Ava glanced around at the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery in front of her. The cabin looked more vibrant than what she remembered. The sun hit the cabin perfectly in every way, leaving the wood in a glowing hue. The garden had overgrown as every single flower, bush, tree and, grass strand had grown way out of proportion. Yet, the sunlight hit everything perfectly, down to the very water drops on the grass, making the entire scene in front of her ethereal.
Ava turned her head in the direction of the waterfall to her right. The noise would have drowned out the singing of the birds, but at the moment it didn´t make a single sound. Fish jumped up and into the waterfall over and over again. She could feel her mouth twitch into a smile.
It didn´t take long before she could feel the light shower coming from above. The rain was so thin and light that it felt like being lovingly caressed on her skin. Ava tilted her head backward and stretched her arms out to take in the entire scene. At this moment, she had never felt more at peace. Everything was in complete harmony around her. It was everything she had ever wanted.
She looked up at the birds which flew over her head with a smile on her face. As she looked up at the flock of birds, she wondered what it felt like to fly.
"You´re finally home."
Ava turned her line of sight over at the direction where the voice came from. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at the man standing by the cabin door, with a relaxed posture and a warm smile on his mouth. The man´s brown hair pushed away from his face, and from her position, she could see that he had newly showered.
Right away, her stomach told her that something wasn´t right. The man in front of her was a stranger, which was conventionally too good-looking to be authentic. Nonetheless, she got drawn to his presence. Her feet carried her closer to him. The grass tickled her bare feet as she closed the distance between them and dampened the bottom of her skirt.
As she got closer, she could see the bright golden eyes of the man - a surreal color. The core of a fire stared right at her, threatening to swallow her whole.
During her brief walk, the rain started to get thicker. The wind got stronger, gripping hold of her clothes and hair. The birds got louder and closer. The hairs on her arms rose due to the bad feeling in her stomach. Her body refused to take another step closer to the cabin. Every sense of survival instinct screamed at her: do not move closer.
He continued to speak to her with his silky smooth voice which made her gut turn in her stomach. During the last few moments, the rain had started to pour down. She could barely see him anymore due to the heavy rain, which was now pouring horizontally due to the forceful wind.
She couldn´t think, catch her breath, let alone react as the first bird flew directly at the cabin´s windows. The sound of the bird breaking its neck as it hit the window echoed through the rain, completely drowning out the noise of the water. Ava could only watch as the birds took turns flying against the window, killing themselves.
Not long after, the rain blocked out the view of the suicidal birds. The water had both changed color and thickness. It got harder to breathe as the blood poured down from the sky, painting the entire scenery into a bloody mess. By turning her panic into willpower, Ava managed to turn her head away from the birds. She looked now directly over at the waterfall, dyed in the same crimson color as the rain.
Instead of fish jumping out of the water, it was humans. They were all jumping out of the water, attempting to keep their heads above the surface. Ava could again only watch as they all eventually drowned due to the flood and thick blood.
"This is not real", she whispered. "It´s a nightmare."
Growing up, she always could tell when her nightmares were only a dream. Yet, her body refused to wake up and get her out of this. It had taken her a while to realize that it was a nightmare. Her gut told her the truth, as it always did.
The entire scenario in front of her was too unrealistic to be true. She was sleeping. It was just a nightmare. Suddenly the man stood in front of her, his entire face dark, except for the fiery amber eyes.
"It will be."
Ava sat up in shock. Her breathing was rapid as she looked around in the darkness. Her forehead burned in the exact spot where the man had touched her in the nightmare. She furrowed her eyebrows to relieve some of the pain, which didn´t help.
She looked in the direction of where the object had landed a day ago, mentally cursing it out. She had no idea what it was and only knew that it came from the woman who had called her the devil's child.
Ava let out a scoff as she realized that she was now getting paranoid. Shortly after waking up from her dream, she had been doubting that the object had something to do with witchcraft. Ava reminded herself that it was probably only a bracelet or the tail of a rat. Whatever it was, she wanted nothing to do with it.
She could somewhat understand the mass hysteria about witches. If she could get paranoid about witchcraft, anyone could get paranoid. Nonetheless, she blamed them for creating mass hysteria. Witches aren't real. The devil wasn't either.
Ava couldn´t help but find resemblances between the man in her dream and what she believed the devil would be; charming, with ungodly looks, seductive but radiating a terrifying presence.
She cracked a broken smile as she realized how being in this cell messed with her head. It had just been a bad dream. The older woman a few days ago was just old, senile, and crazy. It wasn't anything else.