Chapter 6:

Chapter Six (part 1)

A Whisper in Scarlet


“Surrrrvayna Kooooneeeeng, Wwaaaakee uuuup!”

Something was shaking.

Ven opened her eyes to find herself lying on her bed upstairs in the inn. The ceiling above her was on fire, and flicked embers down on her that made her limbs and body burn. Someone was screaming in the distance outside, accompanied by smashing and rumbling as something tore apart a building across the street.

Ven turned to see her mother standing in the doorway. The front of her dress had been torn apart, and blood poured from a dozen gaping wounds in blackened skin. Mother smiled and cocked an eyebrow at her.

““Aaaarre yoooouuuu goooiinng tooo geeeet uuup, laaaazyyyyboooones?” She said. Her voice was low and distorted, like she was speaking at the other end of a large room filled with water.

Ven stared at her, the hair on the back of her neck standing up on end. Something was very wrong here. Mother took a step towards Ven, and as she did so, the angles of her body and face seemed to distort out of shape. Her arms grew into slithering, crooked things that draped and writhed around the small room, and her legs lengthened until she loomed over Ven, her hair set ablaze by the fire in the ceiling. Within moments her skin was as black as coal, and harsh yellow light shone from her eyes, causing Ven to flinch away from the brightness.

“BrrreaakFAST issss waaaitiiing onnn YOUUUU!” Mother’s voice thundered from a too-large mouth. Each word caused a small jet of something wet to splatter gently against Ven’s forehead. She touched it and pulled back red fingers as the blood began to run down her face.

In a panic, Ven dove out of bed and between Mother’s legs, dashing out of her room and into the flame-drenched hallway. Mother spun around, her joints crackling in time with the fire.

“Iffff YooUUU hhhaaad jussst tooolld meee, I ccouuuld haveee maaaade it!” She screeched as she chased Ven down the hallway.

Ven ran for the stairwell, her pulse throbbing in her chest. This was wrong. This was all wrong. What was happening to her? She had to be dreaming again, but dreams never felt this REAL! She made it to the bottom and into the common room as Mother thundered down after her, shrieking and wailing at the top of her lungs.

“YOOOUUU LEETTTT MEEE DIIIIEEE! YOOOUUU LET MEEEE DIIIIIEEEE!”

Panicked, Ven ran for the kitchen, dodging around several chairs and the wooden bar. If she could just make it in there, she could bar the door and maybe have a chance to get away. She pulled the door open, and froze.

Sevastian looked down on her, his golden eyes and crimson lips smiling. Before Ven knew what was happening, she felt the blade pierce her in the stomach in a roar of pain.

She stumbled backwards, clutching at the handle. Within a moment, the dark, twisted shape of Mother was upon her. She lifted Ven up towards the ceiling, her incandescent eyes glaring in the darkness, and pointed at Sevastian.

“HEEE DIIIID THIIIISSS! Aveeenge meee! AAAVVVEEENNGGGE ME!”

And without another word, the monster that used to be Mother shoved Ven into her fang-riddled maw.

Ven awoke screaming, thrashing blindly at whatever lay in front of her until she could finally open her eyes. Light shone through the burned out holes in the ceiling above, and she could see white clouds drifting lazily past overhead. She sat up, looking around then wincing as her head throbbed in a pounding headache. It took several long moments for her to get her bearings and for reality to set back in.

She was still in the remains of the inn, laying on the floor near the far corner of the common room. A fire crackled somewhere nearby, and when she turned to it, she found Eujin sitting next to it, stirring something in a black pot. He was still dressed in black, but now had a bright crimson scarf wound around his neck.

“It seems you’re feeling better.” He said without looking up.

Ven looked down at herself. Faint white scars criss-crossed what she could see of her arms and legs, but, to her immense surprise, she felt no pain. She pressed against where she’d been stabbed, but no, still nothing. She looked back at him.

“I...I am, actually. Thank you.” She said. “Though my head is killing me.”

Eujin nodded.

“Good. It was difficult to properly treat some things with you flailing around like that in your sleep.” He said, pulling a spoon from whatever was in the pot and putting it to his lips. “The headache’s a side effect of the drugs you took before I started mending you. Give it some time, and it’ll fade on its own.”

“What? What do you mean flailing around?” Ven asked, making her way out of the bedroll she was in.

Eujin shot her a wry sideward glance as he lifted the pot off the fire and set it on the floor, but said nothing. He ladled some of whatever was inside it into a bowl and held it out towards her.

“Tell me about your dream.” He said.

Ven looked at him for a long moment, then walked the few feet between them and took the bowl from his hand as she sat on the floor.

“It was just…. I don’t even know where to start.” She said, looking down into the steaming bowl in her lap.

“I find the beginning is usually the best place for that sort of thing.” Eujin replied before putting his spoon in his mouth.

Ven looked at him and rolled her eyes. He just looked amused. Finally, after several long moments of him watching her, she gave in and started recounting what she could remember as she tucked into her food. It was some kind of brown stew, and to her surprise, it was quite tasty. It was spicy and earthy, with a salty-sweet aftertaste. There were potatoes and carrots and a few other vegetables in it, as well as what looked like some kind of dark meat.

As she ate, she told him about the burning inn, and Mother, and Sevastian. It did not take long for her to realize how hungry she actually was. Within moments the bowl was empty, and she helped herself to another serving. And then another. By the fourth bowl she finally felt satisfied, and laid back once she finished her story, staring up at the sky through the holes in the ceiling.

She lay there for several long moments, letting herself begin to process everything that had transpired, and where that left her. She was alive and healthy, so everything wasn’t completely terrible, at least. But she couldn’t see how things could get much worse. Her home was destroyed. She had no family left. Everyone she knew was dead or might as well be for all the good they’d do her. What was she going to do? Where would she go?

Interrupting her train of thought, Eujin stepped into view over top of her.

“Let’s take a walk, Ven.”

And without another word, he was on his way out of the inn. Ven scrambled to her feet and followed after him, pausing only for a moment to pull on her leather slippers.