Faith Maria Winter

I woke up a week later in Blake’s arms.

I was in his coffin again, just as it had been the first time I’d been with him. I was weak, confused and comfortable. He was awake, I could tell from the way he was breathing. It was uneven, as if he were sobbing.

“Blake?” my voice was hoarse and sounded strange in my ears. I coughed, after a week of not using it, talking seemed hard.

Blake pushed open the lid of the coffin and jumped out, walking quickly to the other side of the crypt. He leaned against the wall, facing his back to me. I walked over to him, not caring whether he wanted me to or not. I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I asked him, my voice didn’t sound as raspy that time.

“You’re the one who’s been passed out for a week, I think I should be asking you,” he said with no emotion in his voice.

“Forget about me; you seem upset. Why?”

“You talk in your sleep,” he said, almost coldly.

“Oh...really?” I had never noticed that, but of course, I could never know what I did in my sleep.

“Yes,” Blake turned around, but instead of hugging me like I expected, he pushed me away from him. It wasn’t a strong push, but it made gasp quietly, “The first night you spent here, when you were still human, you said ‘my love killed me?’ over and over in your sleep,” my eyes widened, listening to him, “The first night you spent here after Logan left, you said ‘love come back,’ quite a bit in your sleep. The second night you said ‘sorry’ none stop. The third night you said ‘can’t help but break hearts’,”

“Stop…” I begged him, backing away. The hurt in his eyes told me that as the nights wore on, I must have said more terrible things.

“The fourth night-”

“Stop!”

“-you repeated ‘love is worthless’. That was the night you stopped crying,” Blake told me. I looked confused, “Faith, you’d been crying since I found you in the woods. It was four days later that you stopped,”

“The fifth night was annoying,” Marcus piped in, crawling out of his coffin. He stretched and smiled, “You were mumbling Isaac’s name,”

I looked at Isaac, who nodded.

“You sounded like you wanted to kill him,” Blake told me, sighing, “Last night...you started to say that...well, your exact words were ‘forever with Blake’,”

“Oh…”

“You made me smile last night, but then you had to continue your little sleeping rant,” Blake seemed angry, a sight I thought I’d never have to see, “You finished it with ‘even if I can’t love him’,”

“Can’t love you?” I started to seem just as mad as he was, “What did I mean?”

“How would we know?” Marcus asked.

“I wasn’t talking to you!” I snapped.

“It’s not very hard for you to snap, is it?” he asked me through a laugh. I growled quietly. I moved so quickly that even Isaac was shocked when my hand was on Marcus’ throat, pinning him to the wall.

“I wonder how easily you’d snap.” I asked, putting an awkward pressure on his neck. If I pressed hard enough, I could’ve snapped his neck.

“Faith! Release him now!” Blake ordered.

“Fine,” I smiled, letting go of his neck. Marcus fell to the floor, gasping, “Don’t taunt someone who’s stronger than you,” I told him, turning away.

“Faith, you know how Marcus is,” Blake told me, “He likes to make people mad. Don’t lose your temper with him,”

“He’s an annoyance,” I told Blake coldly, “I can’t help myself,”

“I know,” Isaac took a step for me. My instincts took over me and I took a step back, getting into a casual position that could also be a good defensive pose. Isaac looked saddened by my movements, “Faith...fight it,”

“Fight what?”

“Logan’s venom.” Mentioning Logan made my face fall, but he pretended not to notice, “You are going to feel angry, you are going to feel hatred. From now on, you’ll think the world is against you, except for Logan. That’s why you went after him,” he seemed to be reassuring both me and Blake, “because his venom makes you want him. It makes you feel as if the world is nothing without him. You feel happier and calmer when at his side, but you can feel happy with other people as well, Faith,”

“You never seem happy,” I reminded him.

“I am always as happy as I can ever be,”

“That’s not very happy then?”

“Just because I never speak or smile doesn’t mean I’m not ecstatic,” Isaac walked to Blake’s side and put a hand on his shoulder, “Blake has made my life peaceful again. He can do it for you, too,”

“This doesn’t sound like you…” I mumbled.

“I know,” Isaac chuckled, “I guess since I know what you’re going through, I can be more helpful,” he held out his hand to me, “Take my advice, Faith,”

I looked at his hand, and looked up to Blake. He still had tears on his face, and was glaring at me. Still, his sad eyes seemed calmer than they had when I’d first met him. What had I done to him? I was fearful that I’d changed Blake for the worse. He’d only known me a few hours, and fell in love with me, but I went and loved his enemy. I was evil. My heart was evil.
My heart was my own enemy.

Isaac pulled me to Blake, and then backed away. I continued to look at Blake, but he only looked away. I sighed.

“I know I don’t deserve this…” I started, trying to find a kind tone of voice, “but I’m begging for your forgiveness,” I failed at trying to sound caring, so I went with monotone, “I’ve hurt you, more than once. Even in my sleep I managed to slice you. Blake, will you allow me to be truthful?”

