"Hey! I got a letter from Anne!" Harry exclaims. Quite dramatically, if I may add.

"So?"

"Don't you wanna hear?" he asked, confusion clear in his tone.

I laugh, shaking my head.

"I'd rather read what she's sent me." I wave the other letter in front of his face.

He makes a failed attempt at frowning. Finally giving in, he grins at me.

"You know, I should probably be mad, like a good brother should. But I can't."

"That's because Will's awesome and you know it asshole," Jack enters the room.

Harry just keeps grinning.

But something tells me it's not as bright as it was the first time I saw him...

I'm officially suffering from paranoia.

I smile as wide as I can. Before we can settle down to read it and go about our usual routine, a knock is heard on the door.

"Will?" the young woman at the doorstep asks.

I nod and step aside to let her in. She just smiles and stands there. All of a sudden, she walks off and returns with a basket of flowers. I notice how beautiful she is, with platinum hair and electric grey eyes. And then it struck me...

"Ed..." I trailed off.

Her smile dimmed by a million watts. "I know..." she sadly shakes her head.

"Mother told me to give you these."

"Oh! Thanks Beatrice." Beatrice. Beatrice Park. A childhood friend. She's alive!

"Come on in," I ask again.

"Nah, we're going to church, mom and me."

"Oh! I'll see you around."

"Yeah," she responds. "Hopefully," she adds, more to herself than to me. I heard it anyway.

"You're holding up well...?" she tries covering up. It doesn't work, but I let it slide.

"Yes. How's your family?"

"Alive and well, actually. All of them."

I'm shocked. A whole family made it through one of history's most gruesome wars!

"That's great!" I sound genuinely happy. I'm not, though.

War had stripped me down to my bare life and one remaining friend.

Two now, Harry's here.

Actually, make it three.

There's Anne.

She nods and gives me a queer smile before leaving. Ed and her were really close friends once. They were, even on the day before the war. But they drifted apart. Considering how Ed didn't tell her about joining the army, I wouldn't have counted on them getting married anytime soon in their lives... If Ed had returned, obviously.

'Which he's not," my subconscious adds.

I keep a half smile plastered just in case she decides to turn around and wave 'one last time'. Once I'm sure she's gone, I break into a frown.

"Who's it?" Jack calls to me.

"Beatrice."

"Wow! That's great!"

Great indeed. Great, how her entire family is unscathed while almost all I ever had is gone.

Did I just wish for their death? No.

I'm just a little jealous.

And petty wishes don't come true, so...

I place the basket on the kitchen counter, on top of the letter.

~

Josh is screaming so loudly, I think I'll go deaf. Ed is right next to him. And he's screaming too...

But no sound comes... I notice his tongue is cut off.
I want to walk over to them. Comfort them. But I can't. I look down to find myself handcuffed. A Swiss knife is clutched in my... left, hand? Blood. Dried, crusty blood coats my hands.

Impatient, I yank at the links. Surprisingly, they come apart. I stumble forward towards them. But their screams only become more urgent.

I furrow my eyebrows as they back away from me. The sound of the knife falling to the ground sounds distant to my own ears as realisation hits me like a truck.

I wake up with a jolt. My eyes instantly fly to my hands. Fear grips me when I realise they're wet.

Sweat. That's all it is.

This is actually the first time I've had to go through an entire nightmare. In a long time.

And the worst part is, although I did stab a couple of people to death, it wasn't this deadly.

My mind has started making up incidents. I pop the pills Anne had prescribed and walk off to take a shower.

It's getting worse.

But it'll get better. Anne told me.