"Black frost. The ground is hard, the air tastes bitter. Your stars cluster in lull signs." -Georg Traki
***
As he gets closer, the stranger becomes majorly less intimidating. The knife I thought was in his hand was actually his hat (that proves how good my eyesight is).
He stops a few feet from us. By now Jack and I are both standing; my staff is ready to freeze the guy's balls off, and I can see Jack has produced a dagger of her own from somewhere.
"Hey fellas," the stranger says. He looks younger than both of us, maybe fifteen. His hair is red and he's clad in a green outfit that honestly makes him look like an elf a little bit. The hat in his hand has a feather in it, which must've been what I thought was the knife.
"Hi," I respond uneasily, still not sure why he's taking any interest in us. "Can we help you?"
"I saw you guys from the village. It's rare that we get visitors; I just got excited; sorry if I scared you," he says. "I'm Peter."
"I'm Jack." I extend my hand to shake his, and I can tell he tries to restrain from pulling back at the cold of it.
"I'm Jack, too," Jagalan says as she takes his hand. "And you look extremely familiar to me."
Peter blushes. "Yeah, we went to school together. I was a grade below you."
Jagalan tilts her head, examining him carefully. "Oh yeah! You're the one that wrote that Valentine's Day poem for me!"
Peter chuckles, and I glance between them, confused as hell. "I had a crush on you. But I'm over it."
Jagalan smiles softly at him, and I can't help but feel a shot of jealousy. Sure he's just a kid and all but still.
"What are you guys doing?" Peter asks. "I mean, what brought you out here in the middle of nowhere?"
"We're kinda on an adventure," I say, giving Jagalan a look that says we shouldn't tell him anything.
Peter sighs, moving his gaze to the sky. "I used to go on adventures all the time. Do you guys need a place to stay tonight? I have a guest room."
"Do you live by yourself?" I ask. Something about this guy makes me feel like he's not from here. Just an aura comes off him that seems preternatural.
"No, my parents are out of town for the weekend," Peter says uneasily, scratching the back of his neck like it's a nervous habit.
"If you wouldn't mind, that'd be great!" Jagalan says. "We'd only stay for tonight."
"Great! I hate being alone," Peter confesses as he guides us into the little village.
Before we enter Peter's little house, I pull Jagalan aside for a word.
"Is this guy, like, trustworthy?"
"Don't worry Jack, he's completely harmless. I went to school with him for a little; he's really nice. We don't have to tell him anything."
I sigh, still unsure. "Doesn't he seem a little...alien to you?"
"He's always seemed that way," she says. "Just trust me when I say we'll be safe, okay?"
She starts to walk inside, but I catch her arm. "What if I lose it?"
"Then I'll take you away from him, calm you down, and claim you have anger issues or something." She pecks my lips once. "It'll be okay."
I'm still unsure.
"Do you trust me, Jack?"
I nod.
"Then trust me." She pulls me inside where Peter is waiting for us in the hall. He shows us out bedroom, apologizing about only having one bed. I assure him it's fine, and Jagalan agrees.
"I'll start some dinner for us," Peter says cheerfully. "You guys make yourself at home."
"See?" Jagalan says once he's gone. "Completely safe."
I just hug her, still not entirely positive about this. Peter calls us in for dinner, and I let her go, promising to be in momentarily. Once she's gone I take a deep breath and tell myself I'm being ridiculous about all this and start for the kitchen myself.
I'm not even out the door when it feels like someone's shot me. I fall to my knees and know what's happening. Gripping the door frame to help myself up, I blink until my eyes stop watering and start looking for those goddamn moon flowers.
I have to destroy them. I can't be cured. I find them easily and stare at them with hate. I freeze one of them until it shatters like glass, and then reach for another one.
Before I can start to destroy this one, the little boy comes back.
"Jack? Are you okay?" he asks. I turn to him with bloodlust, intending to rip his little fingers off and feed them to the sun as a sacrifice. I lunge for him and he scrambles away, but I don't run after him, he's not that important. I need to finish getting rid of these poisons.
"Jack!" Now Jagalan enters the room.
"Get away from me!" I shout, my voice deeper and huskier than ever.
"You can't get rid of those! We need them for your potion!"
"I don't want to be cured you stupid girl! Leave!"
She doesn't leave, and I know she's about to try to calm me down. I slash at her with my talons across her chest and she falls to her knees, clutching her bleeding chest. I don't even care.
Peter comes back in the room, armed with a real dagger, and edges towards me carefully.
"J-Jack, put the flower down."
I do, only to go after him. As I reach for his head he hits the side of my face with the hilt of the dagger. I fall and see stars.
***
When I wake up I'm fine but alone. I stumble to the kitchen, and Jagalan is there, tending to her own wounds near her shoulder where I'd slashed her.
Tears well in my eyes immediately. I'd never hurt her like that before. She sees me in the doorway and smiles at me softly, a smile that says 'I forgive you'. I take the rag she's using to sop up her blood and do it for her carefully. She watches my eyes as I do so, and I'm crying.
"Jack it's alright," she promises, wiping my tears away. "Really, I promise."
I finish wiping the blood off her and wrap her up in the gauze I find the counter, lifting her shirt up over the wound.
She places her warm hands on my cheeks and talks to me, but I can't focus on what she's saying. I know she doesn't blame me, but that doesn't mean I don't blame myself.
C'mon Jack, you're better than this. Be strong; you're fine. You two will fix this and all will be okay.
Jagalan is still talking and I can tell she's about to cry, so I kiss her to stop the tears and words.
"Where's Peter?" I ask as I pull back.
"In bed," she says. "I told him to go to sleep, and that we'd be gone before he woke up."
"Did I-did I hurt him?"
Jagalan shakes her head. "He's fine."
I see my reflection in the mirror behind her. There's a bruise on the side of my face, probably from where Peter hit me.
"We're going to fix you. I promise with all my heart."
I nod, more to myself than her, because I'm sure she's right.
"We'll fix me."
When we wake up the next morning, Peter is gone from the scene. He left us a note:
Off to my real home miles away. We'll meet again, Jacks.