Shards of darkness (watty awards 2012)

The wrong relfection

Ana neither attempted to struggle nor desired to do so. It would be useless. She felt herself settle in a strange sense of stilled calm. The pain had lessened. That was something at least and she was no longer afraid. For a few fleeting moments, she had wondered if she was dead. She quickly dismissed the idea as folly after opening her mind to the thoughts of her assailant. He was completely feral and his mind would have been more suited to a rabid dog than that of a man. In fact it was completely broken, rent in two deranged divisions. Not a thought of sanity resigned inside his head. In fact, there was nothing. It was like he had no control over his body. Her previous attempts to gain domination over his form amounted to nothing. An unfelt invisible force from some vast looming presence muffled her attacks on the remains of the man but other than that, it did nothing. So, on finding the uselessness of attempted possession, Ana began to allow her mind to wonder out to her dominator. To her surprise, he (for the voice in her head was masculine) offered no resistance to Ana entering his mind. In fact he seemed to relish it. At first all she felt through their bond was scattered fragments of broken thoughts and instincts. These turned to thoughts which turned to memories… and, and…  Soon she felt her mind rush through colours unseen through her human head. Sensations. Smells from another world. Faster than her heart could take.

Young man alone. Woods. Night. Is cold. Am hungry. Shall I feed? Shall I suck out the life from his fragile bones. He has sensed me. I see him run. Clever child. His marrow will be good for me. I long to feel once more the tainted wind. Winds of death. No! My hunger can wait. Thirst WILL be sated. Boy you live tonight but do not believe that soon I will not be upon you, no matter how far of for how long you run. Child, I will come to you. Screams echoing. Body falls. Man dead. To waste his body would be bitter and I am so so hungry...  Running softly through the trees. Clear a path behind me. Feel them crack. Hear them scream Sweet bloody hide. Does not congeal boy alive. Craving too strong. Teeth fall. Throat rips. Ahh the smell of a fresh life lost.

   The memory ended and even as it did so another began.

Winter. He had always hated the winter hadn’t he. Too cold for crops. Snow was packed hard from foot prints. His boots were only of thin buck skin and pained him badly. He was used to it so took little notice. Or tried any way difficult though it was…

As that thought ended Ana felt confused. Those were human thoughts. Before she could dwell on it other memories began. They were random and only lasted a moment or so. Heads on spikes as he was led out of his dwelling. His family slaughtered in front of his very eyes. This memory was full of deep mouthing holes. Some had been attempted to be filled in. These were fiction. Suddenly it all went dark. When the lights of his mind once again rose, his thoughts slowed and stopped. They rested on one. One face, a horse. Beautiful powerful. Yet Ana didn’t see this. All she felt was the directed furry. Hatred burned out through his eyes and into her mind. She hated that horse more than any thing, any creature any man. She knew if the lived a thousand years, that a thought of hate would be branded upon each of them.

 She didn’t know she was slipping until she fell. Down, down , down. Falling softly… Into the blackness. But… but she was in her fragile body no more. The sheer amount of power of the vast looming presence was impossible to comprehend; she was lost. Lost in an others mind with no guidance to free her. She had gone too far. That dawning revelation sent a voltage of shock in to her conscience. Oh how strongly this body felt emotions, how painfully it fed them to her. Fear had taken her over. She was once again lost to terrors domain.

She heard her screams before knowing that she was inside her body once more. Upon opening her eyes, a shaft of sunlight pierced her face. Squinting through the light, she saw that the cave where she now lay was different to her previous prison. She was in a different part… Maybe. That meant someone; something had moved her to where she now rested. She felt herself shudder. It took some time to coax herself to move. She stood up, cautiously, not quite trusting her legs to hold her when her mind alone could not. They felt different some how, strange, perfectly balanced. She gazed about her. Even the light appeared odd, some how warmer, more golden. Assuming it was nothing more than the creature’s presence contaminating her mind, she brushed aside her growing concerns with a blink.