The Warp and The Weft

Chapter Twelve: Starvation - Rebecca/Margaret - NSFW

Rebecca

Rebecca stood unclothed within a forest clearing, the dark trees - devoid of leaves - whipped around her in a wind she couldn't feel on her face. The shadows held visages of unseen creatures moving in and out of the world like a rabbit darting from one hole to another. The trees sighed as their bark split and shattered, blood pouring from the wounds to land on the earth into the waiting mouths of imps who lapped the blood with ecstasy and lust.

Before her the earth was furrowed with pulsing wounds, wolves bayed and howled as they ravaged the wounds to tare away chunks of putrid flesh. At the centre of it all sat a pit. She approached the abyss and peered inside, nothing but absence looked back. Black hands rose from the pit in supplication as Rebecca's red tears fell to no sound of hitting the floor beneath.

The pit screamed as the hands grabbed at Rebecca's body and hair, pulling her into the absence, into the nothingness. She reached out to hold onto the edge, though she did not cry out. Her hand gripped the soft earth as the hands gave their final assault and pulled her into the darkness and the sky blackened.

Rebecca jolted awake. She lay on her side, a single outstretched hand gripped in the soft sheets of her bed. Her wide, empty bed. The smooth unslept pillow in front of her. The undisturbed mattress cover.

"Rebecca," A hand stroked her hair from behind.

"Hi Daddy," She rolled over to see Matthew sat straight and unmoving on a chair he'd brought to her bedside.

"It's almost 9," He said gently stroking her hair more "You've been asleep for 15 hours."

She curled her toes and stretched her body without uncovering herself.

"Where's Mom?" She asked with a yawn.

"Mum stayed with you until around 1 this morning," He said in his Oxbridge accent, a contrast to Rebecca's more international one "I told her to get some sleep and that I'll stay with you overnight."

Rebecca shimmied up the bed a little more, she winced at the dull morning light coming through the mostly covered windows. Matthew handed her wide Prada sunglasses, he'd been holding them all night it seemed.

"Thanks," She said putting them on, pulling a strand of hair from under the glasses and back over her ear.

"You put on quite a show yesterday afternoon," He said smoothing the blanket over her shoulder, seeming to not want to let her go "You gave your mother quite the fright, I had to order her to leave your side last night."

"What happened?" Rebecca asked sitting up fully, she tried remembering but couldn't make it past leaving Charlie's room.

"You came into the living room and told Philip's tale," Matthew sat back, his arms at his side, apparently trying to give his daughter her space back, "You told us about healing his bite and we, regrettably, barraged you with questions and you were overwhelmed."

"That doesn't sound too out of the ordinary," She said with a chuckle "That doesn't explain why I freaked everyone out or why I feel like a well-wrung towel."

"You broke a vase with a shout," Matthew said calmly "before having a panic attack that shook the whole castle."

Matthew saw Rebecca's eyes widen behind the glasses.

"I what?" She said incredulously.

"You shook the entire chateaux, ma fille," Matthew said, giving into his instincts and smoothing out her hair more "Your mother had to use some serious power to release your grip on the walls before you could bring the house down on our heads."