The Queen Of Winter Book One

Cursive

Anna's nightmares haunted her every night since Loki had looked into her mind. They were more vivid and even stranger than before. She saw clearly now the old hag that reached out to her. She was a veiled skeletal looking woman. She had one eye. Her skin was a pale blue and her teeth were ragged and the colour of rust. Anna would see her in her dreams walking along the mountain sides heading deer and collecting firewood. She would swing a large hammer breaking and moulding the landscape to her will. She seemed to have control over the winds and clouds. Anna always felt the coldness of the mountains seep into her very bones in her dream. She would often wake to find the coldness within her still lingering on. Anna saw her in the water. She was always protected by two large white horses that seemed to manifest from the loch itself. In her dreams she could always faintly hear the lullaby she had known for as long as she could remember. As well as her nightmares Anna had started sleep walking. It was as if she was being drawn to the call of the old hag in her sleep. Different members of the team had found her at various places throughout the compound at all hours of the night. It spooked them at first but they soon got used to it. They would gently guide her back to her room and into her bed. Loki only watched on as the team tended to Anna. He dared not try to help in fear of making things any worse.

Anna flung herself into training as a coping mechanism. Loki had awoken memories she had long forgotten. She battled to push them back down. Training with the team or working out were about the only things that could keep her mind occupied. She wasn't sleeping much and barely eating. She was living off of coffee and pop tarts. Every one was becoming increasingly worried about her. The atmosphere in the compound was tense. Loki barely came out of his room or spoke to anyone. He had tried and tried to talk to Anna but she avoided him like the plague. He had violated her trust and she wasn't sure this was something she could ever forgive him for. The team blamed him for Anna's nightmares and behaviours. Nat and Tony had tried to get Anna to open up to them. They thought if she could just talk about it the she would feel much better. This only ended up in an argument. Anna biting off the heads of anyone who dared to bring up what Loki had done or anything in her past. Steve had started jogging with Anna in the mornings. He felt that she shouldn't be out alone at 5 am. He had hoped maybe she would open up to him in this less formal setting. Anna was uncharacteristically quiet and reserved. Bucky had a little more success in getting Anna to open up. He sat one night and talked about his treatment at Hydra. He thought letting her know he had an understanding of some of the things she had gone through would be a comfort to her. Anna had told him about the stories she had heard about the infamous Winter Soldier. Buck though he was close to getting Anna to open up to him when they were interrupted by Loki. He had sat back long enough and watched as Bucky chatted up his kærasta. His jealousy couldn't take it any longer. He just had to interject. He had once again tried to apologise to Anna. This lead to a shouting match between Loki and Anna and Anna completely closed her self off to everyone after that. She would train alone and spend more and more time alone in her room becoming completely withdrawn from everyone. Tony had pleaded with her to join every one for meals to which Anna would always reply that she wasn't hungry or she was tired from training. Nat had suggested that they have girls only days and nights out but Anna politely declined. Thor would check in on her from time to time. His goofiness was something that still made her smile but it was all turned sour every time Thor would bring up Loki.

The one thing Anna still took comfort in was her music. She would sit alone in her room and play songs to try and fill the void she was feeling in her heart. No matter what she started out playing she always ended up playing some kind of love song. Anna was convinced that you could only play what you were feeling. That music revealed what was truly in your heart. Even though she was still mad at Loki she did miss his company. She missed their late night chats and his quick wit. She missed the way her heart would skip a beat every time he would walk into a room and the rush of electricity she would feel at his slightest touch. She missed the velvety sound of his voice and all his little pet names for her. She even missed him teasing her. She missed sitting in complete contentment with him as he would read his book and she would play guitar. She kept playing his favourite tune.