He sat up slowly but his head felt packed with wool. His thoughts were quite fuzzy, so he sat there for a moment to try and gather his senses and figure out what was going on.
As Jak looked around, even though he couldn’t really see anything, his skin began to crawl and panic rose in his stomach. This was not the same cave, or at least not the same part of the cave where he went to sleep next to Brigette. For one thing, there was no cave opening anywhere to be found.
Tense moments crept by before finally, very faint, dim shadowy outlines of shapes within the cave started to come into focus. This was strange and unsettling to Jak since it shouldn’t be possible for him to see anything, considering there was no light at all where he was sitting in the cavern. He couldn’t see very clearly, only faint shapes but enough to make out general features. Clear thought was difficult, and he struggled to remember how he had even gotten here. Icy cold tendrils of fear snaked their way down his spine to entangle his stomach in their grip, as the realization of the nights events began to sink in. Maybe all of it had not been a nightmare.
Jumping to his feet, he nearly landed back on his face when his head and stomach lurched in protest. Grasping the wall of the cavern with his hand for support he steadied himself to keep from falling. The dim outlines and shapes that he struggled to bring into focus provided nothing to tell him where he was, or even which way led out of the cave.
As Jak began to tediously make a complete circuit around the small chamber which confined him; his hands passed over something that disturbed him more than the darkness and unfamiliar surroundings. From the feel of the objects and the dim images that his eyes could make out in the dark, it told him they were large chains attached to the wall. Had the whole thing really been a nightmare? Or had it all actually happened? The chains didn’t really prove anything, but the possibility that it had all really occurred gave him a sense of dread. But then again, maybe he had somehow wandered down here in the night and dreamt the rest of it. He didn’t want to think about it now. Right now he just needed to find his way out of here and get to Brigette to make sure she was okay.
After systematically making his way around the entire room, Jak found there was only one pathway that led out of this chamber. This set his mind at ease and gave him some relief, since at least he wouldn’t have to make a choice that led him deeper into the cave where he might get lost for good.
As he was making his way carefully through the blackness back to the only opening, his foot caught on something and he fell to the ground, receiving an acute pain that jabbed him hard in the ribs. He instinctively grabbed for the source of the pain and found that thankfully it had not pierced his skin. Lifting the object in front of his face, he tried to make out what it was that had given him the painful jab. Still not able to identify it, he raised his other hand to the object, and received a sharp pain in his palm in return. The end of the object he was holding was sharp and pointed, and he then realized it was a knife. The handle had been upright when he fell and it was what had poked him in the ribs with the painful jab. What was a knife doing here in this cave? It was a question for later, if ever.
He tucked the knife behind his belt, thankful that it was only the handle that had jabbed him and not the blade. He then tried to stand up, but when he placed his hands on the ground to help push himself to his feet, he felt something odd beneath them where the knife had been. He groped around until his hands came to something round and hard and he tried to lift it, but it was attached in some way that wouldn’t allow it to move but just a few inches off the cave floor. His vision began to focus a little more clearly and abruptly he realized what it was that he was sitting atop. It was a human skeleton, and he was holding the decayed skull in his hands.
Quickly dropping the skull and leaping to his feet, he backed away from the severely decaying corpse. It was apparent now that the knife had been protruding from the skeleton’s chest. From the amount of decay, it was clear that the body had been there in the dark cave for an extremely long time, but all the same, it was creepy and it made Jak eager to get out of this place as swiftly as possible.
As quickly as he could manage, Jak followed the pathway that led out of the chamber, stumbling over debris and rocks in the process. The presence of the debris on the floor was puzzling in itself. He faintly remembered a vast hall with polished stone floors and large marble columns. It must have all been a nightmare. Well, the first part with the magnificent hall and beautiful lady was more of a dream than a nightmare, but the rest was either a nightmare or some sort of illusion or magic. But Jak knew that magic was all just a myth, only children’s stories about wizards and witches. None of that really existed. Nevertheless, he was somehow certain that if the woman from the previous night was real and not just his imagination, that she had done something unnatural to him.
