Moonless

Chapter 63

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My eyes snapped open. I was standing before an oval-shaped with jagged edges like teeth,  In my mind's eye, it was a big gaping wound in the earth, but in reality, it was a just big enough for a child or petite person, like myself, to slip into. Above me, they sky darkened into a midnight blue. Stars glittered above me like diamonds and a full moon hung high above them, like a silver dollar.

A feeling of fear and dread swirled in my chest as I realized I was back in my eight-year-old body and was about to relive the worst night in my short life.

" A rough hand grabbed my shoulder and I tilted my head up to look into the glowing yellow eyes of my dad, or at least the man that was supposed to be my father. He had a look on his face I had never seen before, he barely looked like himself and it scared me. But I met his eyes because I wanted him to smile and hug me and tell me everything was going to be okay. That mommy was okay.

"Daddy!" I sobbed and reached my small hands up to him. My breath came out in puffs of steam in the biting cold air.  "I'm s-s-sorry. I-I-I didn't mean for m-m-mommy to g-g-get hurt."

"You have brought His wrath upon our family and because your mom defied his will, she was taken away from me! We must atone with this sacrifice before he punishes us more!"

" I'm s-s-sorry Daddy I-I-I'm sc-scared! I d-d-on't want to g-g-go and be a s-sacrifice! Please, I-I'll be-e a good girl a-a-and I-I'll g-g-gett a wolf!"

" Stop calling me daddy, you are no longer a daughter of mine!" he yelled and shoved me closer to the hole and I dug my heels into the ground. Terror coursed through my small body.

"Dad stop!" I heard Liam yell from somewhere out of sight. I tore my eyes away from my father to look for him and I found him. His green eyes were wide, and his cheeks were stained in tears. Dad had his grip on his shirt with his other hand, while Liam struggled to get free. "Please! Mom wouldn't want this. Don't hurt Everlee!"

"Don't hurt Everlee!" Ian's little voice echoed him from somewhere in the darkness. My eyes searched for my little brother but they did not find him.

Daddy gave me another hard push, and this time I was no match against his strength and I stumbled forward.

I stopped just short of the edge at the hole and teeter tottered back and forth on its rim, before steadying myself.

I heard Liam yell in surprise, followed by a thump and a cry of pain, but I didn't have time to turn to check on him before I was being lifted off the ground by my wrist. I let out a yelp at the pain now radiating from having to support most of my body weight.

"Please Dark One, He that lives in the dark and punishes all justly, take this child you have marked as our most humble offering!"

"Da-" I didn't even get to finish my final plea before he let go of my arm and I fell into the darkness.

"Everleee" Liam cried while I  fell down and down. No, I wasn't falling, I was being pulled. What felt like wet hair was snaking and slithering itself around my waist and dragging me down further into the abyss.

I opened my mouth to scream, but the slimy well hair filled my mouth and began to choke me, it tasted like what a rotting corpse smelled like and I gagged. I reached my hand up in a desperate attempt to pull it out,  but in response the hair wrapped itself around my arms, pinning them to my side. The wet, foul hair continued to drag me down deeper and deeper into the darkness, while it wrapped itself tighter and tighter around my body until I could no longer move.  I was then turned on my back and pressed against what felt like stone covered in wet hair. The wet hair in my mouth began to slither down my throat, like a hundred thin slithering snakes.

There I laid, staring up the entrance I had entered through, that was now so small and so far above me.  I could see the moon, full and bright, so far away. I couldn't hear Liam or Ian or daddy. All I heard was the sound of the wet hair slithering around in the darkness around me.

Tears began to fall from my eyes as my young mind came to terms with that this was the end and I was going to die in this awful place. When abruptly, an overwhelming sound filled my ears. It was the sound of a thousand screaming voices that sounded like they belonged to hundreds of different species and abruptly the wet hair was yanked from my throat and withdrew from the rest of my body.

The screams disappeared and I began to cough. I sat up and then got down on all fours. I could still feel one of the hair strands still wiggling up my throat, like a worm desperate to escape the beak of a hungry bird. I opened my mouth wide to aid its escape. I wanted it out as much as it did.

"Wait don't!" a girl's voice cried and suddenly my mouth was being covered by a warm hand.

The strand thrashed against my lips for a few desperate seconds, unable to escape because of the palm blocking its escape route. A singular ear-piercing scream filled my ears and faded and so did the thrashing of the hair strand.

"Swallow it!" the same girl's voice commanded and against my better judgment I did, letting the now still strand slide down my throat.

The hand was removed from my mouth and that same hand began pulling me gently to my feet. Once I was standing, I stared at the beautiful girl that stood before me holding a glowing lantern in her hand.