My Heart Pounds, My Heart Pains, and My Heart Pleases

“MY HEART POUNDS, MY HEART PAINS, AND MY HEART PLEASES HER”

The deathly peck from HER lips. Yes. That is what I can recall. Deep in a sea of black, a sweetened taste of kindling reaches and gnarls my chest. And my mind numbs as it succumbs to HER very touch. Abandoned with no sense of belonging or family, I am tethered to HER whims. She emits a fountain of light. And that light guides me. Yet it still feels so dark...

A crow of black. Deceased, as maggots crawl outside of its fractured body. How influential HER power is. I was and still am ensorcelled. Through HER hum, I follow the path of deathly crows.

Each lie idle, some would even twitch upon my presence. Yes. I know from the wisps of light that I’ve consumed, that I am grotesque, unsightly, and a horror to gaze upon. There are images of a pained memories that scratch at the surface of my skull.

Hair being yanked. A face shoved in mire. Someone injured, clasping their broken arm as they scream into the void of night. And from their eyes, I exist in torment.

I hold onto the head that is still attached to me. My bones... They groan and splinter with each aching step.

HER voice. A peaceful thrum that wounds me as it rejuvenates me. She commands me to partake, to gorge myself. For what little reason escapes me, my fingers are still drenched in blood. So much destruction on this trail towards HER.

Who even am I? I ask myself, yet her command is to GORGE. TO COMMENCE THE ACT OF DEGLUTITION. TO UNRAVEL THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE ENLIGHTENED MIRROR. Upon this command, I envelope myself further through the shadows of this forest. This emaciated body quivers to HER sorcery. AND SHE SINGS TO ME, for my Heart cannot neglect HER.

I continue to travel this trail of gore and depravity. Pieces or armor, a few limbs, and a macabre heap of corpses obstruct my path. Although it hurts, I lift my leg over the wall of unfortunate souls.

For a brief moment, I gaze at the silver glow of their armor, of their sword wedged in muck. A piercing sound reverberates within my head. And yet another image of hell calls to me.

These were knights sent to DESTROY HER! THEY WANTED TO HURT HER! THEY WANTED TO – I remember blood. Lots of blood. Peltering in small moments. Small moments in where I did not realize my very own strength. With ease, I tore through them. Inside of this carcass, a fire was lit. My jaw was strained and would only clench once I had a taste of THEIR light. Just so I could serve HER again.

I am aware that I do not traverse alone. I hear the trees as they whisper. They extend, and curl. And this wicked aroma of putrescence lures me further. Because of this, I learn I am rather close.

Something snaps from behind me. It matters not, for I bear witness to the swirling streams of a white flame. These flames snake towards a cottage surrounded by a small pond and with a bit of smoke rising from the chimney. I am HERE, my Master... Despite this pain I endure, I take a single step towards a stone.

My Heart pounds for HER. My Heart pains for HER. My Heart pleases HER. My Heart....

“Ah... You have peregrinated quite the distance to reach me, my pet.” She smiles in warmth, and in such a short distance. Yet I stumble as the feverish HUNGER IS TEARING MY INNARDS APART!!

She squats while her hands rest on her knees. She chortles. “Do you have what I desire, pet?” Excitement eases her rasp. “The Enlightened Mirror, you do possess it, don’t you?” With a clenched fist, I fall to my knees. Wheezing without relent, my stomach feels sharpened pinch. “You would not have bothered like the others to toil so far as to approach me without what is RIGHTFULLY mine... Would you?”

It is rather strenuous to speak to her. The pain is much too severe. She changes her tone. Raises from squatting and firmly rests her finger under her chin. “It hurts, doesn’t it, pet? You realize what must be done, and what happens should you fail me again, yes??”

HER question is a sound one, YET I MUST EAT. I MUST ENGORGE. I MUST STOP THIS FEVER FROM - “Rararuurragagahhhhaaa Urraaggaaaaghhhh..... Raaagggghhhh...” Even though I can think clearly (somewhat), I still struggle with words.

In response to me extending my reach towards her, she guffaws. “Don’t be silly, pet! There is no point in trying to use tongue! Now, FIND THE ENLIGHTENED MIRROR AND DO NOT RETURN UNTIL YOU DO!!”

“Urragggahhh....” I have little choice but to assent.

Time has passed (I think). Yet it is still nightfall. How long have I been meandering?

My jaw has yet to clench, and I find my hands burrowing into something warm. A creature with a lot of fur. The moon is teeming with light, and I could stare at it until sunrise. But I suspect that I do not have until sunrise to do so. Whatever this red eyed beast once was, there is a smaller person nestled within its mass of black fur. BINGE. ENGORGE. MUST FEED.

