(Tom's P.O.V.)
Finally. The day came.
The moment I would see my princess again. There was no denying that this has been one of the hardest things in my life - given that my life was so young. I didn't doubt there would be much sadness to come, but this was only natural. Humans loved, cried, hurt. And if I wanted to be human, despite my blood betraying me, I had to accept this at least.
My scenes in 'War Horse' were eventually over, they didn't need me until the premiere, which was far in the future. I could return home. The thought of home warmed me. I took my seat on the plane, already dreaming of our long awaited reunion, I imagined her. Not that my mind could reproduce such a beauty.
I took my wallet out. I had secretely taken a picture of her with me, well knowing I wouldn't survive without seeing her. You'd say I was a female-depending little bastard. Maybe I was. Love did crazy things to people.
The last thing I needed when I was back home was jet lag, I tried to sleep the entire flight. The noise around me would made this impossible. I wanted nothing more than to enter my personal dreamland, where I would meet her. The only thing I wanted more was feeling her smooth skin for real. I hadn't touched many people until then, which made her warmth even more intense compared to Loki's corpse like cold.
My poor darling was sleeping in our house alone for so long by then. All alone and without somebody by her side. But I would be with her soon. My heart beat faster in my chest with desire.
---
(Caroline's P.O.V.)
Tom would arrive today.
You could say much about me, but there was no denying that I was the sweetest wife ever that day. I had prepared the house and myself for his arrival, I had cooked his favourite food, bought Poptarts, which he loved more than me, and wore the dress he said looked beautiful on me. It was a dress that exposed my cleavage (not that I had much of it) and a seductive portion of my legs. Even high heels!
My sheer tights didn't really help, it was cold, even inside.
The last time I had seen Loki, he had been painting, refusing to show me. I had nagged, as always, but he was too stubborn and I didn't have a silver tongue. I eventually left him and turned my focus to the house. He must've left his library some time. As I walked past it, the doors were wide open. I risked a glance, and cursed.
There was no time for his now, and I called Loki a son of bitch for leaving the room tempting my curiosity like this. Any other day would've been great, but no. God beware I get my will.
I staggered down the stairs, these heels qualified as an instrument of torture. The things I do for love. I sighed, and cursed again. The first thing greeting me downstairs was a speechles Loki, staring at me. I would've sworn I heared him choke on his tea.
"Your jaw." I teased. "Shut your mouth, you'll catch a fly."
He recomposed himself, though not as agile as I was used to from him. Gosh, men. They were all the same! Sure, I may have looked provocative. But I was definitely neither the first and most definitely not the last woman he found hot.
"Bella." He breathed, smiling. I had taken the seat opposite him as there was nothing else to do then besides waiting. Which I fucking hated.
The last time Tom called, he told me he would be home around 7. It was 7 by then, with still no Tom in sight. I groaned with annoyance. It was beginning to freak me out how in-your-face-ly he was staring at me. Don't ask me what made me say this, I still don't know to this day.
"Loki, you're staring." I adjusted my dress, pulled it down to cover some more thigh.
What happened next was the fucking least I could've imagined. Loki rose from his seating position, walked towards me, knelt down in front my legs, which I had pressed tightly together as to not tempt this man any further. "Your... stocking."
"What?" I blurted out. I looked down following where his eyes were.
And no joke, I saw it. While aggressively pushing my left leg into the tights, they must've ripped open at where my calf was. I hadn't noticed it, eyes too weak and mind absolutely elsewhere. But a ripped stocking of mine would never go unnoticed past Loki's eyes.
He raised his hand, put it over where the torn part was. I jumped, it was like an electric shock, but I felt it in my core. His eyes flared up green for a split second, and he withdrew his hand. My stocking was immaculate then.
Something I'd never tell him, but I secretely adored these magic tricks of his. Not on me, of course, but in general. I was fascinated, and once again came to appreciate what an extraordinary man Loki was.
