Chronicles of Eden - Act IV (3 page)

“I’m sorry, Emily,” Luna whimpered. “But this is for your own good. I want you to be happy and safe, and this is the only way to do it. I can’t protect you out here on my own.” She flew over the clearing before she dropped down next to a tree and held Emily close, crying as the child cried into her chest.

“Please don’t be mad at me,” she sobbed as she dropped down onto her knees. “I love you too, I really do.”

Emily looked up to her with teary eyes as she held onto the monster.

“You do? You mean it?”

“Yes,” Luna dearly replied. “I really like you, you don’t hate me for how I am, or make fun of me, or want to hurt me just because I’m different. You’re my best friend! Actually, you’re my only friend!” Emily looked at her with wonder then closed her eyes as Luna held her close.

“And it’s because I love you that I want you to be happy, no matter what, so I have to do this. Please don’t hate me, you’re going to be happy here.” She whimpered then looked ahead to the sign that was in front of the entrance into the village.

“The Village of Eston. That’s your new home, and it looks-”

“Eston?” Emily said with a jump. Luna sniffled and looked to her as the child looked around quickly with surprise. “Eston? Did you say Eston?”

“Yes, that’s what the sign over there says,” Luna said wiping her tears away. “Listen, I’m going to point you in the right direction and then you just keep walking straight, okay? You’ll walk right into the village and then somebody will help you. You’ll be fine.”

Emily looked down in thought for a moment then to Luna with a smile.

“Luna, Eston was my old home, before I left towards Ashwood.”

Luna looked at her curiously then over towards the village that was so quiet and peaceful.

“Really? This was your old home?”

“Yes,” Emily said with a big smile. “I left here to move towards Ashwood. This is amazing, I can’t believe we managed to end up here of all places.”

Luna showed a saddened smile and turned Emily to face the village entrance.

“I’m glad,” Luna said with a whimper. “Then you’ll certainly be fine here, I’m sure of it. Just walk that way and you’ll be back home, Emily.”

Emily shook her head and grabbed hold of Luna’s hand as she stood up.

“No, I’m not going alone. Come with me, please.”

“Emily, I can’t, humans can’t see me. I shouldn’t even be this close to a human village. It’s dangerous for me.”

“You’ll be fine, I promise,” Emily insisted with a smile back at her. “Just take me to my old house, please?”

Luna looked at her with concern then to the village, not seeing any sign of humans walking about from there but knowing that if any saw her, especially with a human child, she would be in serious danger.

“I don’t know,” she said shaking her head. “I really shouldn’t get close to a human village like this.”

Emily showed a troubled frown for a moment then smiled hopefully at her again.

“Then just fly me to my house, please?”

“Fly you to your home? I thought you didn’t like flying.”

“I don’t, but it means I get more time to spend with you, right? Besides, if we fly over the town you can see for yourself that nobody will notice you.”

Luna fidgeted as she contemplated her choices then looked to Emily with worried eyes.

“Well… okay,” she slowly agreed. “But if I see any humans I’ll have to stop and fly away, I can’t be seen by anyone here.”

“I promise, nobody will see you,” Emily reassured.

“Alright, if you say so,” Luna said before picking up Emily. “One last flight for the day then.”

“Thank you, Luna,” Emily said holding onto her. “My home is a blue house with a yellow second floor, there’s a small balcony you can land on that leads right into my room.”

Luna nodded then flew up into the air, getting some altitude before she started to fly over towards the village. Being high up in the sky Luna saw the town having a few dozen small houses and shops with dirt roads leading through it, with one entrance near them and another leading out the side of the village towards a forest in the distance.

“Okay, um, do you remember where in the village your home was?” Luna asked as they started to fly over the entrance.

“It’s near the center of the village, next to the main road,” Emily answered.

“Near the center, of course,” Luna sulked.

She quickly looked around at the village below her, watching for any movement or signs of people. However nothing was moving or making a sound, there were no villagers walking about, no smoke coming from chimneys, no horses or carriages riding about, no children playing. Nothing was seen at all as the village appeared completely deserted.

“Where is everyone?” Luna asked curiously.

