Weeping Willows

Chapter 6

The air escaped Aiden's lungs in a rush as she bounded into the looming forest. Her sobs ricocheted off the trunks of the trees and surrounded her, mocking her and mingling with the cries of her father. The soles of her feet were torn to shreds as every rock and twig that met with the skin bore into it with a vengeance. She couldn't stop. The stitch in her side begged her to slow, to halt any more movement and hide among the trees, but the voice in her head screamed for her to keep moving. Her heart beat erratically within her heaving chest and she gasped as she met the tree line to the clearing, her eyes wide and blurry. The fringe of trees shuddered and groaned as the wind ripped through them, blowing her hair back from her face and caressing her wind beaten cheeks. There in the middle of the thrashing storm was the willow, illuminated by the surrounding orbs that glowed through the dark clouds. She barely noticed the whispers that grew in volume. All she could hear were her aunt's thunderous stomps behind her. She glanced back and watched as she drew closer, the smell of alcohol heavily permeating from her and seeping out towards her in a plume of stench. When she looked back towards the willow, she saw the white elk take a step forward from under the willow with his head held high and his eyes squinted at her. Lukka.

A hysterical giddiness thrummed within her along with the frenzied beats of her heart as her feet slipped upon the ice and snow coating the forest floor. Aiden threw herself from the trees and sprinted into Lukka with her arms circled around him. She felt his warm body morph and twist beneath her touch as he formed into a man and he held her against him in a fierce embrace. His hand combed through her hair as the other flattened against the small of her back. She felt her legs turn to jelly and threaten to collapse from under her weight as his breath ghosted her shoulder in a soft white cloud, but his eyes weren't on her. His attention remained on her aunt as she crossed into the clearing and screamed for her niece, demanding Aiden to return with her for her punishment. The world began to shift and her skin grew cold and her touch became numb. A low buzzing dulled the sound from within her ears. Lukka's bare chest vibrated against her cheek as he hummed a growl low in his throat and bared his teeth at the formidable human. She couldn't look back, even as lightning hailed down with a crack and struck her aunt, but she knew that she was gone. She could smell her burning flesh, even as she nuzzled her nose into Lukka's chest. Aiden tried desperately to block out her aunt's screams as they died in her throat with her last breath. She was finally gone from her life and she sighed in relief, even as she felt the creeping sadness tinge her floating and light heart. Her fingers dug into Lukka's back and the dark clouds within her mind drifted away, the scent of lavender pulling her into a trance that slowed her heart. She laughed, ignoring the hollow feeling of guilt as she gazed up at Lukka, but the imitation of her happiness instantly vanished as his eyes swirled with red and a fanged smirk spread across his lips. Aiden back peddled and tugged her arms from Lukka with her screams echoing with the roaring wind. Her hands came away with a black, sticky substance that stretched and tangled around her arms, wrapping around her body and staining her clothes. The substance was heavy and weighed her down, as though pulling her to the ground as she braced herself against the weight. Lukka's skin turned darker from his olive tone to a dark grey as his hair changed to black. The substance dripped from his body and onto the frosted grass, tainting the ground below with boiling tar. He clung to her and the substance climbed up her arms as his red eyes flashed in delight. He refused to release her. She pulled away, ducking from his strangled embrace. She lost balance upon a lifted root of the willow and fell unceremoniously unto the grass that burgeoned from under her and twisted around her flailing limbs. They held her into place, the tar slipping and sliding over her body in pulsing black webs, and Aiden shook violently as Lukka cackled above her. He knelt down, caging her against the crisp grass and bubbling tar, and inhaled deeply upon the nape of her neck. He relished in her fear and licked his lips eagerly as his fingers curled around her throat. Aiden screamed, her limbs struggling against her restraints, and he chuckled menacingly. Her hands broke free from the lengthened blades of grass and grasped his wrists, desperately tugging them away from her throat. Her hands felt as though they were glued to his skin as his flesh bubbled and popped between her thin fingers. He squeezed and she felt the air slip away from her lungs as her vision swam with darkness. Lukka hovered his curled lips over hers, breathing in her wheezing breaths, and his black fangs nicked her trembling bottom lip. He kissed her and hot, black sludge slipped from his lips and pooled onto her tongue. The liquid filled her cheeks, coating the cavern of her mouth, and flooded her throat as it suffocated her. She coughed and tried to scream as she bucked her hips wildly, useless tears streaming down her cheeks to mix with the tar below. Her cries were nothing more than gurgles that drowned within the base of her throat as her limbs became sluggish. The smell of lavender was gone, replaced by the foul odor of sulfur and rotting flesh. Lukka removed his hands from her throat and placed them on either side of her cheeks, smiling cruelly as tar dripped around his teeth and off his black lips. Black markings stretched under his eyes, framing his face and a red ruby glowed between his jet black brows. Aiden's body sunk deep into the stained earth as her limbs became numb and heavy, the tar choking her as it slipped down her throat and into her lungs. Her vision swam with black dots and Lukka's red eyes were the only thing she could see. He kissed her forehead and as he pulled away, black strings stretched from her skin to his parted lips. Her body jerked violently as she struggled to breathe. Maybe this was her reward for wishing her aunt dead. Was this what she deserved for disobeying? She closed her eyes and calmed her flailing limbs as she succumbed to the tar, sinking deeper into the muck. The puddle that formed around her squelched as it covered her slowly. She heard Lukka's booming laughter swirl like a melody above her and the liquid enveloped her body. As she slipped away with the last jerk of her body gasping for air, her mind began to go blank with static. Suddenly, a set of steel blue eyes and a set of violet eyes flashed within her mind and she awoke to her brother shaking her.