CONTENT WARNING:
This content contains mature situations,
violence, and what some may consider gore and inappropriate for children.
Discretion is advised.
The fading health of pale yellow chrysanthemum flowers are displayed upon a desk in the school house. Victoria stands before the class starting the day's lesson. This morning was quieter. Susanna and Madelief are not here. No laughter to be heard. No impulsive off topic comments. Today's lesson is cursive practice. Victoria is sure they are late. The school day ends. Two seats empty all day.
Victoria knocks. Her knuckles clacking against blue paint with urgency. Geertrudia's front door swings open rapidly. "Victoria?!" Geertrudia says unexpected, "You knock with distress sister… distressed is how you look. What could be the matter?"
It seems there is no need to raise alarm for Geertrudia's state is calm therefore Victoria is certain the girls have simply taken off from school to help their mother at home.
"Forgive me, I am merely curious of the welfare of young Susanna and Madelief for their absence today at school did not go unnoticed by me." Victoria says with a tone of her worries being quelled.
No words arose. Soon Victoria looks up. She sees the paralyzing confusion that adorns Geertrudia's eyes. "To school they went. Thou hast not seen my girls?" Victoria grabs Geertrudia's hands "Not this day. On days previous, doth occurred but a few tardiness, yet still Susanna and Madelief arrive. Always."
Geertrudia looks out beyond her door. Peering over the surrounding fields she speaks ina quiet muster and asks rhetorically, "My girls are gone?"
***
Most of the residents have gathered at the village entrance around the well. Jacob who can be seen to be frustrated talks with Ignaas and Benji. On the outside of the crowd Victoria Stands with Geertrudia, comforting her. Bernardo walks up to Victoria, "What hath transpired?"
"Thus, Susanna and Madelief, They are lost. Jacop is formulating a plan to comb the fields and the woods to find the girls."
"Well, we must do everything we can to find them. How can I be of help?" Victoria reaches one hand over to entwine her fingers in his hand, "All will be well. Let us do as Jacop wishes. They will be found."
Just then, Jacob speaks up to all who've gathered, "We will search in three's. My wife will remain here doth they return. Miss Victoria come join Benji and Tessa."
Pressure closes on both her hands. Letting go of Bernardo's, she hugs Geertrudia and reassures her they will find her girls.
A page of words is written on Bernardo's face. Victoria turns back briefly to see ten thousand words conveyed in his look knowing they are longing to be read. Words she can already hear in his voice. Words she knows she hasn't had the pleasure of listening to in eight years such that be soft pleasures of a vulnerable hearts poetry. She imagines how someday he may say "you are safe, you are free." "I need you, I love you." Even as she joins her search party she can still feel his eyes follow her. Holding onto every second she is within sight.
Jacop instructs Victoria, Tessa and Benji that they will be the group that goes to the east. They will pass the windmill and begin their search in the woods. Knelis walks up with with oil lamps he collected from around the village and hands one to each of them. Their party travels out of Rhode Heuvals. Across the fields. Past the wind mill. Into the woods.
It is past mid-day and the skies are grey and cloudy but there is still daylight making the woods easy to navigate. As they comb through the trees Victoria reminisces about a day back in summer that she spent with Susanna and Madelief. That day she unfolded a sheet to lay down near the pond. Eagerly Susanna and Madelief picked food from a basket Victoria had brought. They sat together surrounded by blooming yellow chrysanthemum flowers. The branches provided the shade and the breeze gave a fragrance while the water emitted a chill. They ate and then they played. Madelief would not go near the water. Her mother taught her plenty of times to avoid it without her near. Every once in a while she would walk near the ponds edge and wag her finger as though to say, "no no no."
Eventually the girls played together as Victoria read while laying on the sheet they laid out. With critical thinking running in the background Victoria strolled over the words in her wilted copy of Marry Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She is on chapter 2: The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character Discussed.
