Whispers in the Dark

The journey home held no unfamiliarity to her feet. The day had been long and the sun was nearing the end of its heavenly journey. Not an unusual occurrence to one who was used to long days in the market. Even though the hour was late, Kate was in no hurry to return home. Normally, she'd be happy to rush home to her aged father. She would embrace him at the door and then bubble over with all the town’s latest gossip, but not today.

The air was warm and comfortable around her. A gentle breeze blew some unkempt locks of her brown hair across her rosy face. Every day Kate would take the road that led right, past the forest. It wasn't necessarily shorter but it was definitely safer. And for a young woman traveling alone, safer was always the better option. Yet, while she was approaching the fork in the road that meant the difference of safety and potential danger, a whisper like a gentle breath of wind called to her.

"Katherine!"

Kate stopped in her tracks. After a moment,she checked about her. Certainly there was no one behind her and there was definitely no one afore her. A slight chill went through her. She stood at the fork. Again,

"Katherine!"

A soft whisper, like one speaking to a lover, seemed to be beckoning to her in the direction she would never think to take alone. Kate looked down the path she always took and starting to walk again, took a step towards the forest.

"Why not?" she thought, "It's not like I'll get home any later."

It is worthy to note that Kate was not a fickle young lady. On the contrary, she was known about the town for being quick witted and as shrewd as a serpent! While she did have an adventurous youth, she had rounded out to be quite the level headed woman. She was full of life and excitement but indeed, she knew life was not a journey to be taken lightly. But today, today some of her childhood adventurous spirit rushed through her again when she heard that whisper.

She took a step into the forest and in a rush of wind, the voice came again, calling to her, much louder and then it was silence. Kate looked over her shoulder to the fork in the road. It looked far away, much farther than when she stood at the fork looking into the forest. She turned back towards the mass of trees before her and proceeded into the woods.

The air was crisp and fresh. The path was wider than she had remembered from the few times she had gone through the forest with her father. She enjoyed the change of scenery. The flowers were just starting to bloom and more than one little rabbit crossed her path. Now there was a stream that ran through this forest, but it never crossed the path though it ran near it. However, as Kate went on she began to be thirsty, especially when the path was nearing the stream and she could hear the sound of running water. She breathed a sigh, wondering why she had decided to travel through the woods. It was late and the sun was nearly set, and now of course, she was thirsty and would have to stray from the path to quench her thirst. Sighing again, she turned off the path and headed towards the sound of the stream.

The stream looked like fire in the setting sun. Kate knelt down and cupped her hand to the water and drank. It was cool and clean, refreshing flowing down her throat. Satisfied, she knelt back and looked around her. The shadows had grown long and the few flowers that were in bloom were closing for the night. The air was starting to become chilly. Kate looked into the stream. It now looked like black ink with hints of gold from the last light of the sun. But Kate wasn’t looking at the water anymore. She saw something gleaming from the bottom of the stream.

A breeze started blowing again. She looked closer. Something was moving in a tiny area of the stream bed. Moving, writhing, slithering. In a circle. It looked huge. It looked small. There was something in the middle of the moving. Small, black. It almost looked like it was on fire. She looked.

Without even thinking she plunged her hand in and groped for a second. The next second she pulled it out of the water. A pendant, on a fine silver chain. Her fingers tingled. It was small, no wider than an inch. Circling it were two-- or was it three?--serpents, perhaps dragons. They were frozen in time, but so detailed in tarnished silver that they almost looked alive. Their eyes were set with deep red gems. So red they looked like blood. In the center of the pendent was another gem. A gem so dark that it absorbed all the light around it yet it was still burning from the light of the setting sun. It was red. No, it was blue. Or was it green? She couldn't tell. But she didn't care. It was cold and heavy in her hands.

The breeze stopped abruptly. Kate looked up. The sun was set and the moon was high above her head. How long had she been at the stream? A sudden rush of panic came over her. The time. Her father. The path.

“The path! Where is the path?” Her thoughts screamed. Clutching the pendant in her hand, she ran back in the direction from whence she came hoping, praying that she would find it again. She ran, her foot caught on a bramble and she fell. The trees swirled around her. Pain screamed in her brain. She had fallen on thorns, her hands were bleeding. Ignoring the pain, she clambered to her feet and tried to orient herself.

