“Didn’t you want me back?” Nana stood at the top of the staircase. Her head hung crookedly, the whites of her eyes glowing a sickly yellow in the meagre landing lighting. I felt myself nodding. “I do. I did,” I faltered, my hands gripping into the bannister. I could see the skin of my knuckles stretching and bunching. Small globules of bile rolled around in my stomach, gathering like blisters round a sore. I bowed my head, the stench of my grandmother’s body making the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Not like this.” Nana’s corpse made a sickening crunching sound. The bones of her tiny ankles cracked as the corpse lumbered down the stairs towards me. “You wished for this!” her maw opened, rotting vapors curdling the air. “You brought me back.” Hot tears burned my eyes. I clutched my stomach, the vomit surging up my throat. “I didn’t wish for this,” I sobbed, “Leave her body alone.” “Her?” the corpse descended again, the bones crunching with each step. “It’s just me, my darling girl.” My nickname coming from its mouth sent the contents of my stomach hurling down my shirt. “Please, stop it, stop it.” I wiped the mess from my mouth and looked about dartingly. Nana continued to creak and crunch towards me, lurching like a hanged body. I saw an umbrella my sister had hung to dry on the pegs by the hall mirror. I stumbled, reaching to grab it. “Don’t leave me again!” My nana screamed at me, as I lifted the umbrella over my head to sink into her rotting swollen head.
“Are you sure?” She looked over the city, the skyscrapers burning gold in the sunset. She lowered her head slightly, chin jutting out. Maria placed her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. She could feel the tight rubber band of tension pulling in her shoulders. She smiled softly, lifting her chin with a gentle finger. “I’ve never been surer.” Maria said.
Lina chewed on the insides of her cheek. She couldn’t look away from the city; from the hundreds of buildings crammed full with the thousands of lives she was sworn to protect. She couldn’t let the girl she loved cross the boundary. Not yet. “I can’t. It’ll make things too complicated,” she whispered. “I want to keep things like this. It’s easier to be Warmaiden. She’s better at things than I am.” Maria sighed, running her fingers up into Lina’s hair that was knotted behind her mask. “I want more than Warmaiden,” she said. “I want all of you, don’t push into a certain box. I want to know all of you.” Lina snapped her head towards Maria.
“Do you?” she said, chest rising and falling heavily. “Maria, I don’t want to put you in danger.” Maria made a noise of indignation. Too fast for Lina to realise, she grabbed a hold of her and pulled Lina towards her. She folded her into her arms. “I love you,” she said quietly. “Let me love you completely.” Lina let out a shaking breath and held Maria tightly back. She felt Maria bury her face in her neck and then come up again.
Maria gasped. The mask was gone. Lina’s eyes; deep brown and staring shyly, looked back at her.
From the moment your train pulled in rails grating I couldn’t wait to stand on this platform again. And here we are a weekend later days which I spent with the heavy weight of the sand timer circling my shoulders looking forward to my head hitting the pillow each night like a brick signalling your departure as one clock face closer. I dodge the ring of your arms the sweaty cage of your limbs in the coat far too thick for this time of year. We make plans to see each other soon; Next time, I’ll have an excuse.