She remembers there being a quietness that filled their space in the trees. On that calm day she lowered the book to see Madelief and Susanna had fallen asleep. Holding one another, they found comfort and dozed off in the grass near the sheet.
As Victoria thinks about that day she smiles to herself amused to recollect the two girls preferring the grass rather than their picnic sheet.
She speaks up, "There is somewhere I wish to search for them. A pond near'r to the north that they are familiar with. I believe-"
"No." Benji says with a deep growling voice over her, without so much as looking in her direction when he speaks.
"Benji," Victoria responds with no submission in her voice, "we are here to find the children."
"No, I say, woman!" once again he keeps with facing in the same direction as his next step. Victoria is perturbed with his abrupt aggression and says as she stops walking, "Thank you for acknowledging that I am a woman. How observant of you. Now allow me to acknowledge you for what I observe, child."
He spins around, "What did you say?!"
"Finally you face me." she says before he gets so close all she can see is him.
"You will mind your tongue lest you beg to be struck in the name of God, wom-" Victoria brings herself only an inch from his face where all he can see are her eyes.
"Sir, you have one opportunity to refrain from threatening me yet again. Break your will to do so and I will show you what I do when I can no longer use my words to resolve a conflict."
He is trembling, infuriated. Tessa watches with amazement how Victoria can stand up for herself with every intention to intimidate and still remain calm with not so much as furrowing her brow or scowling. In this moment Benji resembles that of a rabid dog becoming defensive in the presence of a lion.
"You test me and-" Benji barks but Victoria speaks over him, "More threats, child?" He glares at her with a paper thin squint inside his sun scorched crows feet.
"Find yourself removed before me, or you will learn why I am without fear such. That, sir, is a threat."
Benji flings himself around and continues to walk his previous path. Victoria takes a step forward about to argue for her suggestion of where to search. Tessa lightly puts her hand on her arm.
"Victoria. I believe we are able to divide to search other places. But if we need more than two people we would be lacking. Furthermore, suppose we do divide. What if Benji found them? Do we want Benji to uncover the girls by himself?"
It's not a thought Victoria has to spend too much time on and she replies, "No. I suppose not."
"Very well." Tessa says as she entwines her arm with Victoria's. They walk together step in step. "Victoria? How does one learn to become so… fearless, as you?"
"I suppose, in short. I am not fearless. Simply put, my wishes are behind fear and I suppose, I want it more than I am afraid. "
"That I am sure of. Miss. Victoria, maybe on our way back we can search where you wanted."
Though Benji stays at a distance their party remains together even if not close to one another. They tread through the Zwin woods. They cross patches where there are clearings in the trees untouched by the world where the animals have only ever known the deep privacy of its peace. They linger around ponds looking for any signs that the girls were there. Soon they reenter the thick of the trees and bushes. Tessa and Benji noticeably are having difficulty. For them the trees are a struggle to tread through. They are more focused on the obstacles of nature. Victoria is not compromised by it though. Multitasking proves no challenge. Keen are her observation skills as she takes in the vivid details of what she sees and hones in on the sounds of the environment. She is able to maneuver through the woods and effectively search simultaneously.
***
Sometime passes when they happen upon a shore. Victoria sees the ocean reaching out to a setting sun on the horizon. Black clouds can be seen accumulating. Victoria catches a glimpse of electricity flashing in the clouds.
"Is this the Zwin north sea coast?" Victoria asks Benji. He ignores her.
"Benji. These girls would never come to such a place. Listen to me. They didn't come this far."
He faces her from a distance. After a long pause where he coldly stares at her, he says, "Those girls were simple. I have no doubts they wandered free, do be expectant as I am. They are no more than drowned foolishly. You will come to see, it is what I expect. Without doubt the ocean is the mouth they perished in."
"You believe them dead?" Victoria asks.
"They are only children. You must know they are dead as well."
