Prologue: Between the Shadows

What did that bitch do to us? After all we’ve been through, how has it come to this?
 
I tipped my forehead onto the cold pane of glass, and squeezed my eyes shut tight, feeling a single tear roll down my cheek. I stubbornly wiped it off with the back of my hand, refusing to give it any power. Instead, I opened the window a couple of inches and listened to the sounds of the waves, smashing angrily, relentlessly onto the rocky crag below.
     The sounds, though untamed and fierce, relaxed my mind; they allowed me to find the calm and the strength within myself that I was going to need. I watched a tuft of lovage that was growing in the cracks of the rocky cliff, blowing in the wind coming off of the North Sea.
     A large, dark purply-grey cloud mass above the water seemed to be headed our way. I could see the blur of rain in the weather front as it made its way toward land. The storm would be here soon.
The door creaked behind me. “We’re back! Look what we brought for you.” I couldn’t help but smile at the little voice that was so close to my heart.
     I bent to take the two bunches of wild flowers into my hands. “Oh, aren’t they lovely? You must have walked for miles to find just the right ones!” I smiled. “Thank you! What if you go see if Ronny knows where there might be a vase we could put them in? I’ll join you soon.”
     They left the door open behind themselves and I could hear their muted voices bubbling through the hall—sounds that tugged at my heart. The unconditional love of a child is something that can’t be outdone. It can cheer you, even when you are in a deep dark place all alone. Without knowing it, they have the power to help you see the light, to make you see the good, to give you a reason to carry on.
     As much as I loved this place, this was not where I wanted to be, not like this. I wanted to be with Ben. I wanted to be standing here looking out this window with his arm around my back.
     I wondered what I would take with me as I moved forward from this.
     I wondered what would become of us if I couldn’t.
 
     ‘Thump!’
     Suddenly, there was a loud thud as a large, dark sea bird side-swiped the window.
     Instantly, my mind was taken back . . .