I wake up in my room. There is no noise, just the rustling of my bed sheets. The full moon was shining through the Open window. I walked towards the window with my long, messy hair cascading downwards. There shouldn’t be a full moon out today. The next full moon was still several days away.
Something was weird.
There was also no sight of anyone else. The usually heavily guarded wall was empty. There were no fires or smoke. The whole Fortress looked abandoned from life. An indescribable fear roused within me.
I open the door leading out of my room without caring that I’m still in my nightgown. The Hallway beyond looked like every other day, but today, there was an eery darkness in every corner. I felt like something invisible was watching me.
But I press on.
Right after I step through the doorframe, the door closes behind me. It is now completely dark. I can’t see anything except a small speck of light leaking out through an old, crude door that shouldn’t have been at the end of the corridor.
I approach the door with hasty steps, the sound of my bare feet hitting the cold floor echoing through the corridor, mirroring my increasing heartbeat. I am convinced that the shadows are following me with cold maws and tendrils.
I charge through the door.
What awaited me beyond was a snowstorm in a snow-covered tundra. It was so cold that my skin felt like it was burning. I wanted to turn around, but the door that led me here was gone, and the shadowy figure of a wolf stood in its place. The Wolf’s eyes opened, and four yellow, hateful eyes focused on me.
I ran.
I could hear the Wolf snarling behind me. I could listen to his jaw snapping shut just inches behind my head. As I run, I pass a blue Rose growing despite the snowstorm. I ran past it, but the Wolf didn’t. The Wolf charges at the delicate Rose, ripping it to shreds. I feel like I lost something so precious that I will regret it till the end of time. But I keep running through my tears.
In the distance, through the storm, I could see a log cabin. No light came from the small window, and no smoke rose from its chimney.
It looked abandoned.
But for some reason, I hoped I would be safe there.
The four-eyed Wolf was behind me again.
Against all odds, I reached the log cabin and jumped through the door. Again, there was only darkness surrounding me. I lay on the cold stone floor, weeping like I would never smile again.
At first, I believed it to be my tears, but it was too thick and warm. Blood was flowing across the floor, drenching my Nightgown and Hair a deep, sticky red. The smell made me want to vomit. And along with the Blood came the light of paper lanterns illuminating the room.
There was Blood everywhere. There was so much I was already standing ankle-deep in Blood. It was flowing from a throne made of Human skulls and bones. In front of the Throne was a wooden Human-sized Puppet holding a silver tray with many flowers, each of a different kind. The androgynous doll was held up by infinitely long strings that went beyond the ceiling but ultimately came down again, leading to the right hand of a red demon. On the Throne sat a red-skinned, black-haired demon with two different colored horns on his head, wearing nothing but a colorful flower Kimono loosely fitted around his thin body. His hair was tied back into a neat bun, and the two horns growing from his forehead were just like his two different colored eyes, red and blue.
The Demon threw a furtive glance at me, making me shudder before focussing on picking a flower from the tray. The wooden doll trembled slightly and the Flower wilted under the Demons touch. The Demon licked his lips in satisfaction.
The amount of Blood flowing from his Throne increased.
He took one Flower after another. And I watched in Horror as they all crumbled away, only to flood the room with more and more Blood. This Horrifying display continued until only one Flower remained, a red Rose.
At this point, the Blood has already reached right beneath my thigh.
The Demon gleefully extended his claws, clutching the Rose in his greedy hands, before screaming in agony, stumbling from his Throne, and bleeding black Blood from his hand. The Demon roared angrily at the Red Rose lying on his Throne before his hateful eyes darted to me.
I scrambled to my feet and tried to stand up but failed. As I fell towards the pool of Blood, I closed my eyes.
But I didn’t fall into the pool of Blood.
When I opened my eyes again, the Demon and its Puppet were gone. Instead, my vision was filled with long, dry grass covering the Horizon. The Blood covering me from head to toe was gone, and my nightgown was once again pristine white.
I looked around the grassland, finding big and small animals of all kinds thriving in this dry land. Lions and Goats, Giraffes and Owls, Mice and Elephants were living right next to each other peacefully, lazing around. Every Animal I have ever heard of, and more were living next to each other without conflict.
But when I looked closer, I saw the same Puppets that served the red Demon, serving the animals around me with food and drink. Their Strings rose into the Heavens like the other, but the ends of their strings didn’t end in a Demons hand. Instead they all met at the same location.
A Canopy bed.
It looked so out of place in this wild landscape. The Covers and frame were red, and red sheer curtains obscured whatever was hidden inside from view. As I approached the bed, I saw that all the strings didn’t lead to the Canopy bed. Instead, they all ended up in a patch of grass on a Hill. I noticed it was moving only when I stood right before the hill. It was a sleeping Lion.
The Puppet Strings ended in the mane of the Giant Lion. The beast was sleeping right next to the bed, lazily snoring.
I did not wish to awaken the beast, but something made me approach the bed. The Ground around the bed was filled with red Rose petals and the broken remains of what appeared to be one of the dolls. The broken Puppet pieces were linked together by a thin, thorny vine growing from the bed.
I pulled away the curtains, revealing a broken Puppet laying softly as if sleeping on silk cushions.
Its right arm and right leg were violently torn off, and on its left side, the little finger and ring finger were missing. Its body was riddled with scratches and bite marks, revealing a bleak human skeleton beneath. The vines that connect the doll’s broken pieces coalesced into a single Blue Rose Blossom on the doll’s stomach, ready to bloom. I instinctively reached out towards the Blossom, but the grassland stirred before I could reach it.
The Animals called out and charged me in a ferocious frenzy. A cacophonous melody of barking, howling, growling, screeching, and the loud trumpet of elephants reached me like a tidalwave.
The Lion woke up.
And right before they reached me, right before the Lion’s massive jaw could engulf me, right after I touched the Blossom, it began to bloom. The blooming Blue Rose filled my vision with blinding light, and all the noise around me ceased.