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There was something beautiful about that autumn night yet terrifying all at once. The moon and stars were hidden away by the cloudy sky. The breeze was bitter cold to the touch and all you could hear was the crickets inhabiting the darkness. Back then, I lived in a small town, which was surrounded by forests and hills. It was far off from any city, so you couldn't travel by foot outside the town. You could only go by horse and buggy through the old bridge or woods. Not that anyone in the town would dare try to leave throw the woods anyway.
The town was like your average quite superstitious little town with its legends and warnings. The most famous one was about Leto and Thanatos Mound. It was the biggest hill covered by forest, which was one of the two ways to leave town. As kids we were all told to never step foot in the woods or try to leave town, throw the Mound at night, or else, the Night would take us away. As a young child and even now as a teen, I always thought it was just a way to stop kids from playing in the woods at night because of the wild animals that dwelled in the dark.
I still never went through the woods even though I didn't believe the legend because there were wild animals and bear traps that I’d rather not mess with. That same frosty wynorrific night, I helped out one of the neighbors fix a broken wheel on their carriage and water their garden that day. Watering the garden was easy, but it took almost all day to finally fix the carriage. Once we finally finished, it was around twilight and the sun was almost fully set. Making way for a bloody moon.
"Thank you for helping today, you were a big help." Old John, the neighbor said. "It was no problem," I replied, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead. "I should be heading home now. I need to help make dinner for Ma." "You're such a good boy; tell ya Ma I said hi for me." "Will do," I said, bowing my favorite old straw hat my mother had made for me.
As I started walking back home, Old John called out, "Make sure you don't go through those woods, or else the Night might take you." I turned back and gave a awkward smile, "Sure. Have a good night." I waved goodbye one last time and went back off into the bitter autumn mist.
After walking for a bit I decided to stop by the Camellia meadow, by Letos and Thanatos Mound. Grazing through the crimson red Camellia, my hands ran over the velvety pedals of the meadow. I stopped at the giant weeping willow in the middle meadow and sat under its spider-like branches. Taking off my hat, I gave out a long sigh, leaning back onto the tree’s thick trunk. The clouds moved in the scarlet sky revealing the bloody full moon. The blood-red rays illuminated the flowers of the meadow complimenting their rudy color. A stray ray of crimson caught my eye. It shined brightly onto one spot in the forest that resembled that of a diamond by how its light would dance like a temptress in the night. The light danced around in the dark woods intrigued me.
I got up and walked to the edge of the forest, forgetting my straw hat. As I walked closer the light shined brighter, almost calling me closer. I paused right before I could enter the thick conducted woods. I remembered Ma was waiting at home for me to make dinner, so I went to turn around. About to walk off, a strong gust of wind blew, sending leaves past me and into the alluring darkness. I looked back one more time at the forest and saw the light twinkle once more. "Well, Ma should be fine if I'm only a bit late."
I started making my way through the forest and up the mountain. It was as if the woods cleared a path welcoming me. I passed by pumpkins and watched out for bear traps. As I keep walking my curiosity with the light grows. I kept pushing away spider webs and branches as I moved deeper in. The closer I got to the mysterious light, the less I paid attention to anything else around me. The light had caught my full curiosity and refused to let go.
I finally hit the beginning of a clearing at the top of the hill and the light was finally as bright as one of the stars that decorated the sky. Before I could see what it was the same gust of wind swirled around me. Orange, yellow, and red leaves danced around me. I shut my eyes in response to the cold and when I opened an old broken stone temple appeared from the warm leaves and wind. It resembled that of Greek or Roman architecture. It stood with all its faded glory and beauty from once so long ago. I paid it no mind. My full attention was on the beautiful figure in the middle of the clearing instead.
It resembled that of an ancient beauty no longer found in the time. The person had long flowing hair that resembled that of a river at night. Their skin compared to that of powdered snow, and their eyes were as beautiful as the flowers in the meadow, which sparkled like the light I saw earlier. They dressed in elegant clothing that resembled tonight’s sky. It was made of a black cloth shiner and softer than silk, it had crimson charms that sparkled like the stars yet had the color of moon when hit by its rays. I was breathless.
They swayed in their velvet clothes with the wind. It was as if the two were waltzing together. I did not say a word as I hid in the woods, one with the trees. I went to look a bit closer but stepped on a branch making a loud 'Crack'. The person stopped and looked at me with a peacefully unreadable face. I instantly became an unknown shade of scarlet, "Oh! Sorry if I interpreted you. I was just on my way back home and saw-" I stopped when they smiled at me. They faced in my direction, did not say a word, and offered me their hand. "N-no I can't, I should be getting home now. My Ma's probably expecting me back soon..." I backed up and waved my hands in disagreement. I turned into the tomatoes I watered at Old Johns.
The alien-like beauty came closer and took my hand, pulling me closer into them. "Huh?! W-what are you doing?!-" I said flustered. Without saying a word, they pulled me along as they started dancing. It was as if the wind took us away into the night. Without my accord, my body automatically started dancing with this mysterious person. "Since when could I waltz?!" I thought to myself. The person gently closed their eyes and swayed us along with the wind. Their hands were abnormally cold, almost like a.. corpse.
