The Maiden's Moon

9

Something smacked hard against Rusalka's head, and she felt like she would throw up. She was moving, being dragged. Pine needles scratched the back of her neck and tore at her dress, which was up around her waist. Her arms were lashed together up to the elbow. She could feel the wet ground on her back side, but she couldn't see anything. Something was tied around her eyes, and her mouth was full of some kind of cloth. She struggled against the gag, trying to force it from her mouth, but it wouldn't budge. Her senses were heightened by the surges of adrenaline coursing through her body. She could feel it making her chest ache and her heart pump fast. Finding it difficult to breathe, she concentrated on slowing her breaths and taking deeper, longer ones. Each jar to her head shot pain down her neck and into her shoulders. She moaned and wriggled, but she couldn't get free.

Finally, her feet were let go, and they dropped to the ground. It brought immediate relief to her hips and lower back. She rolled to her stomach and used her elbows on the soft earth to pull herself forward. Terror urged her to escape. She had no idea who had done this and felt the need to get away. Her ankles were tied together as well, making crawling difficult. Inch by inch, she felt she was making progress. She lifted her arms up so her hand could reach the blindfold and tugged at it in between each reach of her arms. When she pulled her arms against the dirt and her legs held fast, she knew she was anchored to something.

The blindfold finally gave way, and she blinked against the rain droplets that were starting to fall from the sky. The blackness of the night obscured the face of her attacker, who worked with an ax, chopping wood. His large, bulky form gave him away though. Heinrich stood swinging the large tool, never even noticing that Rusalka had attempted to crawl away. She clenched her eyes shut as her breathing became rapid and shallow. Dizziness threatened to let her drown as the rains picked up and water streamed across her face and up her nose. She lifted her head and looked at the shoddy knot binding her feet and knew she could untie it if only she could reach it.

Careful to not make a sound, she sat up but had to pause a second while her equilibrium settled and the world stopped spinning. Pain in her back and neck demanded a reaction, but she refused to oblige, keeping her silence for fear of death at the evil man's hand. With one eye on the beastly silhouette, she leaned forward and used her hand to work at the knot. Each movement caused her body to cry out, but she worked tediously, loosening the thin rope. Thread by thread she worked at the knot. A large bolt of lightning illuminated the entire surround, and Rusalka could see a cabin not too far away, a work shed, and the ugly face of Heinrich staring at her.

She screamed against the gag when he raised the ax high over his head and swung it downward at her, the ax head landing only a hand's length away from her feet, severing the rope. Rusalka turned to her stomach, and like an inchworm, she slowly crawled away as quickly as she could. In her panicked state it was all she could do; though after several clumsy movements, she realized the man would walk faster than she could crawl, and she was obviously injured. She ran into his legs and sobbed, the rain mixing with her tears. She tried to maneuver away from him, but he stepped in front of her no matter which way she went. Strangely, he never spoke. His stupid grin was permanently seared into her mind.

Rusalka closed her eyes and screamed out, hoping someone would hear her, not knowing where they even were. She prayed the gods it was near the city. With no energy left to fight, she curled into a ball and let the rain wash her skin. The crashing of thunder was deafening; lightning bolts danced in the sky, but Rusalka hid inside her mind, willing it all to be a nightmare until she felt a hand clamp down on her head and grab a handful of hair. She was yanked to her feet and found herself being slung over Heinrich's shoulder. All she could do was drive her elbows into his back repeatedly, hoping he would put her down, but his arms were squeezing her legs to his chest. Her head bobbed up and down with each of his strides.