Shrugging away from Arthur's touch, I hurried out from the room, quickly slipped on my shoes, and bundling up in my jackets as I headed to the door.

"Where you going?" Arthur called after me.

"Out!" I replied, ignoring my brother's protests as I walked out the door and slammed the door loudly behind me.

The morning that seemed so bright and peaceful when I returned now was darkened to nasty and depressed gray, promising another blast of unbearable blizzard. The cold was just as intense as ever, so fierce the cold easily slipped through my jacket and quickly chilled me right to the bone. But as cold as it was, I couldn't turn back and go home.

Not when I learned the unbelievable.

In a way, my reaction to the news regarding Flora was stranger than I thought it would. There was a part that couldn't believe it and was praying it couldn't be true, which was the part I was trying to hold onto for as long as I could, but there was another part that somehow knew it all along.

Only that part didn't want to believe it anymore than I did.

It was impossible to see through the way with the freezing temperature dropping lower and lower by the second, but I was too determined to think about backing down now. It was clear this time I was going to have to be the one to find her since she already found me twice, and even though I knew it where she could it was going to be impossible to find it.

"Flora!" I yelled. "Flora!"

There was no response, but I still kept on going, my eyes scanning over the area for cameral hair and emerald eyes.

I couldn't believe, but in that moment while I was running and screaming her name, getting no response and growing more frustrated along with fear, realization suddenly dawned on me.

Suddenly it explained a lot of things. The graceful fluid with her movements, even when she was sitting down and completely still. The beautiful song that sang to me sleep as I fall, and then woken up in her care. The certain, unreadable glint in her eyes I couldn't grasp often whenever she looked at me, and that small smile on her face, as if she knew a secret or was part of one I was dying to figure out. How she was completely unaffected by the bitter cold when she wore that revealing, spring-like clothing.

When she first met me, one of the first things she said to me was I looked very familiar to her. At first I couldn't understand it then, but now I do. Thanks to my exact resemblance to my granduncle, her last victim and supposedly her favorite, she might have mistaken me for him, which would be one of the reasons why she rescued me in the first place.

"FLORA!" I screamed, using every bit of air in my lungs to compose such a loud scream, which was ear-scattering even to my ears.

How could I have been such a fool? How could I not guess someone as unbelievable like that was actually…human? I told her everything there was to know about me, but she was doubtlessly smirking in her mind as she listened and told me lies for answers in return. With every murmur she whispered in my ear and all those sweet kisses she placed on my lips, she was enjoying the fact she had me wrapped another her little finger and was possibly thinking of more amusing ways to make her heart-play game more fun-for her, at least. For all I could have known, while I was wandering off in the freezing cold, calling her name and freezing to death, she was in her warm private room, having herself a hot cup of tea and probably laughing in delight by how she played me.

The lying, heart-breaking, manipulative witch!

"FLORA!"

I was going through an emotional roller coaster while I continued my search, often more than several feelings mixing inside me and I wasn't sure which to feel first, which one hurt the most. The heart-break from learning the unbelievable truth and realizing I was nothing more than a new doll for her favorite game, meant to eventually be disposable. The shock because I never would have imagined someone I cared about so deeply could hurt me so badly. In rage at her for making me fall in love with her in the first place and even more angry with myself for acting like a love-drunk fool and not taking Grandfather's advice more seriously.

Before his death, the last night I spent with him, he made me swear I would never go anywhere without Arthur by my side and go into the deep forest alone. While I was too busy rolling my eyes and being angry at him for his foolishness, it never occurred to me he was right all along.

But what was she planning to do with me? Keep me around until she got bored of me? Toss me away like unwanted toy and getting herself a new lover to replace me with? Or make me fall more and more in love with her, my heart reaching the very peak of yearning for her, and then she would disappear from my forever and leave me with the curse of a yearning, bleeding heart for the rest of eternity.

"Damn you! I know you're out there, somewhere!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Answer me!"

But there was still no reply. The only sounds I could hear were the chilling air growing more intense than before and my heartbeat going in a much-more slower pace. I thought I could handle the cold and bear with it, but with the chilled wind growing more freezing and intense by the second I wasn't so sure anymore as I felt my body go completely numb.

I saw the red-leafed oak tree, the place where I met her the previous night before, straight head and was shocked to see it was still there. The tree was the only thing in the whole forest unaffected by the cold, still bright like it was still autumn, and was just as beautiful as before, but somehow I was able to see it more clearly and see the newfound darkness that was hidden before.

I went over there to rest for awhile and caught my breath, but the moment I was only a step away from it, the ground broke through beneath my feet and I was falling fast through, finding myself landing on some underground sliding tunnel sliding deeper and lower into underground till I reached the end, flew off from it, and landed hard on the ground while smacking my face hard with my landing.

I was already where I was at when I inhaled the scent, but wasn't ready to open my eyes yet. Instead I curled up into a ball, allowing myself to feel the pain brutally killing my body from that horrible fall and biting my bottom lip to keep from screaming out in pain. I bit my lip so hard, idiotically forgetting how sharp my teeth were, blood was filling in my mouth.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance." At the sound of her voice, my pain was immediately forgotten. Jerking into a stand, I dusted the bits of dirt and wood off my clothes and tried to make myself presentable and decent, keeping my face expressionless so she wouldn't suspect anything till the moment was right.

