Trifecta: Ice [Complete]

Ch 20: Indefinite Stalemate

I woke in the morning with my heart slamming against my rib cage.

"Happy one week anniversary," I muttered to the curse sarcastically.

It responded by winding ice around my bones.

"St-still no sense of humour, I see," I said to it as I burrowed deeper under the covers. I really was not in the mood to face the world this day.

In a few short hours, I would have been under the curse for one full week, seven long days, one hundred and sixty-eight endless hours, ten thousand and eighty unbearable minutes...

It felt like a really long time. One week did not adequately describe what my life had become.

More shivers assaulted me and I hunched back further into the covers.

There was a knock at my door. "Elise?"

"Yes, K-K-Karen?" I responded.

"Are you ready for breakfast?" she asked.

I was never ready for anything anymore. "Y-yes, I'll j-just be a few minutes."

"Okay," she responded through the door and then left me to my own devices.

I forced myself out of bed. It seemed harder than the previous day. Apparently sassing the curse just aggravated it.

I got ready for the day as quickly as I could manage, pushing myself forward by focusing on how I did not want to inconvenience Karen.

It was an effective trick and I was learning. I felt a quick jolt of optimism that the curse beat back down with more shivers.

But the curse was not omnipotent. It could only change my emotional perception of reality, it could not actually touch the truth.

And the truth was that I was slowly learning how it affected me.

Not that I thought it was going to be easy, but I was going to survive this. It might be a pitiable half life of what I once had, but I was going to live.  I rinsed the conditioner from my hair and got out of the shower.

I dressed and made myself leave my safe little crevice.

Unlike the weekend mornings when Karen had been gone, Serge was nowhere to be seen and the prickles on the back of my neck were only the relatively gentle ones of her presence. I could not help the feeling of relief which was quickly swallowed in terror that I would dare feel comforted by his absence.

I made my way over to one of the island bar stools and sat down on one shakily.

"How did you sleep?" Karen asked me conversationally. I could tell she was frying bacon and eggs by the smell alone. I tried to picture her at her task and shivered.

"Okay, I think," I said. At the very least I had not woken up last night from my solid eight hours of dark terror.

"Your family is coming over for supper tomorrow," she informed me.

I forced a smile. "Yes, S-S-S..."

"Serge?" she supplied gently.

"Y-yes, told me," I agreed.

"I think it will do you good to see them," she commented. "Is there anything you want me to cook?"

I groaned, as options flashed through my mind and the curse stabbed at me to pick one.

"Stew?" I randomly chose.

"Sounds good," she said. "Your family like moose?"

I paused. "M-mostly," I stuttered because it was a very inadequate answer.