Whispers In the woods
1257 Words
The journal rested on Aerin's bedside as if it belonged there, ancient and full of secrets.
She stared at it waiting for it to drop a message.
"I'm going crazy", she muttered pacing her room.
It seemed to observe her, dating her to open it again, even though it had not moved since she brought it home.
She paused for a while, eyes fixed on the cover.
"Alright", she whispered, pulling her chair closer.
"Let's see what secret you're hiding today".
While flipping the pages, she found another page inked with words that had not been there the previous night. Her breath caught.
*He comes near. The moon calls him home . The curse grows restless.*
Her hands trembled as she traced the writing. She kept her discoveries and thoughts to herself, feeling like she was falling apart inside.
"Why does it have to be me? , she lamented. "What do you want from me?".
There was no answer.
She was on a self quest to uncover the truth and secrets unknown to her.
She closed the journal and shoved it in her bag.
"Enough for now". She said and laid on her bed.
The next morning, she got dressed and left for work.
The scent of old pages and herbal tea should have eased her but it didn't.
Mara, the herbalist stopped by with her usual bundle of teas. She smiled at Aerin and asked with concern: "Are you alright dear? You look ...a little dull".
"I didn't get enough sleep. I was disturbed by my nightmares", Aerin said.
Mara c****d her head. "Must be something in the air. I've been hearing strange things lately. Stuffs about old magic stirring up or something. Just be careful dear".
Aerin froze. "What do you mean?"
Mara blinked, surprise by her sudden curiosity. "Just some old tales love. Velgrave's full of them. Something mere happens and people start talking".
"I know, right? Aerin said forcing a smile. "Thanks for your comfort".
"My pleasure. Guess I'll be leaving now. See you later".
Despite her fear, Aerin couldn't resist opening the journal. Something in her was yearning to know more.
Another message had appeared.
*He is coming. And he remembers you.*
Her fingers lingered on the page for a while.
"Who are you referring to?, she asked confusedly.
The crescent scar on her wrist reacted.
"I don't remember him. I don't want to either".
But that was a lie.
She wanted to. She had to.
Unable to sleep, she stood up and took a glass of water from the kitchen. Sat on the kitchen stool, thought a little and went back to bed.
The next morning, the fog had thickened and covered virtually everywhere making it uneasy to see clearly. The fog was accompanied with a cold and windy atmosphere. And there was serenity. She wore her coat and tried to convince herself that she wasn't being followed.
But something was whispering in her bones.
"Where are you taking me? ,she murmured under her breath, her boots crunching over wet leaves.
No answer.
Her steps took her towards the foggy forest near Velgrave--- deserted and feared, even by old people. She never went near it, not even as an infant. No one did.
Yet now... she was drawn to it .
Like it had been waiting for her.
She took some steps forward. She kept moving without a certain direction of where she was heading. The trees were taller, branches spread out like skeletal hands. The scent of moss and wet leaves occupied her lungs as she moved.
The forest was quiet. No chirping, no rustling, no whistling.
Just silence.
Her heart pounded. "Okay. Just a quick look. I'll leave once I sense something..."
She halted.
Before her stood a circle of stones covered in moss with a moon shape etched on it. At the center was a blackened tree stump that looked like it had been struck by lightning. And leaves littered around it.
"What the hell is this? I've never seen this before..." But even as she said it, her chest tightened. She had seen it somewhere. In another time.
She picked up one of the stones and observed the moon shaped mark on it. She couldn't comprehend the reason for the mark being there. A surge of power hit her like a wave.
She gasped, breathing heavily.
A voice echoed in her head.
*Blood remembers. Even when you do not.*
She fell to her knees, her heart racing. Images flashed before her eyes.
Flames, chanting, a group of women standing where she was kneeling down, hands raised to the moon.
And there came. A scream. A mother. A brother. Wolves.
Her voice broke through the images.
"Stop it! Make it stop!!".
She clutched her head as pain shot through her skull. When the vision faded, she was left trembling, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"What was that?" She asked rhetorically. "Who... I'm i?
Far deeper in the woods where no light could reach, Kyre knelt by a stream, cupping water in his hands. He watched his reflection misshaped.
His breath was heavy and his bones ached.
"She's recalling", he uttered, voice filled with grief. "I can feel it ".
Hos hands shook as he gripped the dirt. The beast in him threatened break out. Each hour drew him closer to the full moon.
Closer to madness. Closer to destruction.
He had longed for her presence and now she was close.
"She was Teresa", he said aloud facing the trees. "She spared me once. And maybe she will do it again".
But what if she doesn't?
What if she decides to kill him this time?
What if she chooses vengeance over forgiveness?
Aerin returned to town in silence, with dirt on her jeans and pines in her hair.
She ignored the villagers who passed her by. Their eyes fixated on her longer than usual. She locked herself in her apartment and pulled out the journal.
Her hands shook as she flipped through pages. More words had appeared.
**You recall, don't you? The circle. The fire. The wolf you spared.*
Her tongue dried of saliva.
There was a sketch below the words of a wolf with gray fur and sharp silver eyes.
"Kyre", she breathed.
Her mind chaotic. She dropped the journal like it had injured her.
"This isn't possible. I'm not her. I'm not Teresa".
The scar on her wrist pulsed.
Being in a state of confusion, she sank to the floor, covering her face.
"Oh my gosh, what's happening to me?"
That night, she couldn't sleep. Her dreams returned more intense.
She stood once again in the moonlit clearing , her hands glowing with fire. Cloaked in blood-stained robes. She took a slow turn and saw him.
A wolf, battered and bleeding kneeling before her. Not howling. Just watching and waiting.
This time, Teresa's voice didn't shout for vengeance.
It said something else.
"Not all wolves bite. Some only bleed."
And then the fire disappeared.
Startled, Aerin jerked from the bed, heart pounding.
And someone was standing in her room. Half-shadowed, tall and still.
She didn't scream. She didn't move either.
"Kyre", she whispered gently.
He stepped forward slowly .
"You remember", he said softly.
She stared at him. "Only bits".
"That's alright", he said . "It's just beginning".
She sat up. "What do you mean? What's beginning?"
"Either the end or the beginning. It's your choice to make ".
Before she could question him further, he disappeared into thin air.
Leaving Aerin in a state of confusion.
- Writer
