*note this story will make you cry at then end*    *bad-fucking-omens the waitter of this one shot*

ALEC

I was working on fixing our fence — some boys from the village had broken it once again — when my sister appeared on the path to our family cottage. She was returning from the market in the village with Eve. The dark-haired girl had her arm linked with Jane’s and she was carrying a wicker basket covered with a faded blue cloth in the other. They were talking and laughing with each other. I smiled slightly as I finally looked back down at the fence.

Eve was our only friend in the village. She was the only one, other than Mother, who ever dared to come close to us and talk to us. Eve didn’t fear us the way the others did. She had always been kind, ever since she was a child. While the other children shied away from us, she walked up to us and asked us to play with her. Jane and I were wary at first — we thought it might be a trick — but we soon learned that she genuinely wanted to be our friend. Her mother seemed a bit unsure about letting her near us but her fears seemed to settle as time went on and nothing bad happened to Eve. Her father, on the other hand, got angry every time he saw his daughter near us. He always grabbed onto her arm and yanked her away roughly, yelling at her for disobeying him.

It was never enough to keep her away from us, though. It seemed that once she had decided that she was going to be our friend, she was never going to let us go. The other villagers began to shun Eve too, but she didn’t seem to care. She was still polite as ever to them and to Jane and I. She would even go to the market for us to buy from the people who refused to sell to us. Eve would bring us the items after she had taken her own purchases home. The only thing she ever asked for in return is for Jane to show her how she made cheese from the milk from the goat we owned.

I glanced up at the girls again as I heard their laughter. Eve was beautiful. She had long, black hair. She often kept tied back in a simple plait to keep it out of her way while she did her chores, like she had today, but I liked it far more when she let her hair be loose. A constellation of freckles crossed her nose and cheeks, but they were so faint that I had never noticed them until earlier this summer. Her eyes were my favorite part of her. They were golden brown surrounded by a ring of pale green. I had never seen anyone with eyes even sort of similar to hers.

She was beautiful, kind, and caring. She would make a wonderful wife for a very lucky man one day. My heart ached in my chest at that thought.

EVE I could see Jane watching me from the corner of my eye as we walked towards where she lived with her mother and twin brother. We had met up again in the village square where the market was and done our shopping together. I had offered to walk her back home when we were done. I never liked the idea of her walking all that way by herself — not when I knew what the village boys had done to her when she was alone before.

“Alec told me that he asked if he could court you,” Jane said finally. I glanced at her with wide eyes as we stopped in the middle of the dirt path and turned to face each other.

Her brother had asked to court me two days ago, when I had last seen the twins. I had hoped that he wouldn’t say anything to Jane, but I should have known that he would have confided in his twin.

“He said that you said no. Why?” she asked. “I know that you care for him. Is it because of what everyone thinks of us? That we are the devil’s children? That we are witches?”

“No, of course not,” I said. I was hurt that she would even think that. I looked down at the ground. I sighed and said, “Alec is your brother, and I’m your friend. . . . I thought that it would upset you.”

“You thought that it would upset me if my brother began courting the one girl who has ever been kind to us?”

I glanced up at the petite blonde girl. “You’re not upset?”

“I am, but only because you broke his heart when you said no.” I looked down again as my heart squeezed painfully. “Accept his offer, Eve. He truly loves you, and I know that you care for him too.”

“I do,” I whispered.

Jane linked her arm with mine and started pulling me alongside her as she began walking again.

“Good. Now come along and you can tell him when we get to my home,” she said sternly.

I simply smiled and let her lead me along the path. Jane had always been a very straightforward girl with a no-nonsense attitude. I loved that part of her personality, though it often got her in trouble. She wasn’t entirely obedient like the other girls in the village — she did what she wanted and they didn’t like that.

Alec was chopping wood near their cottage. I could hear the loud thunk of the axe splitting the logs from all the way down the path. When we reached the fence gate, I noticed that he was shirtless. I glanced away from his bare back quickly, feeling my face flush as I tried to keep back the sinful thoughts of what his muscles would feel like under my hands.

“Alec,” Jane called.

I could faintly see him move from the corner of my eye. He approached us and opened the gate and, when I looked up again, I saw that he had pulled on an off-white tunic. It clung to his body in some places from his sweat.

“Eve has something to tell you,” Jane said simply. She walked towards the cottage, then, leaving Alec and I alone in their yard.

He looked at me hesitantly. My heart squeezed again when I saw the sorrow in his eyes.

“Alec,” I began hesitantly, “the only reason I said no to you the other day is because I thought that a courtship between us would upset Jane, as I am her friend and you are her brother. . . . She said that you told her about asking me, and she told me that she approves of the two of us together.”

The brunette boy took a slow step closer to me. His bright blue eyes were hopeful. “What are you saying, Eve?”

“That I accept your offer, if you still wish to court me.”

A grin spread across his face. Alec replied, “Of course I do. . . . May I?”

I nodded. Alec took my hand gently in his. He leaned closer and brushed a lock of my hair from my face. He pressed his lips to my cheek softly. My eyes fluttered shut for a moment until he pulled away. I smiled with him, both of our faces flushing a light pink.

“I have to get back home before my brother does,” I told him. “But Father and Elijah are leaving for two days in the morning. Will you meet me in the meadow of wildflowers by midday tomorrow?”

Alec nodded eagerly. “Yes, of course.”

We stared at each other for a few moments, just smiling together as we enjoyed the moment. My heart was beating so loudly in my chest that I almost wondered if Alec could hear it.

Finally, he let go of my hand and said, “Be careful on your way home.”

“I will, I promise.”

ALEC I waited in the meadow for Eve. The sun was high in the sky, bathing the meadow in its light and making the wildflowers that filled the meadow practically glow. They were all different colors — white and blue and pink and yellow and red. Jane, Eve, and I had played in this meadow countless times as children.

I started to grow anxious when the sun passed it’s peak and Eve still hadn’t come to the meadow. What if something had happened to her? What if someone had found out that I was courting her? Surely they wouldn’t harm her, not when they could blame it all on me, like they always did.

Finally, Eve appeared on the overgrown path that led through the forest and I smiled at her. The path was an offshoot from the path that led from the village to my home.

As Eve walked closer, my heart was suddenly racing for an entirely different reason. My smile faded away.

A large, reddish-purple bruise covered her face from her right eye to her cheek. Her lip had been split open. More bruises, in the shape of large hands, were on her arms.

“Eve, what happened? Who did this to you?” I breathed, rushing to meet her as she stepped into the light. I took her hands in mine.

