Years later
Wales, Aberystwyth
Last week of October 2004
Heavy rain cloaked Aberystwyth, black clouds swallowing the city whole. Nikale Wood, restless on the outskirts, seemed to exhale a strange silence, as if the forest held its breath. Something was stirring. Late afternoon bled into an unnatural dusk, the sky bruised and heavy, the rain's rhythm jagged, almost wrong.
In a three-story apartment on the edge of town, a second-floor window blurred with drops of water. Inside, the living room was a scatter of toys—plastic animals and stuffed rabbits strewn across the carpet. A television flickered in the corner, its volume low, casting shadows across a door to the hallway and a grille-less window opposite. Rain tapped insistently against the glass.
Seven-year-old Kate knelt beside her two-year-old cousin, Lizy, her voice low and teasing as she spun a story of monsters in the woods. Lizy's eyes widened, then brimmed with tears. She rubbed her face with tiny fists, a soft whimper escaping.
"Oh, come on, Lizy, don't cry," Kate said, softening. "It's just a story. Besides, your dad is a policeman. He'll keep us safe."
From the kitchen, their mother's voice cut through the patter of rain. "Kate, are you scaring her with those tales again? She's just a baby!" Elin stood at the counter, her apron dusted with flour, her dark hair pulled back as she stirred a pot.
"Sorry, Ma'am," Kate called, grabbing a plush bunny from the floor to distract Lizy. She stood and shuffled toward the kitchen, her socks scuffing the rug.
Elin handed her a bottle of milk, still warm from the stove. "Here, give this to Lizy." She followed Kate back to the living room, wiping her hands on her apron.
Kate crouched beside Lizy, who was staring at the window, her small face pale, as if she saw something beyond the rain.
"When's Jack coming back?" Kate asked, tilting her head.
Elin sighed, glancing at the clock. "Midnight, maybe. Lizy's dad is a policeman. They're busy folk,"
Kate grinned. "Yeah, that's why we watch her, and he pays you too."
"He's stubborn like that," Elin said, a wry smile tugging at her lips as she knelt beside Lizy. "As her aunt, I'd look after her anyway, but Jack insists on paying me. I'm free most days, mind." Her voice was warm, but her eyes flicked to the window,
She drifted into memory. Jack had been a stubborn boy since childhood, but everything changed when he fell in love with Eira. They were the perfect couple, straight out of a storybook, and I envied them. He cherished her like she was fragile glass, especially when she was pregnant with Lizy. But on a rainy day like this one, Eira slipped away. I saw him cradle Lizy in his arms, his face carved with grief. I'd never seen him cry, not once in all our years growing up, but that day he knelt by Eira's cold hand, weeping silently, his unblinking eyes fixed on her as if he could will her back to life.
"Here, little bunny," Elin said, kneeling as Lizy wobbled toward them, her tiny voice chirping, "Mike, mike!"
"It's milk," Kate corrected, holding out the bottle.
"Mike," Lizy insisted, clutching it with both hands,