consisted of acres and acres of untouched forest. The forest thinned more and more until it became a land where nothing grew, where not even the earth itself wanted to be, and then, as you continued further west, you found the gates of Molten Land. Nobody ever went there; it would have been weeks of walking from here.

Funny how Molten Land was in the west, the most westerly land of all ... where the sun sets, where life ends and darkness reigns. Quite fitting, and not only geographically speaking.

The aim of The Games was simple: us, the humans, had to cross a specific section of Molten Land. The humans that were not taken and that made it to the end, won. 

What did they win? Just the freedom to return back home! 

What a game...right!?

"The Games" was a pact to keep peace between us and them. Nobody really knew what they were; the only certainty that they were not human.

People that made it back, only told of large shadows and orange eyes. Of voices and growls in the fog.

Nobody wanted to be the next Lea, or the baker's wife. Even Timothy - the little guy who delivered milk to every door on Sunday or collected donations at mass - had never returned. 

Boys also had to participate, even if mostly girls were taken.

Some believed they were blood suckers, that when they got to the last drop, if they weren't full, they would start to eat your flesh. And if that wasn't enough, they drank your soul too. So, this explains the presence of garlic all over the place! On doorposts, under the beds, and even in the hair. Hair clips and headbands with pieces of garlic were sold everywhere. We all stank of garlic so much that we got used to the pungent smell.

Others believed they came from an ancient lizard civilization that could shift into something akin to humans. The elders, on the other hand, proclaimed that they were flying monsters, unable to stay too low on the ground, due to their sizes. That back in the days of their great grandparents, they fed on meat, cooking humans in their cauldrons of boiling fire that they breathed.

What was I doing with all this information? A big ball that I threw away in my imaginary rubbish bin.

The only details we knew for sure were few. Molten Land was a vast, complicated place. Sometimes angry magma popped out forming new houses for the monsters, then there was the infamous Valley of Temples, with several gigantic statues of gods and ancient ruins. That was a known fact, since we had to go through it during the Games. 

The humans who managed to make it to the end said that there were cracks and landslides, that a black fog made of dust from the raging volcanos was perennial, making the visibility hard.

"Girls get caught more because they are slower," The new milk guy said to the farmer and his cow.

"As if," I scoffed, paying for the bottle of milk and going over to Mrs. Benna, selling fresh eggs. Pia, her daughter, was excited about the Games. 

And do you know why? Romance!

Of course, a portion of the female population believed some of us were the soulmates of those monsters. That they will love us like no one could. Inhumanly.

"Hey, babe," My boyfriend's arm wrapped around me as he pushed his glasses over his long nose, "what are you doing here?"

I forgot to say, I already had a soul mate. So no thanks. No need of a drooling monster following me around, placing eggs in my womb.

He was Gianni. And I had every intention of not being caught. That was why, since the age of sixteen, I had started running. And I felt I had never stopped.

"Hey..." I kissed his pale cheek with a grin, patting his brown curls. My friends considered Gianni lanky and nerdy, but I liked that type. We had long conversations, we studied together, and discuss new topic about the world. He fulfilled my mental urges. Physical too, but I did not consider those important for my happiness. Sex was not a big deal in a relationship.

"Want to check the new arrivals at the library? I heard they got that tone about Celtic History!" He proposed, more excited than me at the idea, showing me his slightly crooked teeth that glistened with braces.

"Sure!" I grinned, grabbing his hand in mine, dragging him behind me.

We jogged together, though sometimes I had to slow down, since Gianni was not really the sporty type.

After our stop over at the library, we went to his place. He was living with his grandfather, always busy in the fields.

As we entered his room, I pointed toward the bathroom door and said, "I'll just be a minute."

"Of course...Yes! Take your time," Gianni gushed, a little embarrassed.

We stripped out of our clothes, me in the bathroom, he in the room, then slipped into the bed. Then Gianni quickly leapt back onto the floor and scurried about, naked, turning off the lights. He returned to the bed, then once again sprang out and rushed to his wardrobe. He returned with one condom.

We lay side by side, lips and tongues locked, blood rushing. "I love you." "Me too."

I took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with a small smile. Gianni rolled onto me, positioning his hips between my welcoming thighs. He leaned down to kiss me again, the other hand pressed the head of his hardening penis to my southern lips. We usually made love in a missionary position.

"Wait," I whispered, biting my lips. 

"What?" His voice came from above as he was trying to get inside me.

"Give me a second." I ran my hand over my lips, wetting it.

"Oh sorry." He said, kneeling next to me and watching me moisten myself. That was the boring part of sex: having to prepare for penetration, which at first was never pleasant. The women of the village said that men usually finished quickly and were meant to enjoy more than us, since we were blessed with the power of giving birth. 

Balance of nature.

"Is it ready?" He asked, coming closer.

"Yes."

"Nice."

We moved slowly. He rocked against me gently, deeper with each thrust until his rigid member was completely enveloped within me. I heard him inhale a sharp intake of breath, then a sigh. We lay silent for a moment then Gianni pulled back, withdrawing all but the head of his cock from me, then lunged forward. I hugged him and began to caress his neck, closing my eyes.

The slight, initial discomfort was over, and I began to enjoy it too, until...

"Gianni, wait-" "What, baby? Did I hurt you?" "No no, you can ... just ..." I took a pillow and placed it over my chest, "Here you go! You were squeezing my chest a little." "Oh. Sorry."

When we resumed the love making, I tried to meet his thrusts as he grunted from above me. Four penetrations later, Gianni released a soft "Ahhh" as he spurted into the condom while I stroked his hair.

Then he collapsed in my arms, completely, joyfully spent. Slick with sweat, he rested. I did not sweat, nor I was not out of breath.

My respiration was normal, while Gianni was always red and it always seemed that he was going to faint.

Gianni kissed me tenderly, then rolled over on his back, pulling me to his side. I nestled my face against his chest and draped a shapely leg over his. Gianni kissed my hair, rubbing my shoulder. "It was wonderful. Did you like it?"

"Of course," I reached up to stroke his cheek and said, "You are always amazing."

Gianni took off the condom and tossed it away, and went to the bathroom to clean himself. I didn't have to, I touched myself between my legs and felt that I was already dry. 

Funny how sex seems so exhausting for him but not for me. I attributed it to the fact that I was very good at cardio, after years of training.

We lay contented, bodies entwined before we parted. 

The Games were coming faster than anyone had wished for. 

Only the moment mattered. 

Plus, I was sure that I would win.

All we had to do was crossing their land - make it out as fast as possible. And good portion always returned.

Yeah, I will definitely win.

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AN/ I don't know about you, but I have a thing for villains lately 

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