Wenclair One-Shots

What Hurt Brings (Part 2/2)

She wasn't sure how she ended up back in the forest, the blacked night sky casting down no light for her to see by. Her breath echoed heavily in her ears, straining against them to listen for any sound from the trees. She glanced around her, searching the fallen trees for any sign of Wednesday.

How did she convince me to come back out into the woods?

She took a heavy step forward, clutching her not-quite-healed ribs as she took off through the trees, small grunts of pain slipping from her mouth as she did. She knew she should have taken the proper time to heal before Wednesday went back out into the woods, but her girlfriend was growing anxious.

What was I supposed to do, make her sit and wait until I healed all the way?

Logically, she knew that the correct choice was to heal properly, but did a heart think logically?

Minds were logical, not hearts.

So she decided to curse her heart as she ran through the forest, ducking hanging tree limbs that combed through her hair and across her body with pine needles. She paused for a brief moment, sniffing the air around her to try and catch Wednesday's scent.

Which way did that surprisingly fast goth go?

A faint smell of lilacs and embalming fluids wafted along on the stiff breeze, and Enid knew exactly which way to go. She pushed off the tree stump she was standing on and raced through the woods, slowly training her eyes to see clearer and clearer in the dark. She came quickly into an open clearing, instantly remembering what had happened there only weeks before.

Blood, slowly dripping from open wounds.

Bones, broken and useless in her limbs.

Eyes, unfocused and blurry.

Wednesday, unconscious and defenseless.

Her, all that stood between Wednesday and... that .

The creature, a crude monster that snapped trees like toothpicks.

Enid gulped nervously before slowly walking through the clearing, picking her way carefully through the broken trees and fallen branches. She spotted the stone crypt in the distance, making her way to it, hoping that it was where Wednesday ran off to. She stood at the opening of the crypt within a minute of seeing it, staring down a long flight of stairs that descended into the earth.

With a glance over her shoulder at the forest, Enid began walking down the staircase, noting it was made of actual rocks instead of a solid block of material. Her eyes reflexively squeezed shut as a lit torch came into view, the licks of flame forcing her shadow to dance without pattern along the passageway. Enid decided to grab it, knowing it provided ample light in the dark space and that it could also prove a defensive weapon.

Holding the torch in front of her, Enid started descending the stairs again. A low hum rose up to her eyes as she walked further and further down, a bittersweet buzz that wormed its way into her brain and took up residency. It struck her as odd that she hadn't met anyone yet and how the stairs didn't seem to have an end in sight, as if she were stuck in some twist of reality, forced to wander the same passageway until her own mortality pulled her from the earth.

A sudden fear took hold of her heart.

What if I'm gonna be ambushed?

What if no one is even down here and I wasted time over nothing?

What if Weds gets hurt while I'm down here and I only just barely missed helping her?

When is this staircase going to end?