Don't Go Out in the Woods Tonight...

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That Night
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She is going to ... probably be really happy about this. I won't tell her about it. Just 'cause I'm helping that Mutt find her doesn't mean she has to know about it.

Not like she would believe me if I told her anyway.

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I wake up in the middle of night shaking. I am freezing. I kick off my sheet and walk to the window, and despite myself I smile.

Snow falls slowly and quietly to the ground. I breathe on the windowpane and watch my breath flood out of the glass.

I yawn and turn back to my bed. Hey, why is there no cover? I make the minor observation and touch the thin sheet. I twist around and walk out of my room and into the one across the hall.

Nothing.

No Lyris anywhere. I question his disappearance and decide to find him before I go back to bed. I go back to my room and grab the sheet, wrapping it around me before a move down the hall.

The house is a sort of quiet that you only hear in the snow. It as though the entire world has stopped and is holding its breath just to watch the flakes float down.

I stop at the bay window to watch for a moment before heading to the kitchen. Empty. The house is empty, except for me. Where is he?

Lyris has never not been in the house. What if he is... working on getting me home. NO! I shake my head, ridding it of that thought. That would be ... odd.

I can't sleep now, and I know it. The electric buzz that envelops me makes sleep impossible. Instead I sit on the step and watch the snowfall into the courtyard.

The hours go by I guess, because the ink black starts to glow grey. I lean my head again the wall and the snow drifts down in me pattern.

There is a swirl in the snow, suddenly Lyris open the door. He closes it behind him and shakes the snow off his wings. In his hand he grips my bed cover, which is dirty and soaking wet.

"What did you DO?" I leap up from the stairs and stare at him.

He jerks a little, his eyes darting from me to the cover in his hand. Finial he just shrugs and drops it on the floor, walking into the kitchen. His outstretched wings brush against the walls and gleam from the snow.

I reach out with one hand, touching the curve. Lyris jumps and spins around, facing me. I flinch back as he comes close to me, barely moving to cover the space between us.

He places his hands on my shoulders, and pauses. I look up at him and my mind runs in circles. Then, Lyris smiles at me, like he's accomplished something great and kisses me on the forehead.

"Be happy." He whispers to me.

"But... Um... What did you-" I start, but he interrupts me

"No, no. Don't talk.” He pulls me closer wrapping his arms around me. My spine shivers hard, trying to shake him off. He's cold as ice. He seems to realize this and lets go.

"If you want you can take my bed, "He says once more going to the kitchen, "or the comforter, to keep warm."

I look at him suspisiously. He's hiding something, some plot, some plan. He's got it up his sleeve and he isn’t going to show.

I growl and walk back up stairs. I storm into his room and stand there for a second. Suddenly my body feels to tired to move and the task of taking the bed cover back to my room seems impossible.

The sheets are cool and soft. I hadn't been in Lyris' room much, so the bed is new and cozy. I let the sheet wrapped around me fall in the ground as I slide under the covers.

Sleep drifted out to me, like the snow floats to the ground. I almost fall into slumber when a weight makes the bed shifts. I flinch, turning over and opening my eyes.

"No. Get out." I say to him as Lyris snakes under the covers.

"You're the one in my bed," he grumbles back, his voice thick with sleep.

I narrow my eyes and sit up, starting to move back to my own room. Lyris sits up fast, puts his arm around my shoulder and shoves me back on the pillows. He hovers over me, his eyes dripping with lust.

My heartbeat races, and my breathing is short. Lyris glares at me, his black eye gleaming. He sinks down over me, till his weight pins me to the mattresses. My body struggles to throw him off, but all that happens am I making myself exhausted.

"Stop,” I whisper, furiously, "Please"

"No", sorrow and delight and a number of things fill the one word.

I close my eyes, finally to weak to fight back. Lyris trails one hand down my side, running it lightly over my ribs. I quake like a leaf in the wind.

He chuckles, and then his weight is gone. I open my eyes and he is next to me, his arm wrapped across me.

My breathing becomes deep and my heart starts to slow. I look at him out of the corner of my eye and see him look back at me.

"What. Was. That. For?" The words have breathless spaces between them as I gasp for air.

"I want you, Katharine." His voice spoke volumes more than the words. "I want you so much."

"Well, you can not have me, I'm Not Yours." I try to sound firm, but my voice cracks and falters.

"You think I don't know that." He touches my cheek gently, his finger still cold.

"Then, if you know that, why am I still here?" I ask, propping myself up on my elbow, looking at him. It's a real question, I truly do not understand.

Lyris is silent, just watching me with his eyes. He pulls me closer, pulling me off balance. My body tips forward and I place my hand on his chest to push away from him, but he holds me tight.

We inches apart. His cold arms feel like the steel jaws of a trap, clamped down on me. I struggle with tears, blinking hard to hold them back.

Lyris kisses my cheek, gently. He rolls over, removing his arm, and gets out of bed. I watch him leave and close the door behind him, leaving me in solitude.

The sun is peeking through the window by the time I let sleep close my eyes.

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Later that Day -Day 12

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"You're a MONSTER! I hate you more and everything else combined! TAKE ME HOME!" I shout at of my lungs, walking into the kitchen.

Lyris looks up at me and his eyes are wide at my spontaneous yelling. I walk over to the cabinet and fling is open, bashing it against the wall. I grab a plate and throw it at him. He dodges and the plate shatters to the floor.

"HOLD STILL!" I scream and start flinging anything I can get my hands on.

And he does... I miss so many times, but I hit him more than once. The corner of square glass cup hits him above his right eye and he doubles over. I had run out of steam. And things to throw.

I crumple onto the floor and my hands shake violently. A plate that fell to the floor, and didn't get thrown, is lying in front of me. It was a mirror plate.

The broken shards reflect a million broken pieces on myself.

I slam my fists into the glass, pounding on it again and again. I feel nothing, I become numb. I open my hands and grind my flat palms into the already bloody glass.

In an instant, my arms are held in bounds by my sides, Lyris holds me still as I thrash. The ground disappears from under me. I hear the glass door to the courtyard open and then his arms disappear as well.

There is a splash and I am enveloped in frigid water. I open my eyes and I refuse to let my body bring me out of the water. Instead I just stare up through the water of the fishpond and through the thin ice.

Lyris reaches in, grabbing my arm he drags me up and out of the water. The soft crunch of snow is about the only thing I hear. Lyris shakes me and I refocus on him.

He is furious. Rage steams behind his eyes and makes his finger seem warm in the icy air. My eyes flutter, and I tip forward, the cold and adrenaline taking its toll.

Lyris scoops me up and brings me inside. I hear the glass on the floor tinkle as he walks over it, kicking it and stepping on it.

I feel like that glass. Perhaps I am glass. Not a tree or grass... I am glass.

I my eyes flutter again and I black out, the reflection from the broken mirror in my head.