Emily remained silent while holding onto Luna, having a small smile on her face as she kept her eyes closed. Luna flew over the village then spotted Emily’s house, the dwelling having blue painted walls on the first floor while the second had yellow painted wood with red shingles on the slanting roof. And on the second floor was a small balcony with a door and window leading into the building along with having a small rocking chair facing out towards the road.

“There’s your home, I see it,” Luna said with a smile.

Emily giggled as she held onto Luna, the butterfly girl then carefully flying down and landing on the terrace. She set Emily down and looked around at the village, seeing not a single human or animal anywhere in sight. Emily slowly walked towards the door while keeping her hands held out, coming up to it and opening it with a sigh of relief.

“Good, I was worried I locked it before we left,” she said before she opened the door and walked in. She then looked back to Luna and waved her over. “C’mon inside, it’s okay.”

“I really shouldn’t,” Luna said shaking her head quickly. “I can’t be seen in a human village like this, they would kill me for sure.”

“No they won’t,” Emily said before she walked through the door. “Come on, I want you to see my room.”

Luna whimpered with a troubled frown then quickly darted into the building and shut the door. Inside she saw they were in Emily’s room, with the normal accommodations of a bed, dresser, small table and chair, and a little wooden chest at the foot of the bed being seen. The walls were colored pink while the floor was a soft white carpet. Light shined in from the window illuminating the interior while on the walls were three candlesticks that were melted down to their bases. Luna watched as Emily slowly walked around her room, seeming to know exactly where she was going and what was around her even though she couldn’t see.

“Here’s my bed,” Emily explained. “And my dresser, and here’s the door to the hallway. Oh and over here is my toy chest, and here is my table that I used to draw on. I could never see the pictures myself, but I was told I did a good job painting even though I’m blind.”

Luna smiled gently at the girl then looked around with a curious eye at the place.

“It’s so nice, I’ve never seen what the inside of a human home looks like.”

Emily slowly walked over to her wooden chest and knelt down before it, opening the box and feeling around inside with a calm smile on her face.

“I remember packing up some of my belongings when we were here last, the rest of my valuables I kept in here, like my own little treasure chest.”

Luna walked over to the window and looked around at the village curiously as she still didn’t see any sign of anyone.

“Is it always so quiet here? I don’t see any humans out there at all.”

Emily sifted her hands around in her box then pulled out a ragged doll, the toy having only a few clumps of white hair with a dirty cloth dress on it.

“Yeah, it’s been very quiet for a while now,” she said before she quietly ripped the head off of the doll. She smirked as she held the body upside down and started shaking it as Luna looked back to her with a raised eyebrow.

“How come?” Luna asked curiously. “Where is everyone?”

“They’re all dead,” Emily replied casually before a ring fell out of the doll along with some cotton, the trinket having a silver band and a round yellow gemstone on it. Luna looked at Emily with surprise as the girl felt around on the floor for the ring then picked it up, a smile of relief coming across her face.

“Dead? What do you mean dead?” Luna asked with disbelief.

“I mean they’re all dead,” Emily answered before she slipped the ring onto her right hand’s middle finger. A soft glow came from it as the girl gently rubbed the gemstone with her palm. Luna stared at her with surprise as the girl slowly stood up and turned to her with a happy smile.

“I told you humans wouldn’t be seeing you here after all,” Emily giggled. “How can they when they’re all dead?”

“I don’t understand,” Luna said nervously. “Why are they all dead? And why are you smiling about this?”

“Well,” Emily said looking up thoughtfully. “The women and children were killed since they weren’t needed, and the men were raped to death.” Luna stared at her speechless as the child giggled and looked to her with a playful smile.

“That’s why I decided to leave this village for another. No more men after all.”

“Wha… what are you saying?” Luna asked shakily. “What do you mean that’s why…”

Emily giggled before she started walking towards Luna, the butterfly girl backing up against the wall as the ground around Emily started to turn dark as if cast in a deep shadow.

“Just what I said,” Emily explained. “After I raped them all to death I was tired of waiting for more to show up, so I decided to move to another place.”

