He leaves, but I still cannot decide to enter this house, into which I brought her in order to subdue her, to scoop out everything human, living, and then kill her.

But the sound of her voice, when she takes me for the Forester, puts everything in its place. I need her. All, completely, without a trace.

“I will always be with you,” I say hoarsely into her pink ear. Because I love you all. All without a trace. You are the most precious thing I have now and the best thing that I will have until the end of my days.

She laughs into my chest, and I feel...