Winter Nights of Hell

Chapter Fourteen

Escape

 

Tap Tap Tap

Tap…. Tap….. Tap…

“Hello? Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?” 

…

“Hello? Please, can someone help me?!”

…

…

“Please… Don’t leave me alone.”

My head shot up quickly, my eyes widened as they scanned the clearing. Nothing but darkness around me in the tiny room, with a few of the lantern lights flickering through the door to the spa. Sweat dripped off me as I stared around the area, wondering what that strange noise was. There was no one in the room except myself, but where was I hearing this voice? It sounded like it belonged to a child. Perhaps it was just a dream… A sigh escaped me as I tried to calm myself. I realized I was sweating but a cold breeze came in through the cracked door, making the curtains billow and it felt like ice on my skin. I shivered involuntarily, still sweating at the same time. What? I can hear the wind howling outside but not the child’s voice. I close my eyes and try to think of something warm, but all I can think about is the cold breeze on my skin and the voice. 

I got up to close the door that led to the outside area only to realize how foggy it looked outside. Curious, I stepped into the cold area only to see the atmosphere completely change into an ice-covered snow zone. How was that even possible?! It was not at all snowy earlier! It was such a beautiful day, filled with nothing but sunshine here in the human world! When I turned back around to go back into the room, to my surprise, it was gone. Behind me was just another open snowy zone. The only thing that stretched out behind me was snowy-terrain and ice-covered rocks, no trees, no animals, nothing. Just rock and snow. The breeze here was chilly, and I could feel it seeping into my body, almost as though I were freezing. It seemed to be an empty dream of some sort. If it was a dream though, why was I able to feel the cold flow through me? I could feel the cold whisk through my legs and my hair, blowing it through the wind. My gaze trailed down my body and to where I stood, only to realize that I was wearing a bright red dress. I did not remember changing before going back inside, but if this was a dream, who knows what the hell was happening? 

“Hello?!” I called out to the empty surroundings of nothing but the snowfall.

No answer.

I could feel a presence though, something was there. It didn’t feel like an evil presence, or something threatening. It felt warm. It was a warm feeling that meshed into the cold breeze. It felt almost magical. As I turned, I could feel the magic grow slightly stronger, and began to trudge through the thick snow towards this feeling. This was not the atmosphere of the area, but maybe I could figure out what it was. Perhaps I could find where this feeling was coming from and why it felt like it was reaching out to me and dancing around me. 

I made my way towards the warmth reaching out to me, pushing myself to trudge through this snow in my bare feet, feeling the snow crunch between my toes. Soon after walking, my feet were numb to the cold. I was in the cold, but I could feel nothing under my toes anymore. I scanned the area, hoping to maybe see someone else there, but it was empty. I saw nothing nor heard anything but the breeze that whipped past me. 

“Helloooo?” I called out again, in hopes that I could perhaps see if anyone else were there.

Of course, no answer. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I had seen something flicker, so I stopped again and turned to face the shadowy dream world. I couldn’t see anything beyond the shadows though, even if I stared hard. Turning back to the shadowy, dense path in front of me as it skimmed back and forth, I could see something of a golden color shimmering in the shadows. The warming feeling was coming in the direction of the golden beam in the distance, and I began to pick up speed the best I could while trudging through the snow barefoot but unable to feel anything beneath my toes. All I had was a crunch crunch crunch. The rest of my body had been replaced by a warm feeling as well, and I was no longer feeling the cold. 

The golden glow felt like it was forever away, and it didn’t seem like it was getting any closer the nearer I felt like I was getting. The warmth burning inside my body felt stronger, and the atmosphere was surely shifting as I neared the presence. It nearly felt magical. The terrain became a bit rougher, and a lot more slippery as well. I was doing my best to grab onto rocks and branches nearby so I wouldn’t fall and bust my head, in my dream. If this was a dream, couldn’t I just like, fly to the light? I began to think about wings spurting out of my back, and taking flight to the light, but unfortunately, nothing happened. Ugh. You’d think I’d be able to control my dream, but I guess not. 

That’s when I saw something flicker again - and this time, I know I did. I completely stopped in my tracks, gripping the snow underneath my toes. Still felt nothing, no cold nor heat. It was strange. Looking off to the side of the shadowy distance, I could see something blue - it looked similar to the little blue glow that belonged to Yushin when I first met him. Was that… Perhaps Yuna’s light here in the dream world? Surely it had to be. Completely ignoring the presence that was calling me to the light, I fully turned my attention to the blue glow hidden in the shadows. I called out to her, “Yuna? Yuna is that you?!” 

