Episode 8. THE NIGHTMARE
911 Words
Anna stood alone, in the breaking silence of a dark foggy forest. An owl hooted from atop thereby forcing her gaze to a branch of an ogre-shaped tree. She saw the plant exhale to her very eyes. What?..Did the tree just breathe?..
Anna froze in shock. What is this place? She scanned her environment.
The place, the forest was unfamiliar, unwelcoming, it oozed with unseen evil.
“Anna!” someone called from nowhere, footsteps followed, tampering hoofing sounds. A wolf howled in a distance, fear gripping Anna. Goose bumps sprouted all over her skin, with chilling sensations shuddering down her spines. She wanted to run, but her feet failed to move. It was as if some unseen roots tangled her to the ground. She opened her mouth to at least scream for help but this time, some unseen claws seized the words right at her throat.
And then a shadow appeared before her, a shadow dressed in a long overflowing black gown.
It seemed the shadow was floating halfway in the air, and it was feminine. In her hands were a sickle and a crooked broom. A golden circlet of thorns rested on her red hair. Anna tried to make out the face, but it was blurry. A witch, she thought.
“Anna!” the strange woman called again.
Anna’s heart raced through her mouth. “Who are you?” she finally found her voice.
Instead of a reply, the witch began to cackle..it shook the dark forest and the grounds below. And then she zapped into thin air, leaving Anna trembling, isolated again in the middle of nowhere.
From where the witch once stood, the ground began to rumble. And then it burst open by a storm of angry ravens. Mouth agape, Anna watched them swish into air. And then together, they began to jet down towards her, angrily. Their eyes sparkling like magma.
“Run!” her inner self warned and for the first time, she moved, and her feet obeyed. She ran.
Anna stumbled through the dark forest, with flapping sounds drawing closer and closer.
Within a blink of an eye, she was in a village, a village under invasion. Houses, barns, gardens, all were ablaze. The wails of unseen children and women filled the air, they pierced right through Anna’s soul. They tormented her, and she had no choice but to let her hands cover her ears.
Her head began to spin, until this new place was now familiar, it got fully registered in her head, Nezmae!
Anna gasped!
Dread swept over her and she took to her heels. She darted for home only to find it ablaze like most houses in the village.
“No, no, no..” Anna shook her head, fighting not to accept the event birthed before her. “Papa, papa?” she screamed for her father. At first, silence greeted her. But then, a voice of her father came, calling from inside the burning building.
“Anna, Anna!”
Not taking even the slightest of chances, Anna jumped past the flames, into the building, she entered the living room. Then she found her father, but he wasn't alone. The witch from the dark forest was there too, standing right behind him. Her father was tied to one of their dining chairs, and a cloth tied over his mouth. It was then Anna understood it was the witch that had called her and not her helpless father. Anna was more than pissed.
“You again!” she accused. “What do you want?!”
The witch began to laugh again and Anna couldn’t take it anymore. She rushed at the witch but got slapped with such extraordinary force that swept her off her feet and she came crashing and rolling on the ashy floor of their living room. For seconds, Anna was unconscious. And then when she finally came back to consciousness, it was to behold the witch raise her sickle and s***h right through her papa’s throat.
“No!!!” Anna screamed herself to reality, back to the comfort of her bed, her room.
The village was at peace, probably in the breaking hours of dawn. Yes, in the breaking hours of dawn. The house was not burning, neither was there any witch.
Mr. Jones rushed into the room and dashed to her bedside. “Anna, Anna. Are you okay?” he asked. He had heard her scream all the way from his room and had come running at once. He was ready to shape-shift, to kill, to do anything for her because she sounded too terrified.
“T-the village was under siege, papa. I was chased down by some angry ravens. And then there was this frightful witch.” Breath lodged in her throat, she looked straight into her father’s eyes. “She killed you, papa,” her voice croaked, tears streaming down her petrified face.
Mr. Jones sighed and sheathed his claws. He was lucky she didn't see them. “It may be the story you were told yesterday, it’s all in your head.” He was angry.
“She killed you, papa!”
He touched her shoulder, and gave a soothing smile. “You can see nothing happened to me.”
She hugged him and sobbed on his shoulders. “It was so dark and foggy and scary.” She sniffled.
He kissed her hair. “You’re safe with me, cupcake,” he said. “You're safe.” He let his hands pat her hair.
The soothing words of her father calmed her nerves and Anna was able to understand that all those events were just a dream, a very bad dream.
- Writer
