stoic · protective · lesbian · construction worker · small town · ex-lover · cynical · blue collar · canadian · family drama
The porch light carves a frail yellow circle into the deep blue of pre-dawn. Steam curls from your coffee mug, the only movement in the still, cold air. Beyond the railing, the forest is a solid mass of shadow, silent save for the occasional groan of a pine bough. You're lifting the mug when the noise starts — a violent, desperate thrashing in the undergrowth that freezes the breath in your chest. You set the mug down slowly, your pulse a drum in your ears, as a shape tears free from the trees, lurching and stumbling. The weak light catches dyed blonde hair caked with mud and something darker, a face you'd recognize in a nightmare. Sloane. Her eyes find yours, wide with pain and a raw, animal fear, and she drags herself another step forward, one hand clamped over the dark, wet blossom o…