Silent Horizons

Chapter 6

He dreamt of his daughter that night.

She was in her playroom, sitting on the floor enjoying some time with her dolls. Once a beautiful sunroom, filled with plants and comfortable seating now, with the addition of their child, the play area.

When his wife had told him she was ready to put an offer on their house, it had been the sunroom that had attracted her. A wide-open space with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the meadow that was their backyard. The tall trees that bordered the lawn allowed some of the small river to peak through the foliage. Natasha with her fervent love of plants had been near ecstatic at the prospect of filling the room to the brim with her hobby.

He would always remember the smile that brightened her face like a thousand suns when he told her he knew this was their home too.

He'd known the moment he stepped through the front door.

The first plant they'd hung had been a trailing vine, twining down from the roof. The first piece of the jungle that was to come.

Their first piece of home.

Soon the white wicker seating and plush rugs had been installed. String lights on the roof twinkled like stars. This room had become their favourite place to be. Cozy and beautiful in any season. They'd spent hours cuddling and watching the snow fall or reading on a summer afternoon as relaxed as cats in a ray of sun. His arm twinning and playing in her hair as she'd rest against his leg.

When Natasha had told him she was pregnant, they both knew that their cherished room would be even more embellished by the joy of watching their child grow and play.

And embellished it had been.

Toys littered every nook and cranny of the room – but they didn't mind. It wasn't the beauty of the room they cared about but rather the inner peace and joy that it brought them. Such a small unimportant room to some had become a sanctuary of joy, laughter, and calm to their small family.

In his dream, his daughter was playing with her back facing him. Her blonde curls tumbling down her back, her pink princess dress bright with the sun radiant glow. Her arms raised up and down as she used the dolls to play superheroes. As she made them fly, up, up, up, and back down again, her giggles of delight filled the room.

The sound pierced him to his core.

It was the most beautiful yet torturous melody. His heart aching at the memory, he tried to absorb every little detail of the scene unfolding in front of him.

She looked so real he felt like he could reach out and touch her.

Guided by an invisible hand, he walked towards her, wanting to catch a glimpse of her sweet face. He felt his lips upturn in a smile as he pictured her joy and those sparkling eyes he missed so profoundly.

Beckoning her, he spoke.

"Alice?"

As she spun to face him, he felt time slow, and his blood ran cold. The once radiant room suddenly felt malevolent and sterile. From her slow turn alone, he knew immediately this was not his daughter. Although her face was the one he knew like the back of his hand, there was some unnatural element to it. It was as if an automaton had taken over her facial expressions. Her mechanical blinking and eerily slow swallow became all he could focus on.

A voice that could only be described as ancient and terrible emerged from her small mouth.

"John." It said, her eyes shuttering mechanically to look up at him as if it struggled to move and speak simultaneously.

Engulfed with fear, John could only think of running. The room had grown cold, the sun warming the scene disappeared completely and dark engulfed them. It felt as if no one would ever smile or laugh ever again. As if the very life force of the universe had been aspirated and destroyed.