I think that maybe, possibly, he cares about me. But I’m also certain I’ll find a way to ruin it. Just give me time.

This town was built on revenge,” I say. “And it’s never made anything better or right.

We are safe in here, I want to tell her. But that would imply we aren’t safe out there, in the forest, in the mountains, in the dark. But the truth is: I don’t know anymore.

Penance is a long, unforgiving thing. It endures, for without it, the past is forgotten.

We wait for death. We hold our breath. We know it’s coming, and still we flinch when it claws at our throats and pulls us under.

The sunlight catches his eyes, making the dark green seem like pieces of emerald glass, an entire world contained within them.

It’s like a fairytale suspended in time-the princess forgotten, the hero eaten whole by a noble Fir goblin. The story ended, but no one remembered to burn the haunted forest to the ground.

No one sees that I have just as many wounds as everyone else. That I too am a little broken.

They have eternity. Or even if it’s just one life, one long, singular life – that’s enough.

I thought I wanted to be alone, that I was brave and strong and didn’t need a single thing from anyone. But now I’m not so sure.