"I have to bury her."
Tempeste stared at Erik with wide, frightened eyes. It was snowing out; the ground was undoubtedly frozen through. There was no way he would ever be able to break through more than an inch or two. And he would be lucky with that considering the grievous wound he had in his side. Looking at Madeleine helplessly she followed after her friend, holding her nightgown up to keep it from trailing in the snow.
"Call for the doctor." She murmured, rushing out into the cold. The older woman nodded and hurried for the door, intent on reaching the other side of town as quickly and safely as possible. Tempeste closed her eyes, and stood by Erik's side as he struggled to cut through the stone hard ground. Tears pricked at her eyes and all she could do was stand there, clinging Sasha's stiffening body to her chest. "Erik."
He acted as if he didn't hear her at all, tossing more dirt on to the growing pile by his side. He had dug deeper than Tempeste expected and she was glad. She wanted to see the dog buried as badly as he, and as soon as the hole was deep enough she laid the small body gently into it. She reached out for Erik's arm in an attempt to lead him back into the house.
"She needs a requiem." He said quietly, kneeling at the head of the grave, shoveling the dirt on top of Sasha with his hands. Tempeste closed her eyes to keep back the tears and nodded. Behind her she heard Madeleine's soft voice.
"Forgive him…He is only a child. He knows not how he sins."
Tempeste was tempted to whirl on the stupid woman but Erik's voice, mingling with those of carolers on the street made her stop, her mind only able to focus on the sounds that were accosting her senses.
"Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison."
Let the stars in the sky remind us of man's compassion
Let us love 'til we die. And God bless us every one.
In your heart there's a light as bright as a star in heaven.
Let it shine through the night and God bless us every one.
"Come inside now." Tempeste mumbled softly, reaching for Erik's arm again. This time she reached just in time to catch him as he fell, weak from the blood loss and the physical labor he'd just subjected his tiny body to. Barely able to keep him up, Tempeste looked at Madeleine helplessly, signaling that she should grab the boy's feet.
It took the two a great deal of effort to make it to the drawing room couch, and once Erik was settled in what they hoped was a comfortable position, Madeleine went to the door to wait for Etienne, while Tempeste curled up on the couch next to her friend, stroking his hair, and singing him a lullaby they'd written together, what felt like ages ago.
"Child of the wildness, born into emptiness. Learn to be lonely. Learn to find the way in darkness."
When he didn't stir in her arms, she bit her lower lip and curled up next to him more tightly, her hand resting gently on his chest, feeling it rise and fall with each of his shallow breaths. From outside the window, the carols of Christmas still rang through the cold air, tormenting her with hypocritical turn-of-phrase.
Let the stars in the sky remind us of man's compassion
"Compassion indeed." She muttered quietly, too tired to become much more irritated. Closing her eyes she fell to sleep easily, comforted by the feel of her best friend next to her.
"We can put him somewhere, Maddie. Somewhere, where he'll be safe. Somewhere…where you can forget about him." The doctor's voice woke Tempeste from her dark dreams and she tightened her arm around Erik, when she heard his words.
"Are you quite sure he can't hear us Etienne?"
"I've given him more than enough, Madeleine. Don't worry so. You and I could be so happy together, and he'll be well taken care of."
Tempeste remained tense as she heard Madeleine take Etienne out into the hallway, out of her earshot. She felt Erik stir next to her and she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to fall back to sleep and wake in the morning to find that it was all a horrible dream. When sleep claimed her again, it was fitful.
Her hand falling against the cold upholstery of the sofa woke her again, and she turned to see Erik, standing over her. He looked somewhat surprised to see her awake, but he still turned away and started to tip toe to the door.
"Where are you going?" She hissed, sitting up. "You'll hurt yourself."
"Go back to sleep." He mumbled, opening the creaky parlor door without a sound. Typical Erik grace. Tempeste stood hastily and scrambled to his side.
"I will not. And you'll tell me where you're going Erik Debruyne…or so help me."
Erik only shook his head and crept upstairs, Tempeste nipping at his heels. Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp when the entered his cell of a bedroom. On the floor was what could have been mistaken for an execution site. Madeleine's favorite statue…of Shepard boy had been carefully drawn and quartered and he lay in pieces on the ground between bits of shattered mirror.
"Oh Erik…what on earth have you done."
"Go back to bed, Tempeste. I don't need you following and slowing me down."
"I'll do no such thing. And I shan't just let you leave without so much as two words. I'm coming with you. I'm not about to abandon you. If you're leaving…whose to care for you?"
"I'll care for myself." He opened his bedroom window, carefully unscrewing the bars that kept him secluded from the outside world. Crawling out, he leapt into the arms of a near by tree, dropping gracefully to the ground. Shuffling after him, Tempeste dropped from the tree as well, into his unsuspecting arms. He set her down and turned her towards the door of the house.
"Back inside." He hissed.
"Care for yourself?" She nearly burst out laughing. "You couldn't care for yourself, you stupid boy. I'm coming with you and you aren't about to stop me. It's nearly Christmas and you aren't going to spend it alone." She straightened her hair, and looked towards her house down the street. "I need some clothes… where are we going?" Taking Erik's hand she tugged him, struggling all the way down the street.
"Tempeste."
She ignored him and crawled up the lattice outside her bedroom window with all child's agility and carefully grabbed a worn dress and a pair of her brother's pants and a shirt. Crawling back down she found Erik half way to the woods that surrounded town. Letting out an angry growl she ran after him, catching up just before he disappeared into the brush.
"I'm coming along, like it or not. Just accept it."
"Fine. Just…don't make too much noise. And try and keep up. And don't whine about dirtying your shoes like you always do."
Author's Note: I've put two songs in here…neither are really from this time period but the first, "God Bless Us Every One" from A Christmas Carol:The Musical seemed oddly fitting and the other "Learn To Be Lonely" touched me so much after seeing the movie that I decided it needed to be in the story, and even changed the title. Neither of those belong to me. Review, review, review.