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

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Next Morning, Day Fourteen
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I wake up and just lay in bed, staring at the wall in front of me. Lyris breathes soft and deep in his sleep behind me.

His arm wraps around my middle like he is holding a teddy bear. I'm not your freakin' teddy. I roll my eyes, knowing that if he can hear my thoughts, he doesn't care.

Almost as if on cue, he tightens his grip around me. I close my eyes and try to ignore it. Which is kinda hard when his entire body shapes to mine like a puzzle piece and he's cold as ice. Hard to ignore.

I roll my eyes and shift around, making myself more comfortable. I let out a sigh and decide to get up. I sit up and Lyris lets me slide out of bed. After I'm out of the room, I let out a sigh of relief.

The third stair from the bottom squeaks gentle as I step down onto it. It shatters the silence, but is quickly muffled by the quiet of the house. The snow had finally stopped falling and had piled high up against the glass of the door.

The rug is cold against my feet as I move to the kitchen. I pull open the cabinet and set a surviving cup on the counter. I stare at it, quietly contemplating shards of glass.

I shakes my head a little and pull out some orange juice from the frig. I take my cup, and after closing the door to the frig, I sit down and quietly drink from the glass.

Two weeks. It feels longer... I think to myself before going to the sliding glass door, with my cup in hand. I gaze at the white landscape, it's unified perfection.

"It's pretty, isn't it."

I turn, spotting Lyris sitting on the landing, staring out the window. He doesn't turn to me, his black eyes only scanning the snow.

"All that perfection, nothing out of place or sticking out." He whispers, "It's almost sickening."

He sneers and turns to go back upstairs. I watch him, and he stops and looks at me. He smiles. It's a sorta sad smile.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" I asks, off hand

He just shrugs and goes back up stairs. Hmm... I wonder. I finish my orange juice and put the glass in the sink.

I sit back down on the stairs and watch as some snow swirls around in the breeze. The bare branches of the oak tree shake gently.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see snow fall in clumps from the courtyard wall. I look and can't believe it.

Ghost sits quietly on the top of the fifteen foot wall.

Ghost?! WHAT!?!

I throw the glass door open and run out into the yard, my bare feet burn from the snow. Ghost jumps down and greets me.

Tears slip down my face as I bury my face in his fur. My freedom almost seems embedded in the softness of it.

"I think I sense some favoritism here..."

I spin around and Lyris stands with a small smile on his face. Not so much a smirk, just a sad smile, like he knows something.

"I wanna go home." I whisper, my fingers digging into Ghost's fur.

"Then go..." Lyris walks over to the locked gate of the courtyard. With a swiping motion of his arm, he opens it wide.

I stand and walk slowly towards the gate. Ghost follows behind, watching Lyris, who is standing by the gate.

I stop and look at him when I'm next to him. He swipes his arms out and curls it around me, pulling me close to his chest. He kisses my cheek and hugs me.

"You're funny. Trying to leave in your pajamas." He chuckles into my hair. "Come back inside and I'll get you a coat. And maybe some shoes."

I bite my bottom lip, thinking it over. Ghost presses against my leg, the heat from him burning into my body and reminding me how cold it is.

"Okay." My words slip into the icy air.

Lyris picks me up, startling me, and carries me, bridal style, into the house. I look over his shoulder at the gate; it swings freely in the breeze.

When we get into the house, I am shaking uncontrollably from the cold. Ghost stays beside me and Lyris seems to ignore him.

"W-W-When do y-y-you think-k-k that T-t-troy is-s-s com-m-ming?" I shiver through the words. I watch Lyris move around the kitchen while I sit on one of the dining room chairs.

"Soon. Maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight." He says, wrapping a blanket around me, gently.

He becomes silent and boils water. I see him stare out the window over the sink. His face is still, and calm. The kettle whistles, shattering the silence. He brews tea and pours it into a surviving mug.

He picks me up, sits down in the chair, and then settles me in his lap. For the first time...

"You're warm." I look over my shoulder at him.

" 'Cause my heart isn't stone anymore." He smirks at his joke, but something in his eyes is gentler.

I shift a little and look at him, really, for the first time. The whole time I had only seen him as a monster. A monster with black wings, black eyes and a black heart.

Instead, his eyes are a deep brown with green stemming from the outer ring. Lyris had his wings unfolded and they aren't half black leather with cruel talons. The dark purple feathers dwindle and grow thin around the exposed bones.

I look up at his eyes again. He returns my gaze, calmly letting my mind fly in all directions. I set down the mug of tea, my hands warm finally.

"What did you look like as an Angel?" I ask him.

"Green eyes, dove Grey wings." He answers, "Fully feathered, dove Grey wings."

"What did you do?"... ..." I stole someone's heart."... ..."Who's?"... ..."A guardian angel I knew; I stole the heart of the person he was watching."

"Literally?" I ask."Like, did you really steal the heart muscle of a human being?"

Lyris raises an eyebrow at me and shakes his head, no. He shifts me in his arms, making me more comfortable. Ghost sniffs at his arm and then lays down beside the chair, propping his head onto his paws.

"When I was an Angel, uh... this guardian angel misused his abilities and forced me break my promise to the person I was suppose to guard. I hated him for that."

His eyes space out, and I see his mind transport him to the past, almost like he is reliving that moment of betrayal over and over again.

"So, in a fit of rage and clouded judgment, I toyed with the emotions of his person and gave her heart to another, who I know would do her harm. I was thrown from Heaven because I was jealous, and prideful; I acted in hateful spite for another. The conditions of my return are -"

"Was he punished too?"

"What?"

I look up at Lyris, his brown eyes refocusing on the present. He looks at me and I feel the muscles in his arms tighten his grip around me.

"The angel that misused his powers... did he Fall, too?" I ask, trying to understand this whole thing.

Lyris smiles at me, a sweet warm smile. "Yes. He was. Still is too, I think he's serving out the conditions of his return in the United States as well."

"Conditions of return?" I look up at him, the unasked question in my eyes. What are yours? Is that why I'm here?

"I think... I think it's too early in the morning to go over this. Let's go back to bed." He sets me on the ground and we walk up stairs together. Ghost walks close by my side.

Lyris and I curl around each other, and I surprise myself with the amount I hate that no longer dwells inside me.

"Lyris...why did you always hurt me?" I ask into the dark room.

The silence is so heavy, I don't think he'll answer. Then a deep sigh lifts the silence and his fingers touch my own.

"Because I was stupid, and didn't know any better. ... ... ... Please, someday in the future" he whispers, 'Forgive me, maybe."

I open my mouth to speak, he places his finger on my lips, halting my speech. I nod, showing him I won't answer. His fingers move away and he pulls me closer to him.

I feel sleep tug on me and I willingly drift into it.