Luna stared at her with wide eyes as the child giggled and waved her hand towards her dresser, with the drawers opening up and clothes flying into the air in a circle above the room.

“Emily?” Luna asked nervously. “What are you saying? What’s going on here?”

From the ground two long black tentacles made of sludge started to slink up through the dark shadows near Emily, with Luna staring with fright at seeing the slender limbs wavering about and rising up from the floor. On the ends of them bulbous yellow eyes slowly formed, the two eyeballs turning around for a moment before focusing on Emily. The child looked to each one directly with eyes that didn’t seem to focus on anything, using one hand to casually brush her hair while she gave a mocking sneer.

“Wow, my hair is so filthy. I’ll have to take a bath later,” she laughed, and then turned to Luna who was watching her with a stunned expression. “Oh, I’m sorry, Luna. I should probably explain.”

Luna looked to the floating clothes in the air then to the tentacles with the eyes on them, and then to Emily with an open mouth as the girl shrugged modestly.

“You see,” Emily confessed. “I’m not human either. I’m a witch.”

“You… you’re a
witch
?” Luna asked with shock.

Emily nodded then took off her dirtied dress, tossing it aside before holding her arms out. From the swirling clothing above a few flew down and appeared to wrap themselves around the girl, dressing her on their own while Luna watched with wonder. The two tentacle eyes watched Emily while never blinking, witnessing as she dressed herself with a magical torrent of clothing. After a moment the rest of the clothes flew up then dropped down around the sides of the room, with Emily now standing dressed in white shoes with black laces, black stockings that went up to her knees, white underwear, and a black shirt with side tails hanging down over the girl’s hips. She had black shoulder covers with dark blue trimmings on them held together with a silver chain across the middle, and a white scarf that she left hanging loosely down behind her.

“There we go. How do I look, Luna?” she asked turning to smile at Luna.

The butterfly girl just continued to stare at her with shock, words failing her as the tentacle eyes also turned to look at her.

“You… you’re… a…” Luna stuttered nervously.

Emily nodded with a giggle then shrugged with a coy smile.

“Yes, I’m a monster, just like you.”

Luna glanced to the tentacle eyes with a nervous whine, seeing the two strange eyestalks just staring at her constantly, before Emily shook her head while holding a hand up.

“Don’t be afraid. Those are my doing, I summoned them so I can see.”

Luna blinked then looked at the strange eyes with puzzlement.

“What? They… let you see?”

“Yep yep,” Emily giggled. “With my magic I can summon them again, I’m very skilled with summoning creatures from the underworld, and these special tentacles allow me to see with their eyes.”

Luna looked at the eyes with shock then to Emily while pointing to her.

“Wait, hold on here! You’re a witch?”

“Yes, I am,” Emily replied. “I just told you, plus I thought seeing all this would be even more proof for you. Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I don’t… I don’t understand… I thought… but you were…”

Emily, or rather the tentacle eyes she summoned, stared at the girl while Emily had a curious expression on her face, the witch then giggling as she gently ran a hand through her hair.

“Sorry about not telling you,” she apologized with a worried smile. “I was afraid if you knew what I was you might not have trusted or helped me. You’re not mad, are you?”

Luna looked at her with wonder then to the strange limbs, then back to the witch with concern.

“I’m not… mad,” she said shaking her head. “Just… surprised. I never knew you were a witch this whole time.”

“I’m sorry,” Emily said sadly. “But you were my only chance at surviving out there in The Outerlands, I didn’t want to scare you away if you knew the truth. I lied about being human, yes, but not about being in trouble. Those two man-eaters really did kill the humans I hexed into taking me to Ashwood. They were going to eat me too.”

Luna blinked then looked at her with disbelief.

“Hexed? You hexed those humans into helping you? They weren’t really your parents? You just put a spell over them?”

“Of course they weren’t my parents,” Emily reasoned with a shrug. “They were just some travelers that came through this town, so I decided to use them to go someplace where there were more men for me to have sex with. It would have been strange for me to just wander into a city alone, so I used those humans as fake parents so nobody would suspect that I was a witch.”