Jak’s face flushed hotly when he thought of the woman. She had been so beautiful and alluring; it still made his heart race to think about her. But then, she had bit him on the neck and turned into a terrible beast. Instinctively he reached for his neck and found a tender spot. Why had the woman bitten him? Was the beautiful lady an illusion? Or was the hag an illusion? Or were they both illusions? Hopefully, it was just a bad dream. The wound on his neck however, was not an illusion, perhaps it was just a scrape or cut that he had taken in the fall from the ledge during the earth shaking. Jak could only hope that was what it was.
As he continued down the path, he was surprised to feel his strength returning quickly. After the long hike the day before, the fall from the ledge, and sleeping on the cave floor all night, he expected that his muscles would be so tight and sore he would have trouble walking. Instead, he felt unusually energetic, with no hint of sore aching muscles. The bruises and scratches he had taken in the terrible fall from the ledge didn’t even hurt; none but the one on his neck. He also realized he could see more clearly now even though the cave was still completely dark. Everything was in shades of black and dark grey but he could see objects fairly clearly, and almost instinctively he knew which way to go to get out of the dark cavern. It was all a little too strange and he couldn’t puzzle out what it meant, if anything. But he didn’t have time to think about that now; he just needed to get out of here and find Brigette before she started to worry.
A few more turns up the winding pathway and Jak began to see light filtering in up ahead in the corridor. The closer he got the brighter and more unnaturally intense the light appeared. By the time he stood in the chamber where he had built the fire the night before, the light was so brilliant that it was almost too much for his eyes to take. He squinted and shielded his eyes with his upraised hand from the peculiarly bright light. It would take some time for his eyes to fully adjust after being in the total blackness of the deeper cave.
A quick look around the cavern revealed the remains of the fire from the night before and his pack lying to one side, but Brigette was not there. Perhaps she was waiting outside in the fresh air, so he grabbed his shoulder pack and burst out of the cave.
Blinding, searing pain greeted Jak the moment he was clear of the cave. It felt like his eyes were going to burn out of their sockets, even with his eyelids tightly closed. Falling to his knees, he scrambled to cover his eyes with both hands to shield them from the piercing light. Even after being in the darkness of the cave for so long, his eyes shouldn’t have this much trouble adjusting to the daylight.
He knelt there covering his eyes and frantically calling out for Brigette, but there was no answer. He called again…. nothing…. only the normal sounds of the forest. With a great effort, he struggled to open his eyes so he could look around. He blinked furiously and his eyes began to tear, streams running down his cheeks. What was wrong with him? It shouldn’t take this long for his eyes to adjust to the light, but the sun was somehow much brighter and more intense than he ever remembered it to be.
After an eternity of needle sharp pain shooting through his eyes, Jak was finally able to look around through squ
inted eyes without too much pain. Everything around him seemed to be in shades of white and light grey, as if all the color had been white washed out of the world. When he would blink, purple shapes would dance across his vision, but Brigette was nowhere to be found.
After many more long moments, Jak slowly became able to make out some faint colors from the sea of white and grey. Searching around for signs of Brigette, he eventually found fresh tracks leading in the direction of the Elsdon. Why had she left him? Then it hit Jak, she must have woken to find him gone. She probably thought that he had left her to go get help from Elsdon. Brigette being as stubborn as she was and so strong headed, was probably was trying to make it back to Elsdon on her own. But her leg was injured pretty badly so she couldn’t have made it very far. He should be able to catch up to her soon, and they would make it back to the farms before mid-day.
Things were starting to look up a bit. Maybe it had all just been a nightmare brought on by the previous night events with the earth shaking. The encounter with the ridge cat and all the blood probably didn’t help much either. It was enough to give anyone nightmares.
Jak soon found himself trotting and whistling to himself as he made his way through the trees and grass. He did feel surprisingly good; better than he remembered feeling in a long time.
