The Thickety Spellbound: Chapter 4

The water of the woods were red.
It was a natural thing, though unexplained. At the end of each month, the river ran red, and fertilized the soil. This was sacred however, to the Farthers, the near farthest settlement from De’noran. The soil was rugged, and the only rations for food were unfit for consumption.
This time however, something was wrong. The river suddenly became black, and there was a bottle in there. No one opened it.
They had no idea what was coming for them.
…

Paula began her second day of school with a scratch. It was not there before.
It could be nothing, she thought.
Right?
School now was getting harder. Each day was reviewing old things long forgotten. Paula didn’t know when it would stop. But Vanessa was getting hit the hardest. She now struggled to read the lips of the teacher.
The end of the school week was marked with exams. They were on math, English, and science. To make matters worse, the Overseer was determined to make the kids learn the required things that they needed to learn. There was also the criminal that they arrested last week. He was screaming about the “downfall of the Fold.”
This, in turn, led to Paula having less sleep than usual. Her dreams were filled with visions of dark owls, which were telling him to come closer.
Then she woke up.
…
Since she was tired, she decided to go for a walk in the forest. She would be back by dawn, she thought.
The night was filled with sounds and smells Paula had never heard before. There was an awakening in her mind. This place was both beautiful and dangerous. You had to treat it with caution on both sides, because you never knew what could come trampling out of a corner. She walked with doubt. The edge of a shrub looked so sharp it looked like it could slice you in half.
Paula tripped, and out of curiosity, looked down. A book appeared to be buried in the bare earth. She took it out, and looked at the cover. It was too dirt ridden to make out what it was saying.
Then she heard a whisper, coming from behind her. A raspy voice saying her name
“Paaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuulllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Cooooooooooommmmeeee heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeereeeeeeee.”
Paula ran for her life. The book was in her hand. She didn’t look behind, for fear of slowing down. She ran all the way back to her home. Luckily, it was still midnight, so the house was still asleep.
She sneaked back in, and waited for sleep to take her away to sweet dreams.

My true purpose is to eat.


Paula woke up to an overly bright sun. The book was luckily, still in her grasp.
Out of curiosity, she opened it. It contained…nothing. However, there was a blacked-out page. She checked, and there were 3 of them. The rest of the pages were unwritten on. The effect was… disconcerting, to say the least. She ignored it, however, and hid the book in her room.
At school now, they were learning about the wildlife in the Thickety. It was filled with many things such as Gra’daks and squits.
“You should never go to the Thickety alone. It is a dangerous place to be if you are young, or a girl. We would not endanger our future as servants to our mate, would we?” the orator said.
If Paula heard another talk of how they needed to be good wives, she would explode. The fact of being a servant was limiting to her. She hoped she never grew up to be a wife, or she wouldn’t take this village anymore.
And to add to that, Vanessa was now questioning her status as the Weaver.
Now they look at me with contempt, she explained.
Paula ignored her.
…
When she came home, she opened the book.
Without warning, Paula muttered some unfamiliar syllables in her head.

Out of nowhere, the floor began to shake. Paula wondered what she’d done now. Then a worm popped out.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another…
until a pile of worms was writhing in front of her. It was massive and Paula wondered how to get rid of it.
Out of her head, another group of syllables came.
She said them, and the worms disappeared.
After that, she was terrified. What would happen if her family found out?
The village would never allow it, let alone your own family, she thought.
She left the room and swore she heard whispering from the book.