Blood red leaves dancing in bitter wind
The last time I saw Autumn was the last day of November.
I had come home from my final class meeting -- more an informal hang-around moment, followed by a lunch -- and as I made my way back home I watched angry wind whipping around, blowing arctic coldness with the full fury of upcoming winter. I could hear her maddening howl, Winter's, that is.
When I got back home, I was half-frozen from chill, and I sat down with a good cup of hot tea to warm up. Sadly, I never had a chance to enjoy it, as something caught my eye on my way back to computer desk. A fleck of redness in the dull grey of afternoon, a tiny sound that managed to cut through the wind.
I saw Autumn hobbling down the slope of the parking lot. She was holding her side with a tight clutch, and drops of blood specked down and turned into dying miniature maple leaves. She was withered, and grey, just like I had predicted; her proudly defiant clothes were in tatters, and now even more so on the side she was holding. Cloth had torn like she had met a wild beast.
"Crap!" She wasn't a human, but she was human-shaped enough to draw out all the urges to do the right thing and help someone in need. I slipped on my boots, and ran outside, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and comfypants, which were comfortable enough indoors, but now felt like ice was trying to drill through them to get to my skin. "Okay, hold on, hold it there..."
I tried to give her support, but despite her apparent frailness, she still weighed a ton; she collapsed to the ground and laid on asphalt, while blood like red leaves poured out from her side.
"C'mon!" I slapped her face lightly to try and bring her back to consciousness. "Wake up, please. You can't die here, I have to get you..."
"To where?" she wheezed. "Oh, the summer-lover again." Her head had lifted up, now it dropped back. "No, you can't... and you were right. She's coming, and she's terrifying."
I heard a bestial howl carried by the brutal, biting wind, and looked around; the sound was something that made the primitive monkey in my brain to drop a load to its pants and hit all panic buttons with one go. "No, let's go inside, let's not stay here, okay? I'll try to bind that up, I'll call my friend, she's a doctor..."
She wheezed again, only this time there was a distinct gurgle to it. "What are you, stupid? Your friend wouldn't even see us! And..." Her bloodstained hand lifted up a bit, as if trying to tell something to me, but she was too weak to say anything at this point.
I felt a cold breeze going down my back, and flakes of frost danced by us, and the wind seemed to bite even more fiercely than before. Hair was standing at the back of my neck, but I knew it had nothing to do with cold. It was the primal sensation of a terrifying predator right behind you, breathing down your neck; the feeling of prey being stalked.
"Don't..." I heard Autumn whisper, while her fiercely red and yellow eyes began to dim. "Don't... look... her... eyessshhhh..."
A new gust of cold wafted past me, closer than before, and I turned around to face what was behind me.
Which, in retrospect, made me do what Autumn told me not to do.
She was gaunt, and dead white in color; ice sparkled on high cheekbones, and she was technically a humanoid-shaped thing... just distorted to a ten feet tall monstrous being. Her cloak was made from skinned white wolves, and every time she moved, snow and ice fell out, carried away by the everpresent wind around her. Under her cloak she wore nothing, but then again, everything was covered by layers of sharp-looking frost. Her mouth... her mouth seemed to open way too much, and it had way too many teeth made out of crystalline ice.
And then... there were eyes. They were black, solid black, and filled with darkness of a winter's night, of the sort that makes people dread whether the sun will ever rise again. Kaamos, my brain whispered. It was impossible to shift your gaze away, once she had caught your attention. Those holes of black felt like insects eating at my soul, one bite at a time, and I fell into terrifying darkness that went on forever. In meatspace, I collapsed to the ground right next to Autumn; my sight dimmed, and I saw Winter looming above us, looking down... puzzled.
"You're... not... dead yet, summer-girl." Autumn wheezed, spending her last breath. "W...hy?"
I had no answer to that. Neither did Winter. She simply bowed down, and finished her younger sister by smashing a ferocious, bestially clawed hand down.
I passed out.
I woke up.
I found no trace of either season -- that is, in their physical representation -- but saw blood-red leaves frozen to the surface of asphalt next to me. I sat up, curled against my legs, and made a choking sob; while Winter's terrifying eyes did not slay me outright, they had not left me untouched. Darkness was budding inside me, and blossomed like a deadly flower germinated in soil of slain dreams.
I dragged myself back to my apartment, back to my now-cold tea, left it behind, and curled under my covers.