Tears filled her eyes and she shook her head. I gently drew her into my arms. She clung to me as she started crying against my shoulder. I held her, slowly stroking my hand along her long, dark hair.

She settled down enough to stop sobbing after a while. She turned her head so her cheek was resting against my chest. I carefully brushed her hair behind her ear and asked quietly again, “What happened?”

Eve sniffled. Her voice shook as she said, “Father’s gotten worse since Mother died. . . . Elijah got home before me last night, and he told Father when he came home. Father was so angry. . . . He grabbed my arms and yelled that I am ungrateful, that daughters must submit to their fathers and that I have been sinful because I hadn’t submitted.” Eve let out a quiet sob and I held her tighter. “He said that I needed to be punished. H-He started h-hitting m-me. . . . Elijah just watched. He just watched.”

She started crying again. I closed my eyes and just held her, trying to calm her, even as rage coiled in my stomach.

Her father was the butcher of the town. He had always been an awful man, according to Mother. He was rude and cruel and overbearing when it came to Eve and her mother. He wanted them to obey him completely, but he had never hit Eve before, as far as I knew.

“Eve,” I whispered. “Look at me, please.”

She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at me. I pressed my hand to her cheek, being careful to only barely lay my fingers on her skin. She winced very slightly and I whispered an apology. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate.

I felt the strange, tingling warmth that I always felt in my mind when I caused something to happen that I couldn’t explain rationally. Like always, it was only for a moment, faster than I could even blink.

Eve gasped and I quickly pulled away, opening my eyes.

“Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry–”

She shook her head frantically and grabbed my hand. She said, “No, Alec. The pain is gone. . . . You took the pain away.”

“It worked?”

Eve nodded, smiling slightly. I let out a relieved breath and smiled with her. She reached up to touch my cheek.

“Thank you, Alec. . . . You’ve always been so kind.”

I blushed, glancing down at our clasped hands. Eve took a small step closer and laid her head on my shoulder again. I put my arms around her and smiled as I buried my nose in her soft hair.

Eve and I continued to meet in secret in the meadow. Only Jane and Mother knew of our relationship, which was for the best. If the other villagers, or God forbid, her father or brother, found out that I was courting Eve, both of us would be in danger.

Her father was growing increasingly brutish and controlling. He wanted Eve to stay at home all the time, only to be allowed out to go to the market. He especially wanted her to stay away from me and Jane. She got in trouble with him any time the other villagers spotted the two girls together. Jane felt awful for it, which led to her staying away from Eve. I even attempted to keep more distance between us, even though no one ever saw us together — at least until I saw how it was hurting Eve.

We made a pact to meet every other day in the meadow at midday. Her father and brother would be busy at the butcher shop, and the villagers wouldn't question Eve for heading towards the river, which was just off the path that led to my home and the meadow. They would simply think that she was washing her family’s clothes.

We had been meeting in the meadow for almost a month now. We spent as much time as we dared together. Mostly, we talked the entire time, learning more about each other and falling even more in love. Sometimes, though, we would just sit or lay together in silence, content to just be close to each other. I think that for both of us, it was the only time we felt truly peaceful. We didn’t worry about anyone finding out that I was courting her or about our problems at home. We just focused on each other, and that was enough.

I turned my head to look at Eve. We were laying in the field of wildflowers, holding each other’s hands. Eve’s face was turned up towards the clear sky, her eyes closed. There was a hint of a smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth.

She was wearing another dark bruise on her face, this time along her chin. Every time she showed up with a new injury in the past month, I used my powers to take her pain away. I still wasn’t sure how I was able to do it — I had never been able to consciously control my powers — but I was glad that I could help Eve. She didn’t deserve what her father did to her.

“Alec?”

“Yes, my love?”

Eve smiled and turned to look at me, opening her eyes. She squeezed my hand as she asked, “Why did you and Jane and your mother never leave the village and go somewhere else? Where no one knows you?”

“I don’t know. I think Mother wanted to stay here in case our father ever returned. . . .”

She squeezed my hand again. “Is it something that you would consider?”

“Of course,” I said. Then I quickly added, “If you could come with us. I won’t leave you alone here.”

Eve looked up at the sky again. She bit her lip, clearly hesitant about whatever she wanted to say. A few moments later, she let her lip go with a sigh.

“Father wants to marry me off to Daniel, the blacksmith,” she whispered.

My heart stuttered in my chest at her words. I loved Eve and I knew she loved me just as much. I was naïve to think that I would ever be able to marry her, but I had hoped that my dreams would become a reality.

“Alec, I don’t want to marry him. He’s as cruel as Father,” Eve whispered. Her voice was thick with emotion and I could see the tears gathering in her eyes. My heart broke for both of us.

I whispered, “When?”

“By the end of the week,” she said. A tear rolled across her cheek as she turned to look at me. “I don’t know what to do. I love you, Alec. Please, help me.”

Her desperate plea tugged at my heart. I couldn’t let her be married off to the awful man, who was also seventeen years her senior. He was old enough to be her father. There had been whispers through the village that he had killed his first wife simply because their child was a girl, and stillborn.

“Marry me,” I said.

Her hazel eyes widened in surprise and she pushed herself up with her hands. I sat up beside her and repeated, “Marry me, and we can leave the village right after. No one will know where we have gone. You, me, Jane, and Mother can find somewhere else where no one knows us. We can have a good life together. I can take care of you.”

“Alec, are you sure?” she asked softly. “I don’t want you to put yourself in danger while trying to help me. I can find another way–”

“Eve, I love you,” I said. I reached up to rest my hand on her cheek. “I love you and I want to protect you. We can all escape this village and leave it far behind. We can be happy together. . . . We can start a family together.”

Eve rested her hand on her belly, as if she was imagining it swelling with our child. I looked down at her hand. I slowly reached out to rest my hand on top of hers.

We both looked up and just stared at each other for a few moments, small smiles growing on our lips with each moment that passed.

“I love you too, Alec. . . . I’ll marry you.”

We grinned at each other. I leaned close to kiss her forehead.

“Tomorrow. I will ask Mother and Jane to join us as our witnesses. We don’t need a priest. We just need witnesses to prove that we completed the vows.”

“Can we get married in the meadow?” Eve asked.

I smiled. “If that is what you wish.”

“Please,” she whispered. Eve reached up to touch my cheek as her smile grew. “I’m going to be your wife. . . .”

“And I’m going to be your husband,” I murmured happily. I rested my forehead against hers and we laughed softly together. “I love you, my sweet girl.”

“I love you too, Alec.”

