Excerpt: Snow Light, Blood Red

It's always the quiet nights when things change. Moments that seem so soft and calm quickly turn into chaos. The light is minimal; everything seems lost, hazy, as though it's not meant for your understanding. And there is nothing to be done but see what is able to be salvaged when things make sense again.

It was one of these nights that I dreamt of a pair of eyes. They were dark, almost opaque, and yet they held a brightness to them, a light of sorts. My mind was swirling, unable to see clearly, but the eyes... the eyes were there. They were strong, fiercer than those of any soul I had ever seen, and contained an unbearable sadness to them. My heart ached for the owner, for the loss and pain that had to have come with such a look.

When I woke up, my mother was gone. Her blood was there, with her ruined body and stained clothes. But she was gone, lost to me forever.

It's always the quiet nights.

Always.