It was the eve of Samhain
I set a place at the table should she choose to visit.
The majority of me feared what would happen if she did, while the other thirsted for it.
I set out apples, tea and honey.
Bread and a bit of whiskey.
If she managed to make it through the veil to our world, she would be satiated and would perhaps spare me.
But the nightmares...
And the sleep walking...
Last night, I woke when I trod on a bushel of thorns and red berries.
I was already halfway to the wood by then.
What had I been dreaming about?
Was it a sweet voice carrying me from bed this time?
The promise of a bounty?
I couldn't remember.
All I knew was that her grip over my entire person strengthened daily during this, the harvest month.
When I was young, I thought she was an angel.
I thought that I had somehow found favor with the fae.
Now I know that the truth is more insidious.
I come from a long line of women gifted with the ability to see through the veil between the living and the dead.
The frightening thing is that the more one looks beyond, the more the beyond stares back.
That is why I have been taught to fear the woods.
The thick trees that twist and wind all together like a maze of bramble.
But I stood in the chilled night air staring into the mouth of the beast.
My breast heaved as I gasped for air.
Sleep still clung in cobwebs over my mind and better sense, so I just stood looking into the darkness beyond the treeline.
A pair of amber eyes stared back.
A cold sweat blossomed across my skin.
She could see me.
And she knew I could see her.
My breath hung in a soft cloud as I exhaled slowly.
If I ran, she would follow.
If I stayed, she might pounce.
And then I heard her voice.
Come
She said.
The words warmed me from the inside out, melting away the fear that had been freezing my blood.
I could feel her voice penetrate my minds defenses.
I took a step toward the trees.
The hair on my body stood on end.
My body, my essence, could feel her.
Was drawn to her.
Come to me
.
Every cell in me wanted to obey.
What was left of my resolve began to melt away as a throbbing began echoing through the depths of my body.
Her voice activated a desire in me so primal, so feral, that fighting against it would prove fruitless.
I took another step forward without telling my legs to do so.
That's it, sweet one. Reach out and take my hand
.
My bare feet found the soft spots of the earth with the grace of a forest dweller, my ancient blood and instincts taking control as I navigated the near total darkness.
Her eyes were a lighthouse, my only tether.
I was awake, but living in her world, one I only ever visited in my dreams.
And then I was beyond the treeline.
Beyond the range of the safety of the protections put in place by the village elders.
She could touch me now.
But nothing happened.
Not right away.
That's right, this way
.
Her voice had captivated every part of my soul.
I made my way deeper and deeper into the woods.
Past the point I dared travel in the light of day.
Beyond the line my grandmother taught me never to go.
As soon at the hem of my night dress crossed the threshold, the seductive power of her voice vanished.
Reality crashed back over me in a wave that could swallow a village.
Now I stood, fully aware of my peril, with no way to find the way back through the woods, even with the full moon's light.
My fingertips found a moss covered tree and I gripped it desperate to find some way to ground myself to the earth.
Here in the still cold I wanted only one thing with the desperation of a dying man.
To not be alone.
I could feel myself beginning to tear up as my panic threatened to overpower my sense.
Rustling of branches and leaves sang all around me.
I couldn't tell if the sounds came from one direction or from all directions at once.
