In the depths of a temperate forest, a raven-haired girl could be seen, lying unconscious with on a pile of leaves. Surrounded by warm autumn colours; yellow, orange and red, Lydia’s pale skin, littered with scars and bruises, looked out of place, and the bone-deep gashes going up each of her wrists were an especially jarring sight. Held loosely in her hand was a small kitchen knife, it’s blood stained blade glinting under the afternoon sun.
None, including Lydia herself, would ever truly understand why she chose to end her life on incongruous foliage, but as her heartbeat slowed, the blood spilt onto the leaves beneath her dried, and it began to burn. Burning silently, a bright yellow fire spread, but most of the leaves remained unharmed.
Unlike the other leaves, twigs and branches scattered around the forest floor, no trees could be found within twenty five meters of this strange pile, and no grass grew on the deep black soil surrounding it. If looked at from above, Lydia might have noticed the leaves were meticulously arranged, in colour-coordinated circles, yellow being the centre, followed by various shades of orange, then red. Perhaps if she could have stayed awake a little longer, she would have seen the yellow leaves surrounding her body shrivelling as the flames coated them.
Beneath her bloody arms, where a few yellow leaves once were, small piles of ash were formed within the flames, staining the blue cotton dress she wore. They travelled quickly across her body, crossing over every scar and circling every bruise. It’s trail paused as it reached her unmoving heart, where it was divided, half stayed on her chest and the other continuing on its path, stopping at her forehead.
After completing their journey, the ashes started to float, creating a soft yellow glow as they danced with the fire on her skin, covering the dead girl from head to toe.
Hours passed, the flames dwindled, and the ashes sank into Lydia’s skin, healing her wounds as they were drawn in. The girl who had wanted to disappear in the early afternoon, now had more radiant, scarless skin and a stronger heartbeat by evening. The odd leaves she had found comfort resting in, were now a much smaller heap of orange and red.
Before the sun set, the girl glanced at the sky before slowly lifting her head, laughing softly to herself as she shook out the grass and dirt stuck to her light brown hair. She couldn’t remember falling asleep in the forest again but she didn’t mind. She couldn’t remember much of anything really, but she felt like no one would care about her absence. Struggling to sit up, she looked around her and spotted what looked like a knife covered in dirt and black dust on the ground beside her hand. It was a brittle black blade, similar to a small knife in shape but it lacked a handle.
It’s strange to leave such a dangerous thing in the forest.
She planned to bring it back to the house where she usually slept, it should be somewhere outside the forest. Wanting to search her outfit for any pockets, Lydia let out a short horrified scream when she realised the comfortable dress she wore was now slightly charred, riddled with small holes, and stained with dirt and various black patterns. The changes of the dress were obviously unnatural, but she couldn’t find any reasonable explanations for it’s damage around her.
With a resigned sigh, she stood and cut two long strips of cloth off the bottom of her dress, used one to wrap the blade and another to tie the blade to her thigh.
A few deep breaths later, she dusted off her clothes and started walking, stepping on leaves and twigs as she went down an unmarked path, hoping it would lead her towards her house. Stumbling over fallen trunks and leaf covered tree stumps, the walk out of the forest was quite difficult but the girl didn’t stop, searching through her scattered memories for useful information as she moved.
Something was wrong with her memory.
She remembered having a house, a place to live outside the forest, but she didn't know where it was, or what it looked like. She didn't know if she lived alone or with others, where she bought groceries from, how she made money. She couldn't remember any of it. She only knew she had a house somewhere, but the forest was better. It was her safe haven, in the forest she was free.
But what was she running from?
Running a hand through her hair, she stopped walking and forced herself to think. She knew her name, she was Lydia, but all other information was shrouded in heavy fog.
Something was terribly wrong with her memory!
It isn't logical to have amnesia after an afternoon nap, so something must have happened to her.
With this realisation came a splitting headache, and Lydia found it difficult to stay standing. Hands clutching at her light ginger haired head, she found it increasingly difficult to control her body. Her limbs felt like they were made of lead instead of flesh and blood. The sharp pain in her head made it hard to focus, but she struggled to keep her body upright, because something wanted her to lie down.
And she didn’t know what it was.
At this point she realised she was only half correct with her last guess,
There was something terribly wrong with her body, not just her memory!
But what was it?
And why?
In a moment, the headache was gone, but in it's place came whispers. Hoarse low shouts and moans, echoes from far and near, inaudible whispers and mumblings in a language and tone she couldn't understand. Everything hit her ears at once, but nothing made sense. She couldn’t understand what was happening, but her body didn’t want to give her time to react.
Because it moved.
Her body was moving.
And she couldn't control it!
