Love?

It had been about 6 years since Ebbe had showed up on Karls doorstep, in that time he’s made his stay worth the old man’s while; repairing the dilapidated home, chopping wood, hunting, farming, cleaning… It was a delicate, unspoken requirement in trade for a place to stay and quiet company when no one else would have him. A coexistence that gave him some sort of a purpose in a world he had long been exorcised from for reasons he struggles to remember, not that he’d want to if he could. Though the old traveler had easily made friends since his arrival -most coming to him for healing or wisdom in trade for goods out of the goodness of their hearts; as he was much too old to have made it on his own- and was pleasant enough to be around in a general sense, Ebbe had always felt that there was more to this old man than he wanted anyone to know… the key to which was locked away amongst Karl’s all-consuming “work” as far as Ebbe could tell. Karl seemed to know that Ebbe sensed as much, as Karl had always seemed to deliberately manage the distance between them… always being sure to keep his ways guarded under lock and key.

When Ebbe wasn’t busy he’d been spending most of his time out of the way, day dreaming of most things a normal 22 year old man might, but as much as he wanted to leave he just… couldn’t bring him self to do it. Not for old man Karl’s sake, the farm he’s built, or even for himself for that matter, no… it was as if something else kept him here. But was it his fear of what waited for him out there, or was it because he was waiting to find out what was in…

“The Gods seem to have seen it fit to trade you good fortune for your good health, be a little more… wary of what you wish for next time, you never know which God is listening… some are as fickle as humans from what I’ve heard.” He says lowly at last.

“What can I do?” She whispers a little too desperately, twirling one of her stark, brittle, white braids in her long, cold, pink fingers.

His eyes cloud mysteriously as he stifles a curling lip “Give to others what you asked for yourself, helping others may in trade draw help for your health.”

She looks conflicted, her eyes beg him to clarify.

“Or don't, and enjoy your wealth with what little time you have left.”

She doesn’t speak, as if ashamed at first and now slightly annoyed.

“I did not come to tell you… you came to me, asking.” He retorts calmly in a way to in which to avoid any potential wrath, a concerned crease between his brow building as her lips twitch in frustration as if she were to explode at the seemingly innocent old man… but to his surprise, she nods, stands, and brushes her way past him and out the door. After a moment, Karl’s wrinkled, dry lips tighten as he heaves himself up to his staff, he hangs his head with a hidden smile and, too, makes his way out the back side of his longhouse into the late autumn air, Ebbe following close behind, shaking his head.

—

“Ebbe, you look well.” A neighbor from down the way says spryly as he makes his way to the fire that marked the center of the clearing to warm his hands, inadvertently pulling Ebbe out of his trance.

“You too, Erik, thanks for coming.” Ebbe replies casually, offering a weak smile, still spacey as he gazes into the slowly growing crowd gathering around Karl from the stump he now finds him self on- opposite the flames, at one in particular and away from another.

Karl is hosting a harvest celebration for his unorthodox group of disaffected Northern neighbors, a group of those who didn’t have much else better to do and didn’t seem to mind the idea of free food and some company. Ebbe watches from afar as the group sacrifices a farm animal, blóts, eats, dances, and drinks- keeping himself busy with chopping firewood and feeding farm animals till there’s nothing left to do but wait to see the group out of the yard. He’s surprised when a few of the elders wave him into the longhouse from his perch beside the barn for one last toast as late day overcast settled into a downpour.

“Pass that around, would you?” Karl nods Ebbe to a pitcher before pouring his own glass from another, watching as the group huddles inside. Once seemingly settled, the old man clears his throat, grabbing the rooms attention as Ebbe finishes filling cups and readies his own. “Thank you for coming everyone, let us give one last toast to the season, each other, and to all our Gods for another good year, Skol!” Karl declares to the lot.

“Skol!” The group lifts their cups to drink, Ebbe begins to follow, keeping his eyes on one twinkling pair of long-lashed, warm, lightning blue eyes towards the back that had finally caught his, only to feel the cold leathery fingers of Karl obstructing.

As Ebbe looks to Karl to understand why, something that long had been hiding deep in the aether of the house twists, shifts the room from warm happiness to cold dissolution. Confused, as he momentarily attempts to make sense of the unexpected mess of shadows drifting through Karl’s pale eyes, wails of agony rip through the air- pulling Ebbe from whatever it is he thought he saw. Around the pair’s slightly lifted stoop, and in a half-seconds time, the elders hit the ground first, followed by the screaming and thudding of their children as they too, hit the floor, followed by a wave of all but two of their children’s children, siblings, a young woman and her brother.

