What were you dreaming of, Kat?

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It flickered in Katherine's eyes. With a world that had been filled with darkness and colourful wriggly worms under her eyelids, the sudden light was a shock to Kat. It demanded intrigue. It was the same curiosity that left Kat in the woods that night and that pulled her towards the flaring candle in the rusted cabin window. It was the unusual crunch underneath her boots and the strange scent in the air that never quite smelt of pine. Kat’s breath warmed the cold air and saliva slobbered from her mouth. The moonlight glistened like shards of crystals dancing in the sky. Kat walked one step at a time towards the cabin. The air around her was as dark as a veil. Kat flayed her hands through the air and could see nothing but blindness. It was the cool breeze that pricked the hairs on Kat's neck and the squawk of an owl that pierced her ears, deafening. And it was the quiet howl of the wind that caused her to shiver, the hairs on her head to flow past her blinded eyes and tangle on her face like the thin web of a spider. She took one more step. With a darkness between her eyes and feet. Kat could hear her fathers voice as she took another weary step.

“You were talking in your sleep, what were you dreaming of?” Kat heard her dad mutter. She took another step. She could see her father looking at her. With his furrowed brows and stern eyes. She took another step. “I dreamt of the woods, dad.” A cicada buzzed and forced Kat to spin. Suddenly she lost her direction and stubbled, teetered on her heels toward the cabin she was searching for, in the woods she dreamt of. “What is it like?” Her dad whispered. She took another step. “It’s dark, daddy,” Kats voice stuttered. “The world is dark, the only hint of a forest is the bristle of trees, the rumble of the wind and the cackle of an owl.” Kat shivered and took another step. The light grew closer. “With the flicker of a candle I can never quite reach, daddy.” Mud squelched between Kats boots. The heat of the candle brushed past her face. Kat could feel the moulded, rusted wood beneath her fingertips. She was here. In the place where her dreams led. “There is a cabin, daddy, an old rusted cabin.” She took a deep breath. “I could never see it, it was always blackness.”

“Oh my little Kat, what did it feel like?”

“I can see it dad. I can see the rusted window and the broken door, all because of a little fire.” Kat reached the door and slowly walked through, one step at a time. Kat took a step, and another. As she entered the cabin darkness awaited her. She sighed and jittered. “I was hoping for more,” Kat thought. Kat could see her dad again, right before her. He danced around her like the moonlight, howled and grumbled like the wind. He smelt of pine and smelt of dreams. Kat was in a state of oblivion before she felt her dad's arms around her. The unusual prickle and chill of his skin on hers. It was a moment of forced comfort as she swayed her head through the darkness, looking to see something. She could feel her dad's breath on her skin, feel his arms around her stomach and hear his feet creak the floorboards. She could not see him. She closed her eyes and imagined him. She saw her familiar colourful wriggly worms and darkness, before she saw him. With his pale skin and dark hair. He slowly stepped back from her. Kat heard his voice again. “What can you see, my little Kat?” He grinned. “I see you daddy,” Kat tilted her head and stared at the father before her. She could see his hand twitch and hear his mind tumble. Kat heard the familiar crackle of her dad's hand. She could hear his knuckles split. His cold, hard touch made her cheek tingle.

“My little Kat” his words echoed in her head as she squirmed and shivered, her stomach swirled. She looked around and could see every detail of the cabin. She could see the dark wood floors and the splintered walls, and she could see her dad. He stepped closer and she trembled. “What do you see?” Kat felt a wave of heat and an anger stir in her chest. She starred in the cold eyes of her father, a grin still on his red lips. Suddenly, Kat felt a cold blade in her palm. She fingered the knife and bit her lip, broke the skin and left blood on her swollen tongue. “What do you see, my little Kat?” she heard him whisper again and started to scowl. A sudden strike through the dark air and Kats hand rested on her fathers chest, the blade between her fingers and blood running down her arm. He choked and Kat felt a spray of blood sting her eyes. “Why, My little Kat?” He gargled through gritted teeth and staggered back. The knife slid from his chest and slowly fell to the ground. She started to see the colourful wriggly worms under her eyelids. “What do you see?” her fathers words echoed in her head. Cold water filled her eyelashes and ran down her cheeks. She opened her eyes and whispered, “I see darkness, daddy”