Birds of Aud

Birds of Aud

Audrey smiled as the sun seeped through the window, coaxing her into wakefulness. Her hazel eyes fluttered open and peered about her room as her mind began to reel. It was as if she were dreaming. She couldn’t remember where she was last but now it was like she had opened her eyes to a fairytale.

She rose from her bed in her flowing silk dress. Her auburn hair done up in a fanciful Victorian ponytail, topped with a delicate tiara. She stepped onto the old hardwood floors in her ballet slippers. The room she had taken up inhabitants was old. The walls peeled their stained beige paint; the wood floors were damaged and molded nearest to the walls. Cobwebs stretched in every corner. But the furniture was most antique. The wardrobe, vanity, even the bed’s head board and base board was carved as gold vines; blooming intricate flowers that still sparkled in their years of abuse.

This was all so amazing but what had caught her eye most was the doorknob. It looked as if it were made of jagged, shimmering sapphire. When Audrey clasped it she hissed in pain and pulled away. The crimson blood dripped from the sapphire doorknob. The single drop echoed into nowhere and suddenly the sapphire became ruby.

“Welcome domum Aud. Nos te desiderari!” Audrey heard a voice like a chorus of young children. Audrey knew exactly what they spoke; “Welcome home Aud. We missed you!”

A smile spread wide on the teenagers face as the door swung open. The hallway before her was just as old and faded as her room, but beautiful nonetheless. The sun bled through every large window, vines grew up the walls here and there, mingling with the webbing. The cracks in the ceiling made pictures like the Nazca Lines. Aud could see men and their game racing across, dragons slaying their knights, beasts hunting their prey.

It was breath taking.

Aud came upon a door that had been thrown off its hinges. Around the door frame were gnarly claw marks. Beyond the door was a stairwell leading down into darkness. She descended a few steps, the darkness below caused goosebumps to rise up on her skin and she made haste to the closest door. She stumbled out into this lower level and crashed into something solid. She peered up at a man.

Not a man… he seemed to be frozen in place like a mannequin. But this was not a mannequin—No. Aud caught a glimpse of the wind up key stuck in his back and immediately knew he was a doll. He wore a dress shirt and pants, and a fancy vest with his little bowler hat.

Aud circled the doll and began to wind up the key. Aud could hear gears turn within him. When the key was as far as it could go the doll began to move in such a lifelike way. The Clockwork man turned and tipped his bowler hat as he bowed.

“Mi’lady,” he said, his elastic lips planting a soft kiss on her hand. “Follow me,” he said, offering his arm, Aud took it with grace and the man began to escort her to grand doors, with the same golden vines as her bed. They swung open without a creak to reveal and shimmering ballroom.

Stringed puppets hang from the ceiling, dancing in the air, playing their instruments and singing songs. Other Clockwork people dance in unison, they’re movements sharp and just as the others. The man whom Aud clung to took her hand and the other Clockworks made way for them. 

Aud felt as if she had dance forever, but she knew it would stop eventually. Every Clockwork shut down at once. Their spinning keys creaking to a stop. The puppets hung limp and lifeless. Aud felt dead beat and trailed away from the ballroom with panting breath, letting the Clockworks have their rest.

It wasn’t long before Aud slipped, her petal-soft dress billowing as she fell to the ground. Adjusting her askew tiara Aud saw she had slipped on cards, but they were not playing cards for antics such as poker. They were Tarot Cards.

There were only three, an incomplete set. When Aud lifted them to study them they were all upside down. There was the card of Heat, Dryness, and Fire. Their pictures of a Phoenix, a Scrawny Lion, and a Dragon. The rim around the pictures were half black and half white. The white sides faced Aud, and she could read their words, unlike the black side which was upside down.

Regression. An Enemy. Instability. The Tarot of Heat read.

Danger. Excess. Solitude. The Tarot of Dryness read.

Anarchy. Tyranny. Rigidity. The Tarot of Fire read.

Aud didn’t like these words, but for some reason when she tried to read the words on the black rim they seemed blurry. Aud tossed them aside, uninterested. Then she saw something that was so peculiar, so strange, but so normal. A plain suitcase.

The only thing that set this suitcase apart from others was the words carved into it. “In tenebris dormit.” It appeared to be the same language the echoing voice spoke but she didn’t understand it. That’s what made it most intriguing.

She gracefully sat by it, her spindly finger tracing across the chicken scratch words, finding their way to the lock which came undone with stubbornness that made Aud even more curious. When she unlatched the final lock she sat a moment. Letting anticipation sink in.

She was about to open it herself when it flew open angrily. A blast of dark light pierced the ceiling, causing the debris to rain down. Soaring out with such force were a million paper blackbirds. Rooks, Crows, Magpies, and Ravens cawed furiously. Some swooped down and pecked at Aud, damaging her beautiful face.

She screamed and stood to run but her legs failed her, for she was too slow. A stringed puppet dressed like a court jester jumped out of the suitcase and grabbed her ankle, cackling maniacally. Aud screamed and kicked, freeing herself. She began to sprint away but was soon enough intercepted by the Clockworks. But they didn’t have those smiling faces, they’re clothes were no longer formal and fanciful. They were tattered and blood splattered. They looked as if they were zombies. And they were coming after Aud.

She scream once again and fled for the stairwell that she had feared. She fled as fast as she could, taking the stair steps two at a time, cautiously trying not to slip in her ballet slippers.

The farther she went, the darker it got. Aud could hear the horrid nightmares above descending quickly, gaining on her.

It was soon enough pitch black and Aud could only make her way down by clutching the handrails. She could feel the stairs were no longer solid, it felt like sludge, gripping her feet and trying to drag her down, but the more she moved the harder it was to sink.

Roars, laughter, hisses, crashes, and more sounded above. It seemed so close Aud began to scream again. Would these stairs end? Would the madness end?!

Then she touch bottom, she didn’t realize until a moment of running. But when she stopped, every bit of noise that crowded her ears and mind went silent. The only thing that was audible was Aud’s breathing and pounding heartbeat.

She waited in pitch blackness for what had seemed like forever. Waited, waited, and waited. It all ended when Madness took her.

 *  *  *

Audrey Romero, age seventeen, diagnosed with schizophrenia and the titled murderer of the St. Theresa Insane Asylum Massacre was found on the Asylum’s basement level with five more victims. As expected to be she was completely delusional and aggressive.

Police officers found carved into her arm with a razor blade (unknown how she retrieved the blade) the words “In tenebris dormit,” which in Latin means “Darkness Sleeps Within.”

So far there are no known survivors and as of now Audrey Romero is in a solid holding facility until execution date.

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I had written this story for a writing contest and I was so proud of myself and my short story that I couldn't keep it to myself and I had let to let all 81 of you guys read it (I checked my stats! Don't think I don't know you're there!). I hope you enjoyed it!

Momento Amor

~Hiroko Hana