My love, don't fear me

Chapter 3: a real night terror

Before she even realizes, Marys standing in a curled ball position in the woods, her breathing & crying had stopped instantaneously. Fear spiked every organ & muscle in her body to freeze up. The gut-wrenching feeling of absolute terror & fear still haunts her to this day.

Arms swiftly & lightly swing around her to wrap around her body & hold her in place. Her panic comes out for one brave moment of hope.

"D-DADDY HE- *MMPH*

The stranger has covered her mouth. She had just used every bit of strength she had to do that. Now, fear has overcome her. She notices the figure has a long, black cape on that was hitting her bare feet. The inside of it seems to be a red velvety texture. she notices that his sleeves are black, too. his hands are pale like snow, & the finger beds barely have color at all. Is he even living?

his breathing gets heavier as his head moves closer & closer to her right ear.

She can feel a sense for hunger & and that she is the prey. The stranger has started to growl like a hungry wild animal. She's terrified. As the feeling of his hot breath hits the bare skin of her neck, she looks away in terror but takes a peek to try to figure out what even attacking her.

That's when she saw long, pointed fangs.

what sounded like another gust of wind drifts behind her, & the breathing on her neck suddenly stops as she hears a slashing blow hits the stranger who she believes to be a man. Mary feels the body start to collapse and runs from it as quickly as she can to get out of the way. She looks behind where the man had stood to see a tall, slim figure with a thin blade standing behind his corpse. A black cloak keeps the strangers face covered, but for a moment, she can see a glimpse of red eyes, but they don't scare Mary. The shades of red she sees for that moment charm her. A red that shines the way rubies do in sunlight. The red you see when the sun is setting. a red as vibrant as blood. Her jaw drops a little after she's seen this strangers eyes while she stands frozen in place. She wants to see more of the strangers features, but the stranger quickly grabs the corpse & flees. Mary doesn't dare speak. She's still in shock from having been attacked.

as the old winter leaves rustle under Mary's feet, she arrives at the spot where it all happened that night. a small patch of red flowers had since grown where the attacker had lost blood. Strange, she thinks, but she doesn't know whether to believe it was all real or if she made it up in her head. All she knows is that those red eyes had to be real. What kind of person has red eyes, though? She's never seen them since. Mary sits on her knees, facing towards the direction she'd ran looking for her father all of those years back.

"fifteen years ago now. It sure has felt like a long time."

Mary places the candlestick in front of her as she places the black candle on it & begins to light it. She's starting to think back to her father. All of the late night kisses after work, their family trips to the beach. she remembers back til she was three, so there are plenty of memories to think about, but her minds drifting to those red eyes again, her red eyes. Her breath stops for a moment as her heart is skipping a beat. She can't help but get a little flustered. Mary had already pictured the woman's face many times, imagining every single possible feature she could have to try and find her, but she's had no luck. She wants to thank her in the least still, but she has no idea where to find her. Who knows, she could have made the whole thing up. she was a five year old.

Mary focuses on the candle again & remembers what she came out here to do. Every year. She comes here to light a black candle & think about her memories with her father, in hopes he'll still return. She knows the chances are slim, but she at least wants to honor his memory once a year until the candle burns out.

The candle is almost burnt out, Mary can't help but let her mind wonder. She thought about her father all day & by this point, she just wants to sleep.

"I can get the candlestick in the morning.

I'll let it finish burning for a bit."

She stands up & stretches her legs a bit. She's 5'8, a height she'd inherited from both of her parents. Her legs have started cramping from sitting for so long all day.

As she makes sure she has everything she brought with her besides the candlestick and the remains of the burning candle, a gust of wind comes in and blows it out. Mary feels slightly unsettled being reminded of that memory again, but she pays no attention as she doesn't even believe it's true anymore. Even if she doesn't, what she thought to be just a gust of wind knocks her to the ground & pins her down. A small bit of air escapes Mary's lungs as she hits the ground. The tall being pins her hands above her head and keeps her legs pressed into the ground by the weight of their legs. Mary begins to struggle to try to release herself.

"RRGH, LET ME GO!!"

Although her attacker was quite slim, they seemed to be even taller than her & using it as an advantage. Before she can gain the strength to yell or call for help again, the attacker freezes for a few seconds, as if shocked by something. They quickly get knocked back into reality as Mary continues to try to break free. Her attacker starts inching closer & closer to her face. Mary starts trying to squirm out of their grip, but before she can, their cold lips press into Mary's, leaving no room between them.