~ 7 ~
Dawn turned to day and day to dusk. Arina continued forward as darkness began to fall. She had hidden from a small group of patrolling soldiers within some ferns and managed to avoid any more along her journey through the forest deep. Her aching muscles and bones creaked with every movement and screamed out in terrible pain. Arina felt that this journey would be her end but then again if she never found Vanya she'd be dead anyway. Thirst and hunger had somehow been kept at bay as if the Gods themselves smiled upon her mission to confront the accursed rabbit and willed her body forward as if it were a great entertainment.
Arina had been walking for hours and felt she had been spun time and time again. Tears began to brim over as dread loomed upon her consciousness. She felt like screaming as loud as she could until her vocal chords broke. But as her last flicker of hope and drive began to waver and strip her of all she had left she saw it. Wood, not unlike the wood of the forest but not belonging to a tree. Wood constructed artfully into some sort of shelter.
A cabin? A wave of joy blew over her, surely locals lived here, perhaps they'd have supplies, perhaps they'd know where the rabbit lived and may even help her. If she'd had the strength perhaps she'd have even smiled until the cold and unforgiving hand of reality gripped her tightly pulling her back to the real world.
A cabin this far out? It doesn't look well kept. She approached slowly and as quietly as she could. The dilapidated cabin this deep would be the perfect lair for a beast such as the rabbit. Arina shakily outstretched her arm dragging herself forward. She creeped step by step, her heart beating faster and faster until the last adrenaline her body could offer was coursing through her veins.
As she approached the disarray of the old log home became increasingly apparent, it had been left unkempt for a long while, moss and small plant life had erupted from the edges of the huge cabin. She tried to listen out for a sound but the ringing in her ears forced out any discreet noises coming from the cabin. She reached a doorway and held her breath. From inside the open doorway came a faint flickering light. It illuminated no more than vague shapes of darkness but its effectiveness was unimportant to her. Someone or something was here. It took all her focus to keep the gun outstretched in front of her as she stepped into the old cabin.
The old wood creaked beneath her feet and seemed to echo around the cabin. The wood laughed as it betrayed her presence. Still she pressed on into what seemed to be the main atrium. Though the dark concealed much Arina could make out a grand table in the centre of this room with a staircase seeming to stretch upwards to a second floor. Arina's pace had slowed and she froze momentarily between each step waiting for any sign of the rabbit. Atop the table sat a small candle surrounded by twisted shapes. She picked up the candle and pointed the flame at the objects showcasing faces made of wood and care. They were animal masks made with a great deal of skill though damage suggested they'd been left unaltered for a long time.
It wears the faces of all its prey. Is this what they meant? She thought to herself. Is the rabbit a person? It mattered not, what mattered was that this was proof it lived here and she knew it.
Arina continued on past the table and reached the bottom most step of the decaying staircase when a brief shift of the dark whirled her around, her hair almost frozen solid cracked against the wooden walls. Something had moved, Arina pointed the gun and outstretched the flame. The faint light flickered around revealing a small indent in the wall opposite her and once again she saw a small movement there. It seemed far too small to belong to the gargantuan rabbit she had seen the day prior. In a low voice she croaked "Show yourself slow or I'll shoot". A small whimper convinced her whatever moved just feet in front of her was human. As Arina began lifting another foot toward it a voice moaned out. "Please, free me". Arina felt she almost knew the voice and as she leant the candle toward her face it revealed a young girl's face. She was no older than eleven and Arina recognised her as Sofia, a child that had gone missing from their home just a month before. They assumed the rabbit had long since been killed but to see her here and alive, it gave Arina a twisted sense of hope, Vanya may yet be alive.
Arina knelt down and whispered to the girl "Shh I am here darling but you must be quiet." She was still dreadfully aware that the rabbit may lurk just metres away in the shadows so she had to move quickly. A brief shine of the light from head to toe revealed a dirty dreadfully thin shadow of the Sofia she remembered. A chain snaked around the girls neck tightly tying her to the wall. Arina met her eyes and she felt her stomach drop, this was not Sofia, not the girl that had a deep love for the wild flowers that bloomed in spring, the girl that weaved them into crowns for anyone in the village that would accept them, the girl whose whistling tunes raised the spirits of all that heard her. This girl's eyes had been stripped of the wonder and love that once danced around them. They were sullen and filled Arina with an even greater dread and panic than before. An almost primal fear seemed to bubble up as the eyes reminded her of so long ago. Those eyes, those damned eyes.
Arina knew she could barely keep herself upright, with her own daughter there was no way she could save this girl. Tears began bubbling over again, even if she broke the chain she hadn't the strength to carry this girl she would freeze in the woods. Arina tore her eyes away from the girl and stepped back. Sofia barely reacted, simply slumping her head again. Arina turned and began the trek upstairs.