Cabin of Axes - Bea Paige Page 0,51

eye. “What’s this?” I mutter, plucking at a piece of paper. Pulling it gently from his fingers, I unfold it. Written in neat script on their headed paper is a note.

To our love,

We’ve overdosed on the honey. We’ve taken enough to obliterate you from our memories. I know you’re probably angry, that you’ll want to wait for us to wake up so that you can convince us we know each other. You’ll do it because you love us, and you’ll endure those first few weeks of hell we put you through in the hope that we will fall in love with you again. But we can’t let you do that.

You’re not safe. You’re not safe from us.

Today proved that no matter how hard we try we will never be able to rid ourselves of the darkness that lives within us. It took over today. I witnessed it take my brothers and I felt the same darkness unfurl inside my chest, doing its best to obliterate all the light you’d worked so hard to fill us with. The truth is, we’ll never be certain that we won’t ever truly hurt you. I’ve always worried that one day one of us will lash out and do irrevocable damage. That man deserved to die today, and we won’t apologise for that, but we are sorry for you having to witness how the darkness still rules us despite all your love you’ve lavished us with.

You’re better off without us, Goldie.

It hurts me to write this. Don’t think it’s because we don’t love you. It’s because we do. We’ve no idea what the consequences of taking this amount of honey will be. We never experimented past that one and only time. So I don’t want you to stay to see what happens. You could be in more danger than ever. We know you’ll want to stay. We know even reading this, you’ll refuse to leave us, but I’m begging you. Go. Leave. Please.

But before you do I’m asking you one last favour. We didn’t have time to get rid of the statues we carved of us in the studio, we burnt everything else, all the research, all your notes, but I need you to do one last thing. Take the key to the studio. Hide it. One day we’ll enter the studio again, maybe we’ll remember you, maybe we won’t, but by that time you’ll be so far away it won’t matter.

I’ve left you some honey downstairs. I want you to take it, all of it. I want you to forget us, forget what happened today. Burn this letter once you’ve read it, then run.

If you love us, you’ll run.

Please, do it for us.

I’m sorry we couldn’t be the men you needed.

Us

Your Three Bears.

Chapter Seventeen

So, that’s what I did.

I ran.

I dressed in my clothes, spilled my tears over their sleeping forms and kissed them goodbye. I watched Franklin’s letter turn to ash in the grate, then picked up the plastic bottle of honey where another note sat, that same note I found in Berrin’s coat pocket. I grabbed them both and headed into the Cabin of Axes where I locked their studio, took the key and another sheet of headed paper and wrote a note of my own, wrapping them both up in a zip-lock bag and burying them beneath the hive. I’d stood there and forced myself to consume the honey with tears rolling down my cheeks in the hope that one day they’d find the note, open the studio and remember me. Then I’d wandered aimlessly for a while. Twice I almost returned to the cabin, and on the second occasion, I found Berrin’s discarded jacket in the forest. I took it. for comfort as much as anything else, and tucked the brief note from Franklin inside the jacket pocket and left. I’d left them because I loved them enough to let them go, and I came back because somewhere deep inside I’d refused to do just that.

All I know now is that I won’t walk away a second time. Whatever I find, I will deal with.

Their darkness doesn’t scare me, but a life without them does.

Shaking away the brutal memory of that time, I search the house for my men but they’re not in any of the places I expect them to be. Fear spikes in my chest, urging me into action and I grab my boots from beside the front door and Berrin’s jacket from the hook hanging above.

Outside the sun