From source D (2 weeks before)
Chapter one: the girl
Constance had never been one for talking, such as was her way. The menial subjects on the lips of the passers by snagged at her mind-momentarily occupying her thoughts- until her interest dulled and she thought no more. Beside her, Rue followed in suite. However, her mind was not- as where many- on the everyday hubbub of village live but on her regret in not picking a more talkative employer. Rue was slim, tall and towered over Constance, squinting at the wind, a confused frown playing her thick lips. Now and again, Rue dropped- in to what was becoming an every fading conversation- a few comments though most -if not all- where carried away by the wind.
"COLD OUT" Rue exclaimed. No words reached the girls lips instead; Rue was fixed with a sarcastic no way stare for stating the bleeding obvious. A man watched them.
He loved her. Constance was a haughty, temperamental and cynical woman yes, but capable of deep and strong affection. Was she? Yes, he was sure. But even as he watched her, her flawless olive skin, her burnished hazel eyes, he could see past the mask. Struggling but still seeing…Long curly locks of dark brown hair hung loose down her back, grazing her tailbone as she walked. And it was something about her lips, like a fresh wound. How he would like to…
STOP! He smacked his forehead and sighed into his hands. He had fallen for it again. It was just typical him wasn't it! To develop feelings towards…who. A married woman. God this was confusing. He hardly knew anything of her-but her fiery temper- not even a name.
The closer you got to Glinnhenn the sicker the trees looked, the browner the grasses, the blacker the river. Its streets where narrow, its buildings haunched, their windows squinting. Home for some unlucky sole. Home for the girl with the green eyes.
She pressed her temple with her hand as another headache ricocheted round her head. She staggered her shadows flickering in the candlelight her jade eyes flashing as the light caught them. A man rushed over and caught her. he had grey eyes his skin pale and mud flecked . He had chiselled features his high cheek bones prominent, his scraggy arms holding her adoringly. She shot him a glance and his lips curled into a smile
. He kissed her once and steadied her on her feet. "you ok?"
"Im fine peter"
He looked ate her accusingly "don't lie to me"
"Im not a bleeding imbecile peter. You can't just fix things with a kiss don't you understand" she shouted. There was silence. He hung his head the teeming with anger but still withholding. Still…
"I came back so I could provide for our family". He cried his face mud smeared and red. Glassy blood shot eyes stared up at her. She took his hands and pulled him in so that she could hear his heart beating, feel his warmth
"But they WILL find you and when they do…"
He pushed her away and screamed "I BLEEDING KNOW IM A DESERTER. THEY WILL KILL ME"
A baby's wail filled the air
"I did it for you," he whispered and she walked away.
She was pretty.
Her hair was a rich shade of mahogany. It flowed in waves to adorn her glowing, porcelain skin. Her eyes, framed by long lashes, were a vivid, wooden brown and seemed to brighten the world. A straight nose, full lips - she seemed the picture of perfection. Had she smiled, the world would sigh with contentment. Had she laughed, the world would laugh with her. And had she wept, the whole world would want to comfort her.
But crying? She was above that sort of thing. She sighed and her husband clung to her pressing his chest hard into hers. She was going to miss him. Really she was, but wrapping her arms around him in return seemed less than….ladylike. She pushed him away slowly and gave him a weak smile.
He stared back his lips tight, skin pale, his face a picture of depression. Yet he smiled. Leaning in he kissed her on the lips…once-Those gash like lips- before mounting his horse and riding away. They had no children. She wished they had, so they could cry her pain, weep her sorrow. But no. she was alone
chapter two: Glinnhenn
Rue sat down at her sewing machine and hunched to see under her height. She wore a simple crimple dress- button through and soiled ,the lapels of her coat frayed and torn. Constance was lucky. Constance was bleeding lucky. There she was living the gods' life and here she was living the life of squalor.
