The Red String

Everything was dark around Sophia.

“Where am I?” she wondered and turned around, or at least she thought she did.

It was impossible for her to orient herself because there was just pitch-black darkness all around. She looked down and did not even see her body. She could feel that it was there and she could move, so she tried casting a spell to produce light. Nothing happened.

“What the…” Sophia mumbled confused.

She tried using other spells, but nothing worked and she felt no magic energy in her or around her that she could use. A slight panic grew inside of her.

“Anybody there?” she yelled.

Then suddenly a faint red glow appeared in front of her. Sophia hesitated for a moment and looked around. There was nothing else she could see, only this faint red glowing in the distance. She began moving in its direction. At first slowly, but it didn’t seem to get any closer, so she began to run. It took her what felt like an eternity, but she reached the origin of the faint red glow. It was the end of a thin red string that went on into the darkness in front. Sophia looked around. There was still nothing else, just this red string in front of her, and she did not see where it went. Out of any other options she picked it up. The fabric felt warm in her hand, and she decided to follow it. Letting the string slide over her finger she walked in its direction.

“Where are you leading me?” she wondered aloud.

Sophia suddenly noticed that it got brighter and it didn’t take long until she found where the string led to. It was a brightly shining portal. Sophia could not see what was behind it, but the red string went straight into it. She looked around. There was nothing but the red string and the portal. The rest was pitch-black darkness. Sophia breathed deep and stepped forward into the light of the portal. It was so bright that she had to close her eyes.

When she opened them back up, she found herself sitting under a tree. It was a sunny day and the meadow around was painted in a lush green with colorful spots here and there, but something was off. It was completely silent and Sophia could not move. Furthermore, the parts of the small body that she could see were definitely not her own. The view suddenly shifted to the right and she saw a young girl running up to where she was sitting. The girl stopped in front of her and smiled brightly. A warm feeling enveloped Sophia. She noticed that the girl’s eyes were the same green color as hers. The girl opened her mouth and seemed to say something, but Sophia could not hear a word. In fact, she noticed that she heard absolutely nothing. When her body suddenly rose up, without her doing so, she finally realized that she was in somebody else’s body, only able to see. The girl grabbed her hand, or whoever one it was. Together they walked down the small hill, where the tree was, in the direction of a small village. The small girl was tugging on her hand as she went in front and looked back with a smile. Sophia’s view suddenly went black for a moment, and the peaceful scenery changed dramatically.

She seemed to be now inside the small village, but the houses around her were burning. The sunny sky was gone and became crimson clouds. Sophia felt an overwhelming dread. Some people in linen clothing were running around in a panic. Others clad in armor and on horseback followed them, driving their weapons into the backs of the fleeing ones. Sophia looked back and saw the young girl from before. She was crying. Sophia grabbed her by the hand and puller her forward. They ran between horse legs, flaming building parts and corpses in the direction of the village gate. Nearly there Sophia suddenly collided with something and went flying to the ground. She instantly got back up and looked at the young girl cowering next to her. She seemed to be unharmed. A sense of relief overcame Sophia, and she pulled the young girl back on her feet. Turning around Sophia noticed that she was now surrounded by men in armor. Their weapons were drenched in fresh blood. They suddenly made way for a hooded figure. Sophia pulled a small knife from her belt and held it in front of her, with shaking hands that did not belong to her, trying to defend the young girl behind her. The men seemed to start laughing. The hooded figure made a hand gesture and Sophia’s view went black again.

Sophia opened her eyes again and saw a stony ceiling above her. The body she still seemed to be in tried to move, but it could not. People suddenly stepped into her view and looked at her from above. Their faces were all hidden under the hood of their cloaks. They reached out and grabbed her body. Sophia suddenly felt a sharp and intense pain running through her body that made her lose consciousness.

Sophia awakened in a dimly lit cell. She still felt some of the pain from before. Sophia looked up when a bunch of hooded figures appeared in cell door. They dragged someone behind them and pushed the person into the cell. It was the young girl. She immediately came rushing towards her and hugged her tightly. Sophia saw relief in the green eyes that stared at her and a smile appeared on the girl’s face.

“Kill her.” The words spoken from multiple mouths suddenly echoed in her mind.

Sophia watched as her hands closed around the young girl’s neck, who looked surprised and confused.

Sophia could only watch as the muscles in her arm strained and the young girl’s eyes widened in shock. Small hands clutched at her arms, but her grip tightened further. Sophia could only watch the young girl’s mouth open, but no sound escaped. The green eyes stared at her confused and pleading. The small hands slid from her arms. Tears ran from the green eyes over the small face that began to turn blue. One last time the young girl struggled for breath and tried to form words with her mouth before her gaze faded and the green eyes went cold. The hands finally released their grip and the body of the young girl slid to the ground.

Sophia stared at the dead green eyes and felt overwhelmed by guilt, pain and despair. She then looked down at her hands. That was when she noticed a strange mark on her chest, right above the heart, which faintly glowed.