The Blood Moon.

The next day we woke up and went outside, it was strangely peaceful, the day passed quickly and the moon began to rise.

it was blood colored and was illuminating everything in red, Mary looked at it with a hint of longing. "it's finally here, James, walk towards where the moon rises and then you will find the blood river, becareful of the monsters on your way"

I sighed, Mary was currently on my back as usual. This time the lamp was out and it's light was suppressed by the blood moon but it can still harm stronger supernatural beings but it can kill the lesser ones like zombies and skin walkers, but i noticed they too differ. I realized that the supernatural beings have a specific heirachy, For example, the Skin walkers aren't weak but at the same time they aren't strong, they have the ability to slowly turn others into their own kind or devour someone to disguise as them.

then there are the 'Creepypastas' and 'Trevor Handerson creatures' I would guess the Trevor handerson creatures well some of them follow cartoon cat, which back at my world is considered more of a reality manipulator but at the same time he resembles Zalgo, Zalgo is a completely different type of being, he is comparable to the beings in H.P Lovecraft, but still weaker than the weaker gods.

Anyway's there was also Mary, Mary had a little lamb,baa baa blah sheep or black sheep, she is most likely connected to the two children rhymes, beings like her are classified more into the Story type horror world, The reason they got their powers is probably because of human emotions or resentment. They are more of incomplete beings who use the souls of other humans to tether themselves into this reality so they don't 'pass on'. They have abilities related to their theme.

Mary had her lamb, but she wasn't the shepherd, the shepherd trapped Mary as a lamb until i freed her, which gave me another interesting theory, the Story's can't leave their domains until someone frees them and that person willingly allows them to tether their existence onto themselves keeping them in the real world, it was sort of a symbiotic relationship.

Like me and Mary, i..well uhm I let her come with me, while she makes my soul calm down from the hunger, which she has been doing well, she sleeps so she conserves her energy to stay longer in the day. While Michael and Goldilocks seem more complicated.

I put those thoughts at the back of my head as I continued walking and ignoring the gaze of countless eyes that seem to be there but were to afraid to come close, along the way I was cautious because I felt a few invisible things near me…their souls to be specific but they didn't seem to be interested in me, but the path ahead.

Mary rested her head on my shoulders, she has been silent for a while, i honestly do wonder why I am helping her, well whatever she is a nice person…despite trying to kill me before.

After an hour of walking and endless silence, we approached the edges of a blood red river, It smelled fresh and felt like it was being constantly produced from the suffering of others. The green flame brightened up as if it had found something delicious to devour, The hunger was becoming stronger by the second.

"Isn't it beautiful, it is an unholy event for humans to witness this, yet for us, it's another form of freedom and life, a complete metamorphosis" Mary exclaimed, her voice gently resounded in my ears.

"True but…" I saw it, the thing that is giving this so called metamorphosis, it's soul was too vast to be seen. To dark, it was a black hole of insanity and despair, but it cannot interfere,it cannot do anything to us as long as we stay on this mortal plane.

I had an urge, an urge to burn it and reduce its very existence to ash and cinders. The flame in the lam turned into a darker shade almost becoming dark grey mixed with green. The lamp shake'd with impatience.

" I am getting influenced" I silently muttered as the lantern disappeared into dust. Mary heard but she didn't say anything.

"Move" A voice was heard behind me, when i looked back, it was a man with red eyes and sharp teeth. I turned around and looked at him, i felt nothing strangely. In fact I was angry for a strange reason.

"Why should I?" I asked blankly looking at it, i wasn't afraid of whatever this thing is. It gritted its teeth in annoyance. "Because i said so human, now move before i drain you of your own blood"

I could feel Mary frown from the bloodsuckers attitude. The lamb in her hand was strangely twitching. She didn't attack yet. "hmmm"

I didn't think much about it anyway's, so as the sane gentleman I am I moved away. "Hmph as expected"

Ah yes, sane gentleman, I am hungry actually. The bloodsucker suddenly felt something off, his entire body was heating up. suddenly a green flame engulfed him "AHHHHH, IT BURNS"

It's satisfying to watch him burn, how the fire slowly melts his skin as he feels the agonizing sensation of his blood boiling, his veins slowly becoming noodles in his blood, his organs being Cooked and charred and his brain slowly melting, it felt so satisfying. Okay I am getting too affected Soon the bloodsucker melted, it strangely did not turn to ash.

The scene was gruesome, yet it felt right. " I am starting to go insane, let's enter the river"

"hehehe, well you seemed to have fun though, don't you feel a bit free after willingly killing someone by your own will" She exclaimed as she moved her cheeks closer to mine, i could feel her cold ghostly skin rubbing against my cheeks. "Dammit stop that"

It was honestly annoying, Both of us slowly went into the river, our body's submerged into the cold and sticky surface. Mary went down my back.

"well i guess we will see if we remain the same, I'll see you in a bit" She floated into the river and her figure disappeared in front of me. I stared at my half submerged legs and sighed as I went deeper into the river until I also was submerged.

I could feel the blood enter through my skin, mouth and nose but strangely it wasn't drowning me..But I was slowly losing consciousness As I sank deeper into the blood river, I let go of the remaining thoughts tethering me to reason. The sticky warmth surrounded me, consuming my senses. I could no longer feel the ground beneath my feet, and my body drifted weightlessly in the thick crimson flow. The blood river wasn't like water; it was denser, almost alive. Each ripple seemed to pulse with energy, and the farther I descended, the more I could feel it creeping into my veins, sinking into my very soul.

