The sudden calm she felt once she realized she would break them surprised her. No more anger; no more sadness. Just that one goal. She was sickened and pleased by it at the same time.

She pushed it to the back of her mind as she dined with them. It was so much easier to be in their company knowing she would separate them. Much, much easier. She found she could laugh at their jokes, smile at their loving attitudes towards each other, and enjoy the food. Compliments came more easily. The burden of regret was gone as she knew she could fix everything.

She helped Mary with some paperwork, even helped her pick out a veil and bouquet. By the end of the night she felt totally refreshed.

The next morning, Claire changed her overalls, realizing she'd worn those other musty ones for a few days. She would take a trip to the sauna later that day, but after taking care of her farm.

Unlike the past few days, when she was weighed down by regret and doubt, she finished all her tasks in record time. She stopped at her home one more time, taking all the tools necessary to stay in the mine for the rest of the day.

Her plan lurked in the back of her mind, but she told herself that there was the possibility Gray wouldn't even be there. No, she told herself, he definitely wouldn't be there. She would just spend the day mining ores.

But, just as she knew he would be, he was there. She reached the lower levels of the mine and there he was. "Hey, Gray," she called cheerfully. She touched her chest; her heart was pounding excitedly at the prospect of being alone with him. This was where she'd turn it all around. She'd make him belong to her again.

"Oh, hey Claire," he said nervously. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Really? You know I come here often to see you."

He laughed nervously. "Haha, yeah." He rubbed the nape of his neck and turned towards the exposed ladder leading down to the next level. "I'm just gonna head down now."

"I'll go with you." She followed him down the ladder, making sure to take her time. She turned to see him off in a corner, blushing. She crept up behind him, her hands shaking from excitement. She gently touched the small of his back, letting her hand trail upwards.

"You don't need to hide it you know." He scrambled forward clutching his chest. "It was just us before you met her. It's only natural that'd you'd want the pure feeling I can give you." Gray looked down bashfully. "Just give in; it's not a bad thing."

"Stop." His voice was bitter. It was laced with anger. "You're her friend, and mine too. You should be happy for us- stop being so selfish." The biting edge in his voice made her sick to her stomach. She hadn't expected that. She'd expected him to willingly give in, just go along with it.

He looked right into her eyes, the blue piercing hers. Her heart leapt into her chest; she was angry all over again. Her face got red as he spoke. "And you stink. I know it was hard on you but that doesn't mean you should stop taking care of yourself. I still want to be your friend; once your attitude is adjusted, come talk to me again."

Her eyes began to water. "F-fine… okay. But I'm not leaving here." She stomped and crossed her arms. Her childish manner caused Gray to roll his eyes.

"Me either; come down lower if you're ready to talk." He turned and left, leaving Claire to seethe.

She stared at the ladder he'd used to go down to the next level. Her face was a bright red. Her eyes burned from the need to cry, yet she refused to. She didn't want to seem desperate; she didn't want him to have to lecture her again. She felt like a child again.

For her that was the ultimate betrayal. She didn't want to be just friends. And if she couldn't be more than a friend, why could Mary?

Claire left her basket and most of her tools on her level; the only thing she brought with her was her hoe. She looped it through one of her belt holes and climbed down.

Gray had apparently gone further than one level. She continued on until she found him, her palms getting sweaty. By the time she reached his level, she was shaking all over with anticipation. But when she finally saw him, it all boiled over.

She could either go in loud and bothersome, or quietly and with composure. She unhooked her hoe and wrapped both hands around it. She took one quiet step, then another, and she was right behind him. Claire took one final deep breath, all of her anger coursing through her, blinding her.

And she swung.

But her grip wasn't strong enough, so the blow didn't go as deep as she wanted. But she was still strong, strong enough to knock him forwards a few feet.

"What the hell?" he shrieked. Claire readjusted her grip and swung again.

This time, she pierced skin. The blood blossomed through his jacket. He turned to look at her. "Claire?! What…?" She touched her necklace, showing it to him.

"This is our link," she said. Another large arc came down on him, this time with all her force. Gray was knocked down to his knees. He opened his mouth. "Don't speak," she screamed, swinging the blunt side of her hoe into the side of his face. It whipped him sideways. A dark trail of blood leaked down the side of his face.

It seemed it still hadn't registered with him that Claire wasn't going to stop. He spit towards the side to try and speak again. "C-Claire, please s-stop. For M-Mary if not me please." The desperation in his voice almost made her hesitate. She adjusted her grip again.

"You- I said- don't speak." The anger still boiled in her. She prepared to swing again. Gray saw, knew then that she wouldn't stop. When the blow came he lifted up his arm and stopped it.

"You- you're insane! I'm just a boy! You're better than this!" She rose her left hand and slapped him.

"I can't stand your fucking mouth." She was more dangerous than ever. Her voice was steady, no tears, and she was determined. He wouldn't be able to break her anymore.

No, she would do so much worse to him.

She swung the hoe around and brandished the sharp side. She aimed for his side. A satisfying crunch followed the impact, and more blood leaked out. Gray cried out, little bits of his blood addled spit spraying on the ground and the wall. He was on his hands and knees now, groaning in pain. He looked up towards the ladder just a few feet away. He made a half-hearted reach towards it before Claire brought the blunt side down on the back of his neck.

He was knocked out then. Not dead; she could have stopped. But she didn't.

Each strike made her feel a little bit better.

Each strike got rid of a little anger, sadness, regret, doubt, depression.

Each strike caused a spray of blood to splatter her as his jacket was in tatters.

By the end, all that was let of Gray was a bloody mass. A large pool of blood had gathered around him. He didn't breathe; Claire would've been surprised if he could have. She took in a few deep breaths, suddenly aware of the fact that she was exhausted physically.

But mentally, she felt much better. Happy even.

She lifted a hand to fix her hair but was stopped by the sight of her bloody fingers and arms. She looked down at her overalls and saw all the splatter.

"Shit you're right; I do need a bath." She sighed and laughed, shaking her head. "My bad; perhaps I should say you were right." However, her face and the necklace were untouched. She grabbed it and tore it off. "Won't be needing this anymore," she said, tossing it besides the corpse.

She left the body; no one else ever went into the mine. She collected her belongings and left the mine. Of course she wasn't stupid; she checked to make sure nobody was waiting for her outside, and then sprinted for the sauna. The heat worked its way through her. She reflected on the events of the past few days, past few hours, but ultimately felt no guilt. She closed her eyes and touched the now vacant spot on her chest; it felt strangely bare.

She'd done what she had to.

She'd done it for love.


So sorry about this. Sorry that it was so bad. I probably won't proofread it ever, but if you point out mistakes/ clumsiness I'll fix it.

I wrote it to get some bad feelings out of my system. I was in a really bad mood. All better now though :P

Sorry again. Thanks for reading.