EVE I snuck away to the meadow one final time, unseen by any of the villagers. I was wearing my nicest white dress, the one I only ever wore for church. I had covered it with Mother’s old shawl in case anyone had seen me, but I knew that no one had.

I grinned when I saw Alec waiting for me in the meadow. Jane and his mother, Esther, were standing a few feet behind him.

I rushed towards him. Alec caught me in his arms and we laughed together. He set me back on my feet after a moment. He tucked my hair behind my ear and we just stared at each other for a while.

“Father and Elijah are gone until midday tomorrow,” I told him. I leaned closer and whispered, “We can spend our wedding night together, and leave tomorrow before they return.”

Alec turned his head to look in my eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. We broke apart and he glanced over my shoulder. I turned, following his gaze.

Esther approached me with a soft smile on her kind face. She had Jane’s blonde hair, and the twins’ blue eyes. She gently pulled my shawl from my shoulders and folded it over her arms.

“You look beautiful, dear,” she murmured softly. “I am very happy that we are welcoming you into our family.”

“Thank you. I’m happy to join it.”

Esther’s smile grew. She stepped aside and Jane quickly took her place. My best friend grinned at me. She pulled her hands from behind her back and held up a crown of red poppies that had been weaved together. I smiled.

“I know how much you like the flowers,” Jane said, her cheeks flooded with color.

I hugged her tightly. “Thank you, Jane.”

She pulled back and stood on her toes to place the crown of flowers on my head. When she pulled back, she grinned at me.

Finally, I turned back to Alec. He took my hands in his when I stepped closer to him. He had a soft smile on his face as he looked at me.

“Are you ready, my love?” he asked quietly.

I nodded and we smiled at each other. His mother stepped up to stand to the side of us. She had handed my shawl to Jane and was now holding a long, faded blue ribbon. She took our clasped hands and raised them up to be level with our chests. She kept her hand on ours as she began to speak.

“Alec, Eve, these are the hands that will love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes — tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief racks your mind. These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times.”

Esther draped the ribbon over our hands.

“This ribbon will symbolize the binding promises you make to each other. . . . Alec, will you be Eve’s faithful partner for life?”

“I will,” Alec vowed, looking into my eyes. I could see his love for me so clearly that it made my heart flutter.

“Eve, will you be Alec’s faithful partner for life?”

“I will.”

Esther wrapped the ribbon around our hands once. “And so the first binding is made. . . . Alec, do you promise to love Eve without reservation?”

“I do.”

“Eve, do you promise to love Alec without reservation?”

“I do.”

“And so the second binding is made.” She wrapped the ribbon around our hands again. Alec squeezed my hand gently and I smiled at him.

“Alec, will you stand together with Eve in your times of joy and sorrow?”

“I will.”

“Eve, will you stand together with Alec in your times of joy and sorrow?”

“I will.”

She pulled the ribbon around our hands a third time. “And so the third binding is made.”

Tears were beginning to gather in my eyes as Esther asked, “Alec, will you stand by Eve in sickness and health, in plenty and in want?”

“I will.”

“Eve, will you stand by Alec in sickness and health, in plenty and want?”

“I will,” I said, my voice beginning to shake with my overwhelming emotions. Alec squeezed my hand again.

Esther looped the ribbon around our hands. “And so the fourth binding is made. . . . Alec, will you honor this woman?”

“I will.”

“Eve, will you honor this man?”

“I will.”

Alec’s mother tied the ribbon around our clasped hands for the fifth and final time. “And so the fifth binding is made. . . . The knots of this binding are not formed by this ribbon, but instead by your vows. Either of you may drop the ribbon, for as always, you hold in your own hands the making or breaking of this union.”

She removed the ribbon and said finally, “Alec, Eve, you are now man and wife. One flesh, one heart, one soul. Now and forever.”

Alec and I looked at each other, frozen in the moment until we finally leaned close and kissed each other for the first time. His lips were soft and warm and so incredibly gentle. Alec wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed his other hand to my cheek softly. I rested my hands on his waist.

We broke apart and smiled at each other.

“Husband,” I whispered.

“Wife.” Alec laughed softly.

He pulled his hand away from my cheek. I watched as Esther handed him a ring made of a dark grey metal. He slid it onto my fourth finger on my left hand, then kissed me again quickly.

When we broke apart, Jane pulled me into a hug.

“You’re my sister now,” she said excitedly. We laughed together and I kissed her cheek as I pulled away.

Esther drew me into her arms and pressed a motherly kiss to my hair. “I have another daughter now.”

I smiled as we pulled away from each other. Alec put his arm around my waist and drew me close to his side again. I leaned into him. He bent his head down to kiss my forehead.

“Come, my love,” he murmured.

We walked down the path towards his family cottage. I could faintly hear Esther and Jane walking a fair distance behind us, trying to give us some privacy.

When we reached the fence that surrounded their land, Alec lifted me up into his arms with one arm around my back and the other under my knees. I laughed as I put my arms around his neck, allowing him to carry me to the cottage and over the threshold.

Alec carried me to his room. He set me gently on the bed before he closed the door. He walked back over and knelt down in front of me. I took his face in my hands and leaned down to rest my forehead against his. He wrapped his fingers around my wrists as our eyes fluttered shut.

“I love you so much, Alec,” I whispered.

“I love you more than I could ever say, Eve.”

He pulled away slowly, letting his hands fall from my arms. He reached up and carefully took my crown of poppies off my head. He set it on the small wooden table beside the bed, then looked back at me.

“You are so beautiful,” Alec said. He smiled lovingly at me and I grinned back at him, feeling my face grow warm as I blushed.

Alec removed my shoes from my feet, setting them close to the door. He stood and held his hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up to my feet. He turned me around slowly to unlace the bodice of my dress. My breath caught in my throat when the dress loosened enough that it began to slip off of my shoulders.

A shiver ran through my body as Alec’s gentle fingers slowly helped the dress off my body. It fell to the floor in a pile around my feet. I carefully stepped out of it, pushing it aside with my foot gently. Alec ran his warm, calloused hands down my bare arms.

I turned around to face him again. Alec let his hands trail along my forearms, down to my hands. He kept his eyes on my face, simply linking our fingers together. I leaned close and pressed my lips to his.

I pulled my hands away from his. We kept kissing each other as I found the bottom hem of his shirt and started to lift it. Alec lifted his arms and we broke apart for only a moment to get his tunic over his head.

My hands trailed lightly across his muscled chest and stomach. Alec’s hands fell to my waist and he groaned softly against my mouth. My hands reached the top of his trousers a moment later.

