Read As Red as Blood (The Snow White Trilogy) for Free Online Page A

anxiety of the nightmare until it was just an uneasy, hollow feeling. The moon illuminated the snowbanks, the playground swings and jungle gym, and the roofs of the buildings, wrapping them all in a silvery skin. The shadows stood in place like figures painted black on the snow.
    Light shone from the windows of two different apartments. Someone else was awake this morning at 3:45 a.m. A perverse time to be awake, against human nature. Only the nightmare images of dreams were abroad at this hour, indistinguishable to the human eye from the other shadows. The bottom edge of the window was decorated in a lace of frost flowers. Instinctively, Lumikki touched the cold glass, even though she knew the ice crystals were on the other side. The warmth of her hand couldn’t melt them. Cold air breathed on her fingers through a chink in the window frame. Lumikki pulled her hand back and shivered.
    There had been a time when she would wake up hoping the night would never end and the morning would never come. She’d dreamed of endless nights back then as well, but those had been hopeful dreams. Now they were nightmares. Many things had changed. Back then, Lumikki would wake up in the morning disappointed to have to get up and face another day that was unlikely to bring anything good. She knew there would be more evil on offer than a normal person could endure. But she did endure—she endured for years on end. Maybe she was as abnormal as they had claimed.
    Now, though, Lumikki returned to her covers and warm bed. Exhaustion pressed her eyelids shut, and she didn’t have any more bad dreams all night. She didn’t dream any dreams at all, at least none that she remembered the next day.
    Lumikki awoke again to the sun shining. It was already after ten. Her whole body felt oddly rested and refreshed. This must have been how people were supposed to feel in the morning, not like a zombie woken from the dead for the umpteenth time. She wasn’t usually one for skipping school, but this time it had probably been a good idea. She didn’t want to see Tuukka’s smug face again this soon.
    Lumikki stretched her legs and arms out on the bed. What should she do today? Maybe go to the gym. Her aunt Kaisa had bought her a year membership at a fitness center for Christmas. Lumikki didn’t exactly feel at home surrounded by all the perky aerobics girls, but sweating always did her good, and she needed to build muscle. Tuukka had succeeded in surprising her and momentarily getting the upper hand. But if Lumikki could have trusted in her physical strength, breaking away and giving him a taste of his own cheek smashed against the cold rock wall would have been easy.
    Do not seek power for revenge. Seek power in order to avoid situations that would make you want revenge.
That sounded noble. In reality, all it meant was that Lumikki never wanted to be at a disadvantage ever again.
    She didn’t want to think about the previous day. She just wanted to think about today. Her day.
    Her mom and her aunt went on and on sometimes about how important it was for women to take time to pamper themselves. “Pampering” being a synonym for shopping, chocolate, bubble baths, women’s magazines, and nail polish. Lumikki shuddered. For her, a day like that wouldn’t be pampering, it would be an awkward charade.
    For her, a day of pampering meant comic books, black licorice, serious exercise, veggie curry, and above all, solitude. Her mom always wondered how she could get along so well alone. Didn’t she ever get bored? Lumikki didn’t bother saying that she was more likely to get bored being around other people, listening to their pointless small talk. Better off alone than in bad company. When she was alone, she could be completely herself. Free. No one demanding anything. No one talking when she wanted silence. No one touching her when she didn’t want to be touched.
    Lumikki also enjoyed going to art shows. She would set aside several hours, load her phone