Silence. It was pressing in. I wanted to scream. I wanted to break the awful stillness like glass. I’d give anything to shatter it and take one icy breath. There I stood on that metal walkway, beneath the blood-red morning sky above those rolling mute and sinister waves. Waiting. The heat of the rising sun choked me the longer I stood. I spluttered for air, digging my fingernails into the sweaty seaside railing, and staring out at the dark surf. On a place so open, it was a wonder why I couldn’t take a single gulp into my lungs.

I felt the slight pressure of a hand on my shoulder. I wondered how long it had been there. I turned my head a fraction of an inch to meet the gaze of that monster. His eyes sparkled, just as they had the moment I had first met him. Why hadn’t I seen the lie there before? Why had I been so blind...? He met my hard look with curving lips and he wrapped his arm around my waist and brought me close to him, his lips brushing against my collar bone and up my neck. I felt my blood boil like a raging sea and the vomit rise in my throat. I bit the insides of my lips so hard I could taste the blood in my mouth. It was everything I could do to keep me from screaming. With a forced smile that could have been carved from wood, I leaned into him and placed a bloody kiss on his lips.