Alec moved his lips from my own to my jaw, where he began to place soft little kisses as I unlaced his breeches. He moved one of his hands from my waist to help me push them down.

My husband pressed his hand to my cheek, gently turning my face towards his again. He kissed me fiercely as his arms curled around my waist. Alec pulled me against his chest. I gasped softly and placed my hands on his strong arms.

“Eve,” he breathed against my lips.

“Alec,” I whispered.

He gently guided me back towards the bed. I laid back on it and Alec crawled over me. I stared up at him, reaching up to gently brush his dark hair from his eyes. He leaned into my touch when my hand trailed down to rest against his cheek.

“Are you ready?” he asked quietly.

I nodded. “Yes.”

Alec leaned down to kiss me once again and my hand fell from his face to the bed. He reached up and linked our fingers together just as he slid into me.

ALEC I smiled as I watched my children run around our small yard. Our son, who had my brown hair and Eve’s hazel eyes, chased his twin, a little girl with her mother’s long, black hair and my blue eyes. They were both laughing loudly as they circled around Eve, who was hanging the laundry on the line to dry.

“Be careful around your mother,” I called to the children.

“We are, Father!” Micah and Anna shouted back. I sighed, though I smiled when I heard Eve’s gentle laughter.

I stood up from where I was working in our small garden. We grew some vegetables for our family, and we often had extra to sell at the market in the village we had moved to so long ago.

No one here knew Jane and I as the witch twins. They were as kind to us as we were to them. We had lied about why we showed up at their village — we said that our own village had burnt down shortly after Eve and I were married and we were looking for somewhere new to stay, along with my mother and sister. They didn’t question our story and were all incredibly welcoming to us. A few of the men had even helped me build our new home on the outskirts of the village. They hadn’t even asked for anything in return, other than some help in fixing up their own homes or farms, which I was glad to give.

Eve got with child soon after we had settled into our new life in the village. We were all overjoyed about the new addition we would soon welcome to our family. As her belly began to grow, Mother told us that she was sure that we would have twins. I had prayed every night that she was right. Eve gave birth in our home with the help of Mother and Jane, while I was banished to tend to our field for the day. I hadn’t been able to focus on my work — I was worried for Eve, especially since I could hear her screaming out in pain, and I was excited to finally meet my child. Finally, as the sun began to set, Jane was sent to collect me. She smiled at me and refused to answer any of my questions, other than saying that Eve and the baby were both fine. I rushed into the house to Eve’s side, quickly pressing my lips to her sweaty forehead. She smiled tiredly up at me and then looked down at the bundle in her arms.

“It’s a girl,” she had whispered. I followed her gaze and melted when I saw my beautiful daughter. She looked just like her mother. Hesitantly, I reached out and touched her soft cheek, tears brimming my eyes even as I grinned.

“Alec, would you like to hold your son?” I turned towards Mother with wide eyes. Sure enough, she was holding another small, blanket-wrapped baby in her arms. I nodded and she guided me to sit in the chair beside Eve’s bed. Once I was sitting, Mother carefully placed my son in my arms, pressing a kiss to my hair before she pulled away. I stared down at my son, my tears freely flowing down my face now. He was just as beautiful as his sister, though he looked more like me. He had his mother’s eyes.

Our twins were now six years old. They were very well-behaved and polite, though of course they still got into mischief the way all children do. Thankfully, they seemed not to have inherited the curse Jane and I suffered. Our entire family had agreed that the children would never know about our life before our new village. We hardly ever spoke of it ourselves, the memories still too painful, too horrifying.

Jane had lived with us until two years ago, when she had married Thomas, the man who had been courting her for the year before. They still lived in the village and their home was fairly close to ours. Thomas was the town’s baker and, when they married, Jane joined him in making bread and selling it in their bakery along the main road of the village. She was truly happy and she loved Thomas, as much as he loved her. They were even expecting their first child within the next few months.

I walked over towards my wife, wiping the dirt from my hands with a cloth. I threw it over my shoulder and reached out to rub my hand along Eve’s back gently as I stopped beside her. She leaned back against me and I pressed a kiss to her soft hair.

“They are careful around me, Alec,” she murmured. “You don’t have to worry so much.”

“I will always worry, my love,” I replied softly as I reached down to rest my hand against her swollen belly.

Eve shook her head at me and placed her hand over mine. She said, “I don’t think we are having twins again. I think it’s just one. I am so much smaller than I was last time.”

“I hope it’s another girl,” I said quietly. Eve laughed and I smiled. She wanted another boy.

Our twins ran over to us. Anna reached up to me. I pulled away from Eve to lift our daughter up into my arms while Micah grabbed onto his mother’s hand with both of his, grinning up at her. She smiled lovingly back at him and gently brushed his hair from his eyes.

“Mother, when is our new brother or sister coming?” he asked, pulling one of his hands away to gently touch her belly.

“Very soon, my love. Just another month,” Eve told him.

“Is the baby going to sleep in our room?” Anna asked.

“The baby is going to stay in your mother and father’s room,” my mother said as she walked out of our cottage. She was carrying another basket of clothes. I set Anna back on her feet and our twins ran off, laughing and chasing each other once again.

“Oh, I told you I would come back for that,” Eve said, reaching our to take the basket from Mother.

Mother moved the basket out of Eve’s reach and replied, “And I told you that you should be resting. You could have that little one at any moment!”

“It’s just hanging the laundry,” my wife said. “I feel so useless just sitting around.”

I pressed a kiss to her temple and murmured, “My love, you are with child and ready to give birth at any moment. I would very much prefer if you gave birth in our home instead of the field.”

Eve sighed and nodded after a moment. Micah skipped over to us, holding his hands behind his back.

“What have you got?” Eve asked with a smile.

He pulled his hands from behind his back and held up the wildflowers he picked. Eve grinned and carefully bent down to take them from him. She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, my love. Do you know what these flowers are called?”

“No,” he answered. “Flowers have names?”

“They do,” Eve replied.

“These are poppies,” I told him, a small smile on my face as I looked at the bright red flowers. Eve glanced at me and we shared a smile. I wondered if she too was remembering our wedding, where she had worn a crown of those same flowers on her head as we made our vows to each other.

I looked back at our son after a moment and said, “They are your mother’s favorite flower.”

Micah beamed proudly. He truly adored his mother, almost as much as I did. He turned and ran off again. Eve called after him, “Don’t pick them all or they won’t grow back!”

“Yes, Mother!”

