Inside Evil

Chapter 12 - Part II

*Inside Evil and its sequels are available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks*   

Roberta felt her body tremble as it was unable to hide her fear, and though she neared the girl, the figure stayed motionless, her pale white skin looking sickly and ill in the moonlight. Creeping closer and closer, Roberta continued to whisper Vanessa's name, but still the figure did not move. She was only a few feet away now, Vanessa's head still dropped to her chest, her long blonde hair cascading down over her shoulders. Then, very slowly, Vanessa lifted her head and smiled menacingly, her black shining eyes causing a fiery surge of emotion to wave through Roberta.

"Miss Arlington," she drawled.

"You're not Vanessa," Roberta said, instantly recognising that though the face was familiar, this was definitely not the young girl that she used to teach.

Vanessa's face cracked into an even bigger smile and shrugged her shoulders. "It matters neither way. Vanessa fought it, but she was too young, far too young. But you," she paused and took in Roberta's features before leaning forward and grasping Roberta about the face with a painful grip. "You're just fine!"

"Get away from me," Roberta said, summoning the strength to push Vanessa away so that the icy grip on her face was dislodged. "Who are you?"

Vanessa cocked her head to one side and flicked her hair with her pale hands.

"Don't worry Miss," she soothed in a soft tone, "You'll find out."

She giggled and smiled sweetly. "You'll find out, you wait and see. You'll find out what it's like to play with me."

She took her hand and pressed it to her face, dragging her nails down her cheek so that the skin peeled off and let blood gush forth. "Now run along, follow the moths. That's it, I'll wait for you."

Roberta needed no heeding, and swiftly hastened towards the line of moths which were now disappearing back into the woods but on the opposite side from where she'd emerged. Glancing round, she saw Vanessa, still rooted in the moonbeam in the middle of the clearing, shrieking with laughter.

"Can't wait to see you again," she called after Roberta, "and next time it won't be so pleasant."

Roberta continued to hear Vanessa's laughter long after she'd submerged herself back into the woods. It rang out through the tree tops, an evil, menacing sound but with the same character that she remembered Vanessa, her old pupil, having. It was the same laugh but with an added darker meaning, one that Roberta really didn't wish to think about.

As soon as the laughing ebbed away, Roberta noticed that up ahead of her was what looked like another clearing. Drawing up more carefully to this one, she saw that once again, in the middle of the semi circle shape stood a woman lit up by the moon. This woman was slightly older than Vanessa, her head also dropped to her chest. Roberta didn't recognise her, nor did she wish too. The less she had to deal with these things, the better. The moths continued their path across the space, and the yellow line started to disappear into the woods so, not wishing to have another occurrence of what she'd just experienced with Vanessa, Roberta darted across the clearing before the girl even had a chance to lift her head.

After another two clearings, one containing a middle aged man, the other an elderly woman, both of whom Roberta hadn't recognised and who she hadn't given the chance to speak, the trees started to thin out as if she really was coming to the end of the wood. The trees stopped in a straight line a few metres in front of her and pushing her way through the lower branches, Roberta emerged to find herself standing on the edge of a precipice. There was a sheer drop of at least 100 metres before her, making it completely impossible to continue.

Upon realising that there was no way forward, Roberta saw that the moths too had stopped, and rather than continue to dance off the edge, they spread out along the cliff. On such an exposed ridge, Roberta felt the harsh wind batter her and she felt out for a low branch to hold for fear that the blustery breeze would topple her over into the dark cavernous gloom.

The cliff arched around from where she was standing in a half circle shape similar to those of the clearings, with Roberta standing at the central point. For the cliff to be so perfectly vertical and to run in such a perfect line, Roberta was sure that nature had definitely been given a helping hand. Directly in front of her, past the cliff that she was standing on,the forest continued to roll away into the distance. Here and there a barren peak could be seen with some rocky outcropping and a single lone tree towering into the dark sky. To her right, about half a mile away, a particularly large rocky peak rose from the forest on top of which stood an enormous bell. There was no tower or buildings, just the huge shape of a bell, surrounded by what looked like a very simple stone structure. It must have been this bell that Mrs Peacock had mentioned, and Roberta was very conscious of the fact that, should it start to toll, there was a long way back to the mirror. 

*I will be posting one or two scenes a week as the story builds. However, if you can't wait that long, Inside Evil is available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks.

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