Looking up, trembling, I saw the man on the house.
“Santa?” I coughed, watching. Brushing the snow from my face, I saw sparks.
“Ah, damn!” he yelled. “This is gonna take longer than I thought.”
“Santa?” I whispered.
But he couldn’t hear me. Closing my eyes, I t
ried again, but my voice didn’t reach him.
“Santa, you can give all my stuff away…help.”
“God, please I’ll be good…I’ll be more good...help.”
“Some...one…help.”
CALLIOPE—Present
“Calliope?”
I turned to see Ethan looking at me.
He frowned, his green eyes shifting to the spot I was just staring at. “Is there something else.”
“Yes, sorry, one more thing, give me a moment,” I muttered, walking down the aisle until I reached the altar. I stared at the figure of Christ.
Walking on to the altar, I grabbed the gold cross before stepping into the back, into the ambry. There, both of my sisters were hogtied like pigs for the slaughter.
“Which one?” Italo got up, putting down the book he was reading as he babysat.
I didn’t answer; instead, I walked over to Bellarosa. I looked over her tear and makeup-stained face, at her shaking body. Italo got up as she tried to back away, crying. Shaking her head at me…begging me. Lifting the cross like a bat.
“Mugh! Mgah! Mmm!” she screamed against her gag as I brought it down.
However, before it connected with the side of her face, I stopped. Inhaling deeply, flexing my fingers, relaxing, and taking a step back.
“Had she lasted a day, I would have really hurt you…both of you,” I whispered as I pushed back my rage. “But in the end, it just means she doesn’t love you that much, either. Which makes hurting you a waste of time, and this dress… I really like this dress.”
Kneeling down in front of her, I pulled the gag from her mouth. Still, she shook as she waited. Hunching over, she sobbed tirelessly.
“Shh…” I petted the side of her face, but she flinched. “Don’t worry, it’s over. So long as you both listen to everything I say from now on, we will all get along.”
Setting the cross in front of her, I stood up straighter, nodding for Italo to take them before leaving. When I came out, Ethan was waiting at the foot of the altar.
“Finished?” he questioned.
“Aren’t you going to ask me with what?”
“Would you tell me?”
I didn’t answer, instead stepping down to stand beside him. “Let’s go home.”
He nodded without further pushing, which considering how he’d been acting before, was odd, but I didn’t want to ask.
A lot, and yet nothing at all had happened today.
It felt like I was pretty much on autopilot for the rest of the day. I couldn’t focus, my mind kept going back to that winter. That Christmas. If you looked at my hands now, you wouldn’t notice the scars from the frostbite, but I could still feel it. Whenever the weather became cold, my knees, hands, and toes always ached. Like the memory was still fresh…because it was.