Still, there is no broken mirror, and my Hunger will not allow me to rest. Within these woods, one of the deader crows has an eye bulging its way out of the socket. Wretched thing... From its contorting body, a familiar yet vexing voice emerges.

“Empty handed, AGAIN?” I feel her ire. It is incisive. Even from a distance I am impelled to fall onto my brittle knees. I wheeze before the crow. I groan as each joint is set aflame. I snarl as the fire within stings what veins are left to sense them. With both quivering hands, I reach out towards this cadaver. “You will not fail me a THIRD time, pet! So much has been sacrificed! I MUST HAVE THE ENLIGHTENED MIRROR!”

“I am sorry...” What I thought flows through my mouth naturally. And from this moment, my Master ceases berating me. The crow goes quiet. “I am sorry...” I take both of my haunting hands and press them onto my naked skull. “I am so sorry.....”

“You can speak??” Her tone softens as she ponders in silence. “But how??? How can this be?”

“One more chance,” I beg, watching the bloodied wings flap.

“Very well... You may rise, my pet.” From her very command, I stand. And with more vigor spreading from within me.

My Heart pounds for HER. My Heart pains for HER. My Heart pleases HER. My Heart....

With determination to see this quest through, I erect forth, and I roar, “I WILL NOT FAIL, ______!!!!” As I feel every bone in my body crackling with power, I also arrive to another thought, “I DON’T EVEN KNOW HER NAME.”

Once again, I plod through the dark forest yet again. Meandering with only the deceased to keep me company. Strange, to see so many creatures meant to fly above me lay before my muddy feet. Like myself, this is my Master’s doing.

Just when I think the search is going nowhere, I hear the dead crows caw one by one. “CAWWWWWKKKKKK!!!!!” “HAWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!” “CAAAAAAAAWWWW!!!!” Each crow combusts into a blacken blaze. I sense that I am closer. I stalk the path of burning dead and I see an abandoned home.

THE ENLIGHTENED MIRROR IS HERE!!!

I step towards it, only to be repelled by an invisible force. My body falls to the ground. I feel no pain, so this does not ward me away. I then stand up, and I further press my hands against the wall I cannot see.

“You...” A voice calls from within. “You just stay RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!! I will not have my family’s home sullied by an undead!! You will not see the last of Victoria of the Salvador House!!!”

“YOU POSSESS SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO MY MASTER!!! I WILL HAVE THE ENLIGHTENED MIRROR!!!

The voice is a bit raspy but soft. And there are wisps of white embers surrounding this derelict. Symbols gleaming with energy forms from the soil to the leaves. And I cannot discern its meaning. “You can talk?!!! Oh my!! _____ must be REALLY annoyed if her undead can talk back!! Hah!!”

I no longer attempt to breach the barrier. My hands tremble from the sparkles of energy writhing within. “There is no point in you trying! The Enlightened Mirror is under my family’s protection! And because you are an undead, nature dictates that you are a CONSTANT threat to me! So back off and return home to your uncouthe master!!”

“I see...” The only thing I can think to do now is ask a simple question. “CAN YOU HELP ME?”

She scoffs as something of glass shatters from inside her abode. “The nerve! Not only did you come to take what is NOT yours, but you have the gaul to ask for help?! I like you already!” Other noises of clamoring and clanking happen within the home. Flickers of light emit from the space. The door opens. Just a few feet away.

My Heart pounds less for HER. My Heart pains less for HER. My Heart pleases HER less. My Heart -

“WHAT????” Something is different. Perhaps it is the barrier’s magic waning. Yet that is not the cause of my concern. “You’re a...cat??? A talking...cat....”

She sucks her teeth as she licks the back of her paw. “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no! You CANNOT be looking down on me, undead.” She then presses her torso outward with her head held high. “For I am Victoria of House Salvador!!! The greatest Witch of the South!!!”

I am so befuddled, I can only remain silent. “Do you have the mirror SHE seeks or not?”

Without so much as making eye contact, she continues to clean her black fur and glances at me. “I tell you what, undead. I don’t have the mirror -”

“Uggggghhhhh!!!” I groan and I roll my eyes as my head tilts back.

“Hold on, hold on! We both gain something from the Enlightened Mirror. If within your possession, you will break free from her spell! And once I attain it, I will be tall, lean, and beautiful again! Well, undead? Do we have an accord??”

I know not what entails for me and this...cat, but I want to shatter HER control over me. As well as remove this accursed Hunger. EAT. BINGE. ENGORGE.