Her Safe Haven

Chapter 42 - To Recover, To Kill A Bull

Previously on Her Safe Haven: Winter was stabbed by Sasha's accomplice following the mysterious attacks on her. After surgery she was still unconscious. When she woke up Dr Switzgerald said Winter's state was going to get worse. Gray told her to stop going to school and he and Winter had a big fight because Winter felt he was trying to control her. She and her family and Jonah were to go to her family home in St Louis so Winter can recover quietly, and Rohan gave her a small get-well-soon gift.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hello everyone! I'm so sorry I missed my update schedule last week. I started an internship this month and have been working hospital shifts and I'm just so exhausted every day. I will probably take another break next week, but hopefully after that it will be back to 1 chapter / week :)

Thank you so much for your follows and comments and messages of concerns. I am fine, just really tired. Hopefully all of you will continue to wait patiently for my updates. Your kind words always make my day <3

A small interlude chapter before the next big arc, just to keep your memory of the story fresh ;)

"To kill a bull by straightening its horn" (角を矯めて牛を殺す). Japanese proverb. Meaning: "The remedy is often worse than the disease".

The journey to St Louis was short, and she sat on the plane with Caleb and Elijah; Jonah and Gray sitting at another two-seaters a few rows in front of them.

Winter had not talked to Gray since after their fight. She didn't know what to say. She was angry, and Gray was angry, and they were both stubborn so none of them would apologise to the other first. Yet in this case she also didn't know who was in the wrong— or if there was a wrong side to begin with.

She was angry at Gray for trying to tell her to stop going to school, that much was clear. But she guessed she should also try to understand Gray's perspective, too. But that would have been so much more easier to do if he hadn't been so controlling about it.

On top of her tension with Gray, she realised that Jonah had been acting weird too ever since he came to help her discharge from the hospital. He had been acting rather awkward and mumbling his words.

Though she decided that these two should be concerns for another day, because for now, according to her mother, recovering should be her top priority.

The first few days were mundane. They only ate, talked, and mostly played boardgames. St Louis was cold even though it was in the middle of summer, so other than a few walks in the small forest that still belonged to their plot of land with Elijah, she stayed inside. Jonah stayed with Gray the entire time, only coming out when she and Elijah needed another player for their card games at night. Her father was also there, he apologised for not coming sooner, but he was there. So she used this opportunity to spend time with her parents and Elijah who she barely saw.

But this feeling of normality was discomforting, and Winter kept having an ominous feeling like something was waiting to happen. Like a horrible thing was about to burst out from the walls of the her family mansion, and she spent her days here in the otherwise calm and peaceful mansion waiting with a warning on the corner of her mind.

But it was only on their third day there that something did happen.

It was in the middle of the night. Around her it was full of shadows and ghosts floating and laughing, screeching, "There she is! She is there! She is not supposed to be here!" and the voices were so loud and it was as if she was bolted still to her bed, because though she felt her eyes were open, she was blinded by darkness and she could not move.