Darkside

This is the second part to the post from before...
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A flash of light and a low rumbling sound indicates that the night can only get worse for me if I don’t find any cover soon. Another flash and I stumble as I see an opening in the rocks.

I run towards the cave entrance. Afraid that I might be disturbing something worse inside, but having no other option, I gladly accept the shelter. To stay out would mean a certain death. Shivering, I argue with myself that at least, inside I will be dry.

The wind by now is howling and I am chilled to the bone. I need to keep warm, and if I do not, I might find myself dying from the cold instead. A much slower and possibly a welcome death compared to the alternative, but I find myself clinging on to life.

In the cave at last, there is a faint smell of some animal. Equine? I continue deeper in the cave and slide to the cave floor. By touch, I find a stack of hay next to me. By its smell, it is fresh as well. Gratefully I make myself comfortable and warm. Wondering to myself, how did the hay get into this cave?

Lulled by the sweet smelling hay and the sound of the thunderstorm outside, I find myself drifting into a deep sleep. The screeching has stopped by now. That would mean the rain has sent them off my tracks. Luck is on my side.

I close my eyes and hug myself closer to the cave walls. Again the handsome face from before. He is smiling at me, beckoning me to sit. Smiling, he takes my hands and puts it in his. I am lost in his honey coloured eyes. He looks like a magnificent marble statue come to life. If not for the twinkle of life in his eyes, I might just believe that he is a statue.

I realise that as his hand lifts my chin to look directly into my soul, that I have not been listening to him. He is laughing as he realises the effect he is having on me. Blushing furiously, I pull away. His face, more serious now from before, he solemnly says to me, “Estelle, it is time.”

Estelle. I have a name. The memory fades as loud thunder echoes around the cave. I scream in silent frustration.

Who is that man? What was it time for? Maybe I am just going insane and hallucinating.

I drift off to a more fitful sleep.

The World is Black

The cold night air.. frozen fingertips... dull ache in my weary bones...

Decaying hope... an inkwell of forgotten dreams... memories of faces unfamiliar, unbidden, forgotten come to mind.

This heavy cast of blackness unfurling its edges like a mother encasing her child with warmth and protection. A blanket of fear and hopelessness descends upon me. Unable to scream, a choked sob escapes my lips.

How did it become like this? When will this torment end? Will the light shine for me once again?

I have no answers to my desperate questions. I see no light and there is no end to this tunnel of doom.

Screeching above my head in the dark clouds above, unbidden images of black dragons flying. They are looking for prey. They are looking for a victim.

They are looking for me.

Run now, run. There's nowhere to hide. No trees, no cover... lost in a wide open space of swirling darkness. My fear is my only company.

The blackness, as much as I loath it, ironically, is keeping me alive for now. Why are they looking for me? I cannot remember.

I struggle to remember who I am. Only a brief flash of a face. A handsome pale face. Eyes, the colour of golden honey. Hair black as the darkness around me. Pale as a ghost. And then the face is gone.

It is so dark that I cannot even see my own hands. Powered by adrenaline and the need to survive and find some light and warmth, I run silently on.