A dark fairy tale about traps, lures and falling for shadows.
When you see an eldritch dark horror made of shadows by the side of an old cursed trail that no one dares to go, you expect it to be less charming as it tries to trick you with deceitful...
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Art by James Fenner (@JMFenner91 on Twitter)
After Timmy and his friends were gone, the effects of whatever it was that had taken over me in that alley wore off and I staggered back home without thinking much of what had happened. I collapsed in my bed and was out the second my head hit the pillow.
On that same night, I had a dream unlike any other I had before...
I was in my bedroom in the dream, and it was dark outside, the moon barely giving any light to the room. When I blinked awake, I saw that Erebus was there, sitting by the end of the bed, watching me. I touched the bracelet that was still on my wrist. I hadn't taken it off when I went to sleep and now he had come to visit me again.
I sat up slowly and leaned against the headboard, trying to adjust my eyes to the dark. It was weird seeing him like that, so vividly real in my bedroom and not in the forest, where he usually appeared to me.
He wasn't wearing his long regal mantle, he only had a black cotton shirt and black pants on. His feet were also black as if dipped in charcoal, as were the tips of his toes and fingers. He watched me in silence for a moment before speaking.
"You've been gone for a long time." He broke the silence, eyes glinting eerily in the dark of the room. "You need to come back."
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know how to tell him that I may never go back to that forest. Every time I thought about returning, my whole body recoiled in response, the horrors of the carnage I endured the last time I was there still burning freshly in my head.
"I am always there, Erebus. Every night, in my dreams... I can't seem to get out of that forest. My mind is stuck there, it seems. I can't get out." I told him, sounding defeated and so damn exhausted.
He just stared at me, in silence.
"You're not talking about dreams... You mean I have to physically go there." I concluded. "I'm not going back, sorry."
Still staring he remained, still in silence, still watching.
There was a pregnant pause as we locked eyes, too many unsaid things hovering above, thickening the air between us.
"But I can't stay here either," I confessed with a sigh. "My presence makes people uncomfortable now. They are all scared of me. I know I am not welcome in this village anymore, but... I don't know where to go." I huffed out, passing a distressed hand over my head. "Maybe I'll just turn into one of these wanderers types, always traveling from place to place, never staying for too long... Maybe that's what I should do."
"No. You cannot wander away," he said abruptly. "Not after what I had done."
I felt a pang of guilt after hearing him. I knew I'd never thanked him for saving my life. I should have gone to Redwood to do this in person after I was healed, but I've never felt healed. Not completely. Still... I should have gone and thanked him for what he'd done. I should have, but I never did.