"I believe no such thing! To believe them simple is only a testament to how little you knew them. Truly an ignorant thought. I saw children who-"
"Gab on you wretched woman." Benji says as he waves her off and continues onto the shore. Victoria screams at Benji, "You will continue by yourself sir. I knew them better and I am for certain they would never have come this far!" She then returns to the woods, west bound. As time passes she can hear Tessa not far behind.
Soon the dark of night takes over the world.
Victoria is in a part of the woods that is easier to walk through when she decides to stop and light her oil lamp. She can see the light of Tessa and Benji's oil lamps when she looks over her shoulder. The shine of one lamp is noticeably closer.
She enters the clearing her party had past earlier. Soon, she is within the confines of trees again, and three lanterns can be seen glowing in the distance. Their lights get closer. As though they stand still. Victoria now sees three people. They hold their lanterns up. It's Pepijn, Kaspar and Jacintha. As she joins them they inform her that their terrain was less restricting. They wanted to search more and their search led them here. Tessa and Benji soon join them.
Benji only speaks to Kasper, "The oil will soon fade and we will be without light. Let us return while we can still see where we are going." kaspar and Jacintha look to each other and begin to nod in agreement.
"Wait." Victoria says. "There is one more place to search-"
"Art thou deaf? The lamps oil runs dry soon-" Benji says raising his voice at her.
"There is still a pond young Susanna and Madelief were very fond of-"
"We aren't going. Quit with your incessantly trite whims-"
"Then return sir!" Victoria barks, raising her voice to Benji. "Return empty handed and tell Jacop and Geertrudia of your dismissal of their girls lives. But be it they hath not perished I will not allow for them to spend even one night, scared and cold, beneath the open sky."
Benji unhesitantly coils his free hand around his shoulder, preparing to back hand her, "I warned you woman!" he makes his hand as flat and as stiff as a paddle. But his wrist never leaves such as a foot in distance from his chest. Gripping his arm is Victoria's hand. He wants to swing at her and when he realizes that wont work he tries to break free of her hold only to fail at that as well for now he discovers Victoria out matches him in strength. Even when he attempts to shove her back She is unaffected by his force. With a haste, Kasper steps between them nudging Benji back in the process. He points at Benji, "There is no need for your violence sir. Especially to Miss. Victoria who did nothing to earn it."
Jacintha says to Victoria, "My lady, whatever is the matter." Victoria replies, "There is a pond. Morning after morning they have visited. One, I have known them to doze off near. They could be there resting. It is but a chance. But a good chance, I am certain of it."
Kasper joins them, "Let us search this pond. I assure you, the lamps will remain lit. Lead the way. We will join you."
After looking Kasper over for a sign of sincerity Kasper reads truthful and Victoria hesitates not a moment more. She leads the party through the woods. Even Benji follows close behind. The onyx clouds hold reign over the sky eating the light of the woods to then drown it in the trench of an ocean's deep black. The kindle of their lanterns seemingly fights to illuminate even their foreground. Proving to be a mere dim glow.
As they arrive in the area of the pond Victoria takes pause to look around for any sign of the girls. Using the weak glow their lanterns emit the rest of them move forward. Benji is taking hesitant steps. He's going to the pond. The party now behind him. They continue searching the clearing. He raises his oil lamp. He stops and shudders. There is man. His figure is large. Broad shoulders wrapped in a fisherman's coat. Black hair parted down the middle with stitches. The man sits at the ponds edge. Benji gets a little closer. He can almost see something. Pale. In each arm he cradles Susanna and Madelief whose faces harness a pale lifelessness that even the oil lamps dim glow can convey.
Like a siren blaring with alarm, Victoria, along with the rest of the party are surprised with the accosting scream Jacintha bellows out in horror as she discovers the girls are but corpses now. As Kasper and Tessa come to her aid she cries, "Young Susanna! Young Madelief! No! No!"
"God help us." Kasper exclaims pulling Jacintha's closer.
Benji waves his lamp towards their motionless faces once over and says, "They smell of death."
