Darkness

She stepped into the dark forest, her steps crunching the leaves under foot. The tree branches made long, twisting shadows that seemed to come alive as the source of the light fluttered about the trees. She followed it, mesmerized by the brilliant object yet scared of the things she saw. The trees seemed to ebb and flow like waves, their branches reaching out and grabbing at her yellow Sunday dress, scratching at it and pulling off pieces of fabric. They cut her skin, scratching her and leaving long red marks across her skin. She would look at the branch, slowly turning her head as if in a dream, and would simply pull it away and continue walking, the constant crunching underfoot. It had all started so simply, a small crush and some shared romantic notions. He had liked her, she had liked him, and they had dated. Her steps seemed to grow quicker, her tattered dress gliding along the leaves. Her shoes did nothing to help her from the cold, but she did not feel it. In fact, she felt close to nothing. Her pale, soft skin was what had drawn him to her in the first place, and the contrast that it had with her soft red lips and dark long curls. Now her skin was scratched and bruised. The light began to flutter around her, the shadows coming alive and the faces in the trees mocking her. She would never amount to something: that was an idiotic idea. The light landed on her shoulder for a second, burning the material of the yellow dress to a dark brown and causing her shoulder to feel dull pain. The pain was comfortable and yet cold, a stranger with warm and inviting arms. She felt pain, but it was nice to feel something again. She had not felt anything but pain for a while. The light lifted away from her and fluttered about her face for a second, laughing and talking in a childish voice: “Silly little truffle, come on! It’s time! It’s time!” It sped ahead laughing, running behind the trees and making the shadows reach out towards her again. The darkness made it feel as if the shadows were slashing at her arms, nothing left of her dress but tattered remains that clung to her cold, fragile body.

She had lost so much weight since then. She used to have a thin yet filled frame. Her deep blue eyes had faded, to a shade just above gray. Her luster was lost, the spark of her life now cold. It had stayed with him; he had taken it with him when he left her. She turned around, her cold gray eyes searching the path she had walked. The leaves were broken, the sound of each footstep’s crunch echoing throughout the forest. The light returned, calling out to her: “Come on! You’re it!” It fluttered right in front of her but out of reach, yet she did not feel tempted to touch it. She simply followed it, the leaves crunching underfoot with every step. She had been so innocent then, she had not known pain like she did now. Now she only felt pain and no innocence. She had known happiness, she had felt joy. He had showed her all these, yet just as easily he took it away. The forest did not seem to end, yet the trees continued to change, each more angry or eerie then the last. The light fluttered ahead and around a tree, laughing, then turned and returned to her, running into her and causing another part of her dress to burn, wilting the small red flowers on it and singing her skin underneath. She opened her mouth to say something, but simply closed her lips again and raised her hands, bringing them close to the light and feeling its heat. The light began to shimmer, nervously asking “What are you doing?” It moved in her hands, but she simply lifted it slowly towards her face, her skin hot from the fire but her body cold. She looked at the bright flame, staring at the center intently. “You’re scaring me!” it yelled, and she suddenly let it go and stumbled backwards, tripping over a root.

The crunching of the leaves startled her, and she let herself lie down amongst the leaves, as they began to cover her and smother her. She liked being surrounded; it felt calming and good to belong to something. A slight breeze picked up and moved the leaves over her, rustling against her skin and reminding her of his touch. She shot up, panting heavily, and stood slowly, her muscles straining. The light returned and drifted near her hair, burning the remaining leaves off of her person. “I’m sorry for yelling at you,” it said. “I hope we can still be friends!” It slowly floated ahead of her as she began walking again. She was not sure where she was going but knew that she was going somewhere special. She stumbled over a root and fell, her locket falling from her neck and off of its rusted chain. It broke open on the floor, revealing a picture of the two of them. She picked it up and watched it, remembering the memories of him holding her, the images of them kissing, and the image of him betraying her, him leaving her. “No,” she muttered to herself. She could not stand the pain as she felt the locket burning in her hand. “No!” she called louder, and the fluttering light slowed and stopped. “NOOO!!!” she yelled, and she flung the locket at the nearest tree trunk, shattering the locket and sending pieces of metal flinging everywhere, burying a small piece in her skin. She felt the heat of the metal and pulled out the sliver slowly, watching as a single drop of blood dripped out of her arm. It was beautiful, the scarlet red against the rest of the gray and off-gray of the surrounding world. She licked it off and continued walking, the light moving in waves in front of her. She tripped again, but this time she could not see what she tripped over. She thought back to him, how he had always caught her before he had abandoned her. He was cautious but warm, and she had loved the scent of his cologne in the night air. She stood again, shaking the memories from her mind, and began walking again.

Off in the distance she made out a large figure, much in the shape of a man… no… a boy. She stood erect, staring at the figure as it stared back at her, unmoving. She picked up her speed, moving slowly forward then stumbling and falling hard. The light flew back to her and hovered in her eyes, burning her hair. “Are you OK?” it questioned her, its childish tone mocking her. She simply brushed it away with her hand, burning herself in the process. She stood again and began running, but took only a couple more steps before falling again, her legs crushing all the leaves underneath her. The cracking noises and the pain in her legs angered her, but she stood again and took off running, closer to the figure then ever. As she got close to him, she fell one last time, her head burying itself in his arms as he embraced her. She began crying, holding onto him tightly as she looked at him through tear blurred vision and crying seeing him. She beat her fists against his chest, screaming “YOU LEFT ME! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!” He stood motionless, pensive. She stepped back and fell to her knees again, drying her eyes on the tattered remains of her dress. She sat up and looked at where he stood a minute ago, where all that there was now was smoke. The light had run too close to the old scarecrow and set it on fire.

She stood again, looked at the small light, and grabbed it, burning her hands in the process. “What are you doing?!” the small light yelled, terrified, and she released it for a moment. She looked at her hands, which felt so cold, but in truth were bright red from the heat of the light. She reached towards the light again but this time it backed away. “Don’t hurt me, please,” it implored. She began to slowly follow the light, the leaves still crunching underfoot, and reached a large opening in what looked like a wall. The light trembled before it, then looked back towards her and said “I’m not strong enough anymore. I don’t belong here. I never belonged here. Your innocence is lost.” With these words the light began spinning around her, warming her body one last time. She saw the ribbons of light in her vision form into a shape, a body that wrapped its arms around her and hugged her tight. “LET GO OF ME!” she screamed, and she struck out, hitting nothing as the figure dissipated. The light was gone. She walked into the mouth of the cave, the leaves underfoot crunching less and less often. She turned to look at the opening to the cavern, but it had gotten so dark she could no longer see it. She took a step, faltering, then took another, stumbling, and finally took a third, falling to the ground. Her vision was dark, her body cold, and she curled up into a ball, closing her eyes. She began crying softly, to herself and the shadows, and the leaves underfoot. She felt a warm hand wipe her tears, and looked up to see the dark figure of the boy whom she had loved, just as she fell asleep.

The police found her body three days later. In her hands she held a small lighter, a present from her ex-boyfriend. She had burns all over her body, and he dress was tattered and torn. Her boyfriend had died a week before, he had been killed in a massive fire. She had been at the scene and watched as he rushed out of the house, still partly aflame, and died running towards her. The trauma affected her greatly, and she became more distant. She ran away from home, and a massive manhunt was called two days later. Her mother had given the police places she used to play as a child and places where she had taken the boy, and it was only a matter of time before the police found the trail of crunched leaves.