Returning to her side, Adea was standing before the most peculiar and unnerving sight she had ever seen. In a small opening in the brush, a series of small stone slabs were standing perched in a circular pattern. There were seven of them, and they were positioned around a cleared space that looked large enough to fit a full-grown person. Just outside the circle of stones, there were three larger slabs perched the same way evenly spaced apart from one another. She looked over at Lyda, whose face was lit up with excitement.
"Do you know what this is?" Lyda said, more to herself than to Adea. "I think this is the site where the ritual was performed by our ancestors!"
"This is where we're supposed to do it?" Adea trembled.
"I think so. Come on!" She pulled Adea into the circle of stones. They both sat down in the middle
1875"You must swear that you will never tell another soul what we did here tonight. Swear it on your life."Those words made Adea shudder from the moment she heard them that night at the Crossing, and she feared she may never get over it. She found herself in the most complex situation an eight-year-old child might encounter. Her bad dreams lasted for weeks after they began, but it only took a matter of days for them to escalate into the fits of pure fear that they became. She was desperate to stop them once and for all, but what good was Human intervention against something they could not see, hear, or feel? Yet somehow, in spite of everything, her older sister, Lyda, found a way.Adea was not sure what was more horrific; the night terrors, or the actions the two of them took to end them. Ever since they could speak, Lyda and Ade
Matthias was beyond ashamed. He could not believe that he never saw this coming. Mara had been depressed for years but she never showed any abnormal signs that might hint at thoughts of suicide. Matthias placed a hand over her forehead and used his thumb to gently lift her right eyelid. As expected, her pupil was dilated and did not react to the candlelight around the bed, and as he feared, the color of her eye, though faded, was still giving off that same unsettling shade of yellow.Matthias had many thoughts rolling through his head. It had been three years at this point since Mara had noticed the return of this sickness, but it usually faded away within the year. For it to still be affecting her, she must have been suffering all this time until she could not bear it any longer. He did not understand why she never said anything to him.While Matthias somberly
As far as Adea was concerned, there had been nothing to worry about. The brief but strange occurrence had not repeated itself when she drifted back to sleep, and by the morning, she had all but forgotten about it. That is until Lyda said something to her.It was a Saturday morning, which meant Lyda would not be going off with Iris and their mother would be taking a break from working in the garden, so Lyda and Adea were free to sleep in and do whatever they wanted today. Adea woke when the fresh smell of breakfast flowed beneath her bedroom door. Like any other free day, she did not bother to get dressed, but simply fixed her hair and headed downstairs in her nightgown.It was an ordinary morning as Adea situated herself at the table just outside of the kitchen. As usual, Lyda had been the last to join them, always coming up from the cellar looking gloomy and t
The five of them hiked through the trees and straight as they could across the ridgeline. The last of the morning fog had lifted by the time they stepped back out of the trees and the great hills of the south became visible. They called them the Dividing Mountains; an enormous, rugged mountain range that stretched east to west for many miles, separating the northern territories of Ravenna from the south. It was not often that Lyda and Adea came this far south to get a good view of the mountains, at least not on their own, and Adea was soaking it all in.The sun was nearing midday as they made their way into a clearing atop the southern ridge, following a large, running creek that flowed out of the trees and cut down into the rocky clearing before splitting off toward opposite ends of the ridgeline. Adea found it to be a stunning sight with the mountains in the distance, and they decided this was the perfec
Lyda barely spoke at all for the rest of the day. As the sun went down, Eran and Ellis gathered wood and built a fire by the tents, where they sat for the rest of the evening eating their rations, laughing amongst each other, and telling stories to scare one another. Although she remained rather quiet, Lyda seemed to be enjoying herself as much as everyone else. They were all having a great time until Lyda finally decided it was her turn to speak."I don't like these stories."Everyone else went quiet until the only sound to be heard was the crackling of the fire."Ghost stories are just meant for fun," Eran said. "They're not supposed to be scary.""I don't think they're scary," Lyda said, staring blankly into the fire. "I think stories that aren't real are like the lig
It took Lyda's mind a few minutes to regain her full consciousness. She kept her eyes closed and took in several deep breaths, which sounded as though they were echoing all around her. When she finally opened her eyes, she looked around to see that she was still sitting by the fire, exactly where she had nodded off to sleep. The brightness of the fire seemed to be toned down, and she could no longer feel any heat coming off it. In fact, the entire environment around her appeared to be drained of much of its color. That was all the confirmation Lyda needed to know that she was no longer in the conscious world. This was a dream.Lyda stood to her feet. This was not like any of the other dreams she had made for herself thanks to the ritual. She was not like her sister. She was not as interested in the blissful dreams Adea constantly rambled on about. More than that, Adea would never have dared to enter her ow