But as I called out, the light began to fade away by wandering further into the hazy distance. 

“Yuna, stop!” I called out to the little blue light, “I mean if you are Yuna!” My entire mindset wanted to chase after her, but that warm feeling disappeared as soon as I turned my attention away from the golden lights. I was hesitant to go after the blue light, but I also needed to see what the golden area was. 

Nope, screw it. I needed to find out if Yuna was here.

So I immediately changed directions and chased after the blue light. As I disappeared into a heavily hazy part of my dream, things became so foggy around me that the only thing I could see was that blue speck. The atmosphere had grown cold and became so tight around me, but I wasn’t giving up. This was my dream, this was my choice. I had to push through this and get to that blue light. Who knows if I’ll ever see it again! I took a deep breath, trying to adjust my breathing techniques, which I had no idea how to do but I once read it in a book. It’s similar to a kind of training before you go into a very high-altitude of mountains - which this felt like. Granted, I was from the high mountains and my breathing was slightly adjusted to those terrains, but this was different. This atmosphere felt cold and just… Not right. 

I could tell that I was finally nearing the blue spark, and then something blocked me immediately. Something like a giant wall. Taking a step back, I stared at the barely visible giant wall that was blocking my path the entire way from what I can see to the left and the right. It was a large wall, so I obviously couldn't climb over it. I put my hand up to the wall, watching the little blue light dance around on the other side. When I put my hand up, I could see a tinge of red surrounding my hand and I frowned. I tried my best to push through it, pushing all my weight onto it. I tried so hard, and any body part that touched the wall, the wall would turn a red color to outline my body. Why wouldn’t it let me go through?

I continued to push, now throwing my shoulder into it. But it wouldn’t budge. So I began to pound on the wall, yelling, “Yuna!!! Let me in! I can help you!” 

The blue light kept dancing on the other side, flickering all around the area.

“Hello?” I heard a voice reply to me. 

I stopped pushing on the wall, my eyes darting around the area to find out where the voice came from. It was very young, sweet, and innocent. It sounded familiar to the voice that I heard earlier. “Yuna?” I called out, trying to find the voice again. 

“Who is Yuna? I’m not a Yuna. Are you here to help me?” The voice, which sounded as though it belonged to a young girl. 

I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, so I took a step away from the wall and continued to look around. Then my gaze focused back on the blue light. “Are you… Not Yuna?” I stared at it fluttering, just watching me. 

“My name is Sora. . . Can you help me please?” The voice immediately sounded from behind me.

The sudden voice caused me to jump and turn around and what my eyes fell upon scared the living daylight out of me. A little girl, no older than maybe seven years old, was standing there holding a few white flowers in her hands. Her hair was light blue and glowing in the dark haze and wearing a black and white winter coat with black boots. Her crystal-blue eyes looked very sad, cheeks slightly puffy as if she were crying.

I was so stunned to come across this little girl in my dream. Why was she here? Why was she in the middle of darkness? I glanced over my shoulder to the invisible wall where I could see the light blue spark just sitting there now, flapping little wings now. It was a little blue circle with little wings. It stopped dancing around and was just floating there. 

“Can you please help me? I don’t know what happened to my mommy,” She whispered, sniffling. “It’s so dark and cold here,” She cried to me, eyes beginning to form tears.

I didn’t even know how to respond, but seeing this little girl standing here and crying broke my heart. I needed to help her, somehow. “Did you say your name was Sora?” I asked her gently, falling to my knees and getting at her level. “How old are you…?” 

She nodded slowly, “I was with my mommy, and then… Something happened and she, I don’t know. She just disappeared when I saw these flowers. I am 6!” The little girl held out the flowers to me, smiling profusely at them, she seemed so proud for a moment. 

I examined her and then the flowers. Sora didn’t appear hurt, looked nearly perfect with not a single scratch or bruise anywhere. “Do you remember where you got these flowers?” I asked her gently. 

“No, I’ve been in the dark for a while… I’m scared of the dark and monsters,” Her lips quivered as she lowered her heart-breaking gaze to the flowers.

I scooted a tad bit closer to her.

“Are you a monster? Your dress is really pretty, which is why I don’t think you’re a monster,” She said to me, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her black jacket dress and rubbing her eyes. “I feel sleepy, but I can’t go to sleep…”

“I’m no monster, Sora. My name is Snow,” I murmured to her gently, getting closer to her. 

“Snow? Like, the stuff that falls from the sky?” She questioned me, her gaze returning to my own.