"Listen for the stream!" she told herself. She slowed her breathing and tried to quiet her mind. There was a loud ringing in her ears. She must have hit her head when she fell too. A weight in her hand. The pendent, she opened her hand and looked at it again. Everything fell silent. And then she heard the stream behind her. She slowed her breathing. She shouldn't have ran in such a panic.

"Walk to the path, you can save the running for the rest of the way home" she thought, slipping the pendant into her purse.

Slowly, she managed to make her way back to the path. With great relief, she started to jog home. She was so late and she was sure her father would be in a panic waiting for her to return. She passed quickly through the forest and at the top of a hill she looked down and there was her little house. A candle was burning in the window, smoke curled merrily from the chimney, the chickens were huddled together for the night.

When she opened the door she was sure to see her father sitting by the fireplace wringing his hands waiting for her. He would leap up and reach out his arms exclaiming: "My dear Katherine! Where have you been? I have been so worried for you! What's this? A tear in your dress? Blood on your hands? What has happened?"

But instead, she opened the door and there was her father, stirring a pot of stew over the fire. The table was set for dinner. A loaf of bread sat steaming in the middle of the table, as it had just finished baking.

"I'm home! I'm alright!" Kate called. Her father looked up from the stew.

"My darling! Ah! Home right on time. I have supper ready!" He smiled, took the stew from the fireplace, set it on the table, and came over and kissed Kate on the cheek. "Did things sell well today?"

"Yes…very well, " She answered almost mechanically, "Um, father, isn't the hour quite late for dinner? Have you not been wondering where I was?"

"Where you were?" He chuckled, "My dear Katherine, have you been somewhere special and not told me you were going?"

"..I…" Kate looked down at her hands, surely that would tell him something was amiss, but her hands were clean, without a scratch. She looked down at her dress, the fabric was whole.

"Katherine, you looked distressed! Whatever is the matter?" Her father asked.

"..I…uh…was…uh…. Father, what time is it?"

He smiled, "Half past six. Just when you usually come home after a good day at the market!" then concern crossed his face, "Katherine, are you alright?"

Kate looked out the window. The sun painted the hill golden with it's last light. Sunset. She shook herself and forced a smile.

"Yes! Of course! I'm fine, father, just tired is all. I'll go wash for dinner." She kissed him on the forehead and turned to her room.

Splashing some cold water on her face, Kate looked up from her vanity into the mirror. Her face was flushed and her hair was disheveled. She took off her boots and then let her hair down to brush it. A breeze blew in from the open window carrying an indistinguishable whisper. She looked at her purse sitting on her vanity.

"Katey! Dinner is getting cold!" Her father called.

She started, "Coming!" She set her brush down on her vanity and picked up her purse, the weight of the pendant still inside. She pulled it out and breathed a sigh of relief. At least one thing that had happened that evening hadn't all been in her mind. She set the pendant down and went out to dinner.

After dinner Kate set about washing the dishes. She had tried to tell her father about her day and all the gossip she had heard, but she could hardly remember any of it. When the last dish was clean, she fetched her knitting and went to sit down with her father next to the fireplace. He smoked his pipe and gazed into the flames.

"Katey, you’ve been acting a might fishy ever since you got home. Are you going to tell me what ails you?" He asked.

"Hmm?" She looked up from her work, although her mind was on her vanity, or rather, the pendant sitting on her vanity. She had unknowingly slipped several stitches on her knitting and was having to unravel several rows to correct her carelessness.

"I said, you've been acting fishy!"  

"Oh! Uh…it's nothing… I mean.. I…uh…" her voice trailed off. She looked into the fire, the blaze made her think of the pendant even more.

"Well, father," she said with resolve, "I found something on my way home. I'd like to show it to you!"

She pranced into her room and picked up the pendant, cool and heavy in her hands, and took it out to her father.

After closely examining the pendant for some time, "Diamonds!" He exclaimed. "A black diamond! That’s what that is! And I bet that those smaller gems are rubies."

"A black diamond?" Kate asked.

"Yes, they're very rare. I've never seen one, but I am certain that this is a black diamond, no other gems look quite like a black diamond. It's worth a fortune." He said quietly. "you found this on your way home you say?"

"Indeed!" although she didn't specify how. "Perhaps I could sell it in the marketplace or in the city!?And we can finally fix the roof and..."

