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?"
Her crying stopped.
I glanced over my shoulder, but Mother was still asleep.
"Hello!" The girl said with relief. "I'm so glad. I saw this house was closed and knew someone was inside. I couldn't stand another moment in this awful fog."
Cold air oozed through the gap, numbing the tip of my nose. I could see nothing. Not even a peek of outside.
"Who are you? Where did you come from?" I asked in a low voice, throwing occasional glances over my shoulder.
"I'm... Ymura," the girl said. "I escaped from the Kingdom."
"The what?"
"It's where the demons live. It's where their king is."
King? My mouth went dry and I could barely said the name. "Jack 'O' Skins?" The one in the rhyme my Mother told me.
"Don't say it," the girl said. "It's bad luck. You'll draw his attention." After a brief pause, she asked, "What's your name?"
"My name?" I said, hairs beginning to rise on my forearm and nape. The air started to feel thick, suffocating and charged. "I'm... Luna."
I don't know why I lied. I believed in honesty. I had no reason to lie, yet I did. It escaped my lips without my consent. I felt uncomfortable.
"How old are you?" The girl no longer sounded desperate and afraid. In fact, she sounded less and less like a child and more like that woman from before.
"Ten," I lied again. It felt hard to move, almost like the air had gelled around me.
A strange guilt stabbed me. Her voice now sounded exactly like that woman from earlier, but more soothing, bewitching. I found myself wanting to tell her the truth.
She's a demon, I realized in horror. I had been tricked. I could not remove my hand from the Door; my body would not obey me and I felt an intense pressure in my head, urging me to answer her questions honestly.
"Are you an elf?" she asked.
"Y-yes," I choked, as if the word had been dragged out of my throat. A piercing pain stabbed my head like something was trying to drill in.
"Are you sure?" She chuckled, a rich, bubbly sound.
Of course we were. Mother said so. Our ears were pointed like elves.
"Yes." My arm trembled as I tried to rip it away. How was she doing this?
"What's your Mother's name?"
"Mother," I answered. I gasped, biting back a scream. It was like two large fingers were squeezing my head, trying to pop it open like a grape. Tears blurred my vision.
"Her name," The woman commanded, anger clear.
"Mother." Mother was Mother. What more did she want?
"Her birth name,." Her voice sharp like a blade. I slid to my knees.
I twisted in place, groaning. Was this magic? Was this what Mother warned about? I wished I had followed the Rules. I should not have disobeyed.
"Mother is mother!" I cried. "Let me go!"
"My, my little mouse. So defiant," the woman gloated. I was no longer sure what she really was. "Your heart thumps loudly. I hear the blood rushing through your veins. Such a young heart. Full of fear. No one escapes my Voice until I allow it."
"Please," I begged, tears running into my mouth. They tasted salted. If only I had followed the Rules.
"Why don't you live with the Others?"
Others? What did she mean?
"Because..." You killed them. I forced my mouth shut. Although it hurt, burning like fire in my head, I refused to answer anymore. I clenched my mouth shut, breathing heavily. "...go!" was all I could manage of "Let me go".
"Open the Door, little mouse," She urged, using all the power of her enchanted Voice. And I wanted to do that with all my heart. "Go on. Open it, and I shall take you to the Kingdom where there are parties and games without end. Such delights await you. Our Great Master is there and he will take you in."
The edge of my vision darkened, as if a curtain fell over my eyes. I felt hazy, dizzy, and disconnected from my own body. What was this feeling?
Then a rough hand clapped over my mouth and an arm hooked around my waist. I was lifted off my feet and ripped away from the Door. Mother hoisted me onto the bed, laid over me, keeping on hand on my mouth and the other over my right ear. Her eyes were the widest I'd ever seen and every careworn line was etched with fear. She stared over her shoulder at the Door, tense and unmoving.
For a moment we stayed in that position and my head cleared, free of that demon woman's voice. I had not realized why Mother feared the Demons' voices so much. I blinked away tears, relief sinking through me. Mother had saved me.
I wanted to apologize. I felt so ashamed. This was all my fault.
Something wet fell onto my cheek and I realized it was a tear from Mother's face. She was crying. It was the first time I had ever seen her cry, and her fearful expression became sadness.
I wanted to hug her, but she held me pinned down with her arms and legs.
She leaned down and released her grip on my ear enough to whisper, "Forgive me".
Then she retrieved a piece of wool from her little box under the bed where she kept many, and stuffed that in my ear. That night I slept in her bed beside her for the first time in three years. Usually I couldn't anymore because Mother had night terrors and had accidentally kicked me once while asleep. Hard enough to knock me to the floor and cause me severe bruises. After that, we slept apart.
The next morning I though we would talk about what happened, yet Mother refused and would only say, "Obey the Rules and be a good girl."
She did not want to talk about what happened.
"Y-yes... Mother," I said with disappointment. I had so many questions. None Mother would answer.
"You had a nightmare. That is all. Forget it ever happened," she said, picking ripe cucumbers from their vine and placing them in her wicker basket.
And I tried to forget that night. I tried, but that woman's voice it stayed in my head. It haunted my dreams.
Ymura, she had called herself. That cruel laughter had chilled me to the bone.