We laughed together. Eve stood up straight again and leaned into my side. I smiled and reached up to pull her long hair away from her face. She smiled softly up at me.

“My sweet husband.”

“My beautiful wife.”

The sunlight that streamed in through the small window in my room crossed my face, making my eyes flutter open. I shifted slightly and quickly stilled when I felt a warm weight on my chest. I looked down and smiled sleepily when I saw my wife sleeping with her head on my chest.

I had been dreaming of our future together — a future that would start today when we finally left the village that had caused us so much pain. I could almost believe that yesterday had been a dream like the one I just had. It was hard to believe that Eve was now my wife. Never did I imagine that I would ever be able to kiss her, let alone get married to her. My heart fluttered in my chest as I realized that Eve was now mine forever.

I brushed Eve’s long, dark hair from her face. She groaned softly and her arm that she had draped across my chest tightened briefly before she relaxed again. Her eyes opened slowly a moment later.

“Good morning, wife,” I murmured.

She smiled tiredly and replied, “Good morning, husband. . . . I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I kissed her forehead. Eve curled closer to my side and nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I smiled and let my eyes fall shut again.

“Do we have to get up yet?” she asked.

“I think we can stay here for a while,” I murmured. “It’s just after dawn.”

She hummed, then sighed and whispered, “I could spend forever here in your arms.”

I smiled again. I lifted her chin gently with my finger and kissed her softly. Eve giggled and brushed her nose against mine.

“Mother! Alec!”

Eve and I both looked at each other worriedly when we heard Jane’s frantic voice.

“The villagers! They’re coming for us!”

For one horrifying moment while Jane’s words set in, we were frozen in place. Then, we quickly got up and began to pull on our clothes from last night.

“BURN THE WITCHES!”

Eve gasped, “Alec–”

“Run,” I said. I looked at her and saw that her beautiful eyes were shining with tears. “We must run, Eve. Run!”

I grabbed her hand and opened the door to my room. I pulled her along with me through our small cottage. I stopped only to grab the bow and quiver of arrows I used for hunting. Mother and Jane were already partway across the field of our home, headed towards the forest that laid north of our land.

I hoped that we could disappear in the forest and escape the villagers that were chasing us. Protecting Eve and Jane and Mother was my only focus now.

Eve gripped my hand tightly as we ran. I squeezed her hand even tighter as I forced us to run even faster. I refused to look behind me.

“We should have left last night,” Eve said, her voice breathless from running. “I’m sorry, Alec. I’m so sorry.”

“This is not your fault, my love.”

We were quickly catching up to Jane and Mother. We were only a few yards behind them. Jane was gripping Mother’s hand tightly, just as I was holding onto Eve.

I finally dared to look behind me. The crowd was closer than I hoped they were, though there was still a bit of distance between us. I let go of Eve’s hand, saying to her, “Follow Jane! I’m right behind you!”

I nocked an arrow, drawing back and quickly letting it fly towards the mob. Angry screams rang through the air when it landed near their feet. I turned and ran after the girls. I made my way back to Eve’s side quickly.

The image of the villagers holding their pitchforks and axes and knives in their hands was burned into my mind. My heart was pounding in my chest and blood was roaring through my ears.

Finally, we reached the edge of the forest, and Jane and Mother. I brushed quickly passed my family to hold back the branches that were in their way. I silently urged them to move quicker. I was faster because I knew this part of the forest. It was where I came to hunt for rabbits and deer. But Eve, Jane, and Mother kept tripping over tree roots and their dresses kept getting caught on fallen branches.

I nocked another arrow while they passed through a small clearing. The villagers sounded close again.

“We have to move faster,” I said, my voice quiet but urgent. “There’s a blind not far from here where we can hide until they pass.”

Jane and Eve nodded, but Mother only pushed them further ahead. “Go there, then.” Her eyes were watering.

I whispered, “No.”

My sister and my wife both rushed to my side. Jane gripped my arm tightly while Eve took my hand in hers, linking our fingers together.

“I am only slowing you down,” Mother said, shaking her head.

She moved quickly towards us. She wrapped me in her arms briefly, then pulled away to cup my face and press a kiss to my forehead. She gave me a quivering smile before moving to do the same with Jane. She even pulled Eve into her embrace and pressed a kiss to her hair.

“Mother, no,” Jane pleaded.

“Please come with us!” Eve begged.

“We can make it, Mother,” I said.

I couldn’t leave her behind. How could I? She was the woman who had taken care of and loved me and Jane, no matter what we had done. The woman who Jane looked so much like, with her golden hair and gentle face. The woman who had pushed me to tell Eve of my feelings for her and who had helped us get married in secret. I still needed her. Jane and Eve and I all needed her.

Mother looked over her should as the sound of the villagers grew ever closer. Branches snapped under their feet and their loud shouts echoed through the trees.

“No, we cannot, but you can. Go now, my loves, look after one another. I love you always.”

Her voice broke as tears began to run across her cheeks. Before any of us could react, Mother ran back, moving away from us and beginning to gather rocks in her arms.

Jane and Eve both tried to tug me away, but I was frozen watching Mother. She glanced back at us. Her eyes were frantic when she realized we still hadn’t moved. Mother screamed at us to go.

One of her stones hit the first villager square in the chest. He coughed and clutched at his chest, doubling over as he heaved for air. I nocked another arrow and drew it back, letting it loose as my mouth twisted into a snarl.

Jane and Eve were shouting for me to move, but I could barely even hear their words. I could feel it again — the strange tingling warmth in my mind. This time, it didn’t fade away quickly.

Almost absentmindedly, I kept nocking arrows and loosing them on the villagers who were reaching for us.

All I could see was Mother as she was knocked to the ground. She landed roughly on her elbows before being pushed onto her back. I screamed as the rocks she once held were now being thrown at her body.

Jane went down next. She had leapt forward to try and help Mother. Two bulky men that I recognized as farm hands that I worked with in the fields during harvest season tackled and pinned her to the ground. They struck her across the face so hard that her lip split open. Bright red blood poured down her face as her eyes fluttered.

Eve gripped my hand with all of her strength, but it still wasn’t enough to hold us together as the blacksmith that her father had betrothed her to grabbed her by the waist. I tried to keep a hold on her, but he yanked her away and forced her to the ground roughly. Eve cried out in pain.

I swung my bow and caught the blacksmith in the face. Only a second later, I was quickly forced to the ground beside my wife. They smashed my face into the dirt twice. My nose stung sharply, then began to throb as something hot and wet ran down into my mouth, making me choke.

