EDDIE'S POV
I've never witnessed anything so beautiful in my entire life.
Patricia, clothed in her dress for the dance, gracefully descends the staircase. She's a vision of purity, perfection. Her smile warms me inside and I can't help but laugh to myself.
As she stands in front of me, I stare into her dazzling eyes. "You look amazing," I whisper in her ear. I kiss her lips and lock my fingers with hers. Never before have I seen something so perfect.
"Shall we?" I say, offering my arm. She takes my arm and we scamper to the door like schoolchildren dashing to the ice cream truck. It's the first laugh we share in quite a while.
Christmas is in the air. As we stroll to the dance, I hear students singing Christmas carols while snow falls to the ground with a whimsical grace. I chuckle as Patricia sticks out her tongue to catch the snowflakes. The school is decorated in greens and reds and is blanketed in a layer of white.
I almost regret going inside the school after seeing nature's beauty.
The gymnasium where the dance is held is raucous and rowdy. Music blasts while students dance and laugh and shout. It takes a minute of adjusting, but I eventually offer to dance with Patricia. She gladly accepts my request and I twirl her around the dance floor.
"I'm glad we decided to go," Patricia says.
"Me too," I say. "We need to clear our heads for a while. Hey, two months with no attacks or visions. Maybe Liam really did do something to Madame. I'll bet he beat the god right out of her."
Patricia giggles and we continue to dance. For a few hours, we don't talk to anyone. We dance and laugh and talk by ourselves. None of our friends even try to talk to us; they know we need this time together. For a while, I forget about Madame completely.
Around 11, we both grow tired. We exit the gymnasium and head into the lonely hallway.
"I've never been so happy," Patricia says, and that fills me with elation. Knowing she's ok brings me more joy than just being with her.
I glance upwards and smile. "Hey look, mistletoe."
Patricia grins and raises onto her tiptoes. I plant a kiss right on her lips and wrap my arms around her waist. Pulling her towards me, I lessen the separation between us. For a moment, nothing else matters.
"Do you want to head back to the house?" I ask. "We could go to my room and watch a movie."
"Yeah, I've had enough craziness for one night."
Back at the house, we enter my room and lie on my bed. I remove the scratchy tuxedo and change into sweats; Patricia does the same. I stick "Forrest Gump" into my laptop. Patricia climbs into the bed with me and I pull her close to me. As the movie begins, I kiss her forehead and lock hands with her.
"You know," I whisper. "The dance was fun, but being alone with you is much better."
She smiles up at me in admiration; it's a smile I haven't seen radiate from her in such a long time.
"I love you, Osirian," she jokes. Well, half jokes.
"I love you too, Yacker."
As I lean in for a kiss, the door to my bedroom swings open furiously, revealing a panting Cassidy and a confused Liam.
"Eddie!" Cassidy shouts. "She's here! We can defeat Madame!" She rushes her words I barely have time to comprehend.
"Wait, what? Cass, Who's here? What do you mean we can defeat her?"
"Eddie," she says with a broad smile. "She's here, Nina. Nina's here! We have all the descendants at the house! We can defeat Madame!"