Post by Tina ☺ on Oct 18, 2009 8:57:49 GMT -5
A Halloween Ritual
The night is dark and cold. Above, the sky is rapidly filling with dark storm clouds
that are beginning to obscure the full moon. Thunder can be heard in the distance
and is steadily moving closer. The frightened young girl shivers as she pulls her
hooded cloak more tightly around her tiny, frail body. She shivers violently as she
turns her head to gape at the large house behind her with widened, terrified eyes.
The house looms menacingly above her against a backdrop of the stormy sky. A tiny,
startled gasp escapes her slightly-parted lips as a light turns on and shines through the
window of one of the rooms, the room that had been hers. Soon, they will know she is
gone! Her heart throbs painfully against her ribcage as her tortured mind races
frantically with mixed thoughts and emotions. She knows she has to get away. . . quickly!
She begins to run blindly, not knowing where she will go or what she will do.
The girl only knows that she needs, desperately, to get as far away from that house
as soon possible. She runs until she is panting and out of breath. Soon, she realizes
she has heard no footsteps behind her and ventures a glance back toward the way
she had come. Relief washes over her when she sees only the dark forest path in
that direction. In that moment, a cold rain begins to fall, drenching the young girl’s
body, but not her spirit and her determination for survival.
In her panic, she had not noticed the lantern that lights the way ahead. A village!
A hopeful expression lights up the girl’s features as she pulls her cloak more tightly
around her trembling body and she begins to trudge forward once again. Soon, a
frown turns down the corners of her lips and her expression changes to one of
puzzlement. It seems that no matter how far she walks, the light and the village
are becoming no closer. Suddenly she hears movement behind her and she stops
dead in her tracks to look backward. A horrified scream begins to rise up
into her throat from the deepest pit of her stomach.
As the vile creature turns its petrifying gaze in her direction, her scream seems to become stuck
in her throat, cutting off her breath and making it almost impossible for her to breathe. Its eyes
resemble tiny pinpoints of red light beneath the dark hood while the creature’s ugly mouth
forms into a wide, humorless grin. The girl’s mind can barely comprehend what her eyes are
telling her they see. Suddenly, she feels as if she is teetering on the edge of a large precipice
called Insanity and that she will topple over any second and she will find herself
spiraling downward to a point of no return.
Unable to find her voice, the girl violently shakes her head as her lips silently form the word no.
It has dawned on her that she knows the creature’s name. Its name is Death. The girl has vague
memories of cheating death before and she is determined to not let him win this time either.
In a blind panic, she lifts up her long skirt, turns off the path and bolts through the
forest as brambles and briars leave angry welts and scratches on her bare ankles and calves.
The driving rain is making her flight especially difficult and she slips and falls several times
along the way. Suddenly, a ray of hope enters her heart as she spies
a wooden structure straight ahead.
A great fear swells up inside her heart that the old stable will be just like the village
had been and she would never actually reach it. A sharp cry of pain cuts through the
still night as a splinter pierces the delicate skin of her palm as she places it
against the weather-beaten door, but she has never been so elated. The structure is
solid and real, and she has reached it! She hurriedly yanks open the door and steps
inside. Although it is obvious the stable has been abandoned for years, the strong,
somehow comforting, odor of horses and hay fills her nostrils. The girl breathes in deeply
and then releases her breath in a long sigh as she makes her way to a dry corner
of the shed where the roof had not been leaking. Taking off her drenched cloak,
she plops her exhausted body heavily down upon the floor.
The girl shuts her eyes tightly, lowers her head into her hands, and says a silent prayer
that the grotesque thing that is called Death will be unable to find her here. As the
storm intensifies outside, she makes the decision to wait until daybreak to continue her
quest to escape her horrible circumstances. She releases a wistful sigh. Daybreak! The
young woman cannot remember the last time she had seen the sunshine. It feels to her as
if it has been centuries. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of things she does not
remember, such as from where she had come, or even her own name.
Shaking off the disturbing thoughts, she allows her mind to wander to visions of more pleasant things.
Her full, pouty lips curve into a smile as she imagines sitting on a beach, watching a gorgeous sunset
with a lover. She can almost feel his warm breath against her cheek as he whispers her name
over and over. Suddenly she realizes the sound isn’t part of her daydream as a familiar voice
reaches her ears, speaking her name. Although the voice is soft, almost kind, it is not a voice
the girl was hoping to hear ever again. Death had not been only one thing to fill her heart
with dread and fear. Now, she has been discovered by her captor! His arrival causes the girl
to jerk up her head so suddenly that she has to stifle a sharp cry of pain
as her teeth sink into her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.
As the man speaks to her in a quiet tone, obviously intended to be soothing and reassuring,
the girl cowers, trembling, in the corner. She feels tiny droplets of blood from her bitten lip
trickling down toward her chin, but does nothing except keep wishing that, somehow, the wall
would swallow her up and keep her hidden from the man who has been her keeper for so long.
Hot, salty tears begin to flow down her pale cheeks as she continues to avert her eyes from
the man’s intense, burning, gaze. She hears the man’s heavy sigh of frustration when he notices
her obstinate refusal to acknowledge his presence.
His voice rises in frustration, and he struggles to maintain his even tone. "Listen girl" he says with
a heavy sigh as he shoves his hood off his head with an agitated sweep of his hand.
"It seems that you are getting better at playing your little game of hide and seek. It actually
took me a bit longer to find you this time around." This time, his words ignite a spark in the girl's
confused mind and she slowly turns her head in his direction. His intense gaze meets her confused one,
and his sparkling eyes seem to latch onto hers and lock them in place. Mixed emotions mingle
in her heart and mind. She wants desperately to look away again, yet she finds herself,
not wanting to lose this new-found connection.
A small smile plays at the corner of the man's lips when he sees he has gained the girl's
full attention, so he continues his speech in his previous soothing tone, "Ah yes, I see that
you are now listening girl! You obviously do not realize it, but you have a tendency to go
a bit insane once a year. It has become a ritual of sorts.'Tis All Hallows Eve, my dear;
the night in which all the ghosts, witches, and goblins are restless and come out to play!"
He chuckles softly as he reaches out to help the girl to her feet. "Come now.
I have managed to do a bit of hunting this evening and there is a
succulent feast awaiting us at the house."
The girl hesitates only a moment before reaching out to place her small hand in his. As he
gently helps her to her feet, their gazes remain locked together, neither one daring to look
away from the other. The sparkling green pools of his eyes seem to mesmerize her and she
feels all her fear and pain drain away from her mind and body. Suddenly, she remembers her
name, although from where she came and where she had been before being taken
to the big house remains a mystery to her.
Her tongue gingerly snakes out from between her slightly-parted lips and she tastes the blood
deposited there earlier from her bitten lip. The young woman's thoughts turn to the meal the man
had said was waiting at the house and she suddenly realizes that she is hungry,
famished to say the least.
In fact, she is utterly ravenous!
Credits:
First, a very special thanks goes out to Jillyson, who actually inspired me to write this little tale. It actually felt really good to do a bit of serious writing again. I know I should be getting back to my 'main' story, but it is a daunting task with all the picture-taking, etc. This one was much shorter and easier. I hope you enjoyed reading it!
Next, I must give credit to those folks from around the web whose pictures I used for this story. I don't know their names, but I couldn't have made the story as visually pleasing without them. Even the pictures with my sims in them have parts of other pictures I found on the web in them to enhance their appearance.
Last, but not least, I want to give thanks to all of you for reading, and hopefully enjoying, my little Halloween Tale.
This is the first story of mine that Stephanie has ever read. I'm very elated that you enjoyed it and offered such a great compliment!
