Page 20 of Our Dark Winter Wish

I stand here, still and silent, watching her raw and violent release.

When she looks up at me through tears, I swallow dryly. Her hand reaches out for me. I go to her. I will always go to her.

In my arms, she cries until she can’t anymore. When she’s expelled all she can, we just sit in silence for the longest while on our snow-covered beach, gazing at the stars I made.

‘You’re wrong, you know,’ she says finally.

‘Am I? About what?’

‘You do have a part of me that they don’t.’

I peer down at her as she looks back at me.

‘You have my dreams. Something they will never see. Something they will never understand. But you do. Here, we’re in our own world. Just us. A place and part of me that no one will ever see but us. A pain only you can save me from.’

I kiss her warm neck and hold her tightly. She’s right, I suppose. I have her dreams. I have her nightmares. I could keep her here for all eternity if I wanted and never let her go. We walk for hours here, and I see parts of her that no one else has ever witnessed.

It’s a shame so many of the horrors I save her from are all our fucking fault.

5

Pixie

Iwake on the sofa by the fire. A blanket has been laid over me, and the smell of a cooked breakfast has my mouth salivating. Archie and Dorian are talking in hushed tones in the kitchen, a tone of unease clear in their voices. Rolling over and stretching, I groan, realising why they’re speaking in such a melancholy way.

Deep cracks have been carved into the ceiling, and huge thorns have become overgrown on our walls.

‘Ohhhh…’ I groan. ‘That’s not good.’

‘Morning, Pixie.’

I look over to see Shaw rolling up a piece of parchment and tying it up with a bow.

‘My nightmare must have been pretty bad then.’

‘It was a tad prickly.’

He winks, thinking his play on words is very clever indeed. I roll over and press my fingers into the earth below. The cracks heal. The thorns shrivel up, and the gold leaves, holly and berries return.

Shaw watches me momentarily and is about to say something when Archie and Dorian walk in. They each have two plates and offer one to me and Shaw.

‘So what’s on the agenda today, Arch?’ Dorian asks as I tear into some toast. ‘Tomorrow is Christmas day. I’m sure you have something else you want to get done.’

‘Yep. Today, Dorian. We’re catching a turkey.’

‘Catching a what?’ Dorian asks.

‘A turkey. You know. A big bird that loves togobble gobblealmost as much as Pix does.’

I tut and throw him a warning look.

‘It’s the main meat for the dinner tomorrow. I saw some a couple of miles away in a wooded pasture.’ He claps his hands together in excitement. ‘They taste bloody amazing.’

I shudder as he starts mimicking snapping the bird’s neck.

‘We’ll all head out and find one. Slaughter it. Prep it and cook it tomorrow for dinner.’ He shoves some cooked meat into his mouth with a grin as I grimace at the imagery he’s conjured.

‘Of all people, I am still amazed at how squeamish you are around blood and dead animals.’

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