“Eve! Jane!” I cried. My vision was blurry and starting to fade around the edges. I could feel pain echo through my ribs and legs from where I was sure the angry mob had stomped on my body.

I had failed my family. I hadn’t saved them. Mother was dead. Jane was — alive? She was slung across the shoulder of the man in front of me, her hands were bound and her body was limp, but her chest rose and fell as she breathed.

Eve alone seemed mostly unharmed. I couldn’t see any blood on her face. She was struggling against the tight hold the blacksmith had on her waist and arms. She was shouting something at him, but I could only make out a few words.

“No . . . we’re married . . . he’s my husband. . . .”

Two men hauled me up to my feet. I couldn’t get any purchase as they dragged me over the sticks and stones that covered the forest floor, my shoes sliding through something slick and wet. I could faintly make out the bright red patch that was all that was left of Mother as I was dragged past her. I hung my head in shame and grief, letting the darkness take me away.

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed was that every part of my body ached. It hurt to even take a breath. The skin around my mouth felt tight with the dried blood covering it.

Jane was shouting profanities and curses at the top of her lungs, rattling the bars of the cell holding her with the chain that held her shackles.

Tears came to my eyes as the image of Mother, bloodied and beaten, came back to me. She wasn’t Mother, not like that. I had failed in protecting her. Mother would never again sing as she cooked. I hummed those same melodies to myself to pass the time in the field. She would never patch up our clothes again, trying to explain the rules of sewing to a bored Jane, who simply didn’t have the patience for the precise activity. Never again would she push me towards Eve, promising that the sweet girl who had stolen my heart would love me as much as I loved her.

My heart ached even worse when I wondered what had happened to Eve. I hoped they would blame me alone for everything and declare her innocent. She didn’t deserve the same fate that awaited Jane and I.

How had our day started so perfectly, with a dream of the life we would have lived together and my wife sleeping in my arms, only to end with our village hunting us down and dragging us to our inevitable deaths?

Jane’s screaming made my ears ring. I couldn’t bring myself to speak or do anything other than just lie there. In my mind, though, I urged her on.

‘Curse them all, sister. Summon whatever power the devil has given us and bring nothing but destruction to this wretched place.’

I wasn’t sure how long I stayed frozen on the floor. The sun was still in the sky when I woke up. The stones under my body were uncomfortable. They began to turn my limbs numb. I was grateful for it. The needling feeling made the pain worse only for a moment before I was simply numb to every physical sensation. A sigh of relief escaped me and I closed my eyes, willing my mind to follow my body’s lead — to shut down and let everything go.

I could hear people moving outside. I knew what was coming, but I couldn’t bring myself to truly acknowledge it. Everyone knew what happened to witches, and they had claimed loudly and furiously in the forest that I had kidnapped and raped Eve. That would only add fuel to the fire.

I prayed the numbness would last.

“Alec?”

Jane’s voice was hoarse from her screaming. I stared up at the stone ceiling, my heart aching as my eyes stung with tears. She sounded so afraid, so sad, so not like Jane.

“Alec?”

“Forgive me, sister,” I said quietly.

“Alec,” Jane said sadly.

“I have failed you. I failed Eve and Mother. . . . I cannot save you.” My voice was thick, my words garbled slightly thanks to my crooked nose.

Jane understood, though. She always had. Silently, she turned onto her side and reached her hand through the bars of her cell, stretching her hand as far as she could reach towards me. I swallowed and shakily reached for her.

There was no pain anymore, only numbness. I couldn’t even feel her skin against mine. Still, I held her hand as tightly as I could. We remained silent, watching hopelessly as the sun began to set.

I was soon granted my wish — the numbness took over my entire being. The grief in my heart faded, along with everything else. My pyre was being built, I was marching ever closer to my death . . . but it didn’t matter. None of it mattered. I had been a good son, a good brother. I had even been a good husband for the one day I could claim the title.

The door to the jail slammed open. Jane’s grip on my hand tightened, but I could only stare blankly at the priest pointing his finger at us. The farm hands I had once worked with moved towards my cell.

“Get up, witch boy. Meet your reckoning.”

I didn’t move, just stared unblinkingly at them until they hauled me to my feet. There was no pain, no sensation at all. My mind and body had shut off entirely by now. I stumbled between them, listening as Jane thrashed and fought her own escorts behind me.

The bright light of the torches held by the villagers who hated us made me squint. I was not fearful when I saw the stake driven into the ground, surrounded by a platform made of logs and branches from the same forest we had tried to escape into. I didn’t feel if the rope around my wrists and legs was rough or not, only that it had no give.

They struck Jane across the face to stun her long enough to tie her to her own stake. She struggled viciously still, her eyes burning with rage as she bared her teeth at each and every villager. My eyes traced along her bruised and bloody face one last time, committing her image to memory before I turned to face the crowd. Had the whole village gathered? It certainly seemed like they had. My one solace was that I didn’t see Eve’s face in the crowd. At least she would not have to watch us burn.

“Alec,” Jane said. “Alec, look at me.”

I turned my head, my eyes finding hers one last time.

“I love you, Jane.”

“There is nothing to forgive, Alec,” she insisted. “This is not your fault. . . . I love you too.”

“The witch twins have plagued us for long enough!” the priest exclaimed. “Sickness has befallen our children! Our crops have failed! Diseases have riddled our livestock! And now, the devil boy has stolen one of our daughters, put her under a spell, and raped her!”

The screaming crowd parted. The blacksmith and Eve’s father dragged her forward easily, even as she struggled furiously against them.

“He didn’t hurt me!” she cried. “We were married! He’s my husband! I love him!”

Her father slapped her hard across her face. It was enough for the numbness to quickly fall away and for rage to replace it.

“Don’t touch her!” I yelled.

“Let her go!” Jane shouted with me.

“The devil boy has ruined my daughter!” her father said as he turned towards the crowd. Elijah took his father’s place in holding his sister’s other arm. She begged for him to help her, to let her go, but he wouldn’t even look at her.

“He has made her a bride of the devil! He has corrupted my faithful daughter and used her for his wicked schemes! She will never be free of his evil grip until her death!”

“NO!” I screamed. I struggled uselessly against the ropes that kept me tied to the stake. “NO! Let her go! She’s done nothing wrong! It was all me! It was me! She’s innocent! PLEASE!”

Her father ignored me as he returned to his original position behind Eve. He gripped her hair roughly and pulled her head back harshly as he brought a knife to her throat.

“Alec!” Eve cried.

