I'm sitting; it's late, almost tomorrow. I close my eyes
and
go to the place where my nightmares are.

It's dark. She's walking, the thin knee-high weeds of the
hill biting at her legs, moving this way and that, as do
her clothes. The wind makes them move, but only the devil
knows what makes her.
She carries the child in her arms, the young sobbing girl
still in her nightgown from four, five days ago. The girl
.sobs quietly, only the tears evidence that she understands
They are going to that place where he finally slaughters
them with his sword, leaves them to rot, alone. He is
walking behind them, making sure they don't do anything
rash. She's done this so many times before... god only
knows why she follows him still. She should have ran, back
when she was a child, after he did what he did to her, and
to this girl now in her arms, and to the tens of others in
between those times that she didn't save. Like a plague, he
walked the earth; finding them, taking them away and carving
them out like fruit, then taking them to the place where his
sword went all the way through their stomachs and out their
backs. Sometimes they were boys, but more often they were
girls. Girls like she had been, a very long time ago.
He hadn't killed her, when she was a child. He took her
from her parents, gave her the nightmares, and then left
her in the brush. She woke alone and bleeding, from that
place between her legs. Not knowing what to do, she ran
.after him; and he never turned around, so she followed him
After that day she rarely spoke. She never found her way
home.
He was on her heals now, walking casually, as she carried
his latest victim to the place where the bones would be. So
dark, a windy night on the hill with only the random
lightening and the occasional glimpsing moon. She could
feel the dry blood of the girl; the cold wet drops down her
.own back that fell from the cheek perched atop her
shoulder
The girl was maybe eight, small and quiet.
She shifted the girl in her arms, freeing her left. She had
a sword hidden in her cloak, something she'd found
somewhere. If only she could reach it without his noticing-

AHHH" the girl shrieked, pointed back at the man; she"
spun around to find him standing in place, a spear sticking
out of his chest. Eyes wide open, he stared at them and then
back at the spear, waving his hands and stuttering, until
finally he staggered and collapsed, face up. She watched as
his body went rigid, then relaxed.
She didn't notice she'd dropped the girl, didn't even
realize she was holding the sword, she just lifted it and
shoved it down into his groin with a howl that held nothing
human in it, forced it deep down and struggled to free the
.blade, only to force it down again, and again, and again
Vaguely, she knew she could hear something: something loud
and horrible and barely human, though she couldn't identify
its source.
Out of nowhere a hand grabbed the spear and pulled it out
skillfully, and she dropped the sword, backing away.
Lightning struck, and something high and thin escaped her
throat; the hand belonged to a tall, muscled man with
horns, in long clothes and an enveloping cloak. His face
was the thing of nightmares: red and monstrous and barely
human, distorted and scarred; hideous.
He was looking back at her, and then he turned away and her
eyes followed him to the girl, who had been standing
silently all the while, in the same spot where she'd
dropped. The girl had her arms around herself, clinging to
the filthy remains of her nightgown. She looked up at him
as he approached, and his right hand disappeared into his
cloak. When it reemerged, he was holding a piece of what
could only be bread. He held it out to the girl, and she
caught something in his eyes that was less than
nightmarish.
Slowly, carefully, the girl detached her own right hand and
took the bread, her eyes on his all the while. He waited a
moment, then turned his back to them and started to walk
away.
Wait!" As if she'd been jolted by lightning, she sprung"
.out of place and ran after him. He turned around, unsure
She asked: "Aren't you here to take me?"
I don't know who you think I am," he answered, "but I'm"
not that person."
You've come to take me, haven't you? There have been so"
many children... I did nothing. I know you've finally come
to take me."
The horned man looked back at her. "Where?"
"
To Hell."
He paused, but then turned away to continue walking.
"
Wait! Haven't you come to take me?"
"
I've done all that I intended to do."
She looked back at the lifeless body. "What about me?"
He walked over a large stone, and then turned his head at
her, still walking. "What about you?"
She fidgeted with her fingers. She looked down, then back
up. "I don't understand. Aren't you the devil?"
He snorted, turned his head back to his destination, and
continued walking down the hill.
"
I don't understand..."
"
You don't have to."
"
What am I supposed to do?"
,With his back still to her, and several feet between them
he pointed left with his right hand. "There's a village
.three days walk from here, west. Find the girl a family
Look after her. Find a husband and have children. Grow old
and become a grandmother, and watch your grandchildren
grow. I don't care."
Suddenly her eye caught movement from her left. The girl
had moved, was running towards the horned man.
I don't belong in a village. I don't belong anywhere. I"
don't know what to do."
But he only waved her away, until the girl caught up with
him and stood in his way.
"
Shoo. What do you want?"
The girl looked up at his face quietly, without fear or
anger.
"
She doesn't speak," she called down to him.
Now he turned around. "What does she want?"
She shrugged, and he sighed and put his right hand on his
temple. His fingers moved around his head as though he were
.threading them through hair, though he was completely bald
"
Come down here."
Following his order, she hopped down the hill past stones
and through weeds. When she reached him she stopped, and
crossed her arms.
He looked her up and down, then spoke. "I'm not here to
,take you," he looked down at the girl, "either of you
anywhere. I did what needed to be done, I gave you what
supplies I had, and now I go on, while go to wherever it is
that you choose."
"
I don't know what I choose."
What do you want? Look," he rubbed his forehead, "you're a"
young woman, you're free, you have a child-"
"
She's not mine."
She may as well be. In any case, you don't have to worry"
?about him anymore. So go. You must have dreams, no? Hopes
Memories - good ones? Something you want? Go find it."
She shrugged, her eyes to the ground. "I have nothing."
Then what do you want from me? I can't give you these"
things, you must have them; everyone does."
"
Can't I come with you?"
"
No."
She bowed her head, nodding, and he sighed and turned
away.
.When he'd gained a distance, he looked back at them
You're not going anywhere," he observed. "Go. Why aren't"
you going?"
She shrugged.
He waited a while, but neither of them moved or said a
word.
"
Fine," he called out.
They broke into a run, the girl and the woman. He waited
till they were only a few feet away before turning and
walking. "But keep up. And no more of that yelling
business, either. People might have heard, back on that
hill. I don't need anyone on my tail."
She nodded, though he wouldn't have seen it with his back
to her. Beside her the girl followed, her large eyes on the
.horned man as she started to nibble at her bread