In a land, not so different from our own, there was a kingdom. It was a mighty kingdom, filled with life, riches, poverty and minstrels. And what kind of story would it be without corrupt princes and kings?
However, one thing that united the entire realm was fear. It was etched in their faces, when heading out to their jobs, and bolting the door shut at night. Yes, the entire kingdom lived in fear, from mysterious creatures, old as time itself, it seemed, for no one could remember a day when the shadow of terror wasn’t drawn over their country.
Neighbour distrusted neighbour and parents were deathly afraid to let their children go into the woods. However, they had to, for how else would they earn the money to stay alive?
All the children knew to stay away from the dark parts of the forest, and the strange voices that called out to them in the middle of the night when they could not sleep.
The creatures were known to the people as darkness weavers, and they hung in the shadows of every corner, alleyway and road. They were known to dance in the forest and swim in the lake, all the time singing strangely familiar tunes, which no one could recall after they heard them.
Recently the monsters seemed to be especially hungry. Many children had gone missing, with nothing but a dim memory left behind. Parents suddenly wondered why they had set the table for five, when of course there were only four in their family. And now there was not only singing, but crying heard throughout the woods.
Only one person seemed to be remembered, a young girl known as Rose, by her sister, Lucia. Lucia couldn’t understand what had happened. Sometimes she heard laughter, and would dash into a room, hoping with all her heart her sister was finally back, or that it had been a dream, or better said, a nightmare.
All the pictures in which Rose once stood were now blank, and her parents were confused as to why they put them up in the first place. Lucia always felt a pang as she passed a blank, empty canvas.
Her sister’s room was still there, but everything that suggested she was ever even there was gone. Every photograph, cuddly toy and drawing just vanished into thin air, leaving the room looking as empty and blank as the eyes of a corpse.
One night, Lucia just couldn’t sleep. She was thinking about Rose. Did she ever really exist? She turned over to face the window, and her heart stopped. A figure wearing a white dress was standing in front of the window, singing a song she and Rose used to sing. The figure was beckoning her to come over.
Without thinking she followed her, out of the house, into the forest and next to the lake. As soon as their toes were covered in the cool water of the lake, the figure stopped. “Where is my sister?” Lucia asked. ”Where is she?” There was no time to hesitate.
She had waited too long. The figure, however, just started singing again. It was a different song this time, one Lucia didn’t recognise.
“Why did you bring me here? Tell me!” Lucia screamed.
The figure slowly started to turn around. Then Lucia saw her face. She tried to scream, but it felt like fear had placed its cold hand over her mouth.
The girl looked dead, her eyes were glassy and blank. It was as if what had once been there disappeared a long time ago. The figure reached out a cold, pale hand, and Lucia finally came to her senses.
She started to run, tried to run far, far away. She was just about to get past the first barrier of trees when she felt a cold hand gripping her ankle. She fell, chin hitting off the hard stones scattered around in the forest.
She screamed, and tried to hold on to something, anything, as the figure dragged her towards the dark waters of the lake.
Lucia felt her head submerge under the water. The water looked dark, unnatural and as she tried to kick up to take a breath, she felt clammy hands clinging onto her legs, pulling her down to the icy depths below.
As her lungs filled with water and her vision began to fade, the bright light of the moon faded into blackness.
Lucia awoke on the shore, spluttering and coughing. She was alive! Sand grains, as rough as sandpaper, filled every crevice in her body, and she had to shake it out of her lashes before she could stand up. She felt cold, and her legs were weak as she tried to run through the forest.
All of a sudden it occurred to her where her sister might be. A little grove of trees, right near the entrance to the forest, where they played together as kids.
She felt real hope for the first time in weeks. It was just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare! Lucia heard Rose singing right as she pulled back the branches obscuring the grove from view.
She was really there, playing hopscotch and singing. Rose’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw Lucia.
“Lucy! You’re here!” she said hugging Lucia with all her might.
Lucia was so happy. She could take Rose home, and everything would be back to the way it used to be. They held hands, and skipped the way home. “ Rose” Lucia whispered, “Don’t say anything, okay? I want it to be a surprise.”
Rose nodded and giggled.
They must have been in the forest for a long time, for when they got home, it was morning and they could hear their parents talking. They hid behind a wall, and waited for their parents to come over.
Rose, however, couldn’t wait. “Mummy!” she ran up to her mom and tried to hug her, but she didn’t give her any reaction.
“Mum?” Lucia asked, stepping out from behind the wall. Her mum just looked right through her.
“Jesus Christ, James, we really need to think about the future. Didn’t we ever think about having children?”
Lucia’s heart sank. Her parents didn’t remember her. Her own parents didn’t remember her. She started singing a lullaby her mother sang to her when she was a child, anything to make her remember. This just made things worse. Her mother slammed the door, and ran back inside.
“A darkness weaver!” she screamed, before locking the door and closing all the windows. Rose started crying, and hugged Lucia harder.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. We’ll try again,” Lucia said, but she knew things would never get better again.
The sisters stood outside their house day and night, constantly singing. Every second they stood there, the more their identity faded away, and left an empty hole that you could only fill by taking someone else’s. Their tears fell black, and their skin started to rot away, leaving nothing but a shadow.
Their parents finally saw them, in the end, but that was near their turning, and there was no going back from that. It seemed as if they were souls made completely out of misery, and the only way to get even a second of relief was to change someone else.
The disease, if you could call it that, spread quickly, and soon there wasn’t a single human being left in the kingdom. It became a kingdom of ghosts that children sometimes visit in their nightmares. Love me, they seem to say. Remember me.
Their endless cries would eventually drive any listener to insanity, and only by conversing with the poor soul they would feel slightly human again. After all, that is the only thing they ever wanted.
