FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #1

She told him with a little gesture he had never seen her use before. “But - why are we going?” Ben asked timidly, aware only that it was late and the air was cold, and the bed she’d just dragged him out of had been so very warm. She hadn’t even let him put on proper clothes, just a coat over his pajamas, and shoes on his feet.

            “Don’t ask silly questions, Ben. Why wouldn’t we go? I want to see if the rumors are true.” The ground was frozen and crackling under his steps but hers were as light as ever. She hardly seemed real in the moonlight, her light brown hair braided, full of wisps trailing off almost like smoke, her childs body, despite her being almost seventeen (to him, ever so old), was hidden in her huge coat, and small boots that were too big for her tiny feet.

            They reached the edge of the forest, and Ellie paused a second, it was dark but the moonlight filtered through the branches well enough to see the ground littered with last falls leaves. “Won’t it be dangerous? I mean – if they really are in there?” Ben glanced into the woods around his sister, and up at her face, so curious, delighting in the mystery.

            “Don’t worry. We’re going to see them, they won’t see us. Besides,” She smiled and looked down at her brother, his eyes wide, mouth gaping, showing his missing teeth. “You’re my little Knight, you’ll protect us from the big bad witches, no worries little man.” She put her hand on his head, ruffled his hair and went into the forest. He hesitated a moment, then dove in after her.

            The trees had protected the ground a little from the frost, so that only the occasional leaf or stick stuck out, grabbing the light and reflecting it back, fractured and silver.  Soon, she could see a glimmer of light ahead of them, and her heart began pounding excitedly. Maybe the rumors really were true – hundreds of years after the trials, maybe there were some witches left. Ellie felt Ben’s little hand grab her coat, and she took his hand and turned, squatting down so they were on eye level. “You okay, little Knight?” He nodded sharply, “You want to keep going? It might be scary.”

            “I’m not scared.” He set his jaw, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect us.” Her lips made a little smile, and she turned around, still holding his hand, and led the way forward. Soon they could hear some sort of chant, it floated and cleaved through the air too oddly to be singing. The chanting covered the little noise their steps made, and they got close enough to see a group of women, wearing white dresses, and wreathes on their head of fruits and grains. They were gathered around a small fire, and they danced in circles round it while they chanted. Ellie was fascinated. The women who danced looked so pure, and beautiful, but Ben was uneasy. They danced, some with sticks in their hands, barely more than twigs, and in the dance they would touch the ground occasionally, or pass them swiftly through the fire.

            Eventually in their dance, one woman detached herself from the group in an elegant motion. She retrieved a basket from the edge of the clearing, and moved back into the circle, standing still with her arms upraised. The other women stood stationary, dancing, or perhaps swaying, in place. Their movements and quiet chanting were overshadowed by the tall lady who had placed the basket in front of her, chanting in a lower tone, but louder, than the others. The children couldn’t quite make out the words, and weren’t even sure it was English the women spoke.

            Ellie’s hand had slipped from Ben’s, and she moved closer to the clearing, leaning against a tree trunk, to hide herself from the glow of the firelight. The tall woman pulled a sack out of the basket, which she emptied onto the fire. Bones fell from the sack, different kinds, though they all appeared to be animals. Ben moved to tug at Ellie’s coat and she looked back, distracted, and put a finger to her lips, her eyes quickly moving back to the scene around the fire. When the sack was emptied it was placed back in the basket, and the chanting became louder while the bones blackened and burned.

            Ben looked around them, he felt unsafe, like he was watching something sacred, but by watching it he felt dirty, and bad. If he had known the word he would have thought he’d felt defiled, and would indeed believe that was the correct feeling when he grew older and remembered this night. Ellie looked enthralled, curious and confused.

            When the bones were all blackened in the fire, the woman reached back into the basket and pulled out a large knife in one hand and a rabbit in the other. The rabbits legs were bound with cloth, and the woman held it by the back of it’s neck, high in front of her, and cut through the cloth. It’s legs dangled, and Ben saw Ellie's expression change; she almost looked scared. The knife’s point was placed against the rabbits bulging stomach, and the women changed, somehow the seemed more sinister, the fire seemed full of hunger and cast shadows that writhed and pulsed unnaturally. Then the knife was pushed suddenly in and down.

            The rabbit made no sound, but Ellie turned and grabbed Ben by the hand, pulling him away. They didn’t see the tall woman’s eyes move towards the sound they made, nor her glance to two of the women in the circle, who detached themselves and moved into the woods. Ellie heard them, though. She told Ben to keep running towards the house. She would be fine, she just wanted to be sure the women didn’t follow them to their house.

            Ben crashed through the forest away from Ellie, and arrived back at the house, and, scared and shaking he ran straight to his room and under the covers, only pausing to kick off his shoes and through his coat over a chair. When his heart had stopped pounding he began worrying what was keeping Ellie. When she’d told him to run off, she had faced back towards the fire, and stood still as if listening for something.

            For her, it had been as if the women were still chanting, if very faintly. She could hear the chant, surrounding the women who were following them. The women caught up soon, though they hadn’t hurried. It had been silly, she knew, to sneak into this ritual, even if it had only been a rumor to her an hour before. She wondered what happened to people who snuck into witches sacred rights. She assumed they would curse her, or maybe throw her over their fire, another sacrifice to their goddess. It was only important that they hadn’t kept following Ben. As soon as they’d found her, though, they seemed content. They brought her back to the fire, all the while she felt odd, she couldn't even think of refusing them. When they entered the circle, she could smell the rabbits innards on the fire, and saw the shell of it's body resting on top of the curling and blackening tubes in the flames. She saw the tall woman seated on a stump at the edge of the clearing. The woman stood, and when Ellie was in front of her, placed a hand on either side of her face and began to speak.

 

The next morning Ben woke up, unsure of how he’d managed to fall asleep the night before, and he ran into Ellie’s room. She was asleep under her comforter, and Ben shook her until she woke. Bleary eyed she peeked at him from under her hair, “Ellie are you ok? What happened?”

            Her words were slurred by sleep: “What’re you talking bout?” she sat up slowly and patted her bed for him to sit next to her.

            “Last night – what happened after I left, what’d they do?” He asked, climbing into the bed next to her. Ellie stared at Ben a moment, then coughed, clearing her throat.

            She put an arm around him and asked, “Did you have a nightmare, Ben?”

            He stared up at her, amazed that she might have forgotten their adventure. Then he wondered if maybe he had dreamt it. “I – maybe. I dunno. It was so scary. I thought they would hurt you.”

            Ellie smiled and hugged Ben, “Oh, no one will hurt me while you’re around little man. You hungry? Okay. Go on and I’m going to dress and be down in a second.”

            Ben nodded, and jumped off the bed and ran out the door. Ellie stood up and moved to her bureau. She brushed out here hair, pulling a crushed leaf or a small twig out occasionally, and throwing them in the trash. When she was dressed she went downstairs, her mother already up and Ben sitting contentedly in front of a bowl of cereal.

            Sometimes Ben would still wonder if that night had really happened. Sometimes, when he stayed up late, he would see her go into the woods, always on a full moon. She grew quiet and staid, while she’d always been curious and playful before. But Ben didn’t worry about it often. He had school, friends, and games to occupy him, and any other time he brought it up she told him he must be having a recurring nightmare. She told him witches didn’t exist anymore. She would tell him he worried about silly things, and tell him to go play, or tuck him into bed with a kiss, and she would wander off, always seeming slightly distracted, and somewhat surreal.

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