Black Blood

Novak keeps pulling me along until we disappear for miles into the forest. The screams that chased us for hundreds of metres finally seem to fade into the background. I don’t know where we are, where we have to go or if we are still being chased. I am exhausted, my legs hurt.

When Novak finally stops running, I almost collapse from exhaustion. He doesn’t show a glimmer of fatigue, looks like nothing has happened.

‘Are you okey?’ Novak asks as soon as he turns to me. My hands rest on my thighs, my head drooping to the floor. I am unable to speak thanks to my panting. It takes a few minutes until my heartbeat returns to normal and I can speak again.

‘Y...yes,’ I gasp. Novak takes the bag from my hand. I slowly lower myself into the grass. That’s the first time I take the time to look around. I am in a forest. The trees are metres high, blocking the sun with their leaves. Although it is daytime here, it seems as if twilight has already set in. All that can be heard are the birds and here and there the sound of frogs. As far as the eye can see, there are tall trees full of green leaves. It is strange to see so much green at this time of year. The forest is different from the one where Novak and I went a month ago for Nelly’s things.

‘Here, take this.’ I look up and see Novak holding out a bottle of water to me. Eagerly I take the bottle and start drinking half of it.

‘This is all we have,’ Novak points out to me. I quickly take the bottle from my lips and give it back to him.

‘Where are we?’ I ask. Meanwhile, Novak takes something else out of the bag

‘The dead forest.’ I look at him in surprise at the name. The forest is beautiful, full of green. Why does it have this name?

‘Don’t be seduced by its beauty. Once, this was a plain with only grass. During wars, thousands of orphans and people died here. The story goes that the souls that died here have been absorbed into the ground. The trees and plants move, drag you along and suffocate you. Most of those who walk into this forest never come out again.’ Novak’s story is anything but soothing.

‘If hardly anyone survives, how are we going to get through this?’ Meanwhile, Novak holds out a pile of clothes to me. I pick it up and see that it is clearly not a dress.

‘There was no room to bring a dress. You’ll have to make do with my clothes,’ he says before answering my question. I look at the clothes and realise that I have never worn anything but a dress. When I unfold the clothes, I see black trousers and a black blouse. I’m glad I don’t have to walk around in this cold, dirty and wet nightgown all the time.

‘To answer your question. We have two options. Either we make an attempt to get through the forest. It’s at least a week’s walk. Or we get your dragon and continue on our way,’ Novak continues while I get up and start putting on the oversized trousers. They are clearly at least two sizes too big. There are several things in the legs and they feel odd around my legs. I close the button and am glad when the trousers stay on my hips.

Meanwhile, I think about the options. Walking through a forest known to kill people doesn’t sound like the best idea. Besides, we have nothing but that bag. No tent, no fire, limited water and food. But I also think the chance of them spotting us on Rave is too great.

‘We’re going to walk,’ I decide. I pull the nightgown over my head, throw the piece of cloth in the grass. I put on the blouse and again it is too big. As soon as I look at the blouse, my eyes enlarge. The piece of cloth has landed beside a tree. From the lowest branch of the tree, a branch grows longer and longer. The branch makes its way through the trunk towards the nightgown. I take a few steps back, my eyes focused on the strange event.

The branch continues to grow towards the nightgown. Once the branch is a few centimetres from the fabric, it stops. I want to blow out my bated breath until, in one swift movement, the branch grabs the nightdress from the ground and wraps itself around it. You can see the aggression in the branch’s movements. If it had been an animal, it would have been suffocated by now. Slowly I take a few more steps backwards, afraid of the branch.

‘Are you sure you want to walk?’ Novak asks with a mocking tone. I swallow but am sure. I’m not going to let Rave get caught.

‘Yes,’ I reply.

‘Okay let’s go,’ says Novak as if a nightgown had just not been killed by a branch. He turns around, grabs the bag and starts walking deeper into the forest. For a moment I look at the nightdress hanging high in the tree. I hope that is not my fate. I sigh and start walking behind Novak.

We are both silent. I now understand what Novak meant by the beauty of the forest. It is beautiful and full of green. The, what I think, hours slip by like it’s nothing. I can’t tell if it’s getting darker, the trees barely let any light through. My thoughts drift in all directions as I walk. As soon as Nelly comes back in my mood changes. Although I know we couldn’t have done anything else I feel extremely guilty.

‘Novak,’ I say softly.

‘Mmm,’ is his response as he continues walking without looking back.

‘Would Nelly survive?’ I ask. Suddenly Novak stops. He turns around in one quick movement and his look is everything I didn’t expect. I see aggression, almost anger.

‘Stop with that shit about Nelly. We can’t do anything for her and if we could we wouldn’t have done it. She’s probably dead now anyway or in a cell rotting away.’ I stare at him in total amazement. I have never seen Novak so angry, so arrogant. For a moment I don’t know how to react.

‘You can’t be serious,’ I reply breathlessly. He starts to laugh.

‘I am serious and stop whining now. We still have dozens of kilometres to go.’ He turns around and continues walking as if nothing has happened. I stare at him in amazement. I don’t understand where his aggression towards Nelly comes from. She has done everything to help us, not one second of complaint. His attitude and ungratefulness makes me angry too.

‘Nelly has done nothing but help us. Without her we would have been dead a month ago. She never complained or asked for anything in return. You are ungrateful and unreasonable,’ I say angrily. Again Novak stops and turns around.

‘The only reason we almost died was because of you. If you had kept your mouth shut to that man when we came in we wouldn’t be walking in these woods, if you hadn’t lied to my father about who you were we might still be there. God if you hadn’t ended up in the clan I wouldn’t be here now, this is all your fault,’ he shouts. I don’t realise that I am crying until I feel a tear running down my cheek. It’s as if someone else is standing opposite me, this is not the Novak I know. His eyes are fire-red, his hands are clenched into fists. I let my head hang down.

‘I never asked you to come with me,’ I reply softly.

‘Yet here I stand. Now go on, we’re wasting our time’. That’s the last thing he says before he turns around and starts walking again.

That’s the last thing he says before he turns around and starts walking again.