Pure Joy

Seven days of pure, uninterrupted joy followed. Sofia spent every waking day with her mother. They would spend the mornings outside, either biking in the park or hiking in the mountains. They'd collect berries on their way, feed the squirrels, and sometimes go off the beaten path to find unexplored little wonders.

They'd spend their evenings listening to their favorite bands, discussing their philosophies, which always deviated toward discussions about the world and the state of affairs in general.

She had never felt happier. At last, she could spend every waking hour with the person she loved the most, and away from her nemesis, her father.

Her previous fears were but a distant memory. With her mother by her side, the only family that ever supported and cared about her, nothing could stop her anymore.

On the eighth day, she woke up with a wide smile, and a determination to take over the world. Her smile immediately vanished when she woke up in a dark, damp room. The bed on which she slept smelled like mold and decay. The window shutters were closed, letting in only a faint crimson light inside. She could make out the shape of a bedroom.

A desk sat against a window. Horizontal stripes of crimson light made the desk look as if it was broken, ready to fall apart at the slightest move.

She frowned. "Mama"? She called out.

Only the occasional creaking of an old house came back to her.

"Mama?" she screamed, her voice taking a panicked tone.

The door to the room creaked open, and a tall shadow approached her. Memories began flashing back in her mind. She remembered the awful night, the death, the horror. Her heart began racing as she recognized the tall shadow of the monster that chased them earlier.

'But, mama…' she thought, terrified and confused.

She quickly scrambled onto her feet and grabbed the bed's foot. With two quick tugs, the wood gave up and broke in half. She held one large piece like a club, aiming the sharp ends at the creature.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed, trying to circle around the beast.

'Aaron!' the thought came to her. 'If this thing's here…' The thought of Aaron's body cut in little pieces caused her to shiver.

Her head throbbed. Aaron, Peter's sliced up body, Karla and her gruesome death, all of these memories, coupled with the happy days she spent with her mother, flooded her at once. She let go of the club, held her head and screamed.

The tall creature approached. It was bathed in darkness, only their clothes were visible when the occasional light fell on them. It reached Sofia and placed a hand on her.

"Hush, child, you're still confused," a feminine soft voice said.

She looked up. Her chest heaved up and down. Every breath she took came with a wheeze of its own. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"You're in my manor child," the voice replied. Its arms moved in the darkness, then the window shutters flipped open, letting in all the blood moon's light.

Sofia gasped as she finally saw who spoke to her. It was a tall, slender woman. She wore a long black dress with a deep V cut. She looked at her with bright blue eyes that shone against the blood moon's light.

Her perfume reminded her of the forest in an early autumn morning. Her silver hair flowed around her shoulders in smooth cascades.

She held Sofia by the chin. "Do you know who I am, child?"

She swallowed hard. Her heart started beating heavily against her eardrums. "I have a pretty good idea, yeah. You're the witch that owns this place."

The woman smiled. Her eyes sparkled. She inspected Sofia from head to toe. Her eyes lingered on the pendant around her neck.

She smacked her lips. "Did you enjoy your new life?"

Sofia clenched her fists. She gave the woman a wry smile. The thought of her mother riding beside her in the park filled her with sorrow. "So you showed me the life I could never have. Was there any point to that?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "No, it's the life you can have. You've lived it, seven beautiful days of bliss! Don't you want to have that for the rest of your life?"

Sofia looked down. Those seven days felt as real as ever. Her mother's laughter still rang in her ears. Her flustered cheekbones, her happy eyes. She remembered it all. She glanced at the windows and saw the blood moon. It began setting, but it was still visible, big and ominous. 'Seven days have passed with mama, but only a few hours have gone by here at best.'

Then a morbid thought crossed her mind. She turned to the witch. "My friend, what happened to him?"

The woman kept smiling at her, observing her with radiant blue eyes. Sofia felt like she was being studied, like cattle being prepared for the slaughter. "He's fine, for now. You two paid the price of admission. You get to catch a glimpse of your new lives before entering into a contract with me."

Sofia frowned. "How about our other friends? The ones who died?"

The woman waved a dismissive hand. "Those were your price of admission. A soul for each step."

Sofia's stomach turned. Her frown got even deeper. Karla's dismembered body flashed before her eyes. Her sorrow slowly turned to anger that boiled hot within her. "So you're saying I killed my friends to get in this crap house."

The woman chuckled. "No one forced you to come in here. That's what you said to your friend, remember?"

Sofia looked away. She knew the risks by going with Aaron's crazy idea. Mirkwood was forbidden ground. Not even the police ventured too deep into it. There was a reason people were scared of that place, and now she was staring it in the face. She couldn't accept what happened. She wouldn't.

"I never agreed to giving them up," she said through gritted teeth.

The woman chuckled. "Oh sweet child, entering the forest is your form of consent. You were warned about my legend. Yet, you entered my domain."

Sofia's knuckles turned white. Her nails dug deep into her palm, and blood started drizzling through her clenched fists. She stared the woman dead in the eyes. "Bring them back! You took them, you can bring them back, like you did with mama."

The woman shook her head. "It doesn't work like that, child."

Sofia thrust her head forward until she came nose to nose with the woman. "Then how does it work exactly, huh?"

"My pets enjoyed your offerings. Now it's time I got my due," she replied.

Sofia's eyes turned to slits. "What are you talking about?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Why is it always the ignorant and helpless that end up here, on the most important of nights?"

Sofia growled at her.

She sighed. "I don't have time to explain the intricacies of soul magic, but I'll tell you what you need to know. Your price of admission is only paid to my pets. Each one took a soul. Now you're granted safe passage into my home. "

"I never wanted in, I want out," Sofia said through gritted teeth.

The woman frowned. "You can leave, but never through the same door."

Sofia looked away, frustrated. She had a strong suspicion the witch was about to suggest something she would never agree to. The image of her mother smiling at her flashed before her mind's eye.

The witch smacked her lips. "To put it plainly, you came in through a doorway between worlds. To get in, you had to pay the blood price. To get into my manor, you had to pay yet another blood price. To leave…"

"I have to pay the price," Sofia said. She frowned at the witch. "Aaron?"