It was all just a sick game. Hidden corridors, dual edged mirrors, and always being just far enough out of reach to help Edward. Her captor made sure she would never leave him again, the greatest vengeance he could have wrecked upon not just her, but her family as well. Sage knew she was a fool to have ever loved him.

When Sage was a child her mother's stories had turned the scissorhanded man of her past into a mystical legend, her own prince left to his castle. To the girl, he had always seemed more the beast to her mother the beauty. She thought of him as nearly supernatural when the snow fell and cast its magic spell on the town, purifying it of its past. But as magic fades from a child's heart, so did the stories of the girl's adolescence fall to the bottom of an old toy chest. She grew into popularity at school, following Kim's example, and forgot about her childhood fantasy. But with popularity came the forbidden fruit.

Sage had always been told by her mother never to go near the Keatons'. The girl had considered her mother cruel to decide to hate an entire family simply because of one man. She became friends with Jim, named after the dead uncle Kim now openly despised if only to make a point. The more she was warned to stay away from him the harder it became to resist temptation. She became Juliet and, trying to follow the script. Sage almost died at the hands of her Romeo. How could she have ignored the signs? The past between her mother and his uncle, Jim's shaky temper, and the fact that fate was bound to repeat itself. It wasn't till she had finished the police report from the blood stained sheets of the hospital bed that she wished once more for her beastly prince that brought the snow. And with Jim finally put behind bars she finally felt free to keep a promise her mother had made for her long ago.

Sage never forgot that night, August 1st, 1974. The crickets and cicadas singing her up the hill, with a backpack full of mementos and memories as an offering for nearly twenty years of loneliness. A full moon easily illuminated the cracked walls and ceilings of the mansion. And with her mother's instructions the girl was led to the attic. It had only seemed natural, with Edward facing the town silhouetted in the far window that he called out her mother's name. His tone was seemingly a whisper, desperately pleading for a life and love that was never his. It had been in that moment, that Sage understood why she was there.

"I've come as promised." She had started, "I'm her daughter."

She remembered the first time she had seen the mansion's gardens in the daylight. In contrast the grey and crumbling mansion, they were bright and chipper blossoms of reds and yellows, as if to try to make the poor, old building feel a bit better about its old age. The sculptures that Edward made were not only beautiful but insightful. The hand in the middle of the front entrance had always been the biggest and highest among them all. But it was also the small things, like the curling Chinese dragon, carved roses, and soaring birds flying out of twisting greenery.

When he worked in the summer, he always had a glimmer of a smile, his mind far away in the past. But in the winter, as his plants bent to the cold, he seemed much….sadder. The ice sculptures, told a different story. Sage eagerly awaited the many months till winter, after hearing about the angel he made for her mother all those years ago.

She was only mildly disappointed that Edward worked with dry ice and wasn't the magic maker of snow after all, but watching him work easily made up for it. When he worked on the ice, his frenzy almost seemed frightening at times. It seemed he chipped away at it to be rid of old demons. Still the work was beautiful. She even had the honor of seeing her mother dancing in one of his pieces. Kim had never been so graceful.

Sage herself had always preferred the dark, tumbling earth and the satisfaction of watching seeds turn into strong plants. It was her worst kept secret from her friends, considering the overgrown garden in her backyard. She often helped in Edward's garden, bringing more new and exotic plants to add to the collection of colors and the overwhelming lack of annuals, in her opinion. The Snapdragons by the basilisk topiary were always enough to make her smile even if she knew she would have to replant them. She ended up spending more time up by the mansion as her friends began to abandon her. She had "tainted" them and the school with her story and what Jim had done to her. They claimed she had faked everything just to get more attention, or that she deserved it for not being good enough for the man who resided in their local jail. She hated them and by her senior year, Sage saw no one, save for her family and Edward. She never showed anyone the scars on her legs, where she had drawn swirls and flowers with the pocket knife her father had given her to protect herself.

Edward eventually did see the scars by accident one day, a year after their first meeting while she dug holes for daises. Sage watched his face grow more worried then she'd ever seen and ended up explaining what had happened, everything from the first time Jim had sprained her wrist to end of the humiliating court case. She was sobbing by the time she finally explained what the scars weren't from Jim. That was the first time she watched the scissorhanded man's eyes grow dark with hatred. He told his story in return, a strange tint that added onto Kim's story.

