Winter

I couldn’t help but stare because this was not a normal burn. I mean yes there were flames coming from him but it looked like it was even more intense than normal flames. There was also no heat coming from those flames and to be honest that terrified me till deep in my bones because now I understood what he meant by paying the price for magic.

I wanted to help him but I didn’t know how, I mean it was too late to stop the fire that I caused. It did surprise me that I wasn’t feeling anything and I was also wondering if Niall was able to find me this time.

“Winter, please!” I just barely heard him scream my name in agony and it was weird to see him like this, he was panicking and I had to fight myself hard to not help him even I wanted to help him, I couldn’t. I turned away from him and started walking towards the opening in the forest when a force pulled me back with force, it made me fall down and I couldn’t help but compare this to a horror movie, I mean it had all the elements but there was no way I could allow myself to panic, I had to face whatever this was head on.

I had started this, with burning the gate and whatever it was that pulled me back now, I just had to keep my head in the game. The thing that made me a bit anxious is the fact that James had stopped screaming. I tried to turn my head in his direction and there he was on the ground, it was a bit saddening because he looked dead even though that wasn’t possible because then I wouldn’t be here as well.

I couldn’t help but check the surroundings just to see if Niall was anywhere near but he wasn’t, it was so quiet, I couldn’t even hear any birds or the wind, which was so strange because you would think that now that James has been unconscious that everything would turn back to normal but there was still magic in the air and there was nothing I could do to stop it. My eyes turned back to James and I couldn’t stop my feet from walking to him, it was like he was pulling me towards him.

I stopped just a few inches away from him and without my own will I kneeled down. “What are you doing James?” I whispered but even if I had screamed it at him, it wouldn’t work because my throat felt sore from the cold. I tried to get up again when his hand grabbed my arm, I was so startled that I felt the shock washing over me, the shock was even more surreal when I looked into his green eyes, which were holding his tears. I was shocked to the core because this man in front of me wasn’t the dark and twisted James, it was a kind man, who was hurt too many times.

“Help me.” Were the words he whispered to me and the sounded sincere. I really was at a loss now, how could I walk away now. “How?”

“Kill me please.”

“I can’t.”

“The link is broken, please just kill me.” He was choking on his own tears but I was frozen, what if he was speaking the truth and I could really kill him? But what if he was tricking me into believing him? But what if this was the only chance I had to get away from here and back to my own family.

My head was going to explode with doubt, I really didn’t want to die but what if that was meant to be, what if this was the only way that Niall and Quinn could live happily? “argh what do I do now?!” I mumbled, James still didn’t let go of me and somehow he still had strength left because he was digging his fingers into my arm. “Winter, please just kill me.” He was begging and crying by now and I felt my heartbeat speed up and I know I was falling for this act, there was no way I could let him live, while he was begging for his life.

“I don’t know how to end your life James, I don’t have any weapons.” I mumbled back when he suddenly pushed something in my hand, it was a knife, not a big one but it was enough to stab someone to death.

I looked around one more time, to make sure that Niall wasn’t near because there was no way that I could say goodbye to him if this was going to go wrong. I turned James on his back and climbed on top of him, which wasn’t easy as the cold had gone to my bones. James was now looking straight at me but he still looked like the kind man and his tears were still streaming. I know this could be a trick but what else could I do?

“Are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure, please do it without hesitation.” I nodded and said goodbye to Niall and Quinn in my head and that’s when I stabbed James in his heart, that’s when there was a darkness that I didn’t see coming, left James body in a viscious way, it even knocked me off of him and I hit a tree and the darkness that surrounded James was now hovering around me. I looked at the knife in my hand and saw that there was no blood on it, which was strange as I was sure that it went into his chest. The darkness took a form and it looked like a man silhouette, it was really disturbing and I was wondering how this was possible, how can stuff like this happen in the real world, it just didn’t make any sense but I couldn’t think straight as the fear was taking over my body.

“My poor Winter, did you really believe it would be so easy. I didn’t think you would believe me that easily.” James laughed and that’s when the darkness went back into him. “I did tell the truth though our bond has been broken by that little fire stunt you pulled.”

He pulled the knife out of my hands and came closer but I couldn’t move as I was pinned to the tree. “Are you going to kill me now James?”

“Maybe I should, seeing as you already said goodbye to Niall and your baby.”

“Just get it over then because I’m getting sick and tired of you talking bullshit.” I know I went too far with this because his eyes got even more dark and that’s when I felt the knife on my neck and I knew it wouldn’t be long now so I just closed my eyes and waited for him to finish it.

“Well this is ride, you should look at the person who is about to kill you.” I didn’t listen and just waited for him to make a move, when I felt something shift in the atmosphere and I wondered if he had felt that to, it was like the magic that was concealing this place was lifted. I opened my eyes and looked behind him when I saw Niall moving slowly towards us and he was actually holding a sword, which was weird but I was shocked when I recognised the sword, it was the one I had picked out for him as a wedding present.

I shifted my eyes back to James and just stared at him and the cut he had made on my neck made him smile and as he moved the knife towards my heart I knew it was just a matter of time to see who was going to be first. I had to stall for Niall. “James?”

“Yes?”

“I really want you to know that I’m really sorry for putting that spell on you and I’m sorry that you lost your way when you were younger, I wish that you could’ve had a normal life whilst growing up.” He kept smiling at me whilst pushing the knife a bit harder against my skin, I took a deep breath and touched his face gently. “I’m so sorry.” That when Niall took his chance and as he put the sword in his body, I felt the pain of the knife and everything went black.

Notes