He rose to his feet. "Thank you." I muttered, earned myself another smile, but a smile I couldn't quite read. He sat down next to me and self-consciously put an arm around me. I let him, he had done so much for my mental well-being, he had slept next to me, this was okay. I rested against him, worried for Tom.
"What if he had an accident on the highway? It's snowing outside, I hate this fucking cold. What if - "
"Hush." Just as self-consciously, Loki pressed his hand which rested on my shoulder to my mouth. No joke, my first thought was 'bitch?' I had spent, like, ages putting this make up on. "Calm down, my dear." I turned my face away, he understood and rested his hand back on my shoulder. His fingers played gently with my hair.
"He will be alright." Loki said, almost hypnotically staring into my eyes. You can't doubt his words anymore once he looks at you like this. If Loki says something with so much expression and intensity, it had to be true.
Here was I believing the God of Mischief and Lies.
Don't get me wrong, but the intensity of his eyes was getting to much. I had goosebumps, partly because of the cold, because of his cold, and because of his gaze. It was uncanny, I didn't feel good. I stood up from beside him and walked across the room, trying to shake off this strange feeling.
I heard him following me, I turned around. My instincts were telling me to do something, but not what. He had an expression on his face I couldn't read. He approached me, but halted, turned his face to the glassy main entrance. His eyes gazed into a faraway place. What caught his attention?
Whatever it was, it lasted a second or two. His expression darkened, but only sightly. I stayed where I was and watched Loki approaching me.
"What's wrong?" Tears gathered in my eyes, I didn't know why. It was so cold, as if the temperature had dropped suddenly. Breathing became difficult, my dress was too tight. I started sweating.
Loki came to a halt in front of me, too close. I didn't, couldn't back away. Was he playing my mind?
"Loki, if this is you, stop it now."
"This?" His hypnotizing eyes flared up once more. It gave me the rest, the room spun around us. My ankles failed me, I raised my arm in an attempt to hold to him. He was faster, his hands locked around my wrists.
"Caroline, do you think I do not see what you are doing?" Loki whispered, using the full power of his voice.
My head would roll back any moment. I was so dizzy, so weak suddenly, so cold. "Loki, please - "
The spinning came to a sudden halt, not a moment too soon. His grip tightened slightly. Some lights burst. "Loki - " I tried again, my voice slowly regenerating. "What's happening?"
"Oh, please." He scoffed, his face now unambigious. He was angry. "I do not deny deserving this, only one thing I do not take." He spat. His hand freed my wrists. Only to hold my face. I could feel the chilling breeze of his breath on my face.
"Abandon this masquerade, this mockery of my mind. If I am for the axe for what I did, then for mercy's sake, just swing it."
I stared in disbelief, confusion, paralyzed. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I put my shaking hands on his, hoping it would calm him. I could only shake my head, and started crying.
"This play. 'Tis true, I am a monster, but I do have a heart, and I gave it to you. Why make me bleed? Our nights together, all those moments, you let me come so close. You wear my dresses." His voice dropped a third, and I saw it then. He, too, had tears in his eyes.
"All this to torment me? Oh, believe me, if I could bring your family back, I would. I died for you, for you to be with him. When will you redeem me?"
It all dawned on me. My idiocy, my pathetic attempts, I had only wanted to make him happier. But no good deed goes unpunished. If he only knew. The dress, his dress, was suffocating me. It felt to heavy suddenly. I hadn't thought, I never wanted this. I had whipped him, day after day, while thinking I was gently stroking his hair.
We were so vulnerable. There was nothing I could say, he wouldn't believe, he had felt too much. I saw it in his eyes. My face hurt, he had trouble staying gentle with me. He just held me, stared, tried to find reason in my behaviour. There was no way he could see it as I saw it, the least thing I had intended was hurting him.
A noise turned both our heads. The sharp sound of shards of glass.