"No!” He interrupted, “No, you mustn't try to sell it! If anyone lost it and you were found trying to sell it, they would certainly arrest you for a thief! No, no, you must keep it for now, and listen carefully for word if anyone has lost it."

Katherine felt very foolish at the thought of selling such a thing. Indeed, she may be arrested if she was caught trying to sell it. After some further discussion and small talk, they said goodnight and went to bed.

                                              ☙☙☙

"Katherine!"

Kate woke with a start and looked about her room. Surely someone had called her name. A breeze was rustling the trees outside.

"Katherine!" She heard again. It was the same that she had heard before. A soft gentle voice, calling as if to a lover. She got out of bed and opened her window to look out. The moon was high again. Again, had it really been high before? Kate's mind reeled. Had any of it happened? But no, there was the pendant on her vanity. it. Inexplicably drawn to it, she got out of bed and walked over to it. The gems were reflecting the moonlight. The diamond was reflecting blue, but it was so dark she felt it was tugging her soul out of her body and into a dark endless abyss. The serpents seemed to be moving again, as they were in the stream. She reached out and touched it. As her fingers closed around it’s cold, engraved form, the breeze hauntingly hushed. Kate looked out the window and then back down at the pendant. The serpents were still and the gems were softly gleaming in the moonlight.

"Katherine!" A voice came from behind her. A man, dressed in black, stood in her doorway. It was from him that the voice had come. She wanted to scream.

"Who are you?" She asked, trying to remain quiet. If she woke her father, surely this man could easily kill him. "What do you want?"

"Katherine." He answered and stepped towards her. She was frozen where she stood. She couldn't move. She dared hardly breathe. His dark eyes were fixed on her as he came to stand directly before her. He cupped her face in his hands.

"My love." He whispered. He moved forward and kissed her. She tried to scream. She tried to fight, but her limbs would not obey. He kissed her still. Breath! Breathe!!! Kate couldn't breathe! Her lungs started to pain her. She closed her eyes and fought with everything she had to move her hands to push him off of her.

When she opened her eyes she was back in the forest. At the stream. Worst still she was in the stream, looking up at the trees. Panic. She began to sink. Down she went. The bed of the stream was far beneath her. She swam.

Air. She needed air! Her lungs were burning. Slowly the surface of the stream moved closer to her and she clambered out onto the bank. Oxygen flowed into her lungs. Gasped sweet breaths of air from the cool night. She stood, dripping and cold, beside the stream. How did she get here? Her bare foot felt something hard under her foot. She looked down, the pendant was under her feet. She picked it up.

"Katherine!"

Kate turned around. The man stood on the far side of the stream. Panic rushed upon her again. She turned and began running towards the path home.

"Katherine! Don't leave me here!" He called after her. But she still ran. She didn't look back, she just ran. The moonlight shone brightly through the trees helping her to see her way, but her feet still stumbled. She fell and all she knew was darkness.

                                                   ☙☙☙

"Katey, dear! I have made you breakfast!"

She jolted up from her bed. Her mind was a blur. What was real? Where was she? Was it all only a dream?

"Hurry now before it gets cold!" Her father called.

"It was only a dream." She thought, and then she called to her father, "I'll be right out!"

She breathed a sigh. It was a new day. She didn't need to go to market today. She only needed to stay home and work on the farm. She turned to get out of bed. But her eye caught something glinting from her vanity. She got up, and walked towards it. It was still there. With its ruby eyes and black diamond soul. It was still watching her.

She dressed as quickly as she could, grabbed the pendant and ran out the door.

"Katey! Where are you going?" Her father called after her. But she just ran, towards the forest.

Back down the path. Back to the stream.

As she approached the stream the breeze started. She held out the pendant by the chain.

"What do you want from me?" She asked into the wind. The wind picked up, the trees began to bend, her free hair tossed about her face.

The wind held no answer for her. She asked it again. And again nothing.

The wind was raging now. The serpents on the pendant were moving. She looked at the diamond. She felt as if her soul was falling down into a deep, deep cavern. And then, without a second thought, she threw the pendant back into the stream.

In an instant the wind stopped. All was calm. Kate turned around and walked back to the path, and then back home.

"Kate? What on earth is going on?" her father asked as she entered the house. Kate hesitated for a moment and then smiled casually.

"Why, nothing father. Nothing.”