She barely noticed at all. She was sitting at a dark-green wooden rocking chair near the fireplace, taking a few sips of her tea while her eyes were completely engrossed in the big, heavy open-book lying on her lap she was reading. Once again, she was dressed in the flowing white dress she first wore when I met her and recognized the dress she wore as she sang me to sleep when the pain from that awful fall was too much for me to bear and I was knocked unconscious.

Looking at that dress and remembering how, just before I was knocked out, I saw a mysterious woman walking toward in a flowing white dress. And then when I woke up, Flora was wearing the exact same dress when she was making tea for me. How I didn't put two and two together that moment to figure out the puzzle was a mystery I didn't want to waste time thinking about now.

"You do realize you could have easily used the front door." Still lost in her book, she nodded toward a corner where I could see a door, standing there and practically mocking me.

Flushed as I thought about the not-so grateful and simple way I got inside her home and getting angry with the fact she was barely paying any attention to me, I acted with every bit of dignity I had left in me as I walked over to her and waited till she tore her eyes away from that book, lifting her chin up so her eyes would lock at me. Her eyes seemed a bit confused when they saw the anger blazing in my eyes, but she didn't question it.

"Is it true?" I asked her in a low voice, loud with screaming rage and sadness.

"Is it what true?" She sighed, marking the page she was at in her book before closing up and sounding completely bored. It was as if paying attention to me was taking so much out from her, making my anger heighten.

At that point, everything exploded inside of me. I wasn't sure what it was that ticked off my anger and caused it to explode. The fact that everything I seemed to believe in was nothing but a lie and a game she has been playing for only who knows how long, with a number of who knows how many other men. Or fact she was completely bored with me now. It could have been one of them, maybe it was both. Whatever it was, all I knew was my anger exploded and I let out all the raw, uncontrollable rage through anger-screamed words as I told her everything I found about her.

Flora was quiet, giving me her full attention as she listened to me go on and on, completely unfazed like she somehow was aware I already knew of her little secret(s). When I was finally done and trying to cool myself down, taking in a few deep breaths, she arched her eyebrow at and said nothing for the longest time. Finally and slowly she nodded her head, directing her eyes to the fire. "I see."

I see? That was all she had to say to me, as if I was just ranting about something unimportant like the weather that didn't require much care.

The look on her face was something I'd never forget. Gone was all the warmth and gentleness on her face, the soft laughter and smile in her eyes were long dead along with the twinkle that vanished instantly. She resembled nothing like my Flora, who was so warm and gentle. Instead she was a complete stranger, someone I didn't even recognize.

"What else is there to be said?" She asked. "You already know pretty much everything needed to be known, so there's no need for me to say anything else. Besides you already let everything be said in your little rage rants?"

"Little rage rants!" I exclaimed, screaming right at her face even though she was in front of me. I usually was one to always have my anger under control, never letting it control me, but when something was pushing my anger higher and higher it was usually too hard for me to hold it anymore. "I just find out you, the girl I loved and cared about more than…ANYTHING was playing with me like a fool! You can't possibly expect me to act as if everything is okay and alright with the world."

"Look," She finally turned back to me, slowly getting up from the chair but not coming closer to me. "I know you're upset, but I was going to tell you the truth!"

I snorted, finding those words more lies sprouting from her mouth. "Sure you were, since everything you've been telling me has been nothing but the honest truth."

Her lips were drawn into a thin line as she chose to ignore the venomous tone dripping in my sarcasm voice, but I could tell she was annoyed but it by the slight blaze of anger in her eyes. "Look, I understand you're upset, but you couldn't possibly believe that I would tell you everything. Besides, I wasn't lying. I only left things out."

"Try everything!" I snapped, getting closer to her face and was unaware I was causing her own anger to heightened. "Leaving things out is just as bad as lying, but somehow even worse because you're deliberately leaving out things needed to be known. Everything you told me was nothing but a charade to your sick game, acting like you cared for me, kissing me like you cared for me, and tricked me into loving you."

Flora thrust her chin as she absorbed the comment, crossing her arms against her chest as she narrowed her eyes at me into ice-cold, deadly slits. "I will admit I have done similar things to men in the past, but with you it was different. For starters, I didn't put a love spell over you, Helia. There was no need to. Those feelings you felt and still feel for me, those feelings of deep care and love, were created by you and only you."

"Liar!" I snapped, scowling. "You lie about that like you lied about everything else. About how much I meant to you, the people whom disappeared on you but you really disappeared from them and the so-called family that dead in the fire. For all I know you probably started the fire yourself because they couldn't stand having someone as disgraceful as you in their family."

Those words I hadn't meant to say just spilled out from me, already out in the open for her to hear and was too late for me to take back what I had said. Unfortunately, it wasn't till I said them did I realize how harsh they were.

