She Came From There

The night was crazy. The storm raged in the sky and it seemed that there would be no end to it. Thunder rolled like war drums across the black canvas overhead. Lightning tore the tombstone out of the darkness. I raced through the graveyard, my heart beating wildly. My horse ran like crazy. We both went crazy that night. Each tree was like a silhouette of something big, frightening, mysterious. A ghost lurking in the shadows. The trees, not yet naked, bent under the gusts of the icy autumn wind. I raced without looking at the road, not knowing what I would find ahead. I did not expect to find a shelter for the night, where I could wait out the storm, warm myself and feed my empty stomach, when lights loomed ahead, through the forest. My happiness seemed almost unreal, as if my consciousness had played a bad joke on me, forcing me to believe that I saw them, the lights. But they were real, no doubt, my eyes did not deceive. It wasn't a bad joke, not at all. I saw a tavern. For people like me, hiding from the terrible weather. Tonight's gone crazy, no doubt about it. I haven't seen anything like it for a long time. It seemed as if the sky was furious with the world for something. Only for what? However, that question did not excite me, for I was getting closer and closer to the coveted saving light. An inn that seemed to have grown out of nowhere in this harsh alien land, it beckoned me with the heat of the fireplace, warm ale, fried bacon and eggs, warm bed. And my horse with a stall and hay.

We got to the inn. Another ominous flash of lightning allowed me to make out the inscription - "Forest House". Well, the name is quite appropriate. For whole leagues around there was nothing but a forest, mysterious in the light of day, hiding many secrets from prying eyes. Frightening in the night with old twisted trees, reminiscent of the figures of creatures from the darkness.

I tied my Applejack under the stall awning, stroking its mane. It's dry and there's hay. Until tomorrow morning, there is no need to run anywhere else. Here is a halt. And what will happen tomorrow, let it happen tomorrow. The inn was found miraculously, but it happened. I stepped inside and the first scent I caught was the smell of pumpkin pie. The one I remember from my childhood. This is the aroma of autumn and the aroma of memories of those days that have gone without a return and now they cannot be brought back.

I sucked the scent into my nostrils. The crackling of logs in the fireplace. Warmth around. I counted twenty people. Women, men and even children. I quickly found an empty table in the corner. A fortunate coincidence happened. You can say I was very lucky. Here I would stay overnight, and by morning, perhaps, the storm would pass and I would not wake up to the sound of rain beating on the roof. But first I needed to find out if there were free rooms available.

I approached the woman at the counter, apparently the owner of the inn. A bandage over her left eye - she was missing that eye, apparently.

“Excuse me,” I said. ”I would like to know if there is a free room in the inn?”

The owner's single eye narrowed. For a split second, I felt out of place. The cold had crept back under my clothes and even deep under my skin. Despite the pleasant heat emanating from the fireplace.

“Yes,” the hostess answered me unambiguously.

“Okay, so we're going to stay here,” I said, meaning my horse and me. “I'd like pumpkin pie and ale. Thank you.”

I left a few coins on the counter, enough to pay for the order. Then I moved to a place so fortunately left unoccupied. There were conversations all around me, no one even looked at me. But I had the opportunity to observe, sitting in my corner. A man with a burnt face, like a creature from old cruel tales, after which children cannot sleep at night and the moonlight pouring into the bedroom is like a cruel ghost. A woman without a leg and without an arm. Big guy, maybe eight feet tall. The smile never left his lips. However, there was no smile in his eyes. An old man who laughed, and in his mouth twelve sharpened teeth gaped, as if in order to bite into the flesh. A girl with a scar on her face that stretched from ear to corner of her mouth - I was glad to remain unnoticed in such a strange company.

I didn't have to wait too long for my order. The hostess herself brought it to me a few minutes after I left the coins on the counter. The smell immediately lifted my spirits. I'd been through a lot, and I couldn't call it pleasant. But that night, at least I could sleep peacefully. Let the storm bend the trees to the ground, the cold wind whip like the whip of a bloody overseer that blows over the slaves, like an eternally hungry kite that is in constant search for prey, an insatiable creature of the heights.

The taste of pumpkin pie instantly brought me back to the already very distant days. Fair, cotton candy, performances of magicians and clowns in the most ridiculous costumes. Aromas, caramel and chocolate are everywhere. Laughter is heard everywhere, and I wander, looking around, curiosity pushes me forward, further and further deep into the fair, in order to enjoy its mysteries there, secrets hidden under tents, far from prying eyes.

A child's voice brought me back to reality. I saw a girl of eight years old standing in front of me. I was even a little embarrassed by the look of her piercing blue eyes, like the ocean.

“You are beautiful,” the girl said unexpectedly.

“Thanks?” I said doubtfully, not even knowing how to react to such an unexpected, frankly speaking, compliment.

“You look like an orchid,” said the girl. “Which is carried away by the wind on a clear spring day. You are just like an orchid. You are…”

“Lucy!” I heard a male voice. The tall, dark-haired man gripped the girl's shoulder in a death grip. I felt embarrassed as I watched the scene unfold in front of me.

“I…”

“I told you,” the man clenched his teeth tightly. “Do not bother strangers. Now be gone.”

The girl gave me another look. The ocean, deep and impregnable. It dissolves thoughts, emotions and feelings. Everything is lost in its unknown, unattainable depths. That's what I saw in the eyes of that little girl. Before she ran away. Orchid... why did she call me an orchid?

