Dipped in Blood

The Light of Darkness

My eyes shot open. Above me a wooden roof glistened with artificial light from a lone lamp in the corner of the room. My head ached as I blinked continuously to remove the black spots clouding my vision. I turned carefully to face Eden.

"Wendy, you don't so look good," I let out a chuckle before stopping in fear.

Where was I?

I trace my eyes to a figure in the other corner of the room with a dark cloak covering their whole body. Out of fear, I suddenly shoot upwards only to regret it. My head protested and ached at my sudden movements. I shrank back into the soft covers of the bed in agony. The figure chuckled at my uncomfortableness and walked to Eden's side. The cloaked figure was a man, his hair was dark black and was nearly disguised against his cloak, he was about my mothers age with small white hairs poking from his scalp.

"Who are you?" I ask vulnerably.

He smiles at me, "I am Benith, basically your guardian."

"Guardian!" I jump up since me headache had disappeared, "This forest is endless, not to mention the creatures that haunt it!" I exclaim, letting out all the frustration on the man apparently called Benith.

"You've encountered them?" He asked as if he had expected it, but he still held a pained expression.

I shook my head, "No but I've had....dreams." He let out a breadth and smiled down at Eden who looked absolutely confused. He walked towards a bookshelf placed next to the bed and pulled out a floral journal. He seemed to squeeze the cover in pain before sliding it into his pocket.

"Are they real?" He looks up and sees my serious expression.

"Is what real?"

"Are the creatures real?" I ask in desperation. My eyes where on him revealing my true emotions, all the pain, resentment, fear and anger directed at him in a silent plea for the absolute truth. Something passed through his eyes, a memory so sinister and vile that it caused a tear to merge at the tip of his eyelash. He rubbed it away quickly and walked to a door on the other side of the room. He paused momentarily to utter one sentence that sent chills to the pits of my stomach, "Lock the door at sunset, and don't open it no matter what."

***

There wasn't much to do in the one bedroom cottage, except to feed Eden. The sun was sinking slowly as if taunting me with its lazy effort. I stood silently outside the house in awe at the majestic structure below me. The house was situated on a tree about fifty meters off the ground, the house was invisible from bellow meaning you could have walked under it and not even notice.

"Wendy, the sun is disappearing." I turn to see Eden at the doorstep in a nightgown we had found under the microwave. I smile and walk back inside the house with Eden, hesitantly I close the door and lock it.

"Wendy, I found this," Eden holds up a bag of red dye, I curiously take it from her hand and sit on the bed. I look at the bag baffled by the sheen of the color.

"Where did y--" I stopped speaking when I notice Eden fast asleep across the duvet. In a motherly way, I kiss her forehead and lay next to her. I was too awake to sleep so I picked a book that happened to be on the bedside table, its cover was blood red with deep scratches imbedded in its skin. I opened at the first page and pulled the covers over me and Eden.

1998/01/31

I hear them every night, the scratches I mean. They claw the windows and doors but yet they seemed to never get inside. Benith says they are creatures of the night. Dark, sinister and lethal in ways of unrealism. Sometimes I wonder why he stays here if he knows the way out.

At that moment everything stopped as I read the last line over and over again. The way out.

***

I watched silently as red ran down the sink, its brightness almost identical to the one of blood. Eden hadn't woken up and Benith hadn't returned so I took the liberty of using the dye. I had used it sparingly, meaning only on the strands that where closest to my face where dark red, blending into black on the way to the back of my head. I washed my hands and walked to the small table in the middle of the room that had been set with the red covered book and a cup of tea. I sat down and opened the book at the second page.

Last night when I had read that last sentence my mind went into a full out frenzy. Questions and problems seeped like ants into my head and chewed teasingly on my logical thoughts.

Who was this girl?

What was the reason for Benith's kindness?

Who was Benith to her?

What was she doing here?

I was very certain that all the answers where in the stained pages of this book. So I woke up early, from a dreamless night, made tea and dyed my hair. Now I was going to solve all the problems and answer all the questions, to get rid of the headache I had from the unanswered questions.

1998/02/24

I provoked Benith about the way out today. He refused, like the stubborn person he is and walked out into the forest again. Ever since the day he brought me into his safe home I feel more and more trapped. I lost count of the days. Weeks and months could have gone by without me noticing. He looks after me properly and everything but sometimes I wonder what is the cause of his kindness. Is it loneliness? Or is it just the small bit of heart he had left after living in this deathly forest.