I looked up into her eyes that I loved so much, my mouth open in abject horror. Tears were running down her cheeks. Her voice trembled as she begged, “Don’t look, Alec. Don’t watch this, please. Close your eyes, my love.”

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. I clenched my fists so tightly that I could feel my nails breaking through the skin of my palms.

“Her death will free her soul from the devil’s clutches,” her father said.

My body shook as she kept repeating, “Don’t look, don’t look, don’t–”

Her words cut off with a wet gurgle. I heard a sob leave Jane’s mouth as I tried to focus all of my energy into keeping my eyes shut the way Eve begged me to. But it was as if what little strength I had left had been drained suddenly. My eyes opened against my will.

The image of Eve — my wife, the love of my life — laying on the ground as her own blood pooled around her body was seared into my mind. Her father had callously slit her throat, as if she was just another animal being butchered in his shop.

I didn’t hear myself screaming. I didn’t realize that I was even making a sound until I felt the raspy, raw feeling in my throat.

I slumped back against the stake again. I begged the numbness to take me again, to take away the guilt and despair that surrounded my heart.

Nothing mattered anymore. I hadn’t saved Mother. I hadn’t saved Jane. I hadn’t even saved Eve — my sweet Eve, who had only ever been kind to everyone she ever met, who had only ever suffered for her kindness.

The numb feeling came back quickly. I was only vaguely aware of what was happening around me. My eyes were locked on Eve’s body. I couldn’t look away, no matter how much I wanted to.

“Burn the witches!”

The priest lifted his hands as he spoke, “For their crimes against our village, the crime of witchcraft and kidnapping and rape, we sentence these two devils to burn at the stake! May God free their souls from the wretched evil that consumes them!”

He tossed his torch down onto the branches at Jane’s feet. She screamed — a noise so soul-wrenching that I felt something flicker in my chest again.

More torches followed. Soon, the acrid smell of smoke filled my nose and choked my lungs.

Fear. Anger. Despair. Disgust. Misery. Guilt. They all returned, coiling in my stomach like an angry serpent.

“You’ll all burn in hell! Each and every one of you will burn in hell for this!” Jane screamed.

She struggled as the flames began to curl upwards. The dry kindling caught quickly, bringing our deaths closer and closer. I began to squirm, gritting my teeth. It was becoming unbearably warm. My eyes were burning and my lungs were heaving as I tried to breathe anything other than the thick, foul smelling, black smoke that curled around my body. I coughed and narrowed my eyes at the flames nearing my feet.

Jane’s screaming changed. Her angry, malice-filled words were quickly replaced by wordless agony and terror. I looked over to her in time to see the leather of her shoes catch and burn off as the flames rose higher, reddening and then charring her ankles. The fire soon caught her dress and began to creep up the fabric.

My eyes watered, my own feet now hot and growing hotter and hotter as the flames grew higher. The sensation was unbearable. I could feel my flesh burning and then melting away slowly as the fire burned through my skin and muscle until I was sure it had reached my bones.

I screamed. I tossed my head back against the wood, desperately trying to pull my feet away from the fire. The pain was excruciating. I felt sick, my mind fuzzy from the lack of air and the pain. I begged for it to end.

The fire reached my thighs.

The torture seemed eternal. I couldn’t remember not being in pain. I couldn’t even scream anymore — there was no air left in my lungs. I fell against the stake limply, my mind finally succumbing and going numb to everything one final time.

I knew this was the end, that I would soon cross into the next life. I prayed one last time, asking to see Eve and hold her in my arms again when I finally crossed over.

Black shadows flitted around my vision. My ears rang with the screams of the villagers. A half-mad laugh escaped me. Demons. It must be demons. Maybe we were the devil’s children after all and he had sent an army to destroy those who had killed us. I hoped he had. I thanked my father for the blissful numbness that had returned to me and stopped the pain.

The demons hovered over me now. They were so pale, shrouded in darkness with vivid red eyes that stared down at me. My eyes fell shut. I waited for the inevitable.

My eyes flew open in shock. Fire poured into my body through my throat. I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. My eyes searched for the fire that surely had to be consuming my body, but all I saw was darkness.

The fire built and built, rushing through my veins and spilling into my chest. It wrapped around my heart and flooded my arms and legs and fingers and toes until my whole body was encased in a burning more vicious than the pyre had ever been.

My vision began to fade again. I was trapped in this eternally burning body.

Was this hell?

When I woke again to this new life, I didn’t care about how Jane and I survived or what had happened to us. As soon as I knew that my sister was with me and safe, I demanded to see Eve. Nothing else mattered to me. I didn’t even care about soothing the burn in my throat. It was nothing compared to what I had suffered through already. I just wanted to see my wife one final time.

“The girl was the boy’s mate,” the brown-haired man, Marcus, said quietly to the leader, Aro. “Let him say goodbye to her, Aro.”

His words seemed to sway the black-haired man. He finally nodded and said, “Follow me.” Jane took my hand.

Aro led us back towards our village — or what remained of it. The houses and shops were all entirely or partially burnt down and charred. The only building that remained untouched was my family’s cottage.

Bodies of the dead villagers littered the square in the center of the village, where they had built our pyres. I walked past them all without a glance. After what they had done to my family, they deserved their gruesome and painful deaths.

My eyes were locked onto the body that I knew had to be Eve. Jane and I sank to our knees on either side of her when we reached her.

Her beautiful white dress that she had worn for our wedding was now ruined. It was covered in dirt and mud, torn from the branches it had snagged on in the forest, stained a dark red with her blood.

I hoped she hadn’t suffered for long. At the very least, she deserved a painless death.

“I want to bury her,” I whispered. “The others can all rot here, but she deserves a proper burial. She deserves to rest somewhere peaceful. Not here.”

“She does,” Jane agreed softly. “Where?”

“The meadow,” I said instantly.

My sister nodded. She murmured softly, “She liked the meadow.”

A sad smile flickered on my lips as I brushed Eve’s hair gently from her face and whispered, “She loved the wildflowers.”

I gathered Eve into my arms as gently and carefully as I could. I followed Jane to the path that led to the meadow.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Eve’s pale face. Her eyes were closed, which was a small mercy. I knew that I could never handle seeing her normally warm and bright eyes lifeless. I could almost imagine that she was simply sleeping, if it wasn’t for the deep, bloody cut in her throat. My chest tightened.

“Here?” Jane asked as she came to a stop in the very center of the meadow.

I just nodded, still not able to look away from Eve’s perfect face. She was still so very beautiful.