Life on the farm was hard since there were always chores and lots of hard work that never seemed to end. There was seldom ever a time that he didn’t go to sleep at night weary from the days work. Rare too were the mornings that he didn’t wake up with sore aching muscles or blisters from all the previous day’s hard work. But now he felt completely refreshed and invigorated, so much so that he even felt as if he could run all the way back to Elsdon.
Before Jak knew it, he was running. He ran and ran, leaping over fallen logs and even jumping up to smack a low hanging branch with his hand. Before now, he had never been able to run this fast or far without getting winded. At that moment doubt and uncertainty crept over him and he had to wonder, was he still dreaming? He didn’t trust himself anymore after all the strange events. The lady in the cave had been so real at the time…..but it had to be a dream. Once again, his fingertips found their way to his neck and he felt the tender spot. Something wasn’t right, but he was doubtful that he would ever really know the truth. Right now he just wanted to catch up with Brigette and get back home to his family and a hot home cooked meal. His stomach was growling loudly and he realized he was famished. He supposed it was the fact that he didn’t have much to eat the previous day, but he never remembered being this fiercely hungry before today.
Jak came to a sandy spot near the edge of the river and stopped dead, being ripped from his revelry at what he saw. Brigette’s fresh tracks in the sand near the waters edge were plain to see. The farms were close now, less than a mile away but yet he had not caught up to her. How had she made it this far on her injured leg? Looking closer at the tracks he noticed the symmetry and even spacing of the imprints. They had not been made by someone limping or struggling to walk. Jak swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to stay calm, but the same uneasy feeling that he remembered from the night before came creeping back on him.
Jak raced on ahead as fast as his legs would carry him so he could get back home and find out what was going on. However, after traveling only a little ways further, something lying on the ground up ahead caught his eye and he slowed his pace.
As he approached, he could see that it was one of the sheep from the farm lying directly in the pathway. What was it doing out here by itself? It should be off with the rest of the flock. It was then Jak noticed the sheep was lying too still, not moving at all.
When he got close enough, it was apparent that the animal was dead, its throat ripped out and the entrails were strewn about on the ground as if it had been torn apart in a hurry. What was even stranger to Jak was that the animal’s heart was missing, and there was only a small amount of blood around the corpse. Wolves would not have done this; they would have eaten the meat. The kill site would have been a lot messier as well, with blood and torn wool everywhere from the struggle. He had seen where wolves had killed before. The predators usually left little of the carcass and there would be blood everywhere around it. Jak needed to tell his father about this, maybe he would know what had done it.
As Jak knelt examining the slaughtered animal he started to feel a little light headed and dizzy. A peculiar feeling began to rise from deep inside him, and there was a strange sweet smell filling his nostrils and penetrating his senses. The sensation, the aroma, was almost intoxicating. Jak tasted something lusciously sweet on his tongue, and savored the taste in his mouth. Nothing he had ever tasted before was as savory or completely satisfying as this was. What was it that he tasted? A ravenous hunger began to surge inside him and he craved more, yearned for more of this delicious delicacy.
Jak then realized he was licking his own fingers, and shock mixed with horror tore him from his trance like state. He stared horrified and repulsed at his hand and fingers which were smeared with blood from the sheep. Suddenly he felt very nauseous and turned aside to empty his stomach several times until nothing more would come up.
The dry heaves continued for a time, but nothing was left in Jak’s stomach. He felt sick even though his stomach was empty, but even so he felt like more should come out. There was no way for him to shake the dreadful feeling that had all but consumed him. What was wrong with him? He needed to get away from here, and away from the blood.
Ignoring his wooziness, Jak stood up and began to run again towards the farms and safety. Breaking through the line of trees that bordered the fields surrounding Elsdon, he could finally see Brigette’s parent’s house up ahead. Suppressing the anxious feeling that had overcome him, he forced himself to slow his pace to a fast walk. After all, he didn’t want to alarm anyone unnecessarily with his frantic running.
