Nighty Nightmare
Part 1- The Waste Lands
(by Lady Jane Scarlett)
“Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.” –W.H. Auden
The disquieting hum of Other World had entered into Seraph’s ears like ethereal arsenic. It would simply be a matter of time before the good fight would end. Before she would be consumed. Then she too would finally Become. As Seraph waited for her fate, she allowed her mind to wander. Her skilled hands knew the epee well; her body would fight these fiends as long as possible. But staving off the demons inside? Seraph was inept, and her mind was an unwilling vassal to their calling.
Two pryons ago, today, Seraph lost Nai. Seraph had known Nai since childhood, although their meeting was most unusual. Nai had stolen Seraph’s family carriage and rode it through town to proclaim that he will become a great prahl slayer. Nai became her North, her South, her East and West. He showed her the ancient art of prahl slaying. She could remember when Nai showed her the Wu Myang way of slaughtering a beast with only two fingers. And, there was the smell pine needles as he took her.
But, as the years passed, she forgot the smell of pine. Seraph’s heart had become hollow, and she was vulnerable to seduction by Ouraf-the shape shifter prahl. Ouraf had taken on the form of Nai, and tricked her into revealing Nai’s secret name. Ouraf spoke the name, and Nai Became. Seraph entered Unreal City to avenge her lover and assuage her guilt. No creature’s fury could match the nightmare of her deeds.
But now, Seraph began to tire, and the harpies and the prahls laid claim to their spoil of victory with a chorus of howls and screeches. She laid down her weapon and closed her eyes. The hum was deafening but for the first time in two years, she could smell pine. The Becoming had started.
Part 2
(By Dominique)
It was almost morning when she awoke. The ground was damp and hard, the smell of pine all around her. Once again she had sleep walked her way into the woods behind the house. She’d done it a few times when growing up but ever since the move to this new town it had been more frequent. Maybe it was just the full moon that was bringing on these dreams and the sleep walking? But Lizbeth was getting a strange that there was some how more to it all than an undigested bowl of ice cream before bed and late night Halloween movies with her new friend, Xavier.
Xavier!?! Oh crap, we’re supposed to go to a corn maze today. They were “just friends” right now but, kids at school were already taunting and talking. She’d not mind if they were more and while he was warm towards her, he always kept a slight distance. Although he didn’t have a girlfriend so maybe? What time is it? How long will it take me to get back to the house and get ready? How far in the woods did I go this time?
She trudged along the path she was now getting familiar with over the past few nights. She heard barking and knew she was close. Soon her dog Max would be tearing towards her and almost knock her down. Even he didn’t go this far into these woods. He’d only walk so far into them and when she sleep walked would only meet up with her at the same spot, a rock at the edge of a clearing.
Max settled down when he saw Lizbeth step out of the woods into the clearing. He sat and waited for her by a big rock. She walked up to him and gave him a hug before continuing on the walk home. They were close now. Once there, she’d sneak in her window and get ready for the max w/ Xavier. No one would know the difference. She’d not have to make an excuse this time about looking for Max or leaf gathering for an Earth science class. I took that back in 8th grade, you think they’d have a clue about my classes.
As Lizbeth and Max neared the backyard, Max stopped. The hackles stood up and he let out a low growl. Lizbeth stopped, looked around then crouched behind the shed. From the kitchen cam a strange green glow….
Part 3
(By Tracy Lynn)
Suddenly, Seraph became conscious of a disturbance close by. Thrusting away her reminisces, she tried to prepare herself for the attack she knew must come.
Unmanned and as good as defenseless, she nevertheless attempted to stand. As the last line of defense, she knew only too well how important it would be for her to hold them here for as long as she could. Every precious second counted, and if her blood could buy a couple more, she would gladly pay that price.
What she was not prepared for was the green wall of mist moving inexorably towards her.
Gods, what was it? It seemed to go on for an eternity; she couldn't see either end, nor could she see a top. She could see through it, vaguely, making out familiar shapes and such. But the familiarity itself made everything seen through the mist even more strange, and while it didn't seem to destroy anything in it's path, she could not see another of her kind. Who knew what might happen when it got to her?
If she had any physical strength left, she would run. But as it was , she stood and faced down the mist as it enveloped her, breathing it in as slowly as she could, as her heart slowed and her sense of herself fled into the mist.
Then the mist was gone, the night as clear as she remembered it from childhood, reeking of pine; and she was in a room she didn't recognize, full of things both bizarre and homely.
There was a window, and as she crossed the room and looked out of it, she saw that, as much like home as this place was, it was not really home, or at least, not her home as it was when she was there.
And in the moonlight, by an outbuilding, she saw movement and tensed for attack.