Lyda descended for what felt like fifty feet, or more, there was no telling. The darkness at the bottom was so heavy that she could feel it in her skin. Her feet touched down in a shallow, liquid substance that sounded like water but felt much thicker and gave off a faint, rubbery smell. The voices were a bit louder but still not discernible. They came in short spates, leaving her standing in an atmosphere of pure silence otherwise."Show-" Lyda began to mutter as quietly as she could, but her voice still sounded deafening. Just like that, the voices ceased, as if made aware of her presence. It made Lyda almost too nervous to speak again, but she swallowed her fear as best as she could. "Show me something."There was a moment of silence like an eternity. Lyda's eyes were burning in anticipation. Just then, she heard another series of voices coming from be
Jay woke suddenly out of nowhere, almost as if the sun was rising, but it wasn't. She lied on her back and stared up at the low roof of the tent. It was just as dark now as it was when they had all tucked in for the night. She guessed she must have only been asleep for a couple of hours. Why then was she now wide awake?Jay looked over at Adea lying next to her, swaddled in her own blanket and out like a light. She sat up when she noticed that Lyda was not in the tent with them. Through the flap of the tent, she could see the faint, shimmering light of the last embers of the campfire. She unraveled the blanket from around herself and crawled outside.The air was unusually cool tonight, and it made her cross her arms to keep warm. The first thing she saw upon standing up out of the tent was the form of Lyda resting on her knees in front of the fire as though she
I could not tell you where I am, nor how I got myself here. I know as much of that as we know in life, which is nothing. Even now, I find myself blighted more than ever by the plague of mankind’s ignorance and the consequences thereof, consequences the minds of the living were never intended to comprehend.Just like the passage into one’s dreams, my universe has all but changed in the blink of an eye. Minutes are as long as eons, yet time does not flow. There is nothing to feel but emptiness, yet the pressure of broken reality weighs upon my shoulders. I have long forgotten the tranquil sounds of the flowing spring water and the breeze whistling through the treetops. The last sound I ever heard was the voice of darkness whispering beneath my earthly flesh, drawing me to this immeasurable horror. Everything has gone still and silent henceforth, even the whispering, taking with it th
A cold wind flowed slowly through the dark, stone corridor, carrying with it an unnerving moaning like whispers. From out of the darkness, a lone, cloaked figure stepped forth. Its robes were lined with mysterious hexagonal designs, and its ghostly white hands hung by its side. The figure stood still in the middle of the corridor as the moaning sound escalated as though something was drawing near.The walls of the corridor began to distort slightly as if the cloaked figure was staring right through the transparent shroud of something otherworldly. Without flinching or even so much as saying a word, the figure nodded its head and turned to walk back into the darkness.The trip through the pitch-black hallway was slow and seemed to last an eternity, the sound of the figure’s footsteps echoing loudly. Eventually, a faint light began to seep back into the atm
Everything went numb. Adea felt nothing. No soft touch of the wind. No tranquil sounds of birds singing. No grief nor remorse. The only thing there, lingering in the dark depths of her mind, was the memory of the last moments of her sister’s life. Everything she tried to do to her twelve years ago, Adea now found herself on the other side of it.That was when she felt it. A great surge of warmth and energy coursed through her blood. It spread to every corner of her body, filling her with a sensation greater than any adrenaline or sexual satisfaction she had ever felt in her life. It continued to escalate, rising to the surface of her flesh until it almost burned. The power her sister always wanted, the power promised by the Dark Twin, she had finally taken it for herself. Suddenly, she let out a scream when it felt like some powerful force was tearing at her very soul, but it was over in little more
1891Adea looked all around at her surroundings as she rode slowly through the tranquil, springtime woods. It was amazing to her how little twelve years’ time could change these mountains, yet her entire life had all but flipped upside-down and emerged into a whole new world.It had taken her almost a year to recover mentally from the shock of losing her entire family. Eran had since taken her into his family’s home, and soon after she had taken her vows, the two were finally married.Ever since the day they were blessed before the Spirits, Adea began the slow transition into a new life of peace. In a way, she felt as though one life had died and a new one had been born, but every Spring equinox, she would go back to her family’s cottage to pay her respects to the graves of her parents and her sister.
