→|How many times in your life do you forget how to breathe?

In that moment where the sun meets the water, she brushes back red hair and smiles that pretty smile like there's nothing left in the world but the two of them, Mara did. When she dips back into soft salt water that caresses her body with every pulse, she did. And then in the hotel room where the world disappeared into nothing but white bliss and silky sheets, she forgot again.

→|How many times do you forget to breathe?

She wakes up alone, cold sheets cradling her while shadows hide her lover from view. Curtains block silver moonlight that could have hinted at the silver blade yet to come. Red flashes in the night, staining the carpet, the bed, the walls. Screams. They echo down the hall and through the inn. People stir, Mara does not.

→|How do you forget to breathe?

Death haunts her, follows her like the shadow of the woman she used to be. Around every corner, she greets its ugly face like an old friend. She wishes to walk with it, talk with it too, that it might just take her in peace and be on its way. That is impossible, just like forgetting how to breathe.