There stood Tom, behind a broken, glassy wall, a red rose in his hand. The other hand reflected what light still shone from the chandelier, he bled. A lot. I didn't believe this could get any worse, but I was proven so horribly wrong.
What should he have done after all, he thought another man had taken the lips of his wife.
(Tom's P.O.V.)
The taxi took me to our new house. After travelling for so many hours, this half an hour was what bothered me the most. My patience had been stretched. As my driver pulled up into our driveway. It confused me - had Caroline parked the BMW elsewhere? Why would she? All the lights seemed out.
I felt then for the first time that something was wrong. I swallowed. It had been a good decision to buy this house, in reality, it looked even better than in the pictures.
Surely Caroline was waiting inside, impatiently and restlessly. I didn't want to torture her or myself any longer, I ran all the way up to the front door and pulled my keys out. I still had to give her one of them, I couldn't make sure Loki would always be with her to open the doors.
Darkness greeted me inside. I searched in the living room, then in our chamber. Maybe she had arranged a surprise. Even in the library, my love was nowhere to be seen.
"Caroline? I'm back!" I shouted enthusiastically, this unpleasant feeling in my gut intesifying.
This house was too dark and too cold. Running down the stairs again I looked at the rose in my hand, lost in thoughts. If she wasn't here - and she should be here - then there was only one other possibilty.
She was with him, in his house.
I wasn't even angry yet, I was only worried. Something must have happened, Caroline would never leave me to come to our empty house without reason. I suspected she was wasn't feeling well, I knew from Loki's memories that he was a trained healer. But wouldn't she have called him to her instead?
I only wanted her to be safe, with me.
I called another taxi, my lateness bothering me. I had told her I would be there at 7 p.m.
The taxi finally arrived, I got in immediately and told the driver my destination. I hurried him as much as I deemed safe on these icy highways. The drive took less than usual and still too much for me. Quickly paying, I jumped out of the car and ran to the glassy side of Loki's house. We used it as the main entrance. I could see the entire living room through the glass wall.
What I saw hurt more than a hundred daggers. I choked. Had I seen right? I rubbed my eyes vigorously.
There was Caroline, beautiful in white. I adored this dress on her, despite it being a present of Loki's. I couldn't see her face, yet trembled nonetheless. He was towering in front of her, head bent down. This kiss was mutual.
The pain turned into rage, worse than the rage of battle. I rammed my left fist into the glass, creating a first breach, then breaking through. The sharp edges cut lines over my skin. The rose in my right hand had died in my unhuman grasp, its thorns piercing me in a last defence. I didn't feel it then.
My silver blood was gouting, slowly gathering at my feet. It was so cold, my breath was no more than white smoke. Not the temperature was icing up my heart, it was the sight of betrayal that froze my veins over.
They turned to me. I don't remember what their faces looked like. I saw but red.
I opened, no, fought the door open, tossed away this damn flower. With a speed I didn't know I had, I had seized Loki, ripping him away from Caroline's body and throwing him against a wall. I had never known the extent of my power. I had broken through glass. With the power of my rage-enflamed push, Loki had broken through the wall.
"Tom!" A jarring scream sounded. I turned to her.
"Is this all respect you have for me?" I walked towards her. She backed off. Terror demasqued her beautiful face.
"Let me explain - "
"Explain?" This was only getting worse. "What reason do you think could possibly justify this betrayal? We had sworn to love only one another, do you remember none of that?" I had never shouted like this, and I could have started crying right there, too.
No words could describe this feeling.
"Tom, it's not what it looks like, we were -"
"What? Please, what do you take me f- "
A smack to the face made my head fly to the right. "Shut up and let me talk!" She had struck me. Loki was regaining consciousness, groaning. "I never kissed this man, Tom. He never touched me like you touch me."
"And what were you doing then?" This better had to be a undoubtable alternative. I had been taken as a fool enough that day.
