THE WRETCHED

COTTAGE IN THE WOODS

They had been walking for what seemed like an eternity to the tired Arold. He had never had to walk that much in his entire life. They had come into the woody part of the forest that was littered with dead leaves and rotting branches. The day had worn off and the night knocked in on them. Arold could barely see where he was going, the night closed in very quickly bringing with it a dread that reigned in the atmosphere around the four teenagers. The tall dark trees looked like ghouls from a horror film. Their dark thinly branches constantly swept down on them when the wind blew creating an overly scary scenario. Arold was sure something would soon jump on them, he waited, his nerves getting the best of him. He decided his mind was playing tricks on him when he saw a dark figure hunched over a tree in the far front they headed, he swallowed and willed himself to get a grip on his collapsing nerves. 

The tall trees in front of them looked like tall shadows dressed in black, their branches extended out like arms waiting to grab them at their most vulnerable moment.  There was an extreme silence that reigned in the expanse of the forest except for the crunchy sounds the dry leaves made when they stepped on them. The air was chilly and filled with a smoky smell that further unnerved Arold. He shook his head and focused on the front but then it suddenly felt like the trees were closing upon him, hogging off oxygen from him. He felt his lungs collapse and he could swear his chest was on fire.

"Stop!" he found himself shouting, his eyes closing and his hand on his chest.

"What's wrong?" Alec asked, perplexed at the sudden outburst.

"There's something here," Arold said, his eyes slowly opening. He felt the taste of woody smoke on his tongue, he felt the hairs of his back stand in defence. He knew he wasn't imagining things. He felt a presence surround them; dark and overpowering. It was closing upon them as a predator closed upon its prey.

Nike took a look around but couldn't see anything but that could be because it was dark, he thought.

"I don't see anything," he said, "it's been long since we ate, you might be hallucinating because you're hungry,"

Arold sighed, Nike did have a point. It had been long since they ate or even rested, his mind could have been playing tricks on him. He shrugged, "let's go," he said, leading the way as Alec and Nike helped the weakly Kastor.

The moon glowed red from its spot in the sky, the wind blew more vigorously and the branches whispered Arold's name so softly and sensually as if they were seducing him. He shook his head and ignored the seductive call of the wind. 

"come to me Arold," it whispered once again, the voice slowly dragging the words.

"I know there's something out here with us," Arold turned to his friends, his tone sure.

He didn't wait for the reply of his friends, he shouted, calling out to the whisperer, "come out!" he said, "I know you're following us!"

"It's not wise to shout in the dark Arold!" Alec reprimanded.

"Why dear?" the shrill voice of a woman said, a dark tall figure suddenly appearing in the middle, "Are you afraid of the dark?" she asked, her dark eyes intense on the shocked Alec, "don't you know? You shouldn't be afraid of the dark dear," she said, the dry leaves beneath the sole of her feet crunching when she made a step towards Alec, "be afraid of what's in the dark,"

"Who are you?" Arold asked, his heart strangely calm. He stood his ground as the woman turned her attention to him, the red glow of the moon doing nothing to reveal her veiled features but one thing Arold was sure was that she didn't mean well for them. Her sickly sweet tone was like a sword that could price their hearts at any moment. He observed the menace in her eyes that she tried to cover and the way she walked, her bear feet slithered on the ground as she walked towards him. Her eyes burning through his own. She circled around him, her nose crunching when she smelled him, "you're not from here," she said, looking at him to see his reaction but he gave nothing, his scrawny frame an injustice to the bravery he had tucked away in his heart, "interesting," she said, her voice filled with curiosity, he wasn't giving away anything, "are you one of us?" she asked.

"Who are you?" Arold asked again, his voice strong and compelling.

The woman laughed, her shrill laughter piercing their eardrums, "don't you know?"

"No," Arold replied.

"Queen of the woods. No one passes through without seeing me," she said, her eyes glazing over the four teenagers, "now, why don't you come with me for a cup of tea?" she offered excitedly, her tone sweet but unnerving.

"No, we have to get going," Kastor offered.

The woman turned her attention to him, "the sickly one speaks but with no wisdom at all," she said, "if you decide to go now, you won't make it through the night,"

Arold knew there was more to the woman. He felt a cold chill run through his stomach whenever she talked. Her overly sweet sound had always been a tale of an evil enchantress. It would be suicide going with her but then it would be deadly refusing her as she wasn't leaving any room for refusal. It was dark, he couldn't make out her features clearly but he knew there was a reason she covered her face and it wasn't a good one.

"We will come with you," Nike replied, shocking the other three who decided to keep quiet.

"Wonderful! Follow me," she said, taking short strides towards the left of where they had come from. They silently followed, the only sound was the wind blowing into their ears.