We twirled around the opening of the hill and instead of them and just the wind, I took the place of wind as the person’s dance partner... or was it the wind that took over me?... The person finally opened their shining eyes and I was hypnotized by their beauty. The wind got stronger and leaves started going around us. We started twirling faster as the wind picked up. I paid no attention to the fact we had now floated up with the help of the wind.
We slowly kept going up and when I finally broke from their spell I realized we were floating off the ground. It seemed we were swirling and spinning up to the moon following its light upwards. I looked down and gasped. I started to panic and when I looked up their faces were all black. I tried to escape from their grasp, but they kept a tight hold of me and finally they-...
The birds were chirping and it was now the next morning in the small town. One of the teens from the town went missing last night and no one knew where they went. The whole town was searching for them including the mother.
"We can’t find them anywhere." One of the townspeople said, gasping for air after looking for a while.
"He has to be somewhere!" Another said.
"Do you think he ran away?" Mrs. Anne the local gossip replied.
"Course not! They are a good kid they would never do such a thing!" The missing person's mother yelled, tears flooding their eyes so much the dam was about to break.
Old Mr.John walked into the crowd with one of his hounds and an old straw hat.
*Gasp!* "That the hat I made them where! Where did you find it?!" The mother pleaded with newfound hope in her eyes.
"It was under the weeping willow tree in the Camellia meadow by the Mound..." He said, his face dark as he said it.
"Wait, you don't think..." She turned white and shivered at the thought.
"Yes Ma’am... I think he decided to go into the forest last night..." Mr.John said not looking up to meet her face.
The whole town rushed to Leto and Thanatos Mound. All the men searched the forest as the women and the children waited outside the border of thick trees. There was a chill in the air and an uneasy feeling among the people searching. No one expected to find the missing person or at least the body... "Hey, have you seen Ma?" One of the ladies waiting outside the forest asked, holding her children tight. So they couldn't have the chance to wander into the woods also. "No, I haven't. She was supposed to be waiting out here with us while the men went to look."
It was cold, even though it was a day out. There were orange, yellow, and red leaves covering the ground as colorful blankets. Only small bits of light were shining into the woods from small matches in the trees. Even so, it was enough to provide a little bit of light that the tall trees took away with their long spider branches. Ma, as everyone called the missing person's mother, decided to sneak off into the forest with the others to try and find the child. "Where are you?!" They called out, stumbling up the hill past the many tall oak and pine trees that made no straight path.
There was a footprint on the ground as she traveled through the brush, yet she paid no attention to it and continued pushing through the branches. She desperately focused on only looking for the child. Nothing else in the world mattered, not even a silly legend she and the other adults in the town told their kids, to keep them away from the bear traps and wild animals that lurked in the woods at night.
She stopped to take a quick breath. She had been traveling a long time now despite her brittle bones and aching back. Once she looked up she saw a sparkling light that seemed to draw her in. She followed it as if in a daze. Slowly it led her to an opening on top of the hill. She was shocked at what she found and looked around in amazement. It was a beautiful pagan temple from ancient times that stood gloriously even with its many cracks and chipped stones. She snapped out of her aurora when she saw something shine in the corner of her eye.
It was coming from this crumbling greek temple on the side, that should not even be there. She walked closer and saw an ancient sculpture that was dressed like a Greek deity with its hands as if they were praying. Its face seemed to be carved out. As she inspected the sculpture she found 2 blue purplish stones by the base of the feet. "How pretty..." She thought reaching down to grab it. She picked up the stone and admired it for some time.
She looked up from the stone and looked around when she caught a whiff of a terrible smell. A smell that reminded her of pure evil and rotting death. She was still crouched down and followed the smell behind the sculpture on fours. Her eyes got wide and she screamed as if someone had stabbed her multiple times in the chest.
"AHHHHH!"...
"Did you hear that!?" One of the men, a part of the search party, said surprised and startled.
"Yea! It sounded like Ma!" Another said.
"Well hurry then!" Old Mr. John said, letting his bloodhound lead the way, while all the other men followed.
"There you are Ma! What happened?! It sounded like you screamed!" One of the younger men of the group said, crouching down in front of her holding her shoulders. She was as white as a ghost and all life left her eyes. The only thing that remained was true fear and sadness. He held her eyes and rocked back and further, mumbling, "The faceless darkness... the faceless darkness..." Over and over again not stopping. "What faceless darkness? What are you talking about? Come on Ma..." The young man said worried and a little scared.
Mr. John looked around with his dog and noticed something behind the statue. The dog backed up and growled. It started to bark at the faceless sculpture and bore its teeth as if it was alive... "Ma come on! Just spit it out!" The person said. She looked up fast, grabbed his arm as tight as she could, and swung her head around pointing at the statue. "THE FACELESS DEMON TOOK MY BABY!" Hatred, something new, blazed in her eyes.
*Gasp!* "My dear heavenly father!" Old John said, stumbling back. It was the teenager that went missing and had helped him the night before. They were covered with bear traps and were bathed with blood. They looked bruised and beaten. Flies were swarming all around them but, the worst part was they had no face. It was torn off and all you could see was the bone. The bloody fleshy bone. By the body, something was written in their blood. “Per specimen Noctis attractions, sed tenebrarum, quae Inhabitat, Vixnformibus." Which when translated means, "Drawn in by the beauty of the night, but scared of the faceless darkness which dwells in it."