"Sorry," the man said. “She's retarted. She doesn't really understand when you talk to her.”

"It's okay," I put a smile on my face. All I wanted in that long minute was to be alone again and finish the pumpkin pie that reminded me of the fair.

“How did you get here?” he asked.

"Seeking shelter," I replied vaguely, not at all wanting to go into any detail about my being here.

"Each of us seeks shelter," the man said, and I noticed a blood-red stain on the palm of his hand. What is it, leprosy? I read about an epidemic of leprosy that happened fifty years ago. Flesh rotted alive. Eyes rotted and people remained blind. People were dying in terrible agony, and no doctor was able to help in any way. And now they can't.

“I would like to…”

“My daughter,” the man sat down. I decided to continue eating the pie. “Lucy, she was born like this. Underdeveloped. You see, the brain has not developed as it should. When Lucy was born, she had a very large head. She literally tore my poor Maria apart from the inside. So, I remained a single father, alas.”

I didn't understand why a stranger was telling me all this. I didn't even know his name.

“She is afraid of the dark and says that someone is constantly watching her. If you knew how hard it is for me with her, how hard it is.”

The man sighed. I had already finished the pie while he was talking. Now I was just going to drink the cup to the bottom, and then go to bed. The day was monstrously long. Tomorrow's would no doubt be even longer.

"Children," the stranger continued. An ominous glint in the eyes, which I did not like at all. There was something evil about him, something that sent goosebumps through my skin. “They drive you crazy. They…”

A terrifying sound resounded in the night. Shrill, it was louder than a storm. The neighing of a horse. My Applejack. The barrel-thick man got to his feet, almost knocking over the table.

"It's coming," he said fearfully. “It's coming!”

“Who’s coming?” I asked and no one answered me.

Everyone got up. The burly eight-foot man chuckled softly. The old man's laughter stopped. People seemed to stop even breathing. I didn't understand what was going on around me.

“What's the matter?”

“Put out the light!” yelled the innkeeper. My horse neighed wildly, and I wanted to rush out to calm my Applejack, but cold horror bound my movements with strong chains of ice.

Immediately, the candles that illuminated the room were extinguished, as was the warm fire in the fireplace. The tavern plunged into darkness. I didn't take my eyes off the tavern window. The storm seemed to have subsided. Applejack didn’t make a sound. Everything around was frozen. People rushed under the tables. Only me and the giggling big man remained.

I couldn't imagine what I would see. And what appeared to my eyes struck me to the marrow of my bones. First, steps were heard on the wet ground - closer and closer to the inn "Forest House". And then in the window I saw something that I still can't believe was there. I can't believe that something like this can actually exist. This cannot be. On the other side of the window, in a flash of lightning, I saw a shapeless figure with many limbs, jagged jaws and eyes filled with a wild nightmare. It also radiated a bluish, otherworldly glow, like something descended from distant stars. I felt a wild terror consume me. I couldn't move a single part of my body, I couldn't even take a breath. Time seemed to freeze around me. Fortunately, I only saw this monstrous formless entity for a fraction of a second. And then it plunged into the darkness of the black night and the sound of footsteps dissolved in thunder and storm. I felt how cold it was in the tavern. But it didn't last long. The creature was gone. I realized this when I heard the voice of my horse. But I couldn't move. So deep was the fear.

In the end, people began to get out from under the tables, relight the candles and the fireplace. Heat and light began, little by little, to return to the “Forest House”. The horror has passed. I sank into a chair and was unable to utter a word.

After a couple of minutes, I went upstairs to my room to quickly fall asleep. Quickly fall into the darkness of silence.

The next morning, I went to the stable. The storm, fortunately, passed, even the skies began to clear up. I was immensely glad to find my Applejack safe and sound. I was not even sure that what I saw at night was real. Nobody talked about it, and I hoped that maybe the monstrous creature was just a dream and nothing more.

When I turned around, I saw Lucy, unexpectedly. She looked at me with her piercing blue eyes - probably no other person in the whole world has such eyes, only this strange girl.

“Have you seen her?” Lucy asked.

“Whom?”

“She is beautiful too,” said the girl. “Just like you. She is very beautiful. She came from there.”

The girl pointed her finger towards the sky. And then I realized what she meant.

“She is beautiful,” the girl repeated. “Just like you.”

I was very glad to get away from the “Forest House” and from a strange girl named Lucy as soon as possible. My horse, as if feeling my emotions, raced through the forest. By evening we reached the town.

On that distant day at the fair, I did discover its secrets hidden in the depths, away from human eyes. I climbed into the tent. There I saw a cage, but there was no animal in that cage. It was a living person, a young man, wearing nothing but a loincloth. On his back was a colossal hump. He lay on the ground, shivering from the cold. This is what I found in the depths of the fair, behind a veil of caramel, cotton candy, magicians and clowns who amuse people with their antics. An almost naked, hunchbacked man sprawled on the ground. He seemed to utter some words, but I couldn't make them out. I took to my heels as soon as I heard the voice of the hunchback, which filled me with the deepest universal horror. The same horror that I felt on a thunderous night in the “Forest House” inn, when I saw a monstrous creature not of this world. Looking at the stars twinkling above, I remember that girl, Lucy. I remember her eyes. I have never seen such extraordinary eyes. They were so sad. A universal burden that girls of her age cannot bear. I remember the words Lucy said.

“She is beautiful too. Just like you. She is very beautiful. She came from there."