He nodded once, keeping his silver eyes away from me.

“I loved you...once. Even when I was with Logan, I loved you. A week ago, I loved you. Now...I...don’t know,”

Blake looked over at Isaac, who seemed more upset than Blake did.

“It’s too soon, though,” Isaac mumbled, “You’ve already lost your emotions?”

“I don’t know,” I grabbed at my head, “I’m so confused!”

“I’d like to speak with Isaac alone, please,” Blake told me, his voice sounded more caring, but still not very. I nodded and walked out of the crypt.

I had to walk a quite a distance before I couldn’t hear their conversation. I started to walk through the cemetery, looking at the graves. One of the names startled me, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

I’d found my own gravestone.

It was a new, polished stone. It was the shape of a cross, with a heart in the middle. It read:

Here Lies the Memory of Faith Maria Winter
1734-1750
Loving Daughter and Friend
May Angels Guide her to Paradise

Beside my grave, was my father’s. I was surprised at first, then remembered that I had killed him. Brutally. The memory made my head spin more, so I pushed it away. I sat down, leaning against my stone. I saw Blake and Isaac walk out. I didn’t bother standing up, though.

They approached me, but still stood a good distance away from me. I knew the look on my face couldn’t have been comforting to Blake. His face was pained.

“Faith, Isaac and I have spoken, and we’ve decided that...you should just leave,” Blake told me, looking away quickly.

I stood up, glaring at them.

“What?” I demanded, “You brought me back, you saved my life! Now you just want me to leave?!” my anger rose, “Blake...you...said you loved me…”

“Appears he’s changed his mind!” Isaac pushed me, “You’re too big a monster for him to handle,”

I opened my mouth to protest, and then shrugged.

“Okay,” I said calmly, though my eyes were full of hate, “If that’s what you want, Blake,” and I turned on my heel and started to walk away. Blake grabbed my hand.

“Don’t leave,” he said, confusing me, “We were just seeing how you’d react,”

“Didn’t you feel sad at all, Faith?” Isaac asked me.

“No,” I told him, turning around, “Only pure hatred for you,”

“Me?”

“I’d assumed that you would’ve told Blake to make me leave. I was already thinking of ways to kill you,” My eyes fell onto the hand Blake was holding. A tiny smile came to my lips, but it was the most I could do. I realized that this was the smile that Isaac always gave, when he was happy, all he could manage was the smallest smile. Logan’s killed our emotions.

“Are you smiling?” Isaac asked me, amusement in his voice. I looked up and nodded, “Well, there might be hope for you, yet,”

I didn’t pay anymore attention to him. I gazed at Blake, who had the same smile on his face as I did mine. His eyes held more happiness than my own, but he seemed to understand why I didn’t look happier.

“What are you feeling?” he asked me.

“Peace,” I told him, “More than what I felt with Logan, that’s for sure,”

My answer made his face light up. He pulled me to him, giving me a huge bear hug.

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” he told me. He chuckled, and I looked up at him questioningly. He pointed at my gravestone, “I see you’ve found your grave,” he laughed.

I joined in with the laugh, though my laugh wasn’t as cheerful as his. Mine was quiet and very soft, and I wasn’t able to laugh for very long. Blake looked at Isaac.

“She just had a laughing fit, Blake, don’t worry,” Isaac explained my lack of emotions to Blake with his small smile, “She’s truly happy,”

I nodded, my smile grew in my mind, but my face stayed the same. I sighed.

“I rather enjoyed my emotions,” I said glumly. Blake chuckled, kissing my forehead.

“Your laugh was adorable,” he told me, “but I like this one, too. It’s petite, it suits you well,”

“Sure,” I said, my smile was gone. Suddenly, standing up was hard. I staggered, and held onto Blake tightly so I didn’t fall, “I think I’m hungry,” I had been asleep for a week.

“Then, let’s go have some fun!” Marcus ran out to us, it was clear he had been able to hear everything. I flashed him a dirty look, feeling hatred build in me again. Why did I feel such strong hatred for Marcus? It didn’t even make sense. He was an idiot, but nothing more. He wasn’t a threat to me, only an annoyance. Isaac saw my face and shook his head in disappointment. I glared at him, and then gave Blake a small tug. I smiled at him, and he smiled back.

“C’mon, Blake! I’ve never hunted with you! It’ll be fun,” my voice was full of enthusiasm, as much as I could.

“Of course,” Blake and I ran off, and as we did, I overheard the smallest bit of Isaac and Marcus’ conversation:

“So...she’s worse off then you?” Marcus had asked.

“Yes, I thought maybe she’d be better with Blake, but it seems we’re a problem to her,” Isaac told him.

“Then we have to…”

That was all I had heard, and it made my smile fade. They didn’t trust me. I knew it. Well, I’d just have to try my hardest to keep Blake on my side. I’d make him hate Isaac and Marcus if I had to.