Athena's Story - Chapter 2

         As the dusk settled over the mountains, the forest came alive. A fox slunk through the underbrush, careful not to step on twigs or the dry leaves of autumn that peppered the ground liberally. In a quiet clearing, a family of deer walked slowly out, listening for danger. Overhead, an owl swept through the air, its sharp eyes scanning the forest floor for small rodents or lizards to snatch up in its sharp talons. Up in the hills, past the babbling brook and the thicket of blackberry brambles, at the mouth of a small cave, the earth trembled, rising and falling like a living, breathing thing. The animals kept far away from this cave, fearing the way that the air smelled like burning flesh and the ground pulsated beneath their feet. The fish that went past as they swam through the little stream lost consciousness, and birds that flew overhead gratefully circled around rather than flying directly over. Even the trees that grew over the cave, on the retched hill, were gnarled and twisted. Their deformed, blackened shapes stank of rot. Dead, yet alive, feeding their roots deep into the soiled earth. The land was bare, but the grasses that could grow were wild and quite content to find a foot tramping through, wrapping their blades around boots or fur and ensnaring the creature that had dared to intrude.
         This was a place of despair, where no one had ever come back from. If one were to venture into the mouth of the cave, deep into the darkness, they might trip over human remains, once belonging to people who became lost and were looking for shelter, or a hiker wanting to explore the wide area and map out the land, dreams that would never come true. Humans are curious beasts. They could not feel the land breathing under their boots, nor sense the thickness of the air. But even such an ignorant creature can die at the hands of that which they cannot see. Whole skeletons, some still with rotting flesh clinging to the pale white bone, littered the cave. They did not die horrific deaths. Most died in sleep, drifting off into the darkness to never return to their bodies. Some felt the strangle hold of the dark, as if the very shadows themselves had fingers squeezing around their throats, dying as their hearts stopped, or their lungs could no longer pull air in, or their chests imploded as if something was wrapped too tightly around them. The human corpses remain untouched, for whatever lay in the depths of the cave had no interest in their flesh, nor their belongings.
         It thrived on dreams, nightmares that ran through the heads of the wildlife, picturesque scenes of gore and murder in the minds of the humans who went terribly insane before death overtook them. It lived off of the screams, the fear that lies within the hearts of every living creature. It wished for only one thing, and patiently waited for that day to come when its endless hibernation would end, waking into a world that would bear it no welcome.
         Off in the distance, a girl sighed as she and her father drove toward their new home. In the darkness of the cave, something snapped into place and the shadows seemed to gather. Two sharp, bright white eyes, lacking pupils and emotion, opened. They stared into the distance, both seeing and not seeing the path before them. An inaudible growl filled the cave and spread outward. A young rabbit, not wise enough to stay far away that had stopped for a drink of water perked up its ears and fell dead, slumped on the embankment. It was time. It... had awoken.