A Letter to the Forced Pair

Snow was standing on the edge of a ladder trying to knock down the now empty wasp's nest from the side of the house when the most unexpected thing occurred. A mail truck actually stopped at their house! As the lady got out and looked at the house with a frown, she would shrug before waddling over to the mailbox and placing something within the box. Snow, who had frozen and was hidden by the house, watched as the truck moved on and then after a few moments, he would look back at the wasp's nest and take one more swing at it with the broom.

Whap!

With a satisfying light crunch, the thing would come down and land softly on the ground. With that mission accomplished Snow would get off the ladder and fold it up. With the old yet sturdy ladder on one shoulder, he would lean down and pick up the nest in one gloved hand before making his way back to the hidden storage room. He would toss the nest into a small trash can that needed to be empty and then go in the shed to put the ladder up. He would return to the side of the house to pick up the broom and was about to simply go back inside, but found himself halting as he remembered the mail.

Had…had that really occurred? Sure people knew they were here, but the mail had never been started up again...so was what he saw an odd hallucination?

Curious, Snow would walk around the house and towards the mail box. He would open it and peek inside to see there was indeed a delivery there. How strange. He would reach into the box and take the item out before closing it. As he began to drift towards the back door he would examine the envelope in his hand looking for signs of who may of sent it, but outside of their address and a stamp…there was nothing. Hmmm…

He entered the house and placed the broom in a corner before pausing in the small rain room to open the envolop. Inside, he would find a letter and he would begin reading it. At first he was calm, but then even he could not handle what he saw. This was…was…

Snow stared at the letter as if it was some form of foreign creature he had picked up that he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle it. This letter….it could not be and yet…yet it was right here…and Hyacintha? If she found out then…

“Oh, Snow you finished outside already?” her happy voice filtered into his ears and caused him to flinch for the first time ever in his life. She had actually startled him.

To this, Hyacinthat titled her head with a small smile.

“You okay?” she asked as Snow seemed to be flustered about something. He had his back to her, but why?

“I am….” Snow began and then shook his head and turned to face her. A piece of paper was clutched in his left hand; however, Hyacintha was not focused on that as she took in the look upon Snow’s face. It was a mix of fear and confusion, but why?
Hyacintha’s smile faded as she took a step towards him, concerned. To this action, he would tense a bit before managing to get his mouth to work again.

“I am not sure how I am anymore. Perhaps…perhaps I have gone mad…” Snow said before pausing and reluctantly lifting the paper in his hand to show her. Feeling more confuse,d she took the paper from him and then read the words there. Slowly, her expression changed from confused to shock and scared.

Snow bit his lip as he saw this. Maybe the letter was too much for her after all. Damn!

“Snow...” she said her voice so quiet that even he could barely pick it up as he took a step towards her.

“Yes?”

“Let’s go…and see with our eyes the truth…” she finished.

“Yes…”was the soft response back.


Hours of silence and uncertainity later, Hyacintha and Snow made their way to the spot indicated in the letter. As they approached the tree under the dark skies, the strange tree spoken of seemed to glow within the small amount of light given off from the sliver of a moon above. The tree was beautiful and calming, but the pair here were not here for the sight seeing. No they both needed to know…was the writer of the letter "him"?

They kept walking getting closer and closer to the tree where a figured waited for them. As soon as Snow saw the figure, he froze as a variety of feelings assaulted him. Good. Bad. Good. Bad…what was this? Unable to focus for the moment, Snow did his best to get himself out of this jam caused by his senses.

Hyacintha, meanwhile, had loosen her grip on Snow’s arm as she drifted a few steps forward before halting. She felt scared, confused, happy, and torn all at once as she looked at the pale figure there. It was…was…

“N-Nilo..?” she managed to get the name out in barely a whisper as she stood frozen to the spot her mind not comprehending what was happening. This could not be...

She was trembling as she stayed in her spot. She was frozen as she looked at the boy under the tree as her mind whirled in a chaotic circle. Nilo Lockwood…..she had only known the boy for a short period of time, but during that time she had found a family with him and his mother. She was so happy and even happier that Snow seemed to be accepting them too. She loved him, but had been too afraid to say the words out loud, so Snow had gave the hint to the other for her. She was so happy and looked forward to a happy future with the three of them, but then…then Nilo died and her world came crashing down.

When she had lost him she was willing to give up everything just to be with him again. She was prepared to die and yet…here he was. Right before her…right?

She called his name and he turned, her world brightening as she saw the familiar face. He was crying. Hyacintha’s fear melted away then. He needed…he needed her didn’t he? He shouldn’t be crying. He should be happy, right? As emtions flooded her, Hyacintha moved to go towards the boy, but as quick as lightning Snow was blocking her way. His back was to her as he held one arm out barring her way.

“But why?” she asked feeling angered that he would do such a thing when Nilo was right….there? Anger turned to shock as the boy’s tears seemed to go away and anger filled him. As the anger filled him, his physical form seemed to vanish and he became ghost like in appearance. On instinct, Hyacintha ducked behind Snow terrified of the sight. That thing wasn’t Nilo! No. No. Make it go away!

She stayed crouch behind her shadow, her face buried into her knees as she held her ears and shut her eyes tight. She shouldn’t have come. Should’ve known the letter to be a trick of some sort. Nilo…Nilo was gone….gone….

As Hyacintha feel into despair, she began to cry quietly leaving her to shadow to contend with the very angry ghost.

