Crossing Into Forever

Chapter 17

Night and darkness have always made it difficult for Ella to be at ease. In the convent, Mother Christina would allow her to keep her small lamp turned on while she slept. The room she was in tonight had no lamp or nightlight, but there was a large french door that allowed light from the full moon to shine through, giving her some comfort and reprieve from the night. The doors led out to a beautiful courtyard that was at the entrance of a large labyrinth of tall shrubs where one could easily get lost. The moon was so bright that it shown down and lit up the gardens and courtyard as if there were outside lights all along the path. There were some large clouds in the sky though, and every minute they were getting more plentiful as the wind was bringing more in and starting to blow the flowers and small trees as it picked up its speed and became stronger. Ella was sitting on her bed, already in her nightgown, trying to sort out the past few weeks of her life. Things had changed so much for her. She had been thrust into this new world that she never knew existed. She was lost deep in her thoughts about all of this, when a large clap of thunder jarred her back to reality. As she turned her head to look outside her doors to see if it was raining, she caught the site of the tail end of what looked like lucy's red night gown passing by her doors. Lucy had a beautiful long red gown, so she knew it had to be her. Although she couldn't imagine why anyone at all would be out at this hour, especially in this weather. She immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the doors and opened them up and yelled Lucy's name. She ran outside and saw the red gown flowing in the wind as the woman was walking into the labyrinth. She followed and entered just in time to catch the back of Lucy with her long red hair being wisped around in the wind, and then she knew it was Lucy without a doubt. She called her name again, but the wind seemed to be carrying the sound of her voice away completely. Ella was running as fast as she could in her bare feet. The stone that made up the walkway was rough on her tender feet and the wind was blowing so hard now that it was whipping her nightgown firmly up against her body. She called for Lucy again, but she had no sight of her. She came to an area in the labyrinth where she could go two different ways, but she had no idea which way Lucy had gone. She quickly decided on one of the paths and was able to catch another quick glimpse of Lucy as she rounded another corner. She called her name again, but Lucy did not stop. Ella wasn't sure why Lucy wouldn't stop except she surmised that Lucy couldn't hear her calling her name because of the gusting wind. The wind was blowing much harder inside the labyrinth which was creating an eerie whistling sound. Ella couldn't help but think how this was dreadfully reminiscent of another time that she had been chasing one of her friends and she prayed this would end well. She felt a large drop of rain hit her shoulder and knew she didn't have long before it would be pouring. She rounded one more corner, but she wasn't seeing any further signs of Lucy. Suddenly, she heard Lucy's voice crying out in what sounded like a cry of pain and then it stopped. She screamed Lucy's name hoping she would answer her back. She was desperate to get to her friend. She rounded one more corner but still nothing. She knew she must be getting to the middle of the Labyrinth. She knew there were benches and a large marble table in the middle, so she hoped that Lucy would be there. She finally recognized what she knew was the final corner to round that led to the middle of the dizzying maze. As she turned the corner, she came to a halting stop, and she gasped in shock and horror and what she was seeing.

Ella was frozen in her place as she watched what was happening to her friend, and she couldn't make herself move or even scream. She could barely breathe. There on the large table, was Lucy lying on her back, her gown seemed to be torn and only remained rumpled up around her waist and her breast were completely exposed as she arched her back up off the table as if she were in horrible pain. Standing between her legs was the scariest most evil looking creature she had ever seen. He was covered in hair or was it fur, and his head looked like that of a devilish hound with large sharp teeth and red piercing eyes. He was standing upright, like a man though and he was holding Lucy's legs open as he was pressing himself into her. As Ella stood there, unable to turn and run, the creature's head suddenly turned toward her. Ella's heart was pounding, and her mouth was open as if she wanted to scream, but no sound came out. He immediately let go of Lucy's legs and as he did this, Lucy laid on her side and wrapped herself in a fetal position. Ella could finally scream for her as she was keeping an eye on the creature. Lucy's eyes were closed though, and she didn't respond when Ella called for her. "Lucy wake up!" Ella screamed again, but the creature had started walking toward her now. Lucy still was not moving or showing any signs that she was hearing Ella. Tears were running down Ella's face and by now, the thunder and lightning were right over them. The rain was coming in a steady downpour. Ella was completely soaked but she didn't notice. All she could see was her friend lying on the table and this monster slowly walking towards her. She wanted to run, but she didn't want to leave without Lucy and her legs felt so heavy that she couldn't lift them up. The creature was walking closer and now all Ella could do was watch him. She couldn't scream or move at all. She was shaking so bad, and her breath was coming in ragged gasps. As she watched him come closer, she had to bend her head back to see his. She couldn't take her eyes away from his now. He was at least two feet taller than her. Now he stood directly over her, staring down at her, and she felt her legs starting to weaken. Black spots were overtaking most of her vision and she felt her legs starting to collapse under her weight. She was vaguely aware of being caught by powerful arms keeping her from hitting the ground. In a half-conscious state, she could tell that someone or something was carrying her. She couldn't get herself to wake up though. Soon she felt herself being placed on a soft surface and then her wet gown was being pulled away from her body. The feeling of her gown being removed caused her to startle and scream, but she heard nothing in her own ears. Her arms were flailing now, hitting at anything in their path. She finally opened her eyes, and she saw two devil red eyes staring into hers and sharp teeth slowly drawing nearer to her face. With this she shut her eyes tightly and tried to scream once more, but she could only manage a panicked gasp and she opened her eyes again....

This time though, when she opened her eyes, there was a serene darkness all around her and she was alone. She could see the full moon from the window as it cast a light over some of the furnishings at the far side of her room. She was in the safety of her dorm room at the school, that was many floors up from the ground below her. Still, her heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest. It was only a dream, but she was still shaken by it all. It was such a disturbing dream that she was afraid something was going to come out of the darkness for her. She told herself this was not going to happen though. She kept telling herself that there was no reason to be afraid. At first, she could only recall bits and pieces of the dream, but then the entirety of it all flooded her mind. She started remembering everything that had happened to poor Lucy, and it made her want to cry. She was so upset by all of this that she wanted to leave her room and go somewhere that she wouldn't be alone. There was nowhere though. The common room was empty because everyone had to be in their rooms by a certain time every night. All of the dorm rooms were very small and the beds themselves were too small for more than one person. It's not like she could go crawl in bed with someone. She remembered when she was very young, and she would have a nightmare, she would go get in the bed with Mother Christina. The thought of that made her smile. It brought a little comfort to her and right now, she needed all she could get. She couldn't stop thinking of Lucy though. She was so distraught that she decided she had to go check on her. Her room was right next door, and it was not quite midnight yet. She decided she would go and make sure Lucy was ok. She wanted to prove to herself that she was, and that no part of her dream had been real.