The Nutcracker Bleeds (PUBLISHED 2017)

Chapter Four - Mary's Little Lamb

                                                          The Nutcracker Bleeds  

                                                                       Part Two  

                                                                   Chapter Four:

                                                                Mary’s Little Lamb

                                                                               1

                Anne would say that the clock’s chime was what awoke her, for it was so loud to her ears that she would swear she was inside the workings of the mechanism itself.  She was cold.  It was dark.  And her headache remained.  Slowly, she pulled herself off the floor, standing up and trying to remember what had happened before she’d given up consciousness. 

                She’d heard a noise upstairs – had been looking for Olivia. 

                Anne peered through the dark, but her eyes were too stubborn to let her focus on anything around her.  She couldn’t even tell which room she was in now, nor could she remember where she had fallen.  She was so very cold…

                She rubbed her arms briefly, trying to generate heat, but stopped soon afterward.  Her fingers had detected skin where sleeves should have been.  Her stomach was bare.  She could feel the warmth of her thighs touching together.

                What?

                She was sure that she hadn’t been naked when she’d fainted, but now she was?  She’d never lain about completely bare – except of course when William Ellington was in her bed, but that had been quite a while ago!  Anne hugged herself tighter, perhaps trying to shield herself from her own confusion. 

                Slowly, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and she realized that there was dim light coming from somewhere – but not where she was.

                Four walls surrounded her, and she cautiously reached out and ran her hand across one, the rough texture surprising her fingertips.  Those walls were thin, dark.  Looking up, she could see that the walls weren’t very high, and also, they had no roof.  Up above the walls – far above – she could see a spackled ceiling.  The view seemed distorted to Anne.  Staring upward made her completely dizzy.  But there was a flicker of firelight beyond the top of the walls, and that meant that if Anne could get a look over the top, she would be able to better understand her situation.

                The young woman moved toward one of the room’s corners, hoping to better pull herself up from there, but before she’d taken very few steps, she tripped up on something that was bunched on the floor. 

                Anne’s weight hit the wall and the entire room seemed to shake.  Her heart sped, but soon everything was steady again.  She directed her eyes toward the small clump that she could now see near her feet.  She reached out to grab it, pulling the weightless material near.

                Struggling against the darkness, she managed to see what she’d found.

                Clothes – terribly-made ones.  A small dress that she would guess was a grey-green – near celadon – and was decorated with tiny, simple twists of ivy.  There were lace ridges sewn around the collar, sleeves, and hem with the largest thread Anne had ever seen.