Nathaniel had one innate trait that Mary could never do anything about, no matter how hard she tried. The only way to get rid of it would have been to kill him. Neither she nor her âunfortunately still living â husband possessed anything remotely like it. People looked upon the Snow Queen from the damp lands of Great Britain, where the Mafia carried more weight than the royal family, with quiet reverence, sometimes nearly bowing their heads. Nathan's presence was so dark that people yielded to his every whim without question. Nathaniel, however, was different. Astonishingly unlike either of his parents. It had been obvious ever since he was a child. Mary would recoil at the mere sight of that tiny head of red hair, feeling nothing but the chains and collar that bound her and left her no chance of escape. One day, while Nathaniel was playing in front of her with his nanny, the woman let out a strange little sound before saying,
"Your son is an absolutely charming little miracle." â The smile that softened the nanny's tired face made Mary choke on her water. Were those really the kinds of words people used to describe the son of a bloodthirsty butcher?
During their long years of wandering from place to place, Mary noticed that trait more and more, and it never worked in their favor. It only made survival harder. People remembered Nathaniel. A woman at a grocery store slipped him a couple of candies. A little girl at a playground ran up to him, awkwardly placing a bouquet of wildflowers into his hands. Even an old woman at a bus stop somehow managed to strike up a conversation with Neil and dared to tell Mary that her son's eyes could pierce straight into a person's soul. It was a problem, and there was no solution. Nathaniel couldn't control this ability. It clung to him as though it had always belonged there, and Mary had no idea what could possibly be done about it.
It was because of that very ability that Hernandez never asked any questions and submitted Neil's application to the university team, convinced that the boy had a great future ahead of him. It was because of it that Wymack grew just a little more attached to Neil than to everyone elseâand the team couldn't even blame him for it. They all felt the same. In a way, Andrew Minyard ended up agreeing with Mary Hatford. That ability truly was a damned problem. Because it was the reason he couldn't let Neil go. It was the reason he asked him to stay.
And Neil has no idea that he possesses the ability to find his way into people's souls and remain there until the very end.
Absolute poetry