They came to a small cottage, the only thing visible to them was the yellow light of a lamp seen through the small round window. Smoke rose up at the centre of the cottage and diffused in the dark night. Nike felt wanted to turn back and leave but he willed himself to walk on. He felt the danger hug him with a whisper of all the bad things it wanted to do to him. His spirit simply refused to move but his body had to move as they entered into the cottage.

There were four chairs, arranged on the opposite side of the window, a table was before it with white plates scattered on it.

"Sit your tired bodies on those chairs and let me serve you," she said. In the dim light of the lamb, Arold noted the way her smile widened, showing a glimpse of black teeth. He noticed the red crimson of her lips and the way they shone. It wasn't lipstick, he thought, it seemed an awful lot like blood. She disappeared into a small round door, closing the door after she left. Arold took the chance to survey the room. It was dim but he could make out the dry twigs hang on the wall just above the window, there were skulls of animals lining a cabinet next to the window and below it was little glass bottles, some had green liquids, yellow, pink and next to them was a big glass bottle that had red liquid in it.

"Those are my portions dear," her voice suddenly rang out, causing them to jump, "there are vile creatures out here," she said, her eyes seemed to scoff Arold when her eyes found his but Arold pushed it aside as an imagination, "they help me keep off stray creatures," she said, taking her eyes off him, "you can never be too careful in these woods,"

"Why do you live in the woods?" Nike asked.

"I was cursed to live here by my evil stepmother," she answered, "what would you like to eat?" she asked.

Arold had the feeling that she was avoiding the question. 

"We are okay," Alec replied, his hand securely holding Kastor's shoulder.

"He doesn't look okay to me," she said, pointing at Kastor.

She was dressed in black, her tall slim frame seemed to occupy the whole room. She hadn't taken off her veil. Arold scrutinized her face, his eyes glazing over her unclear features. His eyes caught sight of a scar that ran deep across her cheek. She turned sharply towards him as soon as he noticed the gash on her cheek. He looked away, pretending to be interested in the portions in the cabinets.

"You little rascal!" she shouted, her sweet voice gone. She jumped at him, her eyes going black, "didn't your mother say to mind your business!" she shouted, her shrill voice inhuman. Her hands grabbed Aroldn's neck, tightening on it with otherworldly strength. Arold struggled under the heavyweight of the woman, pulling at her iron-like hands.

Alec and Nike jumped from their spots and tried pulling her off but her legs morphed into a pair of hands, pulling at them and slapping them off her. Alec reached for his knives and cut the woman's hand, a black liquid oozed from the wound some of it spraying on his tunic. The woman screamed in pain pushing Arold off onto the wall and she turned to Alec. Her hands grabbed his neck. Arold lay weak on the flow. The woman grew more hands to fight off Nike who tried to pull her off Alec. They fought across the room; pushing the table and chairs as they wrestled on the floor. Nike reached for his sword and cut off one of the woman's hands. She let out another shrill cry pushing him off her and into the wall. He tried getting off the wall but it was like an invisible force held him captive. He was stuck plastered on the wall watching as Alec struggled to reach for the fallen knife that lay a few centimetres from his strained hand.

"I was a good host!" the woman was screaming, "you poke your nose in my business!" she kept screaming. Her cry was horrific and shrill.

Arold got up from the floor and reached for an arrow from his quiver. The silver arrow glimmered in the dim light as he pulled it out. He put his left foot in front and held the arrow on the string and rose the bow. He drew the bow; aiming it the screaming creature on top of Alec. He released the arrow which found the head of the creature. The arrow went through her skull coming off from her face. The creature went limp next to Alec who took in a deep breath and thanked God he was alive. He pushed the hands of the creature off him and stood up as Nike fell off the wall. 

"What just happened?" Nike asked, his eyes scanning the body of the creature.

"What the f**k was she?" Arold asked.

"She's the evil enchantress," Alec replied, "she seduces travellers and eats them,"

Nike wanted to smack Alec, "and you didn't think it was important to tell us?"

"How would I have known she'd be in these parts of the woods?" Alec defended himself.

"She had a scar on her cheek. She freaked out when she noticed that I had seen it," Arold said, "what is the big deal with her stupid scar anyway,"

"Legend has it she was slashed by the prince she'd wanted to marry after he found out that she had used a love potion on him," Alec replied.

"Yeah... go on professor! just after we were almost killed!" Arold shouted at him as he went to pull out the arrow from the dead creature but decided against it, "that's disgusting!" he commented on the dark blood oozing from the head.

"We can stay here for the night, we might just come across other creatures... possibly zombies this time," Arold said. "can I have food please?'

They spent the night in the cottage and left early the next day. Alec had found some herbs to put over Kastor's wound but it did nothing to heal it. The wound began to let out an odour and there was a yellow discharge coming out. Arold was worried the wound was gravely infected. they needed to get to the River Phoenix or Kastor would lose his leg. There were times when Kastor would let out painful cries when the wound really hurt and Alec would place the herbs on the wound that helped numb the pain.