In The Dark - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Estella Cassidy Everdark

"I came to the deep shades of the Everdark forest one night, to see the so-called Moon Blossoms. They say it was a rare flower that glimmers as the light of the crescent moon shines on it. I've been hearing these tales from my parents and my parents' parents, but I haven't seen one myself. They say only in Everdark, these flowers seem to grow. In Everdark, where the moon's light's as clear as white. Legends say these flowers bring together one's true love.

However, the townspeople say that there is a dark evil roaming about the Everdark, and that it is dangerous to stray there but I just had to go. I've waited all my life for a crescent moon and now's the time.

I wore my black hooded-cloak with a golden design embroidered on it to keep me warm from the freezing wind and a golden crucifix necklace around my neck to prevent me from harm-- from the evil that they say-- even though I don't believe in such fallacies. I waited until everybody in town are all asleep or are in the inns, before I strolled outside, carrying only an oil lamp and a small basket to carry some moon blossoms on the way back.

I strolled through the rocky road up Everdark Mountain and into the deep shades. Little by little, that place gave me the creeps and wanted to go back but I felt I was nearer and I had to go on. The night was as cold as death and it felt like the trees were watching me. Mist was everywhere and everything that surrounds me looked like withered plants. I was lost and I don't know where to go or what path to take to go back, until I've seen him, a mysterious man staring blankly at the cloud-covered sky. His skin was so pale and white and he had long dark hair. The wind was blowing his fine straight hair and the dark-red cloak around him. He was just waiting. I tried to go near him but I stumbled on a rock and when I looked back to where he was, he was gone.

I heard his voice whisper in my ear but I couldn't find him. 'Follow the petals of the moon blossoms and you will find a path that'll lead you out of Everdark,' said the voice.

As soon as he finished saying those words, light from behind the clouds broke through. I can see the crescent moon and it's as if I can reach it. The light from the moon shone through the woods and upon where I was standing. Those that seemed at first like dead plants, glimmered in silver light. That second, I knew that I was standing in a sea of Moon Blossoms.

A while later, the wind blew and some petals flew in a direction, It was weird but I had to follow those petals. I seemed to have misplaced the basket and forgot all about picking some for souvenirs.

It was unbelievable but the petals just keeps on floating in air in a straight direction. And at last, the moon blossom petals' glimmers died out. It was when the moon wasn't visible anymore. I have come to a deeper yet safer part of Everdark. A path was revealed when the last of the petals have died out. It turned out to be a path from the main road, but it seemed that nobody ever used it because it just leads to a dead end. I followed the path and came by an inn, MarshWoods Inn, it says painted on a sign. Just beside the door, I've noticed something familiar, it was my basket! I didn't know how it got there. I looked inside the basket and was surprised to see what's inside.

A flower as dark as the night, a Moon Blossom it was, and a letter written in script was attached to it, 'We will meet again, soon.'

That mysterious man in Everdark I think I have fallen for him for the first time I've seen him. The shroud that covers him is so intriguing. What was he doing up there, staring the night away? I can somehow feel his loneliness. Somehow, I've felt that way too. Yes, we will meet again soon.
But when? Tonight? Tomorrow?

Days and nights have passed and the wind feels much colder than before. I've been longing to see that man from Everdark again. I've been staring at the moonlit sky everynight, hoping, waiting for the time we would finally meet. The Moon Blossom he gave me, dark and withered, I placed beside the window of my room where I usually sit and stare.

One night, I think I've stayed up too late that I didn't notice that I fell asleep on the chair. I woke up suddenly when the flower started to glimmer in silver, and I felt at that moment that that was the time I've been waiting for. I quickly wore my best dress, my cloak and the crucifix around my neck. My feet just kept on walking as if they had a mind of their own. I felt that I had to stop by MarshWoods Inn.