Sage's mother didn't often speak of 'her Jim' by name, except to mention that he had died. And Sage could see how much pain it gave her to even think about it. She also once told her daughter the greatest torture she has ever endured was the sympathies she was given at the man's funeral, people saying how sorry they were and how proud they were that he had at least killed "the monster."

It was Edward who had elaborated on his death, looking like he would curl into himself as he admitted he had been the cause. Sage saw it as self-defense against a drunken man who had a gun and a killing intent. Perhaps violence was just in the genetics of the Keatons. All Sage knew was that she was glad to be rid of the man who made her life hell. She kept telling herself that when Jim finally got out of jail, the restraining order would keep him away, and hopefully keep him from going after her. But he had never been a man to take any insult to his pride lightly. And Sage had destroyed him.

September,1975

Sometimes, in the back of her mind, she regretted ever letting herself meet Edward the year before, solely because she wondered if he would have ever been safer alone.

Sage stood behind a mirrored glass wall. On the other side of the wall was a gas-light room. Jim gripped her tightly as they looked at the horrid scene before them, his fingers digging against her skin with delight. At the end of an old iron framed bed, Edward knelt his arms pulled tightly behind him against the frame of the bed. The belt around his neck also holding him against the frame forced him to painfully arch back, his barred check heaving rapidly. Tears flowed freely as the man nicknamed, the gentle blade paced back and forth, a knife in hand like a lion licking its claws before its dying meal. Sage turned around, facing her captor.

"Please don't do this. I swear I'll marry you. I won't ask to see him. Just let him be." But all she got was a smug grin.

"You choose this with your betrayal," and with that Jim threw the woman to the floor, and knocked twice on the wall. Aaron turned and bowed, before walking and squatting next to Edward, whispering in his ear. Sage's friend twisted in his bonds, the sound of scissors against metal and sound, resounding through the room, His eyes wide with terror as he begged. His torturer merely traced his jaw with the knife in hand, still whispering.

"Stop it...please!" Sage screamed, beating against the glass. It was too thick to break, that much she already knew. But maybe Aaron would listen and stop just long enough for her to try to convince Jim. And just for a moment he did pause looking angrily at the interruption to his play.

She turned and stood up slowly, body hunched asking, "What else can I give?"

"Your pain." And once again he knocked on the glass. Aaron grinned, and undid the belt connecting Edward's neck from the bed and then his arms. But he used the belt, like a leash dragging him upward to his feet, with his arms still bound behind his back. From the ceiling a short chain and hook hung, and Aaron pulled the buckle from the belt and attached it to the hook, leaving Edward to have to stay perfectly straight up if he didn't want to be further choked.

Aaron stepped forward, facing the mirrored wall. "I have a bit of performance art that I would like to show tonight," He turned and faced the scissorhanded man," and you shall be my perfect canvas and crowning glory to my gallery." He turned once more, gleefully throwing and catching his knife and ended up on the side of Edward, displaying him as he spoke,

"How I long to show your intricate nature, my pet " and he started tracing the knife up and down the other man's chest, while the bound man, tried to not move.

"To trace it for the world to see of your sweetness and sorrows," the lines became swirls, petals, and then thorns. Edward was letting out small sounds of pain, but was obviously holding back.

"You are too beautiful to leave your perfection unmarred." The swirls were twisted on, deeper and tighter, trails of blood forming and finally the man started screaming, wildly twisting away from the knife. Aaron gleefully took this as a signal to work more furiously as he proclaimed his last statement.

"You are my masterpiece, and your blood is the most magnificent paint."

Sage watched in horror, her hands on the glass, dry sobs wracking her chest.

"You…inhuman fuckers."

When the show was over and Aaron quickly unhooked Edward from the chain and forced him over to the bed and warned him not to move or else.

"Wouldn't want you ruining all my hard work," he followed before taking out a bottle of alcohol and a small towel. He heavily doused the towel and started running it over the fresh wounds. With his neck free, Edward's screams seemed that much more piercing. The woman covered her ears, sliding down the wall, and curling up on the floor.

"Please….stop this," she whispered. "I'm yours; I'll do whatever you want. Just make him stop."

Jim seemed to glide over picking the woman up. Sage didn't resist as he kissed her cheek.

