A Chaotic but Perfect World: In the Epping Forest

Hide and seek

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The corridors were dark and gloomy. It was probably nighttime. Candles were lit, hanging on the walls. It was raining outside. A woman with a scarf over her head passed on through the rooms, soundlessly, with an asleep baby in her swinging arms. Her nightgown was sweeping the floor, shoeless feet tiptoeing.
"Where to, madame?", a voice rang.
She turned her head back, dark eyes flashed open, thick eyebrows furrowed in fear, "F-father...I only wanted to visit the graveyard".
The man scoffed mockingly, "The graveyard? At this hour and time? Can you hear yourself or have you lost your mind?"
The young lady's face bowed down. Along with the raindrops, teardrops fell.
"W-why did you allow this to happen?", she whimpered.
The father, who had grey hair and dark eyes, a hooked nose and a composed poise, sighed, "No traitors deserve the privilege of living in my family".
"But living at all, father? And what about living?", the daughter asked distressed.
He cupped her cheek coldly, "Lilith, the laws of the Lord are clear. Do not forget. An outlaw will have to be punished, or all will".
The lying baby's mumbles began to unearth. He wailed. Lilith began swaying her arms, humming a lullaby, quietly. She landed a sweet kiss on the child's innocent but heavy with burden forehead. His black eyes calmed down, then joyous noise was released.
"And who said the Lord has a say? Why would a loving Lord earn pleasure from the suffering of many?", the woman asked impatiently.
Her father gently borrowed her jaw, "Love, be careful with what you say. The Lord is with us, wherever we go. He hears you, sees you and knows you, and dare to rebel, your fate will be the same of your mother. But love our Lord, for he gives us what we ask from Him-"
"LIES!", she stormed suddenly, face turned away aggressively. Her baby tempered again, "I will not tolerate these lies told by you, by grandfather, by everyone in this family about the lord, about how supposedly caring he is, because he isn't. No good lord gives something invaluable and takes something far too valuable in exchange. No good lord takes anything in exchange for giving-!"
"LILITH!", he snatched her arm and growled in anger.
Storms and rain Intensified, the baby kept spilling precious gemstones from his eyes.
An old, short and fat woman ran forward. She also had a hooked nose, similar to her son's, and brows more arched than a bridge, "Belial? Lilith? What is it, that you are up so late at night? And as if that is not yet enough, you are also howling and shouting. And what of me? Am I not important in this family? Does nobody care about my rest and soul?"
Lilith brought her baby closer to her chest and whistled her lullaby once more. Her father cleared his throat, "I apologize, but I had a well thought reason to raise my voice".
The old woman raised her eyebrows nosily, "Oh? And that is...?"
The man continued, "Our Lilith here seems to be so fearless of the Lord and is disrespecting His authority and laws".
The ugly lady gasped and turned her exaggerated gesture to the mother of the baby, "Lilith? Is it so? And are you not afraid of death?"
"If I were thrown on an island, where I was asked whether I would live there, in a sinful, evil atmosphere, or if I would rather die and stop this sick family's generation, I would prefer the second option", she boldly stated.
The hag snarled and squinted, "Hmph, just as I thought. She is the spitted image of her mother. And she will suffer the same fate. But by Lucifer's name I swear, your pain will be far worse, your burden will be heavier, your rebellion will be answered by your son. He will suffer, he will suffer greatly, and you will watch him go through it all, and out of pain, you will die. You will die, but your son, no, he will live on. He will live to become the sacrifice of our Lord, and his blood will be spilled only for our Lord, his blood will be smeared all over his body and all the fallen angels and demons will prey on him. His soul will be tormented until the very end, because he is the only grandson and son of the women, who dared to stray away from my, Astaroth's, laws!"
Lilith's eyes, which were as red as finely aged wine, and as dark as a black diamond, let their waters flow freely. Her baby grabbed by her robe and grunted in anguish. He whimpered and cried, while her mother stood tall in front of the woman belittling her and her baby son, "Your curses be broken by love. My son will be loved and will love. We will be free", she turned away and walked far, down the lonely, silent corridor, and all went dark.