Ebbe’s feet move faster than his mind, he weaves through and over bodies, barely catching her before she hit the ground- his calloused fingers grip against her sweat-drenched dress, her eyes meet his desperately “Ebbe…” her otherwise gentile fingers bite into his shoulders as life fades from her eyes. Ebbe looks for help but Karl hadn’t moved from his spot in the room. Karl seems neatly unaffected, as if expecting, his eyes energetically search the bodies for something when they finally fixate. Amidst a few last gasps for air somewhere in the room, it was quiet now, all but a sloshy hum remained before a strained, rattled breath . Ebbe swivels his head to see Broek, vibrating, skin bubbling, swelling hotly, moving like a swarm of hungry maggots, his eyes bleeding purple.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” Ebbe bellows angrily in disbelief.

Karl easily makes his way forward over the lifeless bodies to Broek, and with some sort of long-reserved, unearthly vigor grabs the convulsing young man and throws him effortlessly over his shoulder. “What I have to do before…” He stops himself seemingly unnerved by something, he tips his eyes slightly to meet Ebbe’s smoldering gaze from under his red hair… set under a furrowed brow, atop a visibly shaken strong build holding the only thing Karl knew Ebbe had ever given a shit about. He wouldn’t… “Take the rest out back, burn them, immediately.” Karl demands as he tuns and starts on his way to his chamber, ultimately and absolutely discarding the room of bodies, his lips curl, knowing exactly which fire he’s actually lit.

Ebbe goes still, then burning hot with blind rage, his eyes flit from the girl, to the cups, to the old man, he slips her to the floor and hurls himself at Karl full force, only to be dispelled with ease by the unbothered old man with a walking stick. “You think anyone would believe you had nothing to do with it, bastard?” Karl threatens- his demeanor laced with threat.He hobbles to his room, eagerly unlocks and opens it, shuffles inside, and then shuts and locks the door behind him.

—

The smell of singed innards fights against the familiar early winter wind sweeping through the trees, ash mingles with the first winter snow, the early morning the moon looks like it hasn’t moved in hours. In his time burning each body in ritual fashion, giving each the respect a proper Northerner deserved… or, as much as he could offer, Ebbe finds himself numbly wrestling with the idea of leaving again. But this time, it wasn’t a matter of why, but how and when.

Could he get far enough before word got out? He wondered as he looked over his shoulder at the longhouse. He knew that if he didn’t stay and continue to make himself useful, contribute to Karl’s facade, Karl would simply -naturally as far as others were concerned- blame him when the families of the dead came looking, nowhere would be safe. Northern society wouldn’t let a suspected, unjustified mass killer walk free…. Karl was right, it was his word over Ebbe’s.

Maybe if he killed Karl… no… he knew Karl “knew he knew” and was always watching. It would be just another murder. It’s not like any one path to his fate would change if he intervened, and he knows he wouldn’t make it through another... snap. Fucked either way. He was going to have to buy his time from Karl.

Finally down to the last body. Clearing the pit of bits of bone and coal and stacking a fresh pile of wood, he gently unwraps and lifts her body from his pelt that lay in the snow. Even in death she was beautiful, as her head lightly rolls back in his arms- her strawberry blond hair tumbles gently around her strong but delicate features, the life in her naturally pale skin not quite gone yet, her lips just as soft as always… if only the last memory of her eyes wasn’t one of pain... After stealing what should have been their first kiss he gently lays Frigg on the fresh pile of wood.

Trying to take flint to stone his hands begin to shake as the numbness he was all too used to tries to run away as it always had around her. “I’m so sorry, Frigg… for everything.” On his knees, with what little strength left in him he strikes flame.

He can’t watch, he wont… as spark tumbles onto her he turns close his eyes.

“Ebbe…?” A soft voice calls out to him. “EBBE!”

“Frigg?”

As he turns back the lump in his throat drops to the pit of his stomach “NO!”

She’s starts coughing, frothing at the mouth, vibrating as Broek had as she tries to escape the quickly growing fire eating at her clothes, her hair-

“Hold on Frigg!” He drags her from the wood pile and tries to pat her down with snow, she’s flailing, they’re both screaming, her voice hits a gut-ripping pitch that shatters as she begins to seize violently. Her skin begins to boil and blister from the fire while something else forces it to start ripping itself apart as insides force their way to the outside and outsides unnaturally suck their way in- “PLEASE… NO…” Ebbe begs, accedentally catching a glimpse of large, scared, lightning blue eyes succumbing to and bleeding purple, yearning for an end as he rips the pelt from the snow and tries to smother her naked, wriggling body.

“E-Ebbe…” she moans over the crackling of flames and flesh as she finally passes out- her bones begin to snap from phalanges to extremities to spine, he’s still trying to- “No! Nonono…”

Every part of her dissolves in his hands as he tries to grab onto her, just hold her, then sizzles into hard, ever shrinking shards of putrid green-purple crystal that falls from between his fingers onto the dirty snow before his eyes until… she was gone- nothing more than a pile of black soot.

He can’t breathe, or take his eyes off of his hands, covered in her blood, her ashes, this purple… “I-I’m so- s-…”

I didn’t know…