Rapture of Witches

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Hollow Tree

'What if I drown?' The question flows out my mouth in a squeaky light voice of a panicking nine year old girl, the sun was beaming down upon my oily skin, the concrete burning my feet, and the loud noises of children splashing water upon each other, laughing, playing amongst themselves. I remember this day, the day of summer where mom finally had a weekday off, the first day I ever went to the community pool and learned how to swim.

'You won't drown honey, I'm right here.' Mom stood in the four feet depths, arms raised, lips tugged into an smile- even though she was exhausted and spending the only day she had off with her little girl was waning on her. 'Just jump in Jupiter, I'll catch you.'

My toes hung off the ledge, they wiggled over and over again, my nerves rattled and stomach twist like any other frightened little girl. 'No, I'll drown.'

Mom sighed heavily and lowered her arms to the cool water before walking towards the ledge to encourage me even more. 'The only way for you to learn, is if you jump feet first into your fears. The water is not going to hurt you Jupiter, it's your fear that will take you. Close your eyes, think of something that would make you happy and leap.'

In which I did, I've closed my eyes but it wasn't a happy moment that flowed through my head, in fact nothing flowed through my head. I opened them again to protest, a gasp suddenly past my lips and that fear inside my gut turned crippling, almost making me breathless. The sky was red as flames under thick smoke, the air cool with a harsh breeze, ground filled with layered ash that cuts my soft feet, and the pool- the most horrid thing I've ever saw.

The normal chlorine clear water were the color of red wine, bodies of children, babies, and mothers floated upon the surface with their backs exposed; the birds has already had their meals as their spines were revealed. 'Mommy?' I whimpered, my sobs could be heard miles away. In the soup of bodies, she wasn't in the mix, she wasn't there to catch me if I fell. 'Mommy?!'

The ashes were clogging my lungs, my vision filled with blood and fire, I wanted to scream for anyone else but I couldn't. Stepping back from the ledge, the water trickles, catching me in a trance of confusion as I saw her face under the water and bodies- trapped with no where out. 'Mommy.' I breath in relief while dropping to my knees and reaching out to grab her. 'I can't reach.' The water was too deep, my fear of swimming was starting to resurface.

Suddenly, a hand shoots out of the water and grasp my tiny wrist, burning my skin like fire as it's skin were the texture of leather and dark gray with long nails. I was pulled in that water before I could even scream, my mouth filled with chlorine and blood, body dragged down to the dark depths of the pool as the only way out were covered by bodies. Millions of hands reached out, grasping my arms and neck, covering my eyes until I were in a  pit of nothing. That's how it felt, floating alone in darkness, my body cold and the space around me were just air; no water, nor hands, no mommy.

"Mommy." The word past my lips in a soft whisper, eyes fluttered open to not only reveal nothingness but also hell. Body submerged in cold water, covering my mouth and stopped just a centimeter under my nose. Sitting up straight in the tub, I stared into space, recalling that dream of mine; knowing damn well it was more than a dream, but a warning. But for what? My soul? Mind? Will I be trapped in nothingness if I stay in this world for long?

Sliding out of the tub, I wrapped a fluffy towel around my frame, reminding myself that I was still alive and not floating in cold darkness. I shuddered and wrapped the towel tighter around my chest before draining the tub, to only distract my mind with the opened bottle of unfinished white wine I was nursing while bathing. Before I could grasp the neck of the bottle and taste the bitter room temperature beverage, the window cracked under a sharp tiny force that would of startled me if I weren't use to scary pop ups and monsters that lurked in the shadows. However, it wasn't a monster at my window, only a raven croaking upon the window sill.