Bitter Ashes

Prologue

I felt hot breath on the side of my neck. At first I thought it was a dream, then the bed shifted as someone slowly climbed up beside me. Fully awake now, I froze, my thoughts racing for some sort of explanation. I lived alone, and didn't have the type of friends that would stay the night. Whoever was sidling up beside me had broken in.

I slowly opened my eyes, hoping to not alert the intruder that I was awake. The room was nearly pitch black, but the curtained window let in enough moonlight for me to see a second form standing beside the bed. Judging by the build, I was pretty sure it was a man, though I was still unsure about whoever was in bed beside me.

I snapped my eyes shut as the standing intruder bent at the waist, placing his hands on either side of my pillow. He continued to lean down until his face was only inches from the large artery in my neck. The one who had climbed onto the bed shifted a little closer to my feet.

The man near my neck took a deep breath, almost like he was sniffing me, then the presence lifted away. I let out a quivering breath that turned into a scream as suddenly both figures grabbed me. The one on the bed grabbed my feet as the other pulled me up by my armpits into a vice-like embrace. A large, masculine hand clamped over my mouth to stifle my screaming.

The one who'd grabbed my feet scooted to the end of the bed and stood so that I was lifted entirely into the air. The intruders began moving as one toward my bedroom door as I thrashed my body wildly, hoping to loosen their grasp. I only succeeded in straining my back and a few other muscles as the figures carried me effortlessly through the dark house. I tried to scream again as we neared the back door, but the hand pressed more firmly against my mouth, effectively muffling the sound.

The figure carrying my feet put them both under one arm so he could fling the back door open, bathing us in a wash of chilly air. I tried to make out the features of the person holding onto my bare feet, but the clouds covering the moon stunted my vision. All I could see was the outline of broad shoulders and possibly wavy hair.

I turned my eyes skyward and began to cry, soaking the hand that covered my mouth. Stars twinkled serenely above me as we entered the woods that bordered my house. I gave up on my thrashing and let my body go limp, but it didn't slow my attackers any more than my previous strategy.

My captors continued gracefully through the foliage even though they each held one end of a human being. I began to shiver with the cold, but it didn't seem to bother the man carrying my upper half. He radiated warmth, even though I could feel only the fabric of a thin tee shirt against the back of my head and neck.

It seemed like we ran on for ages, but the men carrying me never tired. I closed my eyes and told myself that I was dreaming, yet the bite of cool wind and the ache in my back did their best to shatter the illusion. Eventually we came to a stop, deep within the darkness of the woods.

I felt dizzy from moving horizontally so quickly, and so didn't immediately react as I was lowered to the rocky, damp ground.

I was placed gently on a raised mound of earth. The soil was soft and felt like it had recently been turned, with loose rocks jabbing into me here and there. Moisture soaked into the back of the tee-shirt and underwear I'd gone to sleep in, chilling me further.

My panicked breathing brought in the scent of damp earth and growing things while my two captors crouched over me. I tried to sit up, but hands instantly pushed me back down. Something slithered across my arm. My first thought as the cold, rough skinned creature made its way toward my neck was snake.

My heart pounded in my throat as more things slithered over me. I pushed against the restraining hands, but I couldn't seem to budge them. I screamed, and one of the hands lifted from my shoulder to cover my mouth. It wasn't an improvement since now my head was being forced against the earth, hard enough that the soil scratched my scalp. Within seconds I was covered entirely with slithering objects. Some of the objects started reaching up toward the sky like tiny hands trying to grasp the moon.