Offering a gentle smile, I nodded. “Yes. Your name is Sora, like the sky, isn’t it?” I asked her, stopping a few feet away from her and sitting on my knees, with my hands in my lap. 

“Mommy said I had hair like the color of the sky, but the kids at school made fun of me and they said it was different and weird,” She whimpered, gaze dropping back to the flowers in her hand.

This little girl, as adorable as she was, made me so heartbroken. “I remember when kids in school would laugh at me for my hair,” I told her, gently grabbing a strand of my hair and twirling it. “You know what I told them?”

“What did you tell them?” Sora asked me, her voice perking up a bit. 

I smiled brightly, “I told them, I was perfect just the way I was and that I was there to stand out and brighten the world.”

“Brighten the world?” She repeated.

I nodded, “That’s right. Our hair brightened the world.”

The little girl smiled just a tad bit, her sniffles beginning to fade away and her tears drying up a bit. “Like a star?”

“Like a star,” I whispered to her, offering a hand out to her. “Would you like to come with me? We can find your mother together, or bring you to someone who can,” I told her.

She reached out to my hand and something connected with me as soon as her palm hit mine. My entire body tensed up, and I felt a flame shooting through me, like a strong magical power nearly. I grasped her hand in mine and stood up as best I could without tipping over with how tense I felt. 

“Someone was here with us, my mommy and I,” She told me, not feeling anything from our touch.

The touch was so warm, and I swear the fog began to lift as she connected with me. My gaze scanned the clearing, watching as it slowly faded away. “Do-do you remember who it was…?” I asked her.

“It was a big fluffy bird… An Owl! I love owls!” 

“An Owl…?” I questioned, frowning. 

“Mhm! It called itself the… Um, I think it’s named… Um, I’m trying to remember!” 

An owl was with this little girl? So what happened to the owl? Did it get hurt or perhaps it decided to abandon her? Who was this little girl?

“Mati! It called itself Mati!” She squealed happily, excited that she remembered the name.

“Mati, ok. Well, maybe we can find Mati and we can get you back to where you need to go.”

“The owl stated that it was bringing me to my new home, and that’s when something weird happened and it got all shadowy like this, and then poof, it was gone!” 

Listening to her story, I couldn’t help but frown. What did she mean by new home? I had no idea where her home was, and why was she even in my dream? A deep breath escaped from me as I tried to put my mind together. Since I was unable to break through this wall, maybe I could help her get to wherever she needed to in my dream. My body was still tense from whatever connection I had to this little girl, but I straightened out and gazed over my shoulder again. The blue light was gone, but the wall was still there. I tried to push through the wall again, but it was no luck. The wall was solid, but see-through. Luckily though, the fog was beginning to lift. With the fog fading, my surroundings became a bit more clear - but still very hazy. Like, it wasn’t foggy but it was almost like things were mashed together and twisted. 

I wasn’t sure what to do with this little girl, but I had to help her somehow. Hopefully, this wasn’t some trick being played on me. Then I remembered that strong pull that I felt earlier, the one that was leading me towards that golden light but it had disappeared after I turned to, what I thought, was Yuna’s light. Disappointment sure hit me when I stuck on the other side of that magical wall. Certainly a strange dream…

An extremely faint feeling of that magical pull earlier and I began to make my way towards that feeling. It was the only hope that I currently had of finding this little girl either the owl, ‘Mati’ or just somewhere she was familiar with. However, being in the middle of wherever I was, who knew what lay ahead? My legs began to climb what felt like an uphill area, guessing we were climbing something. The ground was nearly clear for me to see where I was. It looked like Sora and I were walking up a pathway. It was a narrow pathway, but it was large enough for us.

“You know something,” Sora spoke up, breaking the surrounding silence, “You remind me of a Princess.”

“Why’s that?” I asked her, engaging in her conversation.

“Your dress and your hair are really pretty. Nothing like the scary monsters!” 

“Have you seen any scary monsters?” I asked her.

She squeezed my hand and avoided my gaze as she replied, “There was something following my mommy and me, but when I was separated from her, that’s when Mati came into view. Wherever he flew, a light would shine. He lightened up the dark fogginess.”

“That sounds scary,” I murmured to her gently, gazing around the clearing to see if anything was following us. 

“It wasn’t that scary! Mati said he would bring my mommy back to me when I got to where he wanted us to go! So I trusted him.” She smiled.

“Did you ever see the scary monster?”

The girl had to stop for a moment, thinking as she put her hand to her mouth, “Hm… I’m not sure. I might have seen its face, but I couldn’t tell. It was like floating in the trees. It looked like another person, but I did see something red… maybe orange? I don’t know, I’m sorry!” 