Placing daisy down in the bundle of blankets she could just afford she glanced over to the clock. 12 more hours of making uniforms. That was all for today. There was a man watching Constance as she paced in her office. She had seen him before but couldn't quite remember where. And knew his name just as well. But still a name was there on the tip of her tongue
…sheemm…
She scoured her mind sheemmmu…..
SHAMUS. THAT WAS IT.
Shamus gazed at Constance through glossy eyes adoring even obsessively and she wondered what would become of him.
The river bisected fields and meadows town from city, rich from poor. It sloped down gently rolling countryside down rocky lanes and past the town of Glinnhenn. Glinnhenn lay like a rusted hubcap by the side of the road. Disregarded. Unwanted. Few members of such a "foul society" dared even rear their heads to the passers by of opal. Opal was rich and plenty and lay more like a poppy in a field. Wanted. Beautiful.
Constance was walking. There was just something unreal and eerie about her. her face ,although beautiful had a pale tone to it. The eyes were a piercingly sharp shade of brown. Eyebrows were arched over the curve before dispersing onto the bridge of her dainty nose. Plump, her lips had the strangest curl to them. Wavy, ebony-coloured curls framed her face, each falling to her hips. Overall, she was truly an unearthly beauty.
She was fed up with being beautiful. She wanted to be normal. Accepted.
There was a man staring across at her from the other side of the river, his face tanned and thin. His sandy hair fell to his shoulders, and his eyes ,set back and hollow were a piercing blue.
"What" he shouted from across the river "like me do ya" he was smiling now a grin playing his thin lips. How she would like to…
WHOH.
This didn't happen to her. This was for other people to…Oh but those eyes. ok she was going to reply. It was going to be smug; it was going to be seductive. Here goes.
"Hi"
He was grinning now and so was she. Boy, she hadn't felt this good in years. He began to straighten up from his fishing line and placed one foot on the bridge. With a grin he crossed, the rotten wood groaning under his weight. He put one foot on the grass and held out a muddy hand
"im Shamus"
And She damned her ladylike manners. she bleeding well took it
Nobody liked Glinnheners. That was a lesson Constance had learned long ago. Her role was to scour the city and find deserters and everyone made a face when the "g" word was mentioned. Noses where wrinkled in disgust like the word brought with it a bad smell.
Those who knew anything where more than happy to share it. Nobody clammed up nobody refused to answer questions or demanded anything in return. Glinnhenn it seemed was not afforded to the same street code as the other villagers. She had asked –more like instructed- shamus to join her, her excuse being that she needed "a big strong man" with her.
He watched her as they walked, his piercing grey eyes hollow but… loving. Her hair was tousled her chestnut eyes full and expressionless. She wore and intricate button through dress- a gentle shade of lilac her coat buttoned tight against the wind. Shamus she saw was clad in a grubby shirt and a patched overcoat, his boots knee height and full of holes.
Pulling out a sheet of paper, she read "17 Fernley close Glinnhenn". She slowed at the last word and spat it out as if it was a swear. He glanced at her one eyebrow raised, hand reaching for hers. She stared. HE was asking HER for courtship. But she was married! And god help him if he was. And yet again she dammed her manners. She took it as they grossed the bridge to Glinnhenn.
Chapter3 :courting
He stood in the rain, looking out across the moors, their starkness and their immutability making him realise anew that they would always be there... after he had gone, long after he was only a memory, perhaps not even that.
A single drop of grief welled up from the corner of his eye and suddenly, the dam broke. Hot torrents of grief coursed down his face, mingling with the rain, his racking sobs lost in the high winds that tore at his hair and clothes. He didn't bother turning. He knew who was behind him. One officer took his arm the other taken by shamus. Those piercing grey eyes.
Constance followed in toe laughing as she chatted to a soldier. The girl with the green eyes watched. Her peter was taken. Somebody was going to have to pay.
DING. DING. DING. That's all peter Samuels heard. Lines coursed his face, his eyes where hollow, devout of emotion. There was a small one-person bed, topped with a yellowed mattress and pillow. Next to the bed was a stainless steel sink rusted with age. The tan walls where completely bare save for a few scratchings and tally charts. The prison bars on the front side of the cell where what two inches thick. What did they think he was? An animal? The floor was cold and concrete and that was where he sat. no one could fight his case. He was offered no food. What was the point, he was going to be dead in an hour anyway.