Snow stayed firmly between the thing that had been Nilo and his master. He wasn’t about to let this thing hurt her. No matter what.
As the creature spoke flowing in and out of anger and despair, Snow took the verbal attack fully as his master, shook and sob behind him. She could not speak, but the shadow could understand how she was feeling. To be honest, being before this creature that looked like the one he had trusted Hyacintha to made him hurt inside. Was this thing really, Nilo….? And if so why did he come back like this?

Snow would remain on guard as he watched the creature break down before him crying once more. What was he to say to such a broken creature?

“…”

Silence broken by only the sobs of the two humans remained in the area. Eventually, Hyacintha began to speak.

“Nilo…when I lost you. I was ready to follow you to the after life. I wonder if I had done that would you be here now, so sad and angry with us all. Oh God, I am so sorry Nilo! Why didn’t I jump!” she pretty much shouted, the words feeling more like a physical blow to Snow as he winced at this. Hmm...this was quite the mess wasn't it. What to do?

Snow sighed inwardly as he kneeled down and became level with the boy.

“So..you’re nothing to us, huh? That is kind of odd considering we came here to be sure you were really the one who wrote the letter. You know…I was kind of hoping this was a hoax, but here we are crying and mad with the world and to be honest, I am not sure what we are going to do...” Snow said as he watched the shadow of the boy carefully. Behind him, Hyacintha's sobs suddenly stopped as she gasped a bit as if an idea just hit her. She would crawl to the side of Snow as she looked at Nilo with a shaky smile.

“B-but…perhaps whatever we decide…we can do it together, yes? I mean…” Hyacintha began to calm as she wiped her eyes. “Dead or not, I still love you Nilo and even though it may not mean nothing now, that never will change. We’re family so…don’t push away or be angry at us for our weaknesses. Please Nilo…just…just come back…” she trailed off crying again, the desperation in her plea evident; however, Snow remained calm and logical here. He had to be if he was going to ward off a potential threat to his master…

Nilo maybe he was somewhere under that darkness that surrounded him and marked him as another shadow in Snow's mind; however, until the real Nilo made some form of appearance, Snow could not trust this new thing.
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Hyacintha: She wants things to be the way they were in the past. She wants everyone together and happy again. The emotional stress is making her illogical and desperate.

Snow: Despite the pain this causes him, he is calm and steady seeing this situation for the truth of what it is. Nilo has come back as a shadow and unless he becomes calm, he cannot trust him like he did his friend of the past.

The negativity in the area was high, keeping Snow on edge as he did what he could to remain calm and focused in this raging sea of emotion that flowed between Hyacintha and the boy. He watched boy and girl struggle in their own way and respond to each other’s words. There was nothing else he could really do at the moment, so he waited and watched.

Hyacintha, on the other hand, was falling apart as she looked over at Nilo with a small smile.

“That is where you are wrong. It would’ve been worth it…just to be with you again,” she said through all the tears and sniffles. Yes. Back then dying was the right answer to make all the pain go away. If it wasn’t for the interference of a strange young man, she would’ve gone to the grave to be with the one she loved. And now…because she had not been strong enough to perform the act, Nilo was back in this state of being. Torn…broken.

The tears of despair, guilt, and self-loathing kept coming from the pair leaving the shadow at a lost as to what to do as he stayed on guard. Unlike his master, who only saw the boy before her, Snow could sense the changes within the boy she could not and due to the strange changes he did not know if he could trust the thing before him or not. Even when the other calmed and began to twist his hair in that all too familiar way, Snow was still unsure. Nilo's words only made the situation harder to process and deal with.

Nilo…he was here and yet he wasn’t. The matter was very confusing and only seemed to increase the desperation within Hyacintha as she looked over at the boy with a sad smile still in place.

“It is okay. We can find Nilo again. I am sure of it and then…then everything will be just fine,” she was saying her voice full of hope and a sort of determination that worried even Snow as he glanced at his master. What…what was she going to do to accomplish her goal? Unable to find the courage to ask or stop what was going on, he continued to watch the pair interact.

“I missed you too,” Hyacintha began softly “But I am so glad you are back.”

She would pause as she smiled warmly at the fragment and nodded.

“I love them and have worn them ever since I was given them,” the girl said pushing back her hair to reveal the earrings to the spirit. The earrings…no the piece of Nilo’s soul she always carried with her like a cross to be bared. For a few brief moments, the negativity broke and their was happiness all around, but just as soon as that breath of air came, it was snatched away as Nilo fell into despair again.

The sight only broke Hyacintha even more as she shook her head.

“That doesn’t matter. I will always love you, Nilo. No matter what,” she told him as she instinctively moved closer and before Snow could stop her, she had gone over to the sobbing creature and embraced him (if she could). The action sent chills through Snow like an electric current. He wanted to pull her away from the thing, but because he wore Nilo’s face, he just couldn’t and so….he let the action happen and when it ended with no harm coming to the girl, the shadow relaxed again as a book was held out to Hyacintha.

She would look at the book, hesitating for a moment as she caught sight of that puppet, but then slowly she reach out and take it. As she took the familiar book in hand, she noticed the strange picture hanging out and tilted her head slightly before opening the book curious to see what the picture was and what it was Nilo wanted her to see.

While she did this, Snow kept his eyes on Nilo watching as the creature moved away from them, seemingly angered once more. He watched the display of violence with a mix of sadness and understanding. Nilo really was trapped within that thing and trying his best not to harm them, wasn’t he? But could he be saved from such a fate? Or would the judges erase him for good?
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Hyacintha: In her desperate state trusts Nilo.
Snow: Is still very cautious, but is seeking understanding and solutions to this strange state of being Nilo is in.