Elise stumbled back a step.
"how?" she whispered, her breath turning into smoke drifting on the wind.
"well...." He contemplated, "it's quite simple really, I was alive but now I am dead." He smiled wickedly with teeth like sharp thorns.
Elise trembled, "but—but how? How did you... die?", she whispered.
The grotesquely beautiful man tilted his head, "I don't think that's very polite of you since you haven't even asked for my name" he smiled mischievously.
Her face drained of colour at the sound of his voice, "I—um... what is your name?"
He took a step towards her, tiptoeing an invisible line, "my name is Ronan, but you should already know that, well.... You would of if I hadn't erased your memory"
There was nothing in Elise's head as she stared at that beautiful stranger, nothing in her head at all as she looked and looked trying to find even a shred of humanity in him.
"Believe me it was a good thing I took your memory, other-wise you would be living a very traumatic life" he continued, "I wouldn't dare wish that upon anyone—not even you"
"I don't un—understand" she stammered.
Ronan smiled wickedly, "you don't have to I can show you instead" he extended a hand for her to hold, the flesh as white as snow and not a scar or scratch to be seen, she marvelled at the way it shone in the moonlight.
"it is beautiful isn't it?" he said down to her, his voice little more than a whisper.
Elise was mesmerised by it, the way it reflected the light perfectly, the way it shone and sparkled like a million tiny diamonds, "it is—it truly it is" she whispered, suddenly breathless.
She reached for Ronan's hand—she was in a daze, in a hypnotic trance. And when her skin met his, when tan met moon white, when rough met silken the world slipped away into nothing.
Elise was at the edge of a clearing in the exact same forest looking at her five-year-old self, young Elise held tightly onto a beautiful woman's leg, calling out something she could not hear over the howling of the wind, the lady seemed to be waiting for someone.
Elise shivered not sure how she had gone back in time, she called out to the woman, but her voice was carried away on the wind.
"they can not hear or see you" a voice said from behind.
Elise whirled around to see Rowan half draped in darkness, she breathed out looked up at him.
"this is only a memory" Ronan said looking over at the young lady, and for a split-second Elise saw sadness slice across his face before it disappeared, "that lady is your mother, beautiful, isn't she?
Elise didn't know what to say as she looked over at the scene unfolding, "yes she is."
Sadness crashed through her, and she didn't know why but she continued to speak, "I only wished I could have known her longer to truly find out why"
There was a silence, even with the howling wind, there was a peace, "I'm sorry I took her away before you could get to know her" Ronan whispered.
Shock ran through Elise's body as she looked up at him, the sadness in his face—his eyes made him look older, she sighed through her nose "we can't change the past we just have to keep moving forward."
Ronan nodded his head slowly and sighed quietly, "sometimes I wish I could, but your right, there's nothing I can do now."
They both looked back towards the clearing, their mutual sadness cleaving away the ice in their hearts.
An eerie silence crept in, the wind quietened to a breeze blowing through the trees, the earth shuddered underneath their feet.
The woman turned around and breathed in deeply, as if she could smell the change—smell whoever approached. She shoved young Elise behind her, blocking her from sight.
Elise looked at her younger self and it was the look on her face that broke her, the scared helplessness in her eyes, the way she trembled with fear. Elise yelled out to the little girl, begging her to run, "run! Please run—please run, go now before it's too late!", she sobbed at the doom that was about to befall them.
No matter how hard she tried, no matter how hard she screamed, her pleas went unheard.
A solid weight landed on her shoulder and she looked over to see silent tears sparkle in Ronan's eyes as he gripped her shoulder, Elise placed her warm calloused hand on his and cried with him.
The trees parted as a figure walked into the clearing, his face in the shadows of his hood, only his wicked smile that offered a slow death was visible. Elise's breathing hitched as the figure lifted a hand and pulled back the hood, revealing a ruthless looking Ronan.
Elise turned to look at Ronan who stood behind her, Ronan only stared at his slightly younger self, grief shining in his crystal blue eyes.
She turned back toward the unfolding scene.
Younger Ronan walked towards Elise's mother, so slowly it seemed as if he was taunting her. He stopped less than a meter away, he towered over her—smiling, she only looked up with steely determination and spat in his face. Ronan didn't flinch but there was ice in his blue eyes, he wiped the spit away with the back of his had and took a step closer.
There was a darkness that surrounded him, sucking out the light—devouring it.
"hello Marcella", he snarled down at her.
He sniffed the air and looked over her shoulder to where young Elise was cowering, "it seems you have brought me a little something."
Marcella snarled, "don't you even think about putting your filthy hands on her!"
He opened his mouth into the shape of an 'O', "I would never dare!", Ronan's smile was as sly as a snake as he said, "anyway, I'm not the one with the filthy hands you are."
Marcella growled and lunged for him—she only grabbed air, she growled, it travelled though the ground and rang through every part of their bodies, Elise stopped breathing.
Marcella lunged again, this time she left her human skin behind.
Elise gasped at the grey wolf that now prowled towards Ronan, he only laughed and beckoned her with a finger.
She obliged him.
She ran forward so fast that her coat was nothing more than mist on the wind, Elise couldn't look away. But just as she lunged for him, he ducked and grabbed her underneath slamming her to the ground. The earth shuddered with the impact.
Elise gasped.
Marcella was back up and shaking the snow off her coat, she growled at Ronan and lunged again, blind fury surging her on.
Elise looked towards Ronan and there was tears in his eyes, she gripped his hand and looked back towards the clearing.
This wasn't going to end well, she already knew that, she knew she couldn't do anything to help so she only did what she could, she watched.
It was late into the afternoon, the sky was ablaze with glorious pinks and oranges, the wind had picked up, the snow twirled and spun like angelic dancers. It was something so beautiful that it took Elise's breath away, it made her forget where she was—the bloodshed that was to unfold, she just looked, and looked, unable to look away.
Growls and hisses floated towards her on the wind and it brought her back to reality—to the scene unfolding.
In the few minutes that had passed Marcella had been able to land a gruesome slash across Ronan's forearm, but one look towards Marcella and Elise knew that it would be over soon. Marcella had multiple slices across her face and sides, she was limping badly enough that you could tell her back leg was broken, there was a deeper gash slicing horizontally on her side that polled blood, staining the white snow red.
Elise reached, tears stained her eyes, but she couldn't look away.
She couldn't look away as Marcella growled furiously, limping.
She couldn't look away as Ronan closed the distance between them.
She couldn't look away as Ronan grabbed Marcella around the throat and threw her to the ground.
She couldn't look away as the sound of Marcella's whimper shattered her heart.
She couldn't look away as Marcella thrashed under Ronan's grip.
She couldn't look away as Ronan brought his mouth to her neck.
She wouldn't look away, not now, not when Elise was one of the only witnesses to tell her story—her death, how she fought to the end.
She didn't look away as Ronan ripped out her throat and the light in Marcella's eyes died along with her.
It was the end.
Elise's vision swam and her world tilted, that easily a life could be taken that easily someone could die, she began to involuntarily shake.
A strong arm grabbed her around the waist, she felt cold snow bite into her skin and saw a million stars blink down at her, then last of all she saw Ronan smile down at her and her world went black.