Life On the Fjords

The Locket

Once he was certain the twins were sleeping, Jack snuck upstairs and lit the candle that sat on the desk in the beast's room. He went back to the drawer where he'd hastily put back the once-treasured item he'd found.

It was a locket his mother always wore. She would tell him how he would try to reach for it when he was a baby in her arms. Even when lying in bed, it was with her... for this was more than a simple accessory.

When Jack was born, she took a trip to town to have his name engraved on the inside. Then when the twins were born, she did just the same.

Jack wondered something... Even though his fingers struggled to get the latch off, he opened up the locket.

There they were; their names and their birth years.

Jackson - 1823

James & Mary - 1832

She loved this locket... She loved it more than all of her valuables Edvard had once spoiled her with to try and win her heart.

...So why would she leave it? Why was it tucked away in a manner that indicated it was never meant to be found? How could she forget it when it was always around her neck?

All of Jack's questions ceased at once, like a flame being snuffed. Something possessed him and he threw the locket back in the drawer. He tucked it under the raiment and shut it back.

...

Edvard!

Don't!

He's my child!

Please! Not my baby!

LEAVE HIM ALONE!

"Mom!" Jack bolted awake. "Mom..." He whispered in broken gasps. He looked for her, but there was nobody there. It was only a dream.

For a dream, the vivid detail had felt far too real for Jack to quickly disregard in his mind. He was trying to remember what had occurred in his dream to make him wake up like this, but for some reason, the pictures were all fading, and catching them was like trying to hold onto raindrops.

Out of a protective habit, he squeezed his wrists. He had to if he wanted to stop the burning pain... Burning. He remembered what made them burn so much. He remembered it happened in the tool shed.

His own voice shrieked in his head.

Papa! No!

I don't want to go in there!

Papa, PLEASE!

I'M SCARED!

DON'T LEAVE ME IN HERE!

The shed door closed and it was pitch black.

...

Jack was hyperventilating on his bedroom floor. There was no light source for him to use as a reminder that he was not locked in the shed that had haunted him for years, but safe in his home with the beast gone for just a few more days. His throat was closed, he saw flashing lights dancing across his face and he tried to grasp onto something that would bring him solace.

Mother... He wanted his mother.

But she wasn't here either.

All he had was his memories of her. One started to come back to him. It felt like someone was wrapping a warm, weighted blanket around his chilled body.