Victoria sees the side of Madelief's face. She thinks about Madelief's little fingers rubbing the fabric of her skirt with a smile that pinched her eyes shut. She thinks about Susanna jumping under her covers last night, eager to spout about her endless inquiries.
Pale. Pale are their faces. So pale they glow in comparison to the night. Their heads rest within the mans elbows as though he lulled them to sleep. They look peaceful with their eyes closed wrapped inside his cradle.
A collective weeping emerges from Tessa, Kasper and Jacintha. Though it can't be seen, Benji's snarl is so deep it can be heard obscuring his howl as he asks, "Did you commit this monstrosity?" to which a soundless void rounds their senses. A grim song of which there is no melody or tune.
"Sir!" Benji yells, "Why don't you answer me? Have you fallen ill?"
"He asked you a question!" Kasper yells.
Benji becomes even more aggressive and screams upon an unhearing world with more pressing questions, "Who are you traveler?! Tell me thy name!" to which Benji then kicks him in the back with his heel. For Benji it was like kicking a boulder or a tree stump. As he dissolves into more of a panicked fear Benji screams again, "Tell me thy name!"
Victoria knows it's name. She knows that of magic and nature know its name. Lightning and fire know its name. A conqueror with no pursuit of any monument. A menace for tragedy. The ruling hand of judgment. Death knows its name. It is not tethered to the heart of man. It's life is unnatural as well as its mind that has once before expired only to be reanimated. It is that as much as artificial. With its one objective intelligence it will be the folly of man for it will make not a victory of death but a direction completed.
She thinks to herself, "I know not how to receive it." She has options, but if chosen could create moral dilemmas. She could be mistaken and this is merely a man. If she is right and she is un-moving she will meet her demise where she stands. To run would be to abandon her party to suffer the unimaginable. She is paralyzed in a web where each thread is its own immaculate colosseum. Some filled with pain and others with fear. A shock to her system as she both processes the death of the girls and also has her heart fills with grave dread.
The man gently sets the bodies of the girls on the ground before him. He Then rises slowly. There is a haunting about its shape that brings with it a sense of coming misfortune. Such a monstrous stature that all pleasure of the living resign and the party finds themselves deviated from grounded reality.
As the man turns around the lights of the oil lamps run dry to show the party only a glimpse of it's deceased appearance. Both hideous and gloomy with almost translucent dead flesh and ailed black lips. The vale of darkness dictates what can be seen now. The party groans and gasps just as Benji growls out, "MONSTER!"
"The sum of my fears have found me and vengeance could not have presented itself more fare to what I deserve." Victoria contemplates, "The horns of death play for me. I am as all things in it's presence are, meek. Predestined to be doomed as it is just before to burn a perilous path. I see no world contending in its presence. This creature sets a precedence from the tales of Beowulf to the Greek odysseys to the folk lore of boogeymen in which the villains of stories will look to my creature to see defined what the world intends, when they say… monster."
Fierce north winds carry the fragrance of ocean spray and dried leaves. Now drowned is the world in coal black gloomy terror. Lightning hatefully makes its presence known as though it awoke with anger from a long sleep. With a wild disorder, thunder rings out like war trumpets blown with the passion of blood filled lungs. The search party trembles like powerless mortals with every bolt that strikes the dirt of the earth making all of creation shake. The black clouds are impregnated with electricity. With no rain an electrical storm boils. Just as the light dances above and the woods light up in white flashes for seconds at a time, the dark figure of the man begins to glow. A milky white light of bio-luminescence ignites from inside his veins. It flows around the edges of his face, through his chest and hands before filling his eyes. It's still patient energy dies a quick death and it's rage builds with the storm.
There is no denying for her now, that is no man. That thing is Victoria's creation. It takes a hold of Benji, clasping his head between the palms of it's hands. A collective gasp is belt out by all and only when there is an in-between of rolling thunder where the quiet overtakes the night once more the creature speaks. It stares into Benji's eyes and with a gaping maw repeats back to him, "Monster."
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