Winter's Tears

Winter's frame shook with fear as her mind became locked in a world of shadows. Her dreams one horror some story after another. Each one filled with her fears, each one brought to life.

Her dreams a mixture of past memories and images conjured by her imagination alone. As they mixed they created something ringed in darkness, and pain. Her dreams could no longer be her escape. Her imagination turning on her.

She awoke with a scream burning a lump in her throat, her slender fingers drawn together in a fist, her nails leaving crescent indentations in the soft flesh of her palm. No light broke through the darkness that hung through the room like a heavy and tainting mist. No light was given to chase her fears.

But it wasn't her own fear that trickled through her mind and into the veins. No it was the fear of those around her, it fed into hers, spurring it on. She struggled to get enough breath into her lunges, struggled for a breath that wasn't tainted with the fear and desperation that lined the halls.

She could feel her doctors fear, thick and full as he sat in an office down the hall. He was terrified as he scanned Winter's own files. Whimpering as she clutched her head in her hands, as she felt the edge of madness that had sunk its claws into his mind. She could feel its chains as it consumed him more.

He was loosing it.

Biting her bottom lip against another sound, although screams burnt their way in the back of her throat. She clutched at her head as the madness whispered to her, its words promising something dark but rewarding.

She fought against it, her fingers intertwining through her hair. Her hands pulling at the silky locks, in an effort to fight the darkness that swam around her.

A flash of heat raced across her skin, trails of heat washing across her neck. She closed her eyes against the sensation, as the heat continued. In a caress of almost fingers lined with warmth the caress continued up her neck, before intertwining around her own hands.

Leaning into the sensation she felt something blossom in her chest, something warm and full of light. She felt a small smile pull at her lips as she leaned into the strong hand. She knew this hand, it was the hand who had saved her when they had shocked her.

Words blossomed in her mind, and she tilted her face up to the most beautiful of scents. A raging summer storm that rolled across a drought bound field. The taste of the sea as it crashed against the shore.

The scent washed over her as did words spoken into her mind, 'Shhh my Angel'.

With those words the scent crashed over her, overwhelming the fear. The fear was nothing in his hands, it fell from her and faded into the darkness.

Those hands continued running through her hair, tugging through those silky strands in a way that was familiar, so familiar. She could feel the memory on the edge of her senses but she couldn't reach it, didn't want to reach it.

She was content to sit here forever, his hands caressing her cheeks now. Those strong hands that promised both utter safety and wicked things cupped her cheeks. The sensation so real she leaned into them.

The first warmth she had felt in years was felt in those hands, the sensation of skin on skin was utterly captivating as she reached her hands up to slide over his.

The caress of the grass under her bare feet, the longer blades brushing at her bare ankles as her gown became a toy in the hands of the wind. Spinning away from her, dancing around her frame. The sun that showered her with a thousand touches, warmth blossoming over her skin. But the sun was nothing compared to the heat that came from the hands that held her face with the uttermost care.

That touch lit a warmth within her that outshone the sun itself, chassed away her chills and fears. Within his touch she felt strong, she could feel the strength humming beneath her skin. That strength brought a confidence that radiated through every part of her. That lit alight a spark that continued to light a fire within her.

She was strong, she could fight.

The memory ended and she opened her eyes to a cold and dark room. The memory of the field fading with every breath. She chased it, needed it to chase away the shadows. But it was gone, only the echo of the dream remained, but it lacked the spark of heat that had made it so brilliant.

It didn't have him. And he wasn't here. She sank forward her fingers intertwining around the sheets as a sob caught in her throat. He wasn't here. The thought raced through her mind on an endless circuit. Each turn was a whip that cracked against her. Weakened her a little more each time it hit.

The fear of those around her crashed around her once more, the bitter taste washing across her tongue and her senses. The bitterness chased away the last remainders of the summer storm that had blossomed through the room, through her.

She let her jaw clench against the bitter taste, the need to spit it out flitting through her mind. She tried to block out the fear, the madness that rang through the silent halls.

She was strong, she could fight.

The memory rang through her and she found herself sitting up, rolling her spine with a flicked or strength. She wasn't sure if she was finally loosing it, the madness that had plagued her, finally sinking in and taking hold. Or if this was all real and he was right.