12 Chapter Eleven

Iris heart dropped when they reached the edge of the forest where her Aunt Clara's cottage stood. The first thing she saw was that chicken feathers were every where. Chicken feet were discarded to the side of the path, left behind by some predator who'd gobbled up the poor creature. The two women looked up in the trees seeing a few of the stragglers of the flocked perched high above their coppery eyes blinking down at them. Even now Aunt Clara was more than capable of keeping the chickens safe from predators. There was something very wrong. Iris knew deep in her heart that the scene before them was merely a prelude to what was to come.

Slowly the back door came into view. The screen door swinging lightly in the light breeze. Iris burst into a sprint as she realized that the wood door beyond was ever so slightly ajar.

Sapphire looked around uncertainly, what kind of woman was this creatures aunt? Did she really change just recently like she claimed or was she walking into a den of these wisp things. Something wasn't right, Sapphire could feel it and she didn't know who was a threat and who could be trusted.

Iris slammed the back door open as she raced into the kitchen. Bowls and plates were scattered everywhere. The fire place had long gone cold and the ash from the last fire was scattered all around the room from the many windy nights that had passed breathing down the neck of the chimney.

"MOMMA!" Iris screamed for Aunt Clara using the name she'd called her when she was small. Aunt Clara was the only mother Iris' had ever know and until she was about seven she had referred to her as such. After that she worried that it wasn't appropriate... after all... it was obvious that Iris couldn't really be Clara's child.

Sapphire followed behind quietly, yelping in fear as the door fell of the hinges. Sapphire looked at the door frame seeing the splintered wood where the deadbolt had once rested within the frame. She stepped over the fallen door careful to distance her bare feet from the broken class and pottery that scattered the floor. The all the windows in the outer part of the house had been destroyed like it had been swamped by orcs trying to get in. Sapphire was surprised the door was even still on it's hinges when they approached.

Iris rushed from room to room searching for her aunt. Sapphire followed behind her slowly following the trail of glowing ruby droplets of blood that was left behind by the cuts on the soles of her feet as she crushed the broken fragments beneath her feet. Sapphire knew the exact moment that Iris found her aunt. The howling scream was so filled with agony that Sapphire's eyes filled with tears at the sound of it alone.

Sapphire walked slowly into the doorway of one of the small bedrooms and looked upon Iris as she held her aunt's lifeless body withing her arms. It was clear she'd left this world long ago. The skin of her face was sunken, the once milky skin gone a lifeless grey. You could tell that she had been laying on her stomach when Iris found her. The skin was a bluish brown on the left side of her face and stomach where the blood had settled with gravity. Sapphire could see the back of Clara's throat through the hole that maggots had eaten throw the old woman's face.

It was then that Sapphire realized that Iris really was once a human; and this old woman was dear to Iris, it was obvious. Sapphire could feel the waves of agony radiating from Iris causing Sapphire's throat to close and tears feel her eyes before the sight of the maggots finally turned her stomach. Stomach acid burned Sapphire's throat as her empty stomach turned against her and Iris' cries echoed throughout the forest.