As soon as I entered the inn, I've noticed by the bar, a strange man in a dark red cloak. I think I've caught his attention. He walked towards me and held out his hand as he reached for mine. What a gentleman! He doesn't talk quite that much. We walked into a room, it was kind of awkward but I was used to those things. We sat down comfortably and talked to each other while he was holding my hand. His hand was pale as white and as cold as the night. I looked at his face and noticed his flawless skin. His eyes were in shades of red, red as blood like his name, Vladmir. He looked at me straight in the eyes when we were talking, unlike other men who date me. They think of me just like any other girl. Dispose after use.

I had longed to see him before and now we're together, getting to know each other better. He gave me a kiss on my hand, I longed for more. It's as if he could read my mind that he did, he gave me another kiss on my lips. He kissed me again and again and again. He stood before me, and we undressed each other little by little while we were kissing. He was quite slimmer than other men i've slept before, contesting their muscles before each other, as if I am a prize to the winner. I feel respected by Vlad when he handles me gently. I believed that he was the man i've been longing for all my life, until...

The sun has risen, and a new day starts. The golden rays of the sun woke me up as I laid on the bed and hoped to wake up with Vlad on my side. Unfortunately, as I looked around, he wasn't.

I got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to check if he was there. I couldn't find him anywhere.

'That jerk!' I said angrily, thinking about the things I've thought about that night. He was just like the others.

But I heard his voice, 'Estella, you have to understand, I am not what you think I am.' He wasn't anywhere I could find, until he called me again. I looked up at the ceiling where there he was hiding, holding onto nothing but there he was sitting on the wall that as if the wall was the floor.

I can't believe my eyes, 'You're a blood-sucker!' I yelled as the blanket slipped from my fingers.

'I won't harm you,' a warm voice came out from his cold body, 'please believe me.. I love you!'

I was wrong. He really was the one man I've been waiting for. I really was in love with him the day I first saw him. Without a word, I turned around unembarrassedly and picked up the blanket, walked towards the window and shut it and covered the holes with the blanket. What was I thinking? I'm with a blood-sucker and the only things that can save my life are the sunlight and the crucifix around my neck. That's what love is all about, taking some risks.

I turned back at him to see him walking on the ceiling towards me. I was scared. 'I love you too,' I said, and I reached for his lips and kissed one more time.

It was just a while then he stopped and said, 'I have to leave.'

I have found the man of my dreams but we could never be together. I wanted to be with him forever, I thought. 'Take me with you. Make me yours. Make me just like you,'

I said those words unexpectedly, losing him would only be like losing my life. I had to be with him, I insisted as I teased him as I held my neck close to him. I was getting ready for the pain but again, upright he was, I tasted his lips and loosened his belt as he explored my body. I pushed him on the bed and made love the second time. He was burning with passion and yet I can feel his cold body. We made love until the sun began to set. I felt really tired and he himself seemed to have extra strength to carry on. I fell asleep and little did I feel the pain on my neck. That was the last of the normal sleeps I have had.

We lived together in his castle atop Everdark. It seemed like it's been forever, our undying love in this unlife. But still, it felt like something was missing. We wanted to have a child, but we never seemed to be lucky to have one, even though we made love almost forever in the halls of Helfort. Even though if I screamed my lungs out when he makes love with me. Even though the walls of Helfort shook hard from dawn until dawn. It was then that I realized that I was infertile and unable to bear a fruit. Maybe that is why I never had any baby after making love with different men.

Upon hearing this, Vlad somehow lost hope, but still he continued his undying love even though only the two of us will share the castle. Since then, he had loved me even more.

One moonlit night, Vlad and I, Estella Cassidy Everdark, were floating down the road. I heard a cry for help and we rushed to where it came from. Vlad came down to help the woman attacked by a man armed with a knife. She was screaming something about her baby. I looked around the rocky road of Everdark and saw a basket rolling and heard a baby crying. The poor baby, I thought, so I flew over hurriedly to get the basket. As I came back to where Vlad was, the baby's mother's throat was cut, and the evil man was dead. I hid the basket behind me to hide her from the violence while Vlad and I have feasted on the blood of the man of evil heart.

Vlad and I buried the mother in Helfort cemetery to commemorate her existence. The baby, we treated as ours. We named her Eno, signifying the fruit eternal bond Vlad and I had, we were as One."