My Cold Days

Ch. 12

I awoke.

I was excited to start the day. I fought gravity as I arose from my bed. The first thing I noticed was him. He was still asleep on his wooden bed. Usually, he wakes up before me, but I was too giddy from the day before. 

I noticed Jack's slow, deep breaths. I noticed the way he slept. I paced around the room and slowly made my way to his bedside. I noticed how his lips were parted ever so sightly, as his jaw relaxed. With his eyes closed, I began to notice how long and thick his eyelashes were. He dark chocolate hair seemed to swoop to the side ever so gently. What a creature, I thought to myself. 

He slowly began to awake and I backed away to give him some space. He turned his head and greeted me with a smile. 

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Are you stalking me or something?" He joked as he began to get up. 

For what seemed like forever, we just stared. Neither of us mentioned what happened yesterday. We continued the day how we normally would. Soon, we received our daily meal and ate together. 

"So, Anne," Jack began. "Can I ask you a follow up question to yesterday?" I was surprised. I didn't expect him to keep asking questions. I thought everything was settled between us, 

"Sure," I said, uncertain of what he might ask. 

"So, you were just born that way? You don't know how you got... like that?"

"I was always like that, so I probably was born with it," I responded, with much more confidence than yesterday. The truth is, my parents could never hold me because of it. I believe that my mother suferred terribly in her labor. My theory is 

"I see. Sorry to bring it up again."

"It's alright."

"Anne, can I trust you with something?" Something more? What else could he be holding back?

"Of course," I replied, opening my heart to him. 

"The blood of the moon runs out by the blue."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I shot back in response to his absurd statement.

"Can you just think about? Please," His pleads were no endearing, I had to comply. "And just one more question?" I nodded my head to approve his inquiry. "Am I good kisser?"

"Ugh, I hate you!" I laughed at him and shoved him. If I had answered his question seriously, I think he would have known what my answer would have been.

~

Later that day as we both returned to our beds, I thought about what Jack had said. The blood of the moon... 

Just another crazy Jack Davis saying. As I fell asleep, images and memories came flooding in. Flashes of light, a woman. A knife. I saw the ocean. 

Red.

Yelling.

White hair.

Eyes.

Slash.

I awoke abruptly, but found myself unable to move. I loved around the room. I tried shifting my gaze to Jack, but failed to rotate my eyes far enough to see him. I was stuck staring directly in front of my bed. That's when I saw a figure standing in the corner of my room. It approached. It removed its cloak and unveiled its face. It was the woman I saw. Her lips moved, but I couldn't hear. I couldn't speak, but I yearned to tell her that I wanted to listen, but couldn't. When finally...