Part 4-The Encounter
(by Lady Jane Scarlett)
Instinctively, Seraph reached for her sword but could not find it. Everything around her was so familiar yet so unreal. Her senses were heightened and the movement by the outbuilding made her ears ring in pain and her nose cringe with the malodorous ether of pine. And, was that just a hint of celery? The Becoming was not as painful as she had feared, and she survived the mind challenge. But it was too soon for congratulatory pauses, for now Seraph was preoccupied with the lack of any weapons, and an imminent need for one.
He glided from the shadows. His face and ears were deformed and his rotted teeth were pointed. Arms akimbo, he finally spoke. But it sounded more of a hiss to Seraph’s ears. “My darling, what took you so long? I have been so patient, we have sssssso much to discuss. You have no need for your sword here.” The awful creature began to snicker. “Besides, it will not help you whatsoever here in this place.”
The gravity of this moment, and who that creature used to be, became fully known to Seraph. She tried to cry, but in this new place, her eyes seared in the saltiness and she quickly stopped.
“Am I trapped here, forever, with you?” Seraph asked, afraid of the answer. The creature could barely contain his perverse. “Oh yessssss, indeed you are, and that’s not the best part! You can’t speak any more until you pass the Initiation, because you’ve asked your question. I wondered if I should even tell you thissss, because it took me months to figure it out.” His eyes moistened, “But since I have been waiting so long for you and have been watching you, your deeds in Unreal City redeem you. But hurry, because you only have until sunrise if you don’t want to look like me forever.” He snickered “Or melt in the burn of the sun”
Part 5-The Initiation
(by Lady Jane Scarlett)
"More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones" T. Capote
Is terror an unwelcome visitor standing at your bedroom door, or is it the preceding shadow? Seraph knew that something horrible and transformative was about to happen to her, and she was powerless to stop it. Seraph had never known terror before, and it was all held within the confines of her mind. Her screams, her anxiety were company to nobody else but Seraph. She perused her choices: spend eternity with that abhorrent creature and eventually turn into one of them, or melt in the sun. “Some choices are better left unmade”, she thought with a hint of sarcasm.
The details of the Initiation were unknown to Seraph, but her instincts were to travel East-toward the rising sun. She, somehow, knew that there would be another choice-just as horrible as the one now facing her-and that would be her Initiation.
In her hypersensitivity, she could feel the creature’s presence. It was a good reminder of all the elders’ tales that the Becoming can twist a good person into a hideous creature. If she were to be stuck here, what would she transform into? The answer scared her, but she also felt pangs of love, and loneliness, and desire. Seraph was used to dispensing justice, not receiving it. Surely, her victims rejoiced in watching her contemplate whether it is better to be damned forever for doing the wrong thing or die doing the right thing. She prayed for resolution.
She was drawn to the largest peak, and she could see a small mound on an outcropping. As she got closer, she could make out a streak of black, and two blue orbs. Her hunger grew, and she remembered that it must have been days since she last eaten.
It was a human, a lesser being that she had only heard about in the elders’ tales. Their small stature belied the ferocity in which they bred prahls and destroyed the ancient trees. “They look so dainty, it’s a wonder that no other creature has preyed upon them.” She was amazed at the swiftness of her breath, the ease of her movements, the singular drive to eat his flesh. The sentry’s rifle did not concern her much as the sliver of light in the horizon. This must be the Initiation.
Without thinking, Seraph sank her teeth into his neck and welcomed the rush of warm blood into her mouth. Taking a breath, she found her voice and screamed as she could now feel her fingers elongate, her body strengthen, her teeth grow. She was one of them now, but she felt uneasy. Her warrior instincts returned, and she knew that she would quickly become the most powerful being because of her cunning and strength. But at what price?
The creature stepped forward and openly laughed at Seraph. “My revenge on you is complete, and you did exactly as I knew you would. Come with me quickly, before the sun rises, and we shall plan our reign over this world. We will be stronger than the prahls, smarter than the humans and infinite as the gods.” At those words, Seraph’s prayer was answered and she found the resolution she had sought. Knowing her skills, she said “My darling, we are but a fools’ pawn in this game. But I have you, my love.” Her words calmed him and he came to her willingly. But Seraph had other plans.
She longed for Nai, and a time when their hearts weren’t tainted by greed or blood lust or revenge. A simpler time; one where there was just the two of them. She murmured to the creature, “Together at last, together forever, be not damned but find your salvation within.” And she began to cry softly as she embraced him. The fourteen words strengthened her resolve. Against his struggles, Seraph held the creature tightly as the first ray of sunshine pierced their heart and burned their flesh to cinders.
THE END
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