Page 10 of A Love of Wrath and Rapture

I return to the darkness, looking out over the shambled remains of my physical prison. While I was kept in chains within the confines of my mind, I was literally bound here. The minerals crumble between my fingers, falling like dust to the rocky cavern floor.

“She will find me,” I say aloud, feeling the remains of my cell between my fingers.

I cannot see into her mind. The connection we formed is present but dormant.

But I know her. I’ve peered into her being.

Eventually, she will find me inside this cavern, and I will be able to show her my gratitude in earnest.

What does Evangeline covet? How much has her world changed in my absence?

“For now, I will wait.”

I stare out into the vast open world beyond this cavern, content that at least now I live in a prison of my own making, rather than one forced upon me.

And I wait for an inevitable event. I don’t know how long I will have to wait. But I know that compared to my time in exile, I will be seeing Evangeline very soon.

5

EVANGELINE

“Just a stupid superstition.”

I say it trying to convince myself, part of me knowing that I’m deluding myself with my safety, and part of me knowing that I’m deluding myself with my idle fantasies. In my mind, both are simultaneously true, as I try to understand the sense of foreboding that takes hold of my skeptical mind.

The warnings are nothing more than fairy tales. I know that. Renee should know that too.

They’re just idle stories designed to scare children, to keep them from wandering into the forests.

Yet some of the elders believe them truly. It’s proof that age does not always guarantee wisdom.

I’m only relieved that upon my return home, I am greeted not with idle stares or foreboding omens, but with everyday life. I never thought the mundane would seem so appealing.

It’s a life I’ve grown accustomed to, but not necessarily one I care for.

Still, at every stray utterance, my ears perk up.

A coarse, wintry chill blows through the village, causing me to shiver slightly. I’m glad to be back home, and not out in the unforgiving wilderness. Many have died from far more agreeable cold weather.

I know that I can trust Renee, or rather my gut tells me I can. She’d never go out of her way to harm me, right?

I remember her stern, disapproving gaze, and it makes me chuckle to myself. I probably shouldn’t mess with her, but there’s something so funny about how she reacts to every inconvenience—how utterly humorless she can be.

I shuffle through the settlement and project an air of confidence to contradict my growing unease, greeting Jeb with a smile. He’s always helped me out with work and is quick to offer a joke when he sees a frown on anybody’s face.

His head turns toward me, and he scowls.

My heart sinks suddenly.

It’s haunting. I never imagined his face could even form such an unpleasant expression.

Without elaborating, he turns his head the other way, huddling close to his wife Cecilia.

That’s weird.

In my mind, I delude myself again, thinking perhaps he’s just having an off day.

But I recognize that face. It isn’t stress etched into his features, it is loathing.

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