Red's Heart

The sky was painted with silver lined clouds, stars shining through the thinnest of the mist. I bathed beneath the light of the smiling moon, gazing up at it with wondrous eyes as if I had never gazed up at it before. The sight was beautiful as my eyes swept over the tips of the snow logged pines that stabbed into the dark sky, yet something plagued my mind. And I couldn’t seem to put my finger on it.

My fingers stroked the edge of my waistcoat habitually, brushing over the familiar bumps of the stripes sewn into the material. For a brief moment, I felt at ease. The silence of the forest surrounded me, coaxing me into relaxation, and I smiled up at the dark Heavens. The wind whistled in my ears softly, rocking my body gently, like a mother singing her child a lullaby. So soothing, I almost forgot that something troubled me.

My gaze shifted from the clouds and back down to the forest around me. A noise echoed through the silence. The simple snap of a twig reaching out like a knife, sinking deep into my stomach and twisting painfully. I shivered. Not from the snow that had soaked into my trousers but from the eeriness of the night. Once beautiful, it had become dark and ominous. The shadows stretched out like crooked fingers, scratching at my feet. Loneliness had suddenly sunk in to the pit of my stomach.

Not even a whisper uttered through my lips as I opened my mouth to call out into the darkness. I didn’t know whether it was the fear that had struck me, frightening me into unintentional silence or whether I simply had no voice, but after thinking over the problem I decided it was probably best. Who knew what lived in the inky shadows? Who knew what lurked beyond my sight?

A distant scream startled me, my heart hammering in my chest as the scream suddenly cut short. I peered into the darkness, stepping a little closer to the edge in determination. The voice had been that of a girl’s and though the fear was seeping from my pores, I had to make sure she was okay.

Slowly my steps crept closer to the dark forest, the light of the moon beginning to dwindle until it was almost non-existent. My fingers felt for the rough trees, hoping to use them as a form of guide as I plundered through the forest. The hot sweatiness of breath lingered at the back of my neck, pushing me faster. I could taste the eagerness, the excitement, of the shadow that followed me. I knew what it wanted before I saw it. Something awaited me.

As I stepped into a clearing, the darkness enveloping the meadow melted from the scene, sinking away until the moonlight shone through and washed over the meadow before me. What I saw stopped me dead in my tracks; my heart coming to a stop as my limbs suddenly became jelly.

My eyes grazed over the collection of spikes that lay before me. Long thin spears decorated the barren wasteland like a grotesque piece of art, carefully positioned in a way that I could see all that it had to offer. The spears stretched high into the night sky, embedded deeply into the snow like needles stuck in a pin cushion. The sight itself was eerie, but my gut was churning the longer my eyes swept the scenery.

Bodies threaded the needles, holding together what was left of them. I stepped closer on shaky legs. The pierced puppets were flayed, their skin hanging off their bodies and threaded separately onto the spear, their spines arched and folded into a C. I shuddered. Red stained the snowy ground, until it became a lake of blood, seeping deep into the Earth where it would forever mark the Red Meadow.

Another piercing scream cut through the silence, though it was different this time. Sweeter than before, and closer. My trembling feet weaved through the needled forest, following the scent of the scream that called out into the night and coming across a girl in the centre of the Red Meadow.

Her knees sunk deep into the red snow, the blood slowly creeping into her white cotton pants. I gazed down at the girl. At the girl with hair as black as a raven’s wings and though the hair hid her pale face, I could see a glimpse of blood red lips. The sight of her snapped something inside of me. A foreign feeling that I had never before felt and yet, it felt good.

My eyes travelled over the girl kneeling in the red snow, my tongue licking over my lips as I stepped closer. She was so helpless. So utterly vulnerable that I could feel my body begin to tingle and harden. I took another step closer, this time alerting the girl to my presence and her eyes snapped up to me. Her eyes, a black onyx, gazed up at me wildly, strands of hair falling over them but as she focused on my approaching figure they changed in an instant.

Fear shuddered through the girl like a ripple, breaking the last of my restraint and I lunged at the girl hungrily. My hands clawed at the girl’s white jacket that wrapped her arms around her body, my nails shredding through the material desperately.

Her scream echoed in my ears but the sound was easily overpowered by the beating of her heart. A growl snarled through my lips at the thought of my teeth sinking into her beautiful red heart, feeling the flesh tear and the blood run deliciously down my throat.

The sweet scent of her crimson blood hit me in a consuming wave as my fingers dug into her chest and I felt my hands rip at the pale body beneath me. Her jacket lay in ruins around us, followed closely by chunks of the girls flesh as I tore greedily through her. Layers upon layers of blood spilled out onto the snow, deepening the thick red as if the snow wasn’t already stained.

Finally I found it. The girl’s heart. And oh, it was beautiful. The feel of it in my grasp, so delicate. I yanked it from her body, admiring its beauty as my eyes drank it in. I ran the tip of my tongue over it and shuddered. Oh, the taste.

The girl had stopped breathing a long time ago, when I had ripped her lungs out and flung it carelessly across the Red Meadow. Her face was beautiful, sending me into a throbbing lust. My teeth grazed across her heart, teasing myself until I couldn’t hold myself off any longer. I threw my jaw over the flesh, moaning as I felt the blood fill my watering mouth. Yes, this was what I wanted. This was what I needed.

My hand sunk into the hem of my pants as I devoured the luscious heart, thrusting within my grip and yet even as I swallowed the last mouthful of the girl’s beautiful heart I wasn’t done. I scraped my nails across her face, closing my eyes as I finished off and gasped in glorious pleasure.

My eyes fluttered open, completely satiated, and that was when I saw him.

A wolf sat alone. A shadow in the collection of needles staring at me. I froze at the sight of him, for he didn’t look like any normal wolf. As I gazed upon his shadowy figure, goose bumps crawled along my arms. The wolf smiled at me. A smile that was eerily human.

My hands clenched into fists as the wolf rose and stalked slowly behind a thin spear. As if sinking into the spear itself, the wolf disappeared, never reappearing on the other side. I didn’t feel at ease even after the wolf was gone. I released my tightened fist from the girl’s face, my jaw clenching as I realised I had scratched letters into her soft cheek. The name would forever haunt me.

Sarah.