Prologue: Blizzards and Beginings

    Despite the freezing, harsh wind, despite the innocent, white snow piling on and around her, despite the cold that invaded her thick coat, she stood in silence. She stared at the flower she had placed over the snowy grave. She had missed the funeral. Alone, she mourned the loss of her childhood friends, but mostly she mourned the loss of her loyal older brother. A single tear slowly trickled down her face, landing at last on the ice encased earth that held his body captive. She looked at the watch on her wrist, realizing she had to leave soon. Staying would be dangerous, especially now that she had no one to watch her back. She gently tucked away her favorite of her precious knife collection. “It’s my fault. I wasn’t there when you needed me. Sweet dreams, brör,” she whispered slowly, brokenly, into the crisp, cold countryside before she turned, defeated, and walked away. Leaving a carving in the ice over every one of the graves she felt faulted for that carried the same meaning.

            She gracefully clambered into her off-roading automobile, disturbing the aura of silence in the peaceful night with the healthy purr of its engine. She sped away, anxious to leave the little town she had been raised in. Paranoid of the possibility that someone would catch sight of her, she nearly tricked herself into believing someone was following her as her emotions and memories weighed down her heart. It was a weight that followed her everywhere, one she would never be rid of.