I smiled gently at the little girl and reassured her calmly, “It’s okay. If it was dark, I can totally understand! Do you see the golden-colored light ahead of us?” I asked her, pointing in the direction we were approaching.

She nodded.

“Great, we’re going to go there! As soon as we get to the top of this hill!”

“Ok!” 

We continued our way up to the top of the hill, pausing every few steps so Sora could take a break. This hill was even a lot for me. When I heard a rustling noise off into the distance beside me, I froze and peered into the light haze, trying to find what made that noise. Perhaps it was just the wind rustling up some of the dark leaves. 

Sora had made her ahead of me, pausing at the top of the hill. The little girl gasped, “Wow! 

I continued to stare into the distance, but couldn’t make anything out through the shadowy haze. I slowly diverted my gaze back to the blue-haired girl in front of me at the top of the hill. Hearing her excitement at the top of the hill, I was now extremely curious to know what exactly was up here and what was giving off that golden glow. Making my way up a bit quicker, I fell into step beside her and I was shocked.

What lay in front of me was a huge, stone arch in the shape of a full circle, shining a bright gold color. Behind the stone arch lay another circle, but a magical circle. It was rotating clockwise with different lines and shapes - almost like a maze in the second circle. The large stone arch had all different patterns on it, from lines to leaf-shaped patterns, to circles, and squares. Leading to the magical arch, I could see a path lit up with little flickering golden lights - almost like fireflies flying around it. What surprised me even more was the view from behind the arch. At the top of this hill, behind this arch, was a sky full of actual clouds that lay against a golden-orange sunset. Grass lined the area and bushes sat on the side of the arch and even grew up the sides of the arch, standing out. When my gaze scanned over the arch, I noticed even stars were in the sky. Like, this thing was amazing and beautiful! I was so stunned, unable to talk or walk to the arch. 

“This is what Mati must have been talking about!” The little girl squealed. “He said the golden lights were my new home!” 

“W-wh-what?” I murmured.

The little girl began to run towards the golden arch, ignoring the entire area. 

That’s when I heard rustling from behind me again and I saw a very faint pair of almond-shaped eyes, staring at us. Its eyes were red like blood, shimmering extremely faintly in the dark. I returned my attention to the little girl in front of me, fearing for her and my life. Whatever was watching us was not friendly, every instinct in my body told me to run but I couldn’t scare the little girl. I had to get her to whatever this thing was. The magic that came from this arch called out to me, and that warm feeling was coming from this arch - this magical arch. Was it... A portal? It had to be. No doubt in the back of my mind was, not a portal. That’s when I saw something next to the portal - a blue figure. It wasn’t Yuna - no, it was an owl - that must be Mati.

“Mati!!! You found me!” The girl squealed, running towards the owl.

The owl tilted its head and hooted toward the little girl.

“I’m ok! This girl helped me!” 

But as soon as Sora began to run, that rustling behind me became louder and I heard a low growl. It was moving - whatever it was behind us was moving. The red eyes had moved from spot A to who knows where, and now I was concerned. When I saw something flicker out of the corner of my idea, I scrambled to my feet and took off towards Sora. I tried so hard to get up and not lose my balance as I chased after Sora, scrambling up to her. “Sora, look out!” I screeched at the top of my lungs. 

Sora turned, her wide blue eyes full of fear when she saw something leap out of the bushes.

I did everything I could to pick up my pace and when I figured I was close enough, I leaped at the little girl as well. My body crashed into hers just before the monster pounced on her. I held Sora close to my body, protecting her head from tumbling into the ground. We hit the ground hard, and I heard her grunt with pain as we landed on the soft green grass, side by side. I looked over my shoulder at the monster that had leaped out of the bushes and it had crashed into the cement stairs that were just a few feet away from the large stone edge. It was staggered, and I couldn’t make out what this monster was, but I knew it was large and furry, and dark. Quickly, I tried my best to scramble up to my feet while holding the little six-year-old girl. She was weightless, I was very surprised that she didn’t weigh me down at all. It was strange, almost like I was holding nothing… 

The Portal, go quickly. I heard a voice in my head. 

My gaze transferred to the owl who was sitting on the stone edge right in front of the portal. 

I nodded to it and began to make my way up the tiny incline that led to the golden arch. I felt like I wasn’t carrying anything - she was that light. Why? My gaze flickered to the little girl who wasn’t even solid in my arms anymore. She was almost transparent. What was happening?!

Was she fading away?!

No way, that’s not possible, was it?! 

What the hell was this little girl?! 

