Winter Embraced River

Part 1 : Winter

The TV screen flashed up. The room was silent yet again. No one spoke a word. It was Halloween night and it couldn't be colder outside. Snow covered most part of the country and frequent wind howls would mock the ears often. The firewood stoke the room; the sound of cracking dry tinder and firewood signalling the warmth in room. But the news was the cyansore of the moment. Jack pulled off to fetch the remote before the news disturbed anyone.

" And this evening another Ghoul was hunted in the South Park Avenue, at around 7, while it was trying to eat a civilian in Halloween disguise. " spoke the female reporter through screen. She wore thick glasses and had huge files in her hand.

The screen flickered a bit. And then the CCTV footage rolled in. The ghoul ran into the woman and bit her in the shoulder tearing away her skin and jumping madly before he was shot by a nearby patrolling policeman. The screen flickered again rolling in the injured ghoul, now strapped to a folding bed behind an ambulance, being electrified and his hands cut off.

The video was short but it was clear that the ghoul was being used as a test subject for administering the new medicine which was supposed to cure ghouls, but by far the only side effects had been painful death by paralysing the brain after a few hours of injection. Almost everyone knew that the medicine was infact just a disguise to coverup the poision, which the remedy actually was. The ghoul screamed.

Uneasiness in the room.

" and Genkin Labs and their experiments confirm... "

*Tap*
The screen blacked out. Everyone looked back. Jack threw the remote over the sofa and made a quick smile.

" Let's just hope for the best. We should celebrate the festival maybe? " he looked at the group with curious eyes, trying his best to not abdicate the cheer.

" Yeah, maybe that would be best for now." Craig stood up abruptly. He was never used to sitting in groups anyways. He gave a quick glance to the girl to his right though. He gazed down for sometime and quietly walked away.

Sim looked at River. She seemed frozen. Her eyes still weren't off from the switched off TV screen. Her face revealed the fact that she was still bemused from what she saw. Her hands gripped and crippled the covering of the sofa a bit. Her veins were visible from beneath the skin. Her cheeks were pale.

He strided off towards her and made a quick moment to her back. Then he stood behind her and slowed his pace, and hugged her softly from the behind.

River shook a bit but then she looked up,, relieved to see him. She gently placed both her hands to a tight grip to his fists which ran around from above her shoulders.

" You all right? " he spoke low.

" I think so." she gave a small inanimate smile. Then she looked down towards the floor. The room was silent again. The clock could be heard clearly. It was almost 8, the hands ticking being the only thing which kept silence at bay.

" I am Scared of this. Are all ghouls that bad when they're hungry? " she rocked both her feet slowly, not looking up, pointing towards the screen.

Jack felt the silence which followed. Craig stood silent, holding the Halloween costume for his sister. Doris wasn't home yet.

River looked up when she heard no reply. She looked at Sim as if asking him the same question again.

" you're thinking too hard sweetie " he caressed her fingers and slowly pulled her face up and kissed her lightly on lips. " No one will hurt you as long as I am here. "

She looked up. He noticed her eyes again. Green; It was rare. Light green like the moss sea, they always drifted him away from reality and he would drown in them. One look from her eye and he needed no words to understand the way she felt for him. He held her hands and cupped them up. She was scared. But her hands were warm. River smiled faintly with her eyes. She gripped his hands tightly. Her hands flexed a little when she realised as to how cold Sim's finger were then, unlike hers. " Yeah. Maybe i am thinking over it too much. "