Flora flinched, as if I slapped her right across the face, and took a step back, her balled-up hand pressed against her chest while a look of shock crossed her face as she stared at me. The shock was so much, her eyes were widened and her mouth was dropped wide open, unable to speak. Along with that shock came sadness, sadness which I could tell was genuine and causing moisture in her eyes threatening to turn into tears and slide down her face.

"You son of a bitch!" Searing, painful stars danced across my vision as she smacked me across the face, putting all her force into that hard slap, whipping my head to the other side and knocking me hard to the ground. "How dare you say such a thing to me?"

The pain from that hard slap was throbbing in my left cheek, and I could feel blood rising at the spot where she hit me. Holding it tenderly, I got up from the floor and stared at her with cold, hate-filled eyes. "Better to be a son of bitch than a slutty whore!"

She winded her hand back, ready to strike me again, but I quickly grasped her wrist before her hand could make contact with my face. I tightened the grip extremely when she was trying to escape, ignoring the sounds of her wincing.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" she exclaimed, hitting me with her free hand.

"Give me one good reason why I should, you filthy whore!" I yelled back.

Back and forth was where we went, throwing insults at one another and yelling loudly at each other's faces, letting our anger and hatred inside of us. It started out as that, but then suddenly, while we were screaming and getting close to each other, the anger continued in a brutal kiss she crushed onto my lips, assaulting me with those weapons I knew were deadly but I was addicted to.

The kisses were desperate and hotter than ever, intensified with the raw anger we wanted to let out through desire and passion. I kissed her hard with as much as anger, passion, and roughness I could muster, swallowing her wincing and groans in my mouth, mentally smirking from the sound of her gasp as I let her bottom lip to grand entrance to her sweetly addicting mouth and continued the brutality through our tongues.

The brutality continued as we moved onto the bed, falling onto it together with her on the bottom and me on top of her.

"You're such a bastard!" she whispered when she was able to pull away for a brief moment to gulp in some air.

I lunged forward without hesitance about it and captured her lips in a passionate kiss that instantly robbed us of our breaths. My hands tangled in her hair as I held her head in place to kiss her more thoroughly, trying to let all my emotions building inside me and also her how I felt for her, a feeling I couldn't escape from no matter how hard I tried.

The kiss started out passionately and only grew in ferocity. We clung to each other desperately, never wanting to break the contact. When the need to breathe took over, my lips didn't pause but kept kissing all over her face, the corners of her lips, her cheeks, along her jaw, down her throat and back up again. I knew I was acting like a fool right now, giving her what she wanted and playing part of her game, but kissing her and getting a taste of her delicious skin that made me drunk I couldn't have cared less at the mouth.

Underneath me, she whimpered dedicatedly and tangled her fingers in my hair as my lips went down lower and lower down her chest, kissing the swells of her breasts and feeling them hardening underneath the fabric of her dress.

We wrestled in the bed, our tongues wrestling for domination and our bodies wrestling for the same task as well. As we rolled around and quickly stripped one another of our clothes, with the kisses filled with raw rough-passion and hot desire, and let out everything in something I never dreamt of doing but was somehow more amazing than I could ever dreamt it could be.

The love-making was rough and brutal, both of us wanting to torment the other and using our best choice of weapons. She was so beautiful, her skin tasted so delicious I kissed her every where. Every inch of her delicate, beautiful body my lips were pressed against, making the moans escaping from her mouth become louder and more filled with need. I pressed my lips against her in another hotly-delivered passionate kiss, and then kissed her everywhere, until I entered her and filled exploded. At the moment, she let out a loud, ear-piercing scream echoing throughout the small room, but it was a scream of pleasurable joy.

It was the most…indescribable moment of our lives. I wasn't too sure about her, but I never wanted to have it any other way than that.

Outside the worst blizzard ever to hit Ivy Gomes was hitting the place harder than ever, outshining all the other snowstorms we thought were horrible and coming back with force. But inside, the atmosphere in the tiny room was hot and heated, as if we were in the intensely hot August or in the center of fire. We were naked underneath the silk blankets and tangled in each other, our clothes scattered all over the floor, and panting hard while sweat was sheen on our bodies.

Flora was glancing up at the ceiling, panting hard underneath her breath, with an expression I couldn't read. Her neck and bodies were marked with my hickeys, her lips swiped clean of her lipstick and swollen red from all our kisses, and her hair entangled and messed up, but somehow she still was as radiant as a goddess and was the most beautiful thing I ever seen. When her eyes returned to me, she tenderly brushed her fingers against my lips and murmured "You're trembling."

I didn't even realize I was till she mentioned it. I was trembling from the excitement that just happened, the adrenaline still kicking high inside my body that was burning up from fire. I smiled assuring at her and murmured, "Don't worry. I'll be alright."

We kissed again, gently and also passionately, and then I slowly laid my head on her chest and was soothed by the touch of her soft fingers stroking my hair and the sound of her beautiful song putting me to sleep.

"I love you, Helia." She whispered the last thing I heard before I was lost in unconsciousness.