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The Tree

A girl finds herself being consumed. With barely any energy in her she fights to be free, until the predator makes an offer she cannot refuse.

By Blanca NinoPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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The Tree
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Plop...plop

The sound of drops hitting the water wakes me up. My head is laying on its side, the awkward position makes my neck ache. It smells like rain and dirt, brings back memories of playing in the rain with my brothers and sisters. A knot forms in my throat when I think of them, but I don’t know why. As I open my eyes I see roots of a grandiose tree covering the ground almost completely, the small spaces of ground left filled with water. I can still hear the sound of drops near me. I look up, investigating where the drops might come from but they don't seem to originate from the sky or the tree. Then I feel warmth trickling from my forehead to my mouth. It tastes like iron.

I look down to find a puddle of my blood in one of the gaps between the tree roots. Suddenly the blood seems to be absorbed by the tree in a vein-like pattern, leaving only clear water in its place. As I jump to distance myself from it, I realize there's puddles like this all around me, each absorbing every drop of blood that falls from my body. I try to stand and run away when a man's voice scolds me.

"Don't run!" The voice is deep and soothing, "He is feeding."

These words only upset me further but I can't move my body. It’s as if the disembodied voice has cast a spell.

"He is almost finished."

I can feel all of my energy escape my body, being fed to this beautiful and ravenous tree. At this point, even if I wanted to run away I wouldn't be able to. I can hardly breathe. My eyes start closing and I see flashes of my brothers and sisters’ smiling faces, which suddenly turn to fire and blood in their place.

As I begin to lose consciousness, I hit the roots of the tree with a loud thud. I am glad because it startles me enough to fight the urge of fading into oblivion. My brothers and sisters, how could I forget? They need me. I try to hold up my body with my arms, they are shaking violently, but I somehow manage to get on my knees. As I stand up and take a step forward I stumble on a root and fall to my knees again. I keep on trying. I can feel and hear my legs breaking but I don't care. I am determined to get out of here alive.

"Stop it girl, you are only making it harder on yourself." The deep voice says with true concern.

"My brothers and sisters." I plead, "They need me, please."

"There is no point in worrying anymore, let yourself go or..." The voice suddenly becomes a man in front of me, holding a staff, threatening to hit me with it if I dare move. He is wearing a cloak, his face hardly discernible from the shadow cast by the hood . I can see a dark beard and gleaming honey eyes.

Relentless I stand up again, he is about to hit my head with his staff when a branch-like arm gets in the way. The cloaked man turns to the tree in apparent confusion .

"But Yaq-" the cloaked man starts, but a soft voice interrupts him.

"Edmund, can't you see? She is determined."

I turn to the tree and find the torso and face of a man has surfaced from it. His body is a mixture of wood and flesh. He has long wooden hair that grows to be the branches of the tree, attached to a flushed face. The arm holding the staff Edmund tried to hit me with has human flesh on the shoulders that slowly becomes wood as it reaches mid-arm. The wooden part is longer than an arm should be, but it grows smaller as he returns the staff to Edmund and sets his arm on his side. His hand no longer looks like branches and the wood nearly disappears from his arm except on the tips of his fingers.

"Perhaps she is the one we've been waiting for." The tree man declares.

"But Yaque, you have not fed nearly enough, this could really take a toll on you." Edmund answers worriedly.

"A vessel like this does not appear often." Yaque counters, "Dear girl, do you wish to help your brothers and sisters?"

"Yes..." I answer in a weak voice. I am exhausted, falling on my knees looking up at Yaque. I don’t question how he knows about my siblings.

"I can give you life and power dear girl, more than enough to save your brothers and sisters. But, these sorts of things always come with a price. When the time comes will you be willing to pay it?"

I hear my mother's voice in the back of my mind, "Raven, if the price is too high, don't buy it." Her reminder every time I would leave for the market. Still, countless times I would end up buying things I shouldn't. Once something caught my eye it was hard to resist

"Yes”, I responded without any hesitation.

Edmund looks at me with his eyes wide open and Yaque nods, his glowing green eyes and soft smile piercing through me. Yaque cups his hands and extends them towards me. He has to elongate them to do this, and wood appears on his flesh just like before. I see water materialize in his hands.

"Then drink, child." Yaque says, like a mother offering milk to her baby.

I lean forward, to his hands. It takes every ounce of energy not to topple over. The first sip is refreshing, I can feel a wave of energy washing over me. Suddenly an unconquerable pain washes through my whole body, even more painful than my legs breaking. It feels as if my insides are on fire.

"Don't stop now child, drink every last drop." Yaque warns.

I breathe hard and close my hands into fists, nails piercing through my skin, but I don't stop drinking. I drink it all, every last drop like Yaque told me to do. Once I'm done, I look up at Yaque and notice he is also in pain. A smile is still on his face but his eyes give him away. The green light of his eyes appears dimmed. Some of the leaves on his branches turn red then orange and finally yellow, and in the blink of an eye they fall.

Then the pain disappears, and I can feel my bones mending back, the numerous wounds on my body healing. I can finally stand up without any weariness, and before I can run everything goes black.

FantasySci Fi
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About the Creator

Blanca Nino

just me

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