Chapter 20: The Cold House

Hours earlier, Lenora watched the moon shine as she saw her best friend hover away, then spent most of her energy climbing the stairs to her house.

"In short, she really needs to get someone to make stairs for my chair. I mean, why do I keep forgetting?"

She let out a long sigh at the stairs that were stopping her from entering her home, and then at the food in her lap. She took the two takeaways and placed them up the five flights of stairs before dragging her wheelchair as well. It took a while, but she reached the top. She picked the takeaway on the floor before entering her home.

The night air was cold. The cold clung to every part of the house, mostly because of the snow. As Lenora entered, she looked around. The power was on, but it looked like the heating system was not working. So she wheeled herself to the heating system, but the system was dark. There was nothing inside.

Lenora looked at her backyard where trees were growing, covered in snow. She put down her takeaway before going out. Unlike the front of their home, the back had no stairs, so it was easy for Lenora. When she reached down, she stopped in front of a tree and looked at it. It was tall, a bit taller than her, really.

She tapped on her wrist, and a portal opened in front of her. She made her hands move around in the portal as if looking for something in a pile. After a while, she removed another blade. This one was different—it was white and looked to be too radiant, if a chill could be radiant. Lenora just sighed. This was the only good weapon she had.

But as she swung the blade to the tree, immediately the blade hit the tree. It started to crystallize. Before Lenora could blink, the whole tree turned into a glass crystal of ice.

Lenora looked at the tree. She was getting frustrated by everything. She punched the tree, as a spider web of cracks spread from where her hand landed, till the tree just shattered into pieces.

Lenora looked at the crystal parts on the floor before grabbing one of the pieces and throwing it away in frustration as far as she could. But the thing came back and hit her chair a bit, but the surprise impact sent her falling to the ground.

"Damn it. Damn it all."

She shouted as she tried to pull herself up from the cold ground. First, that stupid Orson going all night and leaving her. Then this damn house just had to run out of wood for the heating system. And she was starving.

The situation was just tiring for Lenora. She was tired and wanted to sleep. So after pulling herself up, she went to the kitchen for a bottle of water before going up the stairs to her room with the takeaway in hand. But as she reached the stairs going up, Lenora looked up and threw the bottle hard at the stairs before it just rolled down the stairs back to her feet.

With a sigh, she picked it up and returned it to the front where she saw cans of drinks in the fridge. It was a crate of them, so she carried it on her lap with the takeaway. It was hard to get up the stairs even with the magnetic moving stairs, and it took Lenora a while before she reached the top.

She was out of breath as she opened the door to the room before trying to climb up to the bed, but she collapsed onto the floor with her wheelchair falling sideways. Lenora wanted to kick the damn thing away, but alas, she could not even move her legs.

So she just sat upright and opened a takeaway, since Orson was not coming—why should she leave food for him? And with that thought, she ate both foods and used the cans to drown her pain and sorrow as she looked up at the ceiling, passed out onto the ground of the room as empty cans and bottles were all around her.

Lenora looked up at the ceiling.

And sometime later, light was slowly flowing through the closed curtains, so it would soon be morning. Lenora looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

After everything I did for them and for the world, this is all I amount to?

After everything, Lenora’s fist was clenched as she looked up, her eyes growing closer and colder.

I guess it’s true what they say. When you have nothing, that is when you will know your friends and family. And even my husband—no single sign of him.

Wow. Just wow.

Just as the thought settled, the door to the room was pushed open, and a man stepped inside.

Even with the closed curtains, the light caught a little of his face. The man had black hair and two black eyes that looked as cold as hers, and his face, which had a roughness about it, was a bit smooth now with a hint of paleness. And glassiness—weird, Lenora thought. Had Orson always looked this handsome before? His face looked different, like it had energy, and his eyes—it felt like it was looking at her. At her real self. Not the iced shell she created to keep the world away.

She looked at Orson with her cold, bottomless eyes, and Orson looked back at her with the same coldness. But weird enough, it just made him look warm.

---

Meanwhile, Orson was a bit surprised as he looked at his wife on the ground. He bent down and looked at her. She also looked at him. Their faces were inches from each other.

Just then, memories of Lenora flashed in Orson’s mind. Before they became married, they went to the academy together, and Lenora was the untouchable beauty queen in the school. Although they did not cross paths much, the formal Orson actually developed a crush on her.

And now, as the memory flashed in Orson’s mind, he looked at her. Even as she lay on the ground, her hair sprawled across the floor made her look beautiful, and as the sunlight caught her eyes, it gave her an ethereal glow. With her silver hair, she was like an angel.

Weird. Why is my heart racing? Was it really because of the memories? Even after a lifetime, this should be impossible. But then again, this body has been doing the impossible. is it sick? Maybe that is why his heart is beating this fast.

Orson pushed the thought away. Maybe he was tired. Before looking at his wife.

"So what are you doing on the ground?"

Lenora looked up, pursed her lips, and said nothing.

Orson leaned down. His heart continued to beat fast, but it did not show on his face as he leaned closer.

Lenora was shocked, thinking he was going to do something. She wanted to push him back with her hands, but Orson was fast. He moved and lifted her from the ground. Her hand, which she thrusted up, he used it to hook around his neck and lift her.

Lenora looked surprised as he took her to the bed before carrying her wheelchair and placing it beside the bed. Then he started to pack the bottles and takeaway containers on the floor.

"Are you alright?"

He continued to pack as he asked, but she said nothing.

After packing it, Orson looked at her, tilting his head. He was not sure what was wrong with her. She just sat on the bed, looking at him as he cleaned, saying nothing.

Weird, he thought.

After packing some of the stuff on the floor, he left the room. Lenora looked away from him to the ceiling as her thoughts drifted away.

Orson closed the door and took out the trash.