"Loki, he - " She hesitated, bit her lip. Did her force himself on her? But she hadn't fought back.
"What, Caroline?" I stepped closer, took her wrists. "What happened?"
"I made a mistake. I hurt him, and I had to tell the truth. You know how he is." She turned her face away. "And he had forced answers, like you now, holding me tight, like you. And I was paralyzed. If it all, it was an expression of hatred. Nothing else."
I didn't know in that moment what to feel. Relief? Anger? Self-loathing? I had just doubted my wife.
"And why weren't you in our house, where I told you to be?" I asked her.
"You told me 'wait for me at home'. Did you expect me to live alone in that huge mansion, when I could keep being with Loki while you're not here? I thought you mean this home. I had stayed months with him, why shouldn't I stay with him as long as I can? I'm leaving him for good after today!" Caroline shouted at me.
The entire dimension of the scene I had made dawned on me slowly. I had accused her of adultery. I had demolished walls. I had beaten Loki unconscious.
"Oh, I've missed this."
I spun around. There stood Loki, bleeding gold, the pale face of a mad man. He had spread his arms apart, in each hand a knife. I breathed in deeply. My memory was intact, I knew what he could do with those. And I also knew how to fight those off.
I positioned myself in front of Caroline, taking off my jacket. This was inevitable, I had provoked it and there was no reasoning with Loki then. "No!" She screamed, but it had already begun.
Our dance was deadly. We struck and blocked. I had lost count how many times my head had hit the ground, the wall. We had dismantled the entire living room. I had taken a few cuts, though only surficial. He held those knives in a grip of steel, I couldn't disarm. I had caught Caroline's gaze, I had lost concentration for this second that seemed to last for decades.
Loki was so fast, I had seen him. He locked my head, pressed a knife to my throat. "Now, how much does he mean to you, Caroline?" He hissed, spat saliva and blood. "What would you offer me for his life?"
"Loki, no." It was no more than a whisper.
"Leave her." I forced out what little air had remained inside me. He pressed the knife tighter into my skin. My vision blurred.
"Oh, no, is he dead?" Suddenly, he jabbed his other knife into my flank. I cried out, but I couldn't move. I didn't remember. Loki had never gotten himself in a head lock. The knife wasn't even that deep in, he could've done worse. But he wanted to prolong this. "Make your choice."
My eyes tried to say 'no'. We all knew what he wanted. I had made him snap and I should pay the price.
Caroline knelt. She looked up to him, tears streaming down her face. But she wasn't crying, not anymore. "I am sorry." She uttered. "I have wronged you. You have been more kind to me than I had deserved. I'm no more than a stupid girl, with stupid dreams, who never learns. But never, ever in my life was my intention to hurt you. I ask forgiveness, on my knees."
And oh, this silence. It lasted so tormentingly long. I believed to hear him swallow. His grasp loosened, permitted me to breathe.
He thrust me forwards, I fell to the ground, in front of Caroline. I gasped for air, she had rushed to my side, holding me.
"Take him. Do what you think is right. I do not care." With that, he left for upstairs. The knives fell clanking to the ground.
Caroline and I kept looking at each other, and I could tell by her expression that she felt guilty. Guilty for hurting this cruel excuse for a man.
Eventually, we made it to our BMW. I had no memory of how. I drove and Caroline sat on the passenger seat. We were dumbstruck, our brains had not handled what just occurred. Not a word, simply driving over the almost empty, dark highway. Our windscreen was almost frozen and I could tell Caroline was was shivering, despite her efforts to hide it.
"Tom, you know what really happened, don't you?" She whispered, making me sigh.
"I know." Liar. " I should have never doubted you, you had every reason to be mad at me. I can't stand seeing you - "
"I told you he didn't want to do that."
"Who knows what -"
"I said he didn't want to do that!" Caroline suddenly exclaimed. I jumped with a start. Her breathing hitched audibly. The composure and calmness she had showed only moments ago, it had vanished. The consequences of what she had witnessed were coming to haunt her.