---
Oliver and Serly pulled their faces out of the liquid. Immediately a smile played on his lips and he began to laugh, "That was...that was my mother...", his hands instinctively tried to dry his face, while laughter instinctively tried to extinguish a fire in his heart, "This explains everything! This was...", eyes tearful, he kept on laughing like a maniac.
Serly slowly walked towards him and soundlessly watched him.
"So what might the key be, exactly? Maybe it's my corpse, I mean, no other hint was given besides the fact, that I'm cursed and destined to suffer and become a sacrifice to Satan, apparently", he said cheerfully.
"Oliver, enough", she pronounced sternly, "Her curses didn't work". Oliver burst into laughter, "Yeah! Of course they didn't! They didn't happen so clearly, that I was orphaned at the age of 3, bullied and sawed, thrown into a mental hospital after getting beaten up and hated by every single nun, oh, and I can't forget to note, that I could've also been exorcized, if a bribe was accepted!"
Serly nodded, "True. But then you were freed, you found friends, family and lastly, love. This is the last page of this story, Oliver, and the only solution is getting rid of-"
Before she could finish her sentence, he kissed her lips, as if drunk, and smirked goofily, "Oh I know, I know, I'm only joking. I thought you liked dark humor and sarcasm?"
Even though stunned, she sighed and replied, "This, particularly, is your coping mechanism. I know it's all too painful for you, and I understand what's going on inside your head, but be strong. Keep going. We've got this".
He scoffed, "Pfft, I know, you're a psychologist, of course you do".
After glaring at each other for several seconds, he blurted out, "I love you. I just...ugh, I love you so much".
Again, he kissed her and walked away, towards the bed.
She watched him in confusion.
After opening up the blanket, he began messing up the pillows.
"If you don't mind, may I ask what you're doing now?", Serly asked out of failure to restrict her curiosity.
He smirked and spoke, "Oh, no, I don't mind at all".
And no answer was heard.
After waiting for some seconds, she stepped next to him and steered her glance his way, "Well?"
"Yeah?", Oliver looked at her at last, still, with a silly and joyful smile on his handsome face.
She sighed, "I'm waiting for you to answer".
"Ah, but I already answered. I said, that I don't mind it. Now it's your turn. You have to ask me about what I'm doing right now", he joked.
Serly's face turned irritated. He chuckled, "Now, now, don't get mad...just yet. I'm only joking! Lighten up", here eyes turned heavy lidded.
After scrunching his nose and biting his lower lip he answered, "Alright, if you insist. I'm looking for... m- Lilith's robe".
She furrowed her eyebrows in question, "You think that's the key?"
He shrugged, "Might be. Or something might be inside. You know?"
After taking the pillows and tearing them apart, causing feathers to flow around, he walked towards the wardrobe. Open sesame, and a long silken nightgown was hanging on the hanger. Soon after, he began searching the pockets. The first was empty, but his fingers felt a rough material in the second pocket, and that, in turn, caused the discovery of a necklace. It was shaped like a dove and an olive branch in its beak. Silver, with white gemstones decorating the edges.
"Et voilà. This has to be it, don't you think?", he smirked.
A smile built up on her face and she chuckled, "Oliver, you know...you make absolutely no sense, sometimes, but...keep on making no sense. It's helping a lot. Keep exploring".
"Hey, every scientific fact was once a theory, and most inventions were the result of accidents. Exploration and experiments are crucial in gaining answers, but doubts sharpen wits", he winked at her. She giggled and pranced closer to him, then kissed his lips, "I love you too. You're too lovable to be unloved. Especially by me. Don't stop philosophizing".
Laughter sprung.
"Alright, miss sapiosexual. Let's move on", he said.
They went and stood in front of the mirror, trying the necklace. And for real, the portal opened up.
"Don't get offended, but no 'after you, my lady's now, okay? Together. We're equals, after all", Oliver joked.
"Ha, what am I? A snowflake to get offended because of gender norms being broken? In the dream of fourth wave feminists!", she replied.
While sharing laughter, they jumped inside the portal and it closed down, as it had to.
This time, they fell on an old, dirty wooden floor from a small, shattered and rectangular mirror, put on a bedside table, dark green and rusty.
