This story is unrelated to Hello Sorrow, as it is taking place in an alternate universe where fairy tales are real. The only similarity to Hello Sorrow it has is the main character's name, Irina. This story has dark fairy tale elements throughout the chapters, so please take that into account before reading. Thank you and please enjoy.
There are monsters in the frozen forest; creatures so gruesome, the villagers warn against going into the dark woods, despite never having seen them in person. Not once has anyone returned from them alive. The ones found near the tree lines are torn to pieces – chunks ripped from their mutilated bodies – or drained of blood. Some villagers even claim to have seen their missing loved ones, pleading to them from within to come inside and save them.
No one dared to leave in fear. But Irina must.
She too feared them; the unseen denizens of the wood. And if not for her grandmother, Vanda, the idea to leave the safe confines of her home never would have crossed her mind.
Irina read over her letter for the third time, sitting at the table in her empty house. Her grandmother was ill – had been since Irina's parents passed – but recently the illness had gotten worse. Vanda wrote to inform her that the passage to the clinic was flooded; the reservoir broke and destroyed several houses. She knew this. The river rose over the shoreline and washed away the only rope bridge connecting the two areas. Now, the forest was the only way to reach the cove.
Vanda was safe there, but with the passage to the clinic gone, she could no longer see the healer. Her days were numbered. She knew because she included in the letter how much she loved Irina and how much she wished to see her.
This broke her heart. It was obvious what she had to do.
Irina decided to pass through the woods to deliver her herbs from the garden, knowing there was no other way. Standing, she retrieved a basket from her room and gather the essentials she needed: jarred food, the green herbs, a fresh set of clothing. Before she left the house, she put on the red mantle her mother made her, pulling the hood over her head.
It was dreary outside. Rain threatened to fall from the heavens as dark clouds covered the sun. Irina prayed that she'd make it to her grandmother's house before the rain started. As she ambled towards the edge of the woods, she passed several villagers along the way, greeting them with a smile. Each of them turned up their noses. She had no idea why.
Ever since Irina was a small child, old enough to remember, the people of the village had been cruel to her. It was like she didn't belong; like she was an outsider.
But she had always been there. Her parents were well known, selling their herbs and vegetables. The villagers adored them, but something about Irina seemed to trouble them.
Oh well.
She ignored the rude looks they gave her, venturing on. The forest loomed in the distance and upon reaching it, Irina stopped at the tree line. Something was eerie about this. A shiver ran down her spine. The wind howled through the trees, beckoning for her to come closer, drawing her in like a moth to a flame. She didn't want to go into the woods, but her grandmother needed her.
Taking the insignia, a black-winged deity around her neck into her shaking hand, she prayed.
"Protect me, Mother Miranda. I am in your hands."
Taking a deep, uneasy breath, Irina walked into the woods. The frozen earth crunched beneath her feet; an echo compared to the rapid beating of her heart, unaware that sinister creatures had caught her scent.