"I'm glad you understand now. Let's go see the freak then." The woman's eyes widened. She had done this. "Please no. I don't want to." Her captor's grin only grew.

"Good." He proceeded to carry her to the room on the over side of the wall. Aaron silently wiped up the rest of the blood with a wet towel. On a small table next to the bed were a set of bandages. Jim put the woman, back on her feet, in the middle of the room Edward watched intently. Aaron got up and Jim nudged her towards the bed and forced her to sit in the chair next to the bed. She couldn't face him. This was all her fault.

"Darling, would you bandage the beast for us? I'm sure Aaron is tired from his performance, and I don't feel like tainting my hands right now." The sobs started up again, against her will. The fucking bastard. Her hands shook as she stood slowly to stand over the bed. She needed to do what her captor said, or else his 'gentle blade' would just come back. She dared to look at her friend's face. Tortured eyes filled with worry and torn skin stared back at her. But yet he was still trying to be strong for her knowing she had been watching. Sage loved him enough to throw her life away for his sake, but she didn't want to face the royal fuck-up that caused him to end up like this? She wasn't even sure she could bring herself to touch him right now, fearing she would only hurt him more.

But knowing there was no choice, she took a deep breath and cautiously undid the bindings around his wrists. The woman helped Edward sit up before sinking into her own thoughts. She grabbed one of rolls of bandages from the table and unraveled it. Slowly she wrapped it around his waist and slowly worked her way up, leaving it just light enough that it wouldn't get caught on the wounds as he healed, but tight enough to keep the pressure and help with the pain. She had done it to herself enough times back in high school. Neither of them said a thing, while Jim watched. Slowly but surely, four rolls later, she was done. Pushing the usual act, she quickly scooted away from the bed back towards the door.

"Ready to leave so soon, my love? I'm afraid we're not done here yet. "He walked across the room and grabbed her already bruised and bleeding arm and dragged her across the room.

"Lay on top of him." Sage looked at him incredulously, trying to walk towards the door again.

"Please…" but she knew he wouldn't listen.

"Don't you want to lay with your beast again? Cuddle up with the monster like he's human. Come on!" And this time, the woman felt her hair being grabbed and she was ungracefully dragged back to bed and thrown onto her friend's legs, while he had to quickly retract his hands, so she didn't get hurt.

"Go on, Sage, Hold his Hand!" and She felt one of her wrists being grabbed and dragged towards the cuffs at the top of the bed, her hand grazing over the back of Edward's hands. And Jim screwed the metal cuff around her wrist, before shoving the rest of her body on top of Edwards and then cuffing her other hand.

"And come on Freak, don't you want to comfort your beloved? Hold her, if you can." Pulling a length of chain and another cuff, Jim attached the cuff onto one of her friend's wrists and then used the chain to pull his arms so one was laying across her shoulder blades and the other resting on the small of her back.

"Ed, try not to hurt my fiancé tonight," he said before slamming the door shut. Sage tried lifting her body away from Edwards, trying to release the weight on his wounds, but felt the blades digging into her back.

"I'm fine," Edward finally said, after a minute of the woman holding herself up, blood now starting to flow freely down her back. "Please stop. I can handle this." Sage gritted her teeth and shook her head. She couldn't stand the thought of causing any more pain. The agony she felt was retribution for all she had done.

"Sage, stop… I don't want your blood on my hands." The man said his voice stiffening. The woman dropped from surprise, gaining a low moan of discomfort from her friend below her.

"Sorry!…sorry…..sorry, sorry, sorry…." Sage started saying. She felt blood seeping through the bandages already and through her shirt. She felt rivulets of blood flow down her back, and the wounds she had created, start to sting. She had to be careful knowing they were still watching. She let herself lay there, as helplessly as her dear friend beneath her.

"I miss the feel of the dirt underneath my nails and the smell of the blossoming roses," she finally spoke, not able to stand the silence anymore.

"Why can't we just go back to growing lilacs and pansies in the back garden?"

"The flowers are wilting."

"I know."

She wondered how long till her friend would take to blacken and meld with the dark tumbled earth of his memories, becoming the lifeless puppet Jim wanted. The woman felt like starlight trying to revive a withering bloom, knowing soon her useless light would fade into nothing.