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The tall figure crouched down near the bubbling pot and locked eyes with the girl as he slowly sat down. As he looked at her, she noticed that something was trembling beneath his beard. His dark eyes strained in concentration as the erratic motion intensified. He leaned closer to her and something unexpected happened. A deep gravely sound filtered through his beard from his shaking lips. It was long and drawn out, but discernible nonetheless.
"Mono.....lith," he said slowly and with great difficulty.
His voice was rough like a sewer grate being pried open and dragged along concrete. The girl was deeply startled by the sudden utterance. She opened her mouth in surprise and began to speak, but realized that she had forgotten how. Perhaps she never knew how to speak. Now that she thought about it, it occurred to her that she never remembered talking out loud to anyone before. Especially not him. But if she was able to converse, she would have asked him if that was his name. Monolith.
She stared intently at him. Trying desperately to ask the question without words. But she saw something in his eyes, a thing that scared her to the core. In the dark reflective orbs, she saw a face. Her heart began to race as the features forcefully conjured up memories that she wasn't able to make sense of. Large fleshy hands tightly gripped around a wooden rod. A scarf around her mouth, broken bottles on the floor. A blazing fire and noise, so much noise. Suddenly she was looking down into the dark swamp water, as she often did. Her reflection was different though. More lines played across her face and the eyes smiling back at her were of a different color. Nor was there any mud blemishing her pale skin. It wasn't her.
The woman mimicked her open mouth as she tried to scream, but no sound came out from either of them. Black tar began to trickle out of the woman's eyes, covering her pupils until they were swallowed up. A beard sprouted from the clean face and began to crawl downwards, covering the her neck. Mud quickly started coating the slightly-wrinkled fair skin. The girl was staring at him again. He had transformed in front of her eyes.
She got up quickly, knocking over pots and letting dust loose in the air as she backed away from those dark revealing eyes. He slowly began to raise himself up, which hastened her retreat. She tore out of the cylindrical room, but came to a screeching halt to avoid the blanket of darkness that was parked at the threshold.
As she stood there not knowing whether she should proceed into the darkness, or return to the tower, she heard strange noises coming from the swamp. It may have been the wind slowly weaving through the thick moss, but perhaps something more sinister. She thought she heard inhuman whispers underneath the incessant drone of the various swamp insects. Her skin began to tighten and gather together as tiny hills forced their way across her very surface.
In the indistinguishable sea of voices, she swore she heard, "Audrey.........Audreeeeey."
Her eyes began to adjust to the lack of light and she thought there were shapes moving around the swamp. Or maybe it was just the phantom flames from the fire she had been beside moments before. She became extremely frightened as the dark shadows seemed moved closer and the whispering sounds began to thwart the insect sonata.
She backed away slowly and ran into something behind her that was hard and felt like an unshakable tree. Terrified, her eyes darted up to confirm what she had run into. Of course, she already knew what it was. It was him. She found a strange comfort, once again, in those dark eyes that had caused her to flee moments ago. He looked out into the darkness for a moment until his black marbles darted back down at her. She understood what his look was saying, this is why.
This is why he always beckoned her to return to the tower. No matter where she went, or how long she was gone, he always found her when it was time to return to shelter.
To Be Continued...
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