After what seemed like a thousand lifetimes, light crept back into her eyes. Adea woke to find herself lying in the middle of the Crossing before the roots of the Twisted Oak. She was lying on her back and staring up at the crystal blue mid-morning sky. The soft breeze and the spray of the spring made goosebumps on her arms. Her eyes burned with exhaustion and her throat was dry and sore. She groaned as she sat up against the peculiar tree, crossing her arms in front of her when she realized that she was still naked. That was when it all came back to her.Adea began to shake and tears fell from her eyes when she recalled the events of that night. She tried to convince herself that it was all a terrible dream, but there was no denying it. Her parents were gone, slaughtered and mutilated on their own bed. Her sister, whom she loved more than anything else in this life, now lied at the bottom of a giant under
Adea groaned as her body was battered by the fall. That was when she registered the pain in her ankle, which shot up her leg when she tried to move. She must have sprained it in the fall. She then remembered the cracking sounds and realized that she was lying on top of a nest of something small, narrow and hard. Adea reached underneath her to grab one of the objects. It was almost too dark to see anything, but there was no mistaking the rock-like texture of a bone. She was lying in the rotting remains of a Human skeleton.Adea shivered and let out a squeal of disgust as she jumped to her feet, limping as she was unable to put the full weight of her body on her sprained ankle. That was when she looked around at her surroundings. It did not take long to realize that she had fallen into some sort of cavern, the only light coming from a small opening in the center of the roof where it flowed in like a spotligh
Adea’s ears hummed and whirred as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Her eyes struggled to focus; her vision was hazy and disoriented. Her surroundings were pitch dark and quiet, but she could feel the cold breeze against her flesh, telling her that she was outside.As more of her senses returned, she realized that she was lying on a hard but smooth surface of rock and that she had been stripped completely naked. She was still too disoriented to make out her surroundings. She tried to move, but that was when she noticed that her limbs were bound in place. Her arms were spread out on either side and her legs were both pinned straight forward. She began to panic when she turned her head this way and that, only to be met with the frighteningly familiar sight of stone slabs perched upward in a circle, and she was right in the middle of it.Adea w
Adea let out a scream as she quickly backed into her parents’ bedroom. She slammed the door shut and twisted the lock just as Lyda threw herself at the door. She banged against it ferociously, swearing and demanding her sister open it. Adea fell back onto the floor as Lyda began putting the knife through the door. She continued to scream, her head darting this way and that as if looking for a way out.In a matter of seconds, Lyda had broken the door to pieces. She kicked the splintered door off its hinges as she barged into the bedroom. Before she could look around the room for her prey, Adea leapt out from behind the dresser beside the doorway. In a fit of terror, she unwittingly threw a punch at Lyda’s face. Lyda grunted in shock and swung her hunting knife at Adea’s head. Adea ducked and ran out of the room as fast as she could, screaming at the top of her lungs as she charged down the
The return trip was even quicker as Matthias made haste across the mountain paths. His mind swarmed with thoughts wondering what the Mistress was talking about. All that mattered was that he got Lyda to the hall as fast as possible.As he emerged from the tree line along the ridge approaching the cottage, he spotted his wife and youngest daughter out in the garden. What were they doing out there instead of resting, he asked himself. He rode into the backyard, dismounting his horse before he even got to the stables. Alyra and Adea looked up from the garden.“Where is Lyda?” he huffed as he ran over to them.“In the cellar,” Alyra pointed toward the cottage. “You locked her down there, remember?”Matthias shook his head as he charg