The river sits flat in front of her, the old woman stood on the surface in the centre.
"I didn't think you'd come back here so soon." She croons, stepping over the water to meet me.
"I'm not back." I say. I can't be, all I did was go to bed. Is this a dream?
"And yet here you are, past midnight, too. Very gutsy." The old woman chuckles, and reaches a hand out to me. I recoil, but my feet won't move from the waters edge.
"What does it matter what time it is?" I ask, but I know the answer. Midnight makes it a new day.
"Step forwards and find out."
"I can't." I shake my head. I want to leave, go back home, back to Konoha, anywhere that isn't here.
"Oh, I think you can." The old woman laughs, reaching out for me again. I bat her hand away. The wind is picking up.
"No."
"Step forwards, Maya." The humour is gone from her voice, and her expression darkens. The wind has become a gale.
"I won't." I have to shout to be heard.
"Do it." The old woman's face is twisting, her body shifting and growing.
"If I do, I won't be able to stop." I want to run. Why can't I run?
"You'll be able to sleep." She's taller than me, now, towering almost as tall as the trees on the bank.
"I said no." All I can do is look up at her as her hair falls free from it's bun and her eyes turn black.
"No more dreams, no more nightmares, just peace." Her voice drops to a deep growl, teeth sharpening to fangs, lips stained red with the blood from her shredded gums.
"I don't want to." It's not the old woman anymore, but a demon.
"Step forwards!"
"No!" I scream, and it throws it's head back and roars, loud enough to shake the trees to their roots. The roar fades to a hacking cough, and I watch, frozen, as it reaches a hand down it's throat, grasping for something unseen. It draws it's hand out slowly, revealing a clenched fist, the hilt of a sword, the edge of the scabbard. The sword comes free with a sickening shhk!
The demon grips the sword between it's teeth, and pulls the blade free. It raises it above it's head, ready to cut me down.
"I won't cross! I won't!" I scream. My voice is ripped away by the wind. The demon doesn't respond.
A grin twists around the scabbard between it's teeth, and it brings the sword slashing down.
YOU ARE READING
Maya - a Naruto Fanfic
FanfictionWhen Maya runs off to explore the strange gap in the fence at the back of her school, the last thing she expects is to crawl into a totally strange world, with no clue how to return. Alone, afraid, and trapped in a strange world, all she can do is...