There was one big and high bed, but this time, it was most definitely not elegant or extravagant, but smelled quite unpleasant and looked like anything except a bed. The room had beige walls with wallpaper stains some places. Clawed. There was another door on the floor, which had some places covered with red and some places yellowish white liquid.
Oliver got on his feet and helped Serly stand back up.
"Ugh, now this isn't a sight I would like to have normally", he mumbled to himself.
"No windows here? Suspicious. And where does that door lead to?" she pointed out.
His face indicated curiosity, and he immediately walked towards it, but Serly pulled him back, "Now, before we do anything, we have to observe our surroundings and try to logically deduce the probabilities. There are no windows here and there is an underground door. The portal is extremely small, making it harder for us to actually get through it, while the wallpapers are scratched. There are red stains on the floor, it might be blood. Are you connecting the dots?"
Silence bowed down and introduced itself to both.
"Right...so, it's possible this is our final destination? Here might be the trap? Or this might be the place designed specifically to look suspicious, making us waste time. But, it might also be the room, where the kidnapped people have been killed", Oliver breathed out in a passionate second.
Slowly, she nodded, "Let's just be quiet and try to not disturb anything that might be".
He silently agreed.
Both opened the drawers and found nothing, only emptiness.
"Not here. No wardrobes here. Only a bed. That's the only option left. Well, besides the underground door. Or, it's possible this is truly the last destination", he revealed.
She sighed, "Right. I'm hesitant to actually go down there, Oliver. I don't have a good feeling about this place".
Then a deafening thud was heard. Booming sounds revealing ache followed that.
Acting on feet, Oliver pulled Serly's hand and kneeled down, sliding under the bed, far back, in the darkness. His hand held hers, under her chest, feeling her thumping heartbeat.
"Under the bed? We're hiding from someone coming from the underground under the bed, which would be right in front of that?!", she muttered angrily.
"Shhhh, don't be afraid, nobody will notice us, unless we continue this conversation", he whispered.
The door got kicked open.
"Aarrrgh, oh, FUCK! That BLOODY lady killed my back! My poor, poor, blasted back!", a fat man with a raspy voice climbed out. He was half bald and ugly. Hands were bloody and shirt was ripped apart. With great difficulty, he stood up and stretched, "A bit of junking will ease out the pain, woo!"
Both Serly and Oliver opened their eyes widely, that right before the man jumped on the bed and, thanks to his weight, slightly caused the collapse of the bed.
"Ooooh, yeah, mmm, yeah, that's it...", he kept on grunting, making noises and shaking the already shook bed. But suddenly he stopped. Strangely enough, his nose got to work and started sniffing around the disgusting bed, "I smell intruders! Hehehehehe...", his red hands clapped and dirty mouth snickered.
Oliver bit his lips in worry, before turning to Serly and gesturing her to carefully slide further. She, as she always does, obeyed.
The tyrant began smelling the floor, in a manner, as if he was actually taking pleasure in it, but, for sure, the hiders were in a state of tremendous disturbance, because they had a bit of too much an ugly, rear, close-up view, "Come out, come out, wherever you are...hehehehe...I've always liked playing hide and seek...with new guests...mmm...I miss the old, good days..."
"Get up, uncle, what are you doing?", a manly, stern voice was unexpectedly heard. A tall man stood in front of the kneeling man. He was indeed Hemsworth.
"By Beelzebub! You have to interrupt my fun at any chance you get!", he squealed.
"And you have to interrupt my plans at any chance you get. Get up, I have to talk to you. In private...", a coy smirk built upon his old face, eyes swung down, to the bed.
"Fine, fine...", he sneered.
"Put on your trousers, for Lucifer's sake, you look foolish like this", the man ordered.
"Fine, fine...", he grabbed his trousers and walked out with Hemsworth, shutting the newly opened portal.
"So...this, here, is our challenge. That...thing...is what we have to get rid of now", Serly said, disgust in her tone.
"And am I not glad!", Oliver went on, sarcastically.
They crawled out from under the bed.
"Quick, it's time to get down there!", she said while opening up the door. There was a stair taking down, to the...let's call it the bottomless pit, because that's what the screams and shouts reminded them off. On their trip down, Oliver let go of the door handle, closing it over them both. And it was time for the ears to give up their jobs...