I shook my head, ignoring the fact that she was transparent. I held the little girl close to my body, feeling her warmth turn cold. The owl flew to the golden arch beside me, and I stole a glance over my shoulder to see that the demon-beast had recovered. It was now up on all four feet, staring at me with angry blood-red eyes. I could see dark energy beaming from this demon. Turning my attention back to the little girl, I could see her transparent body slightly outlined in a golden-yellow color, shimmering. A few feet in front of me, I came into contact with the owl who was still just sitting there being completely useless. I glared at it, hoping it understood my anger towards it being useless! 

As soon as I reached the golden arch, every space between the stones began to glow - lighting up extremely brightly. Something grabbed my foot though, forcing me to lose my balance and fall, face first and dropping Sora. 

“Snow!” The little girl screamed to me, “Snow, get up! Come on, we’re almost there! Come on Princess!” She called to me as she was fading in and out of the area.

I tried my best to reply, but I could feel the monster tugging at my ankle, pulling me backward as I tried to crawl forward. Anger and worry for the little girl filled my body and I tried my best to kick at the monster, trying to kick it in its face. When my foot made contact the third time striking, the monster winced and loosened its grip on my ankle. I was able to crawl a few more feet forward, but the demon then grabbed my other ankle tighter.

I attempted to kick at it again, but my body began to feel a bit numb when the demon grabbed my other ankle and began to pull me back. I did my best to pull myself forward. I looked around for anything that I could use to attack this demon back, but not having my dagger with me hurt my chances. I flipped over onto my back, trying to kick at this demon again. I think I made contact because it winced again, and let go of me again. Doing my best, I tried to pull myself closer to the portal that was lighting up like lightning striking the sky. It was bright, it was warm, and calling for us. The portal was ready to take us away - both of us. However, my body was continuing to numb. This was the same feeling that affected me when I was attacked the first time by the first demon who marked me. 

Please get her home. I looked to the owl, pleading with him to take Sora away. 

The owl's eyes narrowed, its golden gaze staring into my lavender gaze. 

Thank you, Young Aria. The Celestials will not forget.

Aria? Who was Aria? Whatever, this wasn’t the time. 

The owl stretched out its large wings, looking bigger than he originally did. His wings were glowing the same color as the portal, switching from golden to blue and back to golden. The owl takes flight into the golden cloudy sky and lands in front of Sora, blocking her with his wings, ensuring that the only way she could go was back. He was doing his best to get her to go into the portal since I couldn’t make her. And whatever was about to happen, I couldn’t expose myself to a little girl. Who knows who this demon is and what he wanted? 

My attention turned back to the demon who was about to jump back on me, capturing me. My body at this point was numb - my legs weren’t working. What was I going to use to defend myself? I could only attempt to fight it off with my upper-body strength when the little girl was out of sight. I wasn’t going to get away. 

I turned to Sora and gave her a smile, “Sora, go with Mati. He will take you to your new home, I promise you, wherever it is, it’s going to be beautiful~” I told her in the softest voice possible, giving her all the reassurance she needed. I could feel the demon pulling me back, even though I tried my best to kick it off me. 

“No! You have to come with me! You said you would help me!” 

“I brought you to the one who needed to help you, please go with Mati. I’ll be ok, Princesses always win!” I cheered for her, smiling brightly at her with tears beginning to form. I was angry with myself for falling for this demon attack, but grateful I could get this little girl to safety. I watched as Mati the owl continued to guide the little girl into the portal, and the last thing I saw was her face streaming with tears and her hand reaching out to me as she called out my name one more time and within seconds, she was brought into the golden portal and disappeared. I could feel the demon’s anger seep through me, that same poison that I felt the first time I was attacked - that which numbed me like crazy and made me nearly drunk. The only thing I could do was turn towards the demon, locking gazes with its red eyes and throwing a punch or two in its direction. 

However, I got dizzy. The pain felt real and I couldn’t move my lower body - as if it were paralyzed. It was like a snake that had poisoned me - that’s what the pain felt like. But this wasn’t a snake. No, it was a beast of some kind. Soon, my arms began to get tired from trying to fight this demon beast off. When I could finally barely focus on the demon, I made out its body. It was very angry, and anyone and their brother could see that. The only thing I could focus on were those red-blood eyes. With a body resembling that of a lion, bat wings protruding from its shoulders, and an eerily human-like face, complete with razor-sharp teeth. Its tail, meanwhile, is covered in spines that looked deadly to the touch. Whatever beast this was, it wasn’t happy that I let Sora getaway.

But I was. 

And that’s what mattered.

Sora 
And the Portal