At first the voice was very small, very quiet. I could hear her at night as I lay against Bray's chest, just over the beating of his heart. Like trying to listen to one specific voice in a crowd, I couldn't make out anything the voice said. As the days ticked by, I began to hear it clearer. She, whomever my invisible visitor was, asked me to follow her. Tiny whispers in the night, she begged me to come to her. Come to the river, come see her.
Over time I heard her more frequently. In the times that I was alone I'd hear her calm to me. Tonight I sit in Bray's rocking chair by the window, watching as he stepped from the porch an into the night. This was becoming a ritual for him, occupying our spacious bed with me until he believed I was asleep, then slipping off into the woods. I watch as he pushes into the forest, his lamp dimly lighting his way when I hear her again. The soft female voice whispers in my ear to come to the river. To find her. When I hear that soft voice speak my name for the first time, the hair rises on the back of my neck and fear grips my insides. "Follow him. Follow him into the woods!" She commands.
Frightened, I glance over my shoulder into the emptiness of the room, half expecting to find a young woman standing behind me. The empty room startled me almost as much as if there had been someone there. "Follow him!" She urges from over my other shoulder. I glance in that direction too, but I can't find the source of the voice. I scurry quickly from the room and tiptoe through the dark hallway, holding my breath in anticipation of whomever or whatever I may bump into. With her voice still in my ear I slip into a pair of my shoes and grab my nearby coat. I take one of the oil lamps from the porch and light it, illuminating a small circle of the overgrown grass around me. "Over here!" I hear her voice from the direction of the trees. "Come find me!"
Reaching the edge of the forest, I rest my hands on the closest tree and shine my lantern ahead of me. Darkness peered back at me. She calls my name again, urging me into the forest. I push past the first line of trees, headed for the heart of the forest. I can see the faint glow of another lantern in the distance…is that Bray?
My feet haul me forward, my lantern raised as I rush towards the lantern light. "Find him! Catch him!" Her voice urges, and I feel a heavy presence at my back as I dash ahead, ducking under low branches and around thick trunks. "Why?" I hiss as my breath grows labored, my legs burning as I push further into the woods. "Find him, find me!" She hissed. Confused, I rush onwards. Her voice grew angrier in my ear as warmth seared the back of my neck from an invisible force.
My foot catches a root and I fall forward, the ground hurting towards me. My head strikes another big root and pain shoots through my head. Pulling my hand away from my forehead I see the bright red blood before the darkness swallows me. I call out for Bray feebly, and I hear her voice nearby, laughing.