My vision dimmed, and in the haze, flashes of memories that weren't mine flickered across my mind—suffering, pain, endless torment. These weren't just images; they were emotions, deeply ingrained in the essence of the river itself. The souls trapped within it had been bleeding their agony into its currents for eons, feeding the insatiable hunger that permeated everything here.

Then all went silent, no sound was perceived, I looked at the ground as a green fire surrounded me while a cocoon of blood wrapped around me.

The cocoon of blood pulsed around me, the green flame at its core flickering with a life of its own. I felt trapped, yet not imprisoned; it was more as if the blood river itself was cradling me, reshaping me from the inside out. My thoughts began to blur. Faces of beings I had never met swirled in my mind, their screams and pleas for release echoing inside my head. I could feel their pain as if it were my own. It was overwhelming, suffocating, but beneath the agony, there was a strange comfort. The river was ancient, eternal, and I was becoming a part of its endless cycle.

I couldn't move, not because I was bound, but because I was… transforming. The green fire inside me flared brighter, and the blood around me responded, tightening its hold. The sensation wasn't painful, just… consuming. My soul felt like it was being scrubbed clean, erasing what little remained of the person I had once been. But as the cocoon constricted, I realized that I wasn't being erased. I was being remade.

The flame inside me flickered erratically, like it was feeding off the energy of the blood. It wasn't just green anymore. Shades of grey and black twisted into the flame's core, giving it an unholy hue. I could feel the hunger rising again, clawing at my insides, but it was different this time. The hunger wasn't desperate or frantic. It was patient. It knew that it would be satisfied soon.

Suddenly, the cocoon cracked, splintering like glass. A surge of power shot through me, and the cocoon shattered, exploding outward. The green flame roared to life, expanding, consuming the blood that surrounded me. My body shot up from the depths of the river, crashing through the surface and landing heavily on the riverbank.

The blood river hissed angrily as the flame around me dissipated, leaving me kneeling on the ground, panting. My skin was slick with the river's blood, but it quickly evaporated, leaving only a faint stain. I could feel the power coursing through me, stronger than before. The flame within me had changed. It wasn't just hunger anymore; it was a living force, a part of me that couldn't be denied.

I looked up and saw Mary standing nearby, She was holding a small sharp crook and her eyes became red and black. She was wearinga new form of dark, tattered clothing, almost like a shepherd's garb, but twisted and sinister, fitting her nature as something beyond human. The lamb she carried had transformed too, its eyes glowing red as its fur seemed to ripple with shadows.

"James i can feel the air brushing against my skin again" She said with a smile, it would have been cute if there weren't countless decaying walking things following behind her, she was probably attacked and now turned them into her lambs. I guess she became the shepherd.

"I feel nothing" I said blankly, she chuckled and then came towards me. She playfully hit me with her crook.

"Well I mean your draining the life out of the ground" I looked at where my hands were touching and saw that the ground beneath me was decaying and the plants were slowly turning into ash. For a moment I sat there then it all stopped, the ground stopped decaying.

I sighed and then stood up. "You're still short"

"Well if you say that I'll just call you dad again" She said mischievously.

"Please, don't." I groaned, shaking off the remaining sensation of power and hunger still coursing through me. Mary grinned, her red-black eyes gleaming mischievously as she twirled her sinister crook. The decaying beings behind her shuffled forward, their empty eyes fixating on me. The green flame in me pulsed again, feeding off the dying remnants of the blood river that still clung to my soul.

"So, what now?" I asked, glancing around the desolate landscape, illuminated by the crimson glow of the blood moon.

"Don't know, first we have to get out of our current predicament" She said with enthusiasm, What did she mean by current predicament.

Suddenly I saw a dark gold light coming between the tree's in the dark, pure white eye stared at us both. "Well ofcourse it is the queen of annoying herself, Goldilocks"

She emerged from the shadows, her golden curls catching the eerie light of the blood moon. Goldilocks looked nothing like the innocent fairy tale character I vaguely remembered. Instead, she was regal, draped in a flowing gown of woven shadows and golden threads. Her eyes, glowing white, pierced through the darkness, locking onto Mary first, then shifting to me.

"I see you've survived the river of blood," Goldilocks said, her voice calm but laced with a cold undercurrent of malice. "And you've brought back a new little flame with you. How… predictable."

Mary stiffened on my back. The playful teasing she had displayed moments ago vanished, replaced by a tense wariness. I could feel her clutching her crook tighter, the lamb at her side shifting uneasily.

"Goldilocks," Mary muttered, her tone cautious, "I see you're still trying to rule this forsaken world of stories. Don't you ever get tired?"

"I have been around longer than any of you, you do not understand what the meaning of tired is little shepherd, You may have become a nightmare Manifestation, but you aren't strong enough to fight me, The Gods won't help you, the angels will tear your soul apart and the demons will devour your remains, You are lucky it is a special night for the young ones today or else I would have simply sent a horde towards you for defecting" Her voice was tinted with deep disdain and hate. I could sense something similar to that thing on her, but it seemed to have been a piece which was forcefully ripped away,and what did she mean by The Gods won't help you,the angels will tear your soul apart and the demons will devour your remains.

She didn't say another word but simply melded into the dark only leaving glowing white eyes beginning which immediately faded away.

"sigh she's gone, well that means she won't interfere with us as long as we don't interfere in her plans."

"I still feel nothing, I means I do but i just feel like my body needs to go on sleep mode in order for my power to be stable"

"We can rest somewhere safe in the forest"

"Sure"