"I don't care about what he wants, just stop seeing him!" I shouted at her, glaring at the dark highway in front of us.
"He is our friend, you doubt him after all he did for us! And you accused me of - " She began, but I interrupted her. It has been happening a lot lately. Ever since I had become human, I had slowly lost my calmness. I snapped - not as Loki of course, but still.
In moments like these, I knew she could hardly tell us apart. But she would never admit that.
"It's not your loyalty. Loki is known for his mind tricks. No one knows hypnotization as he does. He's dangerous, don't you understand?"
"No, no!" She took off her seatbelt and turned to me. "You have no idea what he has done for me! He has been there - "
"What? While I wasn't there? Is that what this is all about? Naive." I scoffed. She was going places with my patience she shouldn't. "Now put your seatbelt back on."
"You're such an asshole. Yes, he was there when you weren't. And he helped me with nightmares you don't even know about!"
I gripped the steering wheel tighter.
"There is no way I will leave him, not now, not ever. He needs me!"
"I need you!"
"Not as much as he needs me now!"
"How can you - don't you dare belie me." There it was again. His Loki was showing. "The only one who is lying through his teeth is that damn bastard, who grudged us our marriage from the beginning! And you pretend not to notice!"
I screamed, it was too late to say anything more. The light - it blinded my eyes. The van - the highway - out of control. Wheels shrieking against the icy road.
Death was sliding toward us, preparing for a bloodstained kiss.
We crashed, my body flew forcefully into the seatbelts. Caroline wore no seatbelt. Her body flew forward, hard into the windscreen.Our car came to a sudden stop. My head hit the window next to me. Smoke, so much smoke -
My vision was blurry. I had cried often - this wasn't like it at all. Blood was trickling into my eyes. I struggled, and screamed instantly. When was the last time I had screamed like that? Something hurt beyond imagination, my leg - God, my leg! I didn't dare look down. I felt it. A threatening, sticky warmth was spreading all around the pain center.
I was stuck. Caroline was nowhere near me. My adrenaline, it was pumped through my veins. My mind, I needed it. All over my body were cuts and bruises, accentuating the stab I had taken before.
Frozen.
I was losing consciousness. My world was flickering. In and out. And this pain! And Caroline, the broken windshield - She had worn nothing similar to red. But her body was now. I could not see much, but I could see that. She was covered in shards.
My angel of crystal.
I prayed to God, please don't let her die. It was all my fault.
Struggling out of the fuming car, I limped over to Caroline's motionless body. I gently shook her, she never answered. I wanted to cry. I didn't know what to do. I lifted her into my shaking arms and carried her away from the car wreck, directly into the cold winter night. I fell to my knees. I layed her on the hard asphalt of the highway and pressed my hand to her wound.
Her skin was ice cold and gashing red.
"Please, Caroline, please, don't leave me." I sobbed and looked at her tormented face. Taking off my jacket, I wrapped it around her body. She needed warmth, she needed help. People had stopped, gathered around us, called an ambulance.
They came eventually, but for me, it seemed as if it took them years to come here. The paramedics pushed me out of the way and began their professional work instantly. I kept watching over her. There was nothing I could do. Useless.
"Sir, are you related to this woman?" After another eternity, someone spoke to me.
"Y-Yes, I'm her husband."
"I need you to sign this." The female paramedic said, holding something out to me. But I was completely elsewhere. I had felt something, almost struck by lightning. I dashed forward, past the woman, knelt beside Caroline, whose eyes were - moving. Fluttering. She was opening her eyes.
"Caroline!" I cried. "I'm so sorry, this is all my - " I was stuttering in joy, shivering, but she cut me off.
"L-Loki?"
I didn't even process it then what this had meant.
"No, love. It's me, Tom." I whispered and one of my tears fell onto her.
"Loki..."