When he approached the cottage, everything was still and quiet. The usual hustle and bustle that accompanied farm life was missing. There was no one outside in the fields or chopping wood, and no sounds came from inside the house either. There wasn’t even any smoke coming from the chimneys. That in itself was odd, since there was usually a fire going most of the time. The nights were chilly in the mountains even in the summer, and cook fires were burning in the kitchen as often as not, but not even a wisp of smoke rose from the chimneys.
Slowly Jak approached the front porch of the house where he noticed that the front door was open wide. This sort of thing wasn’t uncommon in Elsdon. Often times during the day, the residents there would open their doors to let the fresh breeze in and air out their house. Jak didn’t think too much of it until he neared the porch and saw there was something lying in the doorway blocking it from closing. It was Erlend Ashlin, Brigette’s father. “Master Ashlin,” Jak called hesitantly, “are you alright?”
There was no answer from the still figure, so Jak cautiously approached and bent down to shake the man’s shoulder, but his hand recoiled in alarm. The body of Brigette’s father was icy cold, still dressed in his night clothes, with his eyes staring blankly at nothing. What could have possibly done this? There was a tiny spot of blood on the collar of Master Ashlin’s nightshirt, but no other injuries were visible at first glance. Jak stood up slowly, and cautiously made his way further into the house.
“Is anyone here?” Jak called. That was a stupid thing to say, he thought to himself. If anyone was here, surely they would not have left Master Ashlin lying on the floor in the doorway like that. Tension gripped Jak’s shoulders and his stomach twisted, threatening to tie itself in a knot.
Cautiously Jak opened the door to the older brother’s bedroom and peered inside, this bedroom was shared by Brigette’s two oldest brothers. They were both lying in their beds motionless as if they were still sleeping. Jak shook them vigorously trying to wake them but without success.
The same ghastly scene greeted Jak in the younger brother’s room as well. Alarm and uncertainty welled up in
him and he hurried into the parent’s room to find Brigette’s mother lying in her bed. Her eyes were open and vacantly staring at the ceiling. Everyone here in the house was dead. How can this be? What or who could have done this? Jak wondered in perplexity. This all had to be some kind of dream or nightmare that he couldn’t wake up from. How could everyone be dead? And where was Brigette? She had obviously made it back to Elsdon before Jak.
As Jak stood to leave, he happened to glanced at the mirror Brigette’s mother had hanging on the bedroom wall. It was the only real mirror anywhere in Elsdon. Master Ashlin had bought it for his wife on one of his trips to the Kragston, and it had cost him dearly. When his wife had chided him for wasting the money on an unnecessary expense, Master Ashlin had told his wife that he got it for her so she could see clearly how beautiful she was in his eyes.
Some of the other women in the village had small polished pieces of metal that they called mirrors, but they didn’t give nearly as clear of a reflection as this one did. Jak and Brigette would sneak into the bedroom sometimes when her parents weren’t there, to look into that mirror. It was so magical and mysterious, like he was looking into another world. This time as Jak looked into the mirror something wasn’t quite right. He could see everything in the room behind him, including Brigette’s mother lying lifeless on the bed all too clearly. But his own reflection in the mirror was cloudy, fuzzy, and almost transparent. No matter how hard he tried to focus, his reflection remained insubstantial. It was so strange it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His eyes were the only feature that he could see clearly from his reflection in the mirror. Jak had been born with blue eyes, like all of his family and almost everyone in Elsdon. But the strange eyes that stared back from his reflection were a violet purple color.
When Jak was a kid it was always a treat when he would get to pick the red berries and black berries that grew wild around the farm. Many times when the berries were especially ripe and sweet, they would crush in his hands when he tried to pick them. The mixture of the two berries’ juice on his hands would stain them a dark violet purple color. The haunting eyes that Jak saw in the mirror reminded him of that color. It seemed like a stranger in the mirror staring back at him. With an effort, he tore his gaze from his image in the mirror. This was all too much; he needed to get out of here and back home to his family. He hoped that his parents might be able to explain what had happened here.
The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) Page 4