The time came. First his laugh and then the echo of the bullet striking through his skull. The blank expression, a small smile of surprise curving on his rose lips, and a blanket of red. The rest was hazy for the girl with the green eyes, as her hysterical scream rose above the others, as his body dropped to the floor. Like a rock sinking to the pit less dark Blue Ocean, entombed in a world of silence and darkness, forever to wait in it's place slowly decaying. The world gradually sped up as his body convulsed and the scarlet liquid gushed out.
Her eyes fluttered open and closed, trying to block out the gory image that was playing in front of her, her dark lashes desperately trying to shield her from the horror that lied within. There he was. Once alive was now laying in front of her, frozen stiff, his skin already taking on a deathly pale shade. His veins fully visible as he laid motionless in an awkward position his legs tangled over the legs of the chair. Her hands flew to the sides of her throbbing temples as she felt someone shake her roughly. She could make out words but nothing made sense.
Then a pair of shocking grey eyes levelled with hers and roughly threw her hands to her lap. " Listen to me sweetheart." Her words coaxed her mind out of it's prison, as the sound-proof walls were lowered, and she could make out the words that came out of her lips. " he's dead." The girl struggled to keep afloat the waves of memories that were crashing through the shores of her mind. His tangled curls that framed the left side of his face and that teasing expression that could melt the hardest of hearts. His grey eyes that sparkled when you spoke to him and his serious attitude when you told him your problems.
he had slipped through her hands like grains of sand and here she stood helpless .and Then the world went black as she teetered toward the edge of the ledge she was standing on and sunk to the ground. her head levelled with his, as his cold lifeless grey eyes bore into hers, his mouth ajar as if laughing silently at her. His hair formed a curtain around his eyes, the only glimpse of his once beautiful eyes, behind shades of hair that would no longer be brushed back by caring hands. The beautiful man with grey eyes that lit up like a reflection of the sky, with waves of hair that cascaded down his face. Lost forever
Constance's brown eyes met with shamuses and they grinned at each other. He leaned in and kissed her, while she stayed frozen in his grasp. He wanted it to be real, but she couldn't join in the fantasy. He wrapped both arms around her, hoping that with time, she'd come around and feel the same way. But she wasn't buying it, all she could think of were the bitter memories. She had a husband. She loved him. Constance pushed him away
"Look shamus" she took his hands in hers "darling, I love you, but I have a husband of my own". She wanted to cry, she really did. But no she had to stay strong. Shamus didn't say anything, he just stared at her, his hollow eyes no longer handsome more…obsessive. She was worried now, making her feel uncomfortable. She backed away. and his gaze softened. He smiled
"darling I know I took it to far for this early but…". He gazed at her, her beautiful skin, her petite nose, and those lips…His gaze hardened and he staggered and then ran away over the hills and out of sight.
Constance was walking. Spontaneously. At least an attempt at spontaneous. She wore her long hair tight in a bun and a" touch me not" expression. Today was the day her Amos was coming back. Taking out a cigarette, she looked around. It was hardly lady like to smoke but what the hell. Hadn't she broken most of morals already? She placed it in her mouth and took out a match, ready to strike before…
A man grabbed her from behind his hands pocked marked and grubby. She tried to scream but she couldn't, she was in shock, she was scared, she was terrified. She caught a glimpse of his face his hair sandy, his face tanned his eyes a startling… grey
"SHAMUS" she managed to shout. Suddenly there was a roof over her head and she was thrown to the floor.
He was pacing now his eyes darting from her to the door. His eyes where blood shot, hollow and there was dark under his eyes. Constance on her feet now backing towards the door.
"NNNNNNOOO" he screamed his eyes crazy his laugh teeming with jeers. She fell to the floor and he strode over that same grin playing his lips as when they first met.
