Marked For Darkness

A Lesson In Deception

I was seven the night the Voices woke me. I lay curled in a ball beneath my quilt, Luna snuggled to my chest.

"Yes, yes," one voice said, or rather croaked. He — and I felt sure the speaker was a he — talked like a frog was trapped in his throat. "They are elves, as I already told you, but their scent is... abnormal."

His voice came from beyond the end of my bed, in the direction of the Door. I opened my eyes, unable to see anything through the thick fabric of the quilt.

"How so?" the second asked. Her voice was beautiful and melodic.

"They smell —"

"Quiet," she interrupted, adding after a pause, "One of them is listening."

I swallowed hard, shocked how she knew. My heart began to pound and my breathe quickened. With trembling hands, I pulled down the cover, just enough to see. To my surprise, there was no one in the room and the Door was shut. But the deep shadows scared me.

Did I imagine those voices? I wondered. Maybe I dreamed them.

Convinced my mind had played a trick on me, I shut my eyes to go back to sleep when a high, sweet voice called, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

My eyes popped open and I sat up, the quilt pooling in my lap. I squeezed Luna painfully close until one of her linen fairy wings pressed into the skin above my nightgown's neckline. I watched the Door with bated breathe, sure that at any moment it would burst apart and demons would flood inside. I had never seen a demon, and Mother had only described them as, 'horrific beyond words', but my vivid imagination conjured up creatures with shiny, black snakeskin, red-glowing eyes and razor-sharp teeth.

"Please help me." That did not sound like the voice of a horrific monster. It sounded like a girl just like me. "I'm scared."

What if she was a girl like me, but trapped in the Mist because she broke the Rules? Could demons really sound that way?

"Please," she broke into sobs that echoed through the Door.

I glanced at Mother who slept on her bed beside mine, her curvy figure silhouetted by the ruby-glow of the Pit. The side of her chest rose and fell at a steady pace.

Can't Mother hear them? Then I reached up and touched my right ear, realizing the ball of wool had fallen out, likely while I slept.

"He's after me," the girl stammered between another fit of sobbing.

Who? I wondered.

I knew I should search my bedding for the wool and put it back in, instead I slid out of bed, Luna tight in my arms, and crept barefooted across the straw mats papering the floor. I paused when Mother let out a soft snore and rolled onto her back. With a soft exhale, I tiptoed to the Door. If I told Mother, she would refuse to help. The Rules should be obeyed, no exceptions.

I had to be sure whether it was a demon, even if it was risky. My heart hammered and my legs felt heavier with every step.

Go back, my instincts cried.

But what if there was a little girl out there? Besides, I could not open the door, I reasoned. The top of my head only went to the wooden bar. Only Mother was tall enough to undo the deadbolts. What was the danger in checking?

A thrill went through me, something I had never experienced before. The danger made me feel bold.

Leaning close to the gap where the Door and wall fitted together perfectly, I listened to the girls soft sobs for a moment before I whispered, "Hello?"