Ch. 1 Whether or not to cry
How to begin…? I don't really know. This may be my story but still… How does one begin telling the story of their lifetime? Of how they fell in love and had it smashed into a million thousand pieces? Of dying and being reborn? Of— well damn I'm going to give the end away before I even begin. So let's get started.
The young woman sat at the plain, wood desk with a stack of blank papers in front of her— but her eyes were not on them. Instead they were looking out the window. Her heart wishing to be out among the woods instead of being cooped up inside writing some god-for-saken paper about a topic she barely even remembered from the lecture two weeks ago. But write it she must. She gave a heavy sigh and looked down at the paper and began tapping her pencil against them.
"Come on, words. Just flow out. The sooner you come the sooner I can get out side," she murmured to herself and sighed again. Outside, a soft breeze blew causing the crack from her window to whistle, drawing her attention once again. "No. Focus, Maika. We have to get this done first." Maika then set out to write her paper, the pencil flying across the paper. Her hand began to cramp on the third page and refused to write another word on the seventh. "Ow ow ow."
Slowly sitting back in the chair, her back popping from being in one position for so long, Maika massaged her hand and looked out the window. Her eyes widened when they saw stars. "Night? Already!" Glancing at her watch, she jumped up and rushed to the phone, dialing her mother's home. "Hi, Mom. Yeah I know I was suppose to call- I'm sorry if I worried you. I just got caught up in- Oh, I didn't- yeah, mom. I'll call on time next- yeah, right. Bye." The dial tone rang in her ears. "I love you, mom…" Maika replaced the receiver as she held back the tears. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't cry. "Mom does love me… she's just really busy… with her new boy toy," she said in a small voice as she turned away from the phone and back to the window.
Hmm, to go for the walk she was looking forward to all day now or wait for tomorrow? Now, most definitely now. Walks always made her feel better— especially ones through the woods. They transported her to a new world— one she could be her self in. One she actually lived in. Maika grabbed her long, black coat off the back of her chair and put it on. Her dark aquamarine eyes landed on her backpack sitting on the floor next to the desk and she got the strangest urge to take it with her. "I wont need it… but if I do I'd rather have it than regret not." Maika shrugged as she snatched the old bag off the floor and put her paper and pencils inside. "Maybe I'll see something cool and want to draw it. And you're talking to yourself again, Maika dear."
Shaking her head at herself, Maika shouldered her backpack, turned off the lights, and headed outside. She saw no reason to lock the door of her tiny one bedroom house for she didn't have anything worth stealing. A small smile flitted across her lips as she gazed at the woods before her. They seemed to beckon to her- call to her very soul. Others might have said they looked creepy with the full moon casting shadows everywhere but to Maika they seemed even more beautiful than ever. Long legs incased in baggy blue jeans that hid their slenderness and beauty ate up the distance between Maika's house— for it was no home— and the woods. As she made her way toward her destination, Maika pulled on her brown soft-leather gloves, placed her headphones on her ears, and pressed play on her iPod for one of her favorite songs. Almost instantly her gait changed to the tempo of the song and her hips swayed with the beat.
Upon reaching the woods, Maika fallowed a deer trail that very few humans seemed to even know about. Unable to stop herself, the young woman began to sing softly. "I broke a thousand hearts before I met you. I'll break a thousand more, Baby, before I am through. I want to be yours, pretty baby. Yours and yours alone. I'm here to tell ya, honey, that I'm bad to the bone. Bad to the bone. B-b-b-bad. B-b-b-bad. B-b-b-bad. Bad to the bone." Maika paused at the fork in the trail and decided to go left towards a small clearing. When she reached the open glade she was elated with her choice.
"Wow. I've never seen it so beautiful. Definitely glad I brought my bag," Maika murmured to herself as she sat down under a large sycamore near the trail. Awed by the scene before her, Maika looked around her, drinking in its magnificence. Across the clearing and just to the left from her stood the ruins of an old cottage shrouded in shadows, barely visible but Maika knew what they looked like for she had spent hours examining them. She started there in her sketch, laying out a rough of the crumbled stones covered in vines and wildflowers. Directly in the middle of the clearing the full moon light beamed down upon the half collapsed well, illuminating it alone while casting everything else into darkness.
Maika had never seen anything like this before, except in movies but those were works of art made by man. This was far more stunning than any man could create for it was a work of nature. Slowly the image before the young woman appeared on the paper in her lap. An overwhelming sadness crept into Maika as she put in the final touches. A sadness that spoke of loneliness, of pain, of unshed tears, and of love never given nor gained. She pushed the paper away from her as she looked up, afraid of tears falling on them. But before they could fall something caught her eye.
Instantly, her body went on alert as Maika stared across the now silent clearing. A small dark shadow hopped out of the woods, stopped then hopped again. As it got closer to the well, Maika could make out a more distinctive shape. It looked like a weasel with large rabbit ears and a short fluffy foxtail. The strange creature paused just before entering the beam of light and looked back behind it. Seemingly satisfied, it hopped forward then jumped into the well. A bright burst of blue light radiated from the well then disappeared like it had never been.
"What the hell was that?"
Maika jumped up and shoved her stuff back into her bag in one fluid movement. Slowly she crossed the clearing, re-shouldering her backpack. Powerless to stop her curiosity, she peered over the edge and into the well. The empty well. "Where did it go?" As she bent closer a large shadow moved behind her, blocking out the moonlight. Maika's body tensed as she gradually turned around— and stared into glowing blood-red eyes ten feet in the air.
A deep rumbling growl resonated from the monster's chest then burst from its mouth as it lunged at her. Maika screamed and stepped backwards, falling into the well and immense darkness took hold of her senses even as the blue light surrounded her.