Jane began to dig into the dirt with her hands. I sat down in the flowers close by, cradling Eve’s limp body close to my chest. I reached up slowly and gently traced my finger along her cheek.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to her. Tears pooled in my eyes but they refused to fall. “You deserved so much better than what happened to you and I am so sorry. . . . I should have insisted that we leave that night. Then you and Mother would still be alive.

Jane whispered, “It’s not your fault, Alec.”

I shook my head. It was my fault. I would never forgive myself for not protecting my wife or my mother.

I bent my head down to murmur in Eve’s ear, “I love you so much. I will love you forever, my sweet Eve. . . . You will always be my wife, just as I will always be your husband. No other woman will ever hold my heart, my love. It belongs to you for eternity.”

“Alec.”

I finally looked up. Jane had finished digging a grave for Eve.

“Can I say goodbye?” she asked. Her eyes, now a bright, ruby red, were glassy with tears.

I nodded. Jane kneeled down in front of me and looked down at Eve. Her lip was trembling.

“You will always be my sister,” Jane whispered. “I love you, Eve. Thank you for being our friend, for being the only one not afraid of us. . . . I am so sorry that we caused you so much trouble. I hope you can forgive us. . . . We will never forget you. We will keep your memory alive. . . . Maybe one day, we will meet each other again.”

Jane leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Eve’s cheek. She stood and moved away to give me some privacy.

“I love you, Eve. I promise that we will be together again one day,” I said quietly. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, then gently kissed her lips one last time.

I stood and carefully dropped down into the grave. I delicately laid her on the ground. I brushed her hair away from her face. I just stared at her for a few moments before I climbed out of the grave. My now dead heart throbbed with pain as Jane and I began to cover Eve’s body with dirt.

If it wasn’t for Jane, I would beg Aro to kill me so that I could be with Eve again. But I couldn’t just abandon my sister. I knew Eve would understand that I couldn’t leave Jane all alone, but my heart still twisted painfully as if I was betraying my wife.

Jane and I planted flowers over Eve’s grave. We planted only her favorite of the wildflowers — bright red poppies.

We stood up again and looked down at her grave. Jane took my hand in hers.

“There is something I want to get from our home,” Jane murmured after a while. “Do you want to come with me?”

I nodded slowly. Reluctantly, we turned away from Eve’s grave and headed towards our cottage. Jane followed me into our home. She let go of my hand and I turned towards my room. I slowly approached the room and pushed the door open.

My newly heightened sense of smell instantly picked up on a scent that I instinctively knew was Eve’s. It faintly reminded me of the wildflowers in the meadow, mixed with the sweet scent of honey and something distinctly human.

I fell down to my knees beside the bed, where the scent was the strongest. I picked up the black knitted blanket that Eve and I had slept under together and brought it to my nose. I took a deep breath, savoring the way our human scents were mixed together.

My heart ached and tears gathered in my eyes again. Why couldn’t we have had more than just one night together? We had barely been married for a full day before we were ripped apart from each other and brought to our deaths.

I carefully folded the blanket up to take with me. I looked around the room and my eyes fell to the crown of wildflowers that Eve had worn as we were married. The bright red poppies had started to wilt.

I picked up the crown of poppies and set it gently on top of the blanket. I knew the flowers would soon wilt entirely and eventually fade away to nothingness, but I couldn’t bear to leave it behind.

I slowly stood up again and left my room. Jane was waiting outside near the door. She turned when I left the cottage and glanced down at what I had in my arms. Her expression saddened slightly. I saw that she had taken Mother’s blanket from her bed.

“Are you ready?” a gentle voice called.

We looked up to see Aro waiting patiently by the fence gate. Jane and I looked at each other. I took my sister’s hand and we looked back at Aro.

“Yes.”

Jane and I still regularly visited Eve’s grave as the centuries passed. I visited more than Jane, making sure that I visited my wife once a year at the very least. I tried to visit her three times a year — in the summer when we had been married and during her favorite times of the year — when the wildflowers bloomed in spring and in the middle of winter. Jane sometimes came with me in the spring or winter, but never in the summer. It was partly because she wanted me to have time alone with Eve, but also because she hated remembering our deaths.

I always spent an entire day laying in the meadow of wildflowers, right beside where we had buried Eve so long ago. Most times, I would talk to her about everything that had happened since I had last visited. Other times, I just sat in silence and tried to remember the moments I had spent with her. My human memories were so faded that it was hard to remember. For the longest time, I could only ever picture her the way I had seen her in my arms, with her body limp and her throat slit. I hated that was the only way I could remember her — bruised and bloody and broken.

After he had heard those thoughts, Aro gifted me a lifesize portrait of Eve. He explained that he could still see my human memories even though I no longer could. He had painted what he said seemed like my happiest memory of her.

Eve was standing in the meadow of wildflowers that came up to her knees. She was smiling softly, wearing a white dress and a crown of red poppies on her head. It was the night we had married each other.

The portrait was so realistic that when I first saw it, I fell to my knees in shock as tears filled my eyes. I felt almost as if I could reach out and touch her soft, warm skin and take her hand in mine.

I had the portrait hung in my room, close to the floor so that it seemed even more real. Often, I would simply sit in front of it and just stare at her. It wasn’t long before her portrait replaced the image of her dead body in my mind.

Aro had also helped me ensure that Eve’s meadow stayed untouched by human advancement, or any human interaction at all. With the Volturi’s money and power, her meadow and her grave were protected through the centuries. She had suffered too much in her life — her final resting place deserved to remain undisturbed.

Today was the first time I had visited her grave this year. Though the entire meadow was covered in a blanket of snow a couple inches deep, I still remembered exactly where she was buried. I would never be able to forget.

I knelt down beside her grave. I looked down at the ground, a small, sad smile flickering across my lips when I saw a small, faded red poppy just barely peeking out from beneath the snow. I reached out, gently brushing the snow from the brittle petals.

“Hello again, my love,” I murmured. “I thought I might finally join you in the afterlife a few days ago. We encountered a newborn that can block the gifts that Jane and I have. If we had fought them, I would have died. . . . I almost wish we had, just so I could be with you again. It’s been so long since I’ve held you, since I’ve heard your sweet voice in my ear, since I’ve felt your hand in mine. . . . I am sorry for making you wait so long for me, my love. I can only hope that you understand my reasons. I think you would.”

I brushed my finger along the petal of the poppy I uncovered. I was careful enough that the flower didn’t crumble under my touch. I smiled sadly again. I sighed and laid back on the ground. I stared up at the cloudy sky, watching the snowflakes that fell towards the ground.

“One day, my love, we will be reunited,” I promised, “and I will never let you go ever again.”