I wanted nothing more than hibernating until the winter was gone.
I had come home from my final class meeting -- more an informal hang-around moment, followed by a lunch -- and as I made my way back home I watched angry wind whipping around, blowing arctic coldness with the full fury of upcoming winter. I could hear her maddening howl, Winter's, that is.
When I got back home, I was half-frozen from chill, and I sat down with a good cup of hot tea to warm up. Sadly, I never had a chance to enjoy it, as something caught my eye on my way back to computer desk. A fleck of redness in the dull grey of afternoon, a tiny sound that managed to cut through the wind.
I saw Autumn hobbling down the slope of the parking lot. She was holding her side with a tight clutch, and drops of blood specked down and turned into dying miniature maple leaves. She was withered, and grey, just like I had predicted; her proudly defiant clothes were in tatters, and now even more so on the side she was holding. Cloth had torn like she had met a wild beast.
"Crap!" She wasn't a human, but she was human-shaped enough to draw out all the urges to do the right thing and help someone in need. I slipped on my boots, and ran outside, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and comfypants, which were comfortable enough indoors, but now felt like ice was trying to drill through them to get to my skin. "Okay, hold on, hold it there..."
I tried to give her support, but despite her apparent frailness, she still weighed a ton; she collapsed to the ground and laid on asphalt, while blood like red leaves poured out from her side.
"C'mon!" I slapped her face lightly to try and bring her back to consciousness. "Wake up, please. You can't die here, I have to get you..."
"To where?" she wheezed. "Oh, the summer-lover again." Her head had lifted up, now it dropped back. "No, you can't... and you were right. She's coming, and she's terrifying."
I heard a bestial howl carried by the brutal, biting wind, and looked around; the sound was something that made the primitive monkey in my brain to drop a load to its pants and hit all panic buttons with one go. "No, let's go inside, let's not stay here, okay? I'll try to bind that up, I'll call my friend, she's a doctor..."
She wheezed again, only this time there was a distinct gurgle to it. "What are you, stupid? Your friend wouldn't even see us! And..." Her bloodstained hand lifted up a bit, as if trying to tell something to me, but she was too weak to say anything at this point.
I felt a cold breeze going down my back, and flakes of frost danced by us, and the wind seemed to bite even more fiercely than before. Hair was standing at the back of my neck, but I knew it had nothing to do with cold. It was the primal sensation of a terrifying predator right behind you, breathing down your neck; the feeling of prey being stalked.
"Don't..." I heard Autumn whisper, while her fiercely red and yellow eyes began to dim. "Don't... look... her... eyessshhhh..."
A new gust of cold wafted past me, closer than before, and I turned around to face what was behind me.
Which, in retrospect, made me do what Autumn told me not to do.
She was gaunt, and dead white in color; ice sparkled on high cheekbones, and she was technically a humanoid-shaped thing... just distorted to a ten feet tall monstrous being. Her cloak was made from skinned white wolves, and every time she moved, snow and ice fell out, carried away by the everpresent wind around her. Under her cloak she wore nothing, but then again, everything was covered by layers of sharp-looking frost. Her mouth... her mouth seemed to open way too much, and it had way too many teeth made out of crystalline ice.
And then... there were eyes. They were black, solid black, and filled with darkness of a winter's night, of the sort that makes people dread whether the sun will ever rise again. Kaamos, my brain whispered. It was impossible to shift your gaze away, once she had caught your attention. Those holes of black felt like insects eating at my soul, one bite at a time, and I fell into terrifying darkness that went on forever. In meatspace, I collapsed to the ground right next to Autumn; my sight dimmed, and I saw Winter looming above us, looking down... puzzled.
"You're... not... dead yet, summer-girl." Autumn wheezed, spending her last breath. "W...hy?"
I had no answer to that. Neither did Winter. She simply bowed down, and finished her younger sister by smashing a ferocious, bestially clawed hand down.
I passed out.
I woke up.
I found no trace of either season -- that is, in their physical representation -- but saw blood-red leaves frozen to the surface of asphalt next to me. I sat up, curled against my legs, and made a choking sob; while Winter's terrifying eyes did not slay me outright, they had not left me untouched. Darkness was budding inside me, and blossomed like a deadly flower germinated in soil of slain dreams.
I dragged myself back to my apartment, back to my now-cold tea, left it behind, and curled under my covers.
I wanted nothing more than hibernating until the winter was gone.