"Please my darling" she tried. His gaze hardened and then his fist met her face. Choking she backed away tears streaming, her vision blurry.
"YOU ARE NOT GOING OUT, YOU HEAR ME? YEAH I KNOW HES BACK" he spat "BECAUSE YOU 'HIGHNESS' IS SO BLEEDIN IMPORTANT THAT THEY ARE HOLDIN' A BLEEDIN' PARTY! OH WHOOPIDY DOO HE'S ALIVE!"
CHAPTER 4
He could see a thriving mass of anonymous figures their faces blurred by distance. The only person he wanted to see was Constance. A man watched him. He had locked Constance in the house and now he had blood on his hands and murder on his mind. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Damn, the blood! Damn damn. His eyes where wild and he looked around. A firm grip seized his hands and he was led away from the throng to the police office.
Constance was stronger than she looked. Her curls hung low over her face far from a bun at this point. Her dress was filthy and torn, the material a crosshatch of dust and grime. She gave the door one last push and… nothing. Damn. She lay back against the wall, a mess of dirt and sweat, and hair. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine herself at home with Amos and…
BANG. She sat bolt upright. BANG. She looked around before her eyes finally rested on the door. BANG. She curled into a ball. Maybe it was shamus again. BANG. Oh god the door was opening. BANG.
The door flung open and a girl stepped inside. She was tall with thick lips short ebony hair and… green eyes. the girl with the green eyes stared at her with a hunger only revenge could satisfy Her normally calm and pleasant demeanour slowly changed and her face contorted in an all - consuming anger; her nostrils flaring, her eyes flashing and closing into slits, her mouth quivering and drooling, slurring words that were unintelligible came spewing into space like a volcano.
Her hands closed into fists and she crouched forward, daring her to repeat once more the words that had torn her heart into fragments, that had dashed all her expectations of 'happy ever after'. She didn't wait! Then she let go with a right uppercut to the head that sent her flying from one side of the room to the other at what seemed like the speed of light. Her body made contact with the opposite wall and she slid to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
She was past crying. She was angry. She pulled out a gun and aimed it at Constance's head.
"Please" Constance pleaded "I thought we where friends"
The girls gun arm did not waver instead she spoke
"Friends? We where never friends" she spat "and you know? After all that trying im so glad you ignored me. Im glad I never got to know you. Because you ARE SICK"
The girl was holding the gun now so tight that her knuckles where white and her face red.
"HE NEEDED TO COME BACK". She was sobbing now her face still contorted with anger.
"Here is a thing you didn't now about me. I had 6 beautiful children and…and a loving husband. He knew we couldn't bleedin' survive on a damn shilling a week".
She began to run a hand through her matted hair gained her composure and straightened her aim.
"You found him. You gave in MY peter" she smiled "and now you are going to play the same price as him". She stared straight ahead at her. one twitch of her index finger and. Red hot pain shot through her .she collapsed to the floor as she felt the pain as strong as one hundred daggers sinking into her stomach. Groaning and screaming with anguish, she writhed about on the floor, clutching her body
. Her eyes were watery with the sheer pain and her breathing came out in sharp, shallow rasps. Sweat dripped down the side of her face and covered her forehead in a thin sheen.
"H-help," she croaked, her desperate tone made her words almost inaudible, but they still echoed around the room. The girl walked over. "Your husband is here by the way" she smirked "and oh don't worry he'll be with you soon". And then she walked away just as blood started to leak out of her mouth, that beautiful gash like mouth, and the world went black.
(Two weeks later)
Amos truly was just about to walk away when rue walked over. Amos smiled at his late wife's work colleague as she strode towards him.
"Hey Amos I know you feel really bad about this and I have just the thing to take your mind off it" she soothed "permanently".
"Ok you can try" he replied
"You could always come over to mine for tea later"
He smiled again. "Sure that would be nice"
The sun shone bright that day, and as they walked, the sun reflected off rues eyes.
Those green eyes.