#malcolm warner

Art by: Rich Tommaso

Through the trees Malcolm had seen her and at first he was too confused and perhaps disoriented to truly understand who it was. But as he got closer he knew her, not by her face as her back was to him but by the scent of her perfume, of her hair. She always smelled a bit like Vanilla and Cinnamon, which had since become his favorite scent. It wasn’t often he caught scent of those two smells together but when he did all the memories he held closest to his heart flooded over him. It took him a while to even make a move, he was so paralyzed when he’d first realized it was her that he didn’t even dare breathe or move for fear she would vanish completely. Scarlett Price was a goddess in his eyes and the fear that she would leave him for anyone else was just as paralyzing as being shot in the spine. He’d realized that his jealousy and anger would be a problem for them and he’d called off their relationship. She deserved someone better even if it would kill him to let her go he knew he had to. But in the meantime he would try to work on himself, he’d try to become someone deserving of her love. Even if she had already moved on he would always work to find a way to be deserving of her. As he watched from a safe distance, knowing she wouldn’t hear him he froze again as she turned, staring almost directly at him but her gaze quickly passed over him. However footsteps were quickly approaching from the direction she’d turned and another man had come to join her. He could feel his blood boiling already and while he tried to calm himself, the conversation he heard between the two of them nearly made him lose all of his resolve. Turning to walk away he let out a heavy sigh but something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. A kiss. That sent him over the edge. With a yell, he leapt from the trees and sprinted toward the pair first tearing into the man who had just kissed Scarlett before he took a swipe at her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Malcolm awoke in a still dreamy haze, his heart pounding, a thin layer of sweat covering his form. Almost every night he saw the same scenes play out in his dreams, no matter what he did or how it happened he always ended up hurting Scarlett. His worst fears played like a bad movie every night behind the black curtain of his eyelids and he was helpless to try and stop it. But he would, eventually. And he would earn her trust again, he had to.