Always Darkest Read Free

up early in the morning as she always did and made herself a glass of tea.   When the tea was ready she would go outside to sit on the porch of her small cottage and watch the sunrise.   In eighty-seven years she never tired of seeing the sunrise.   While the tea brewed she took a moment to tidy her grey hair into a neat bun at the top of her head.   Still in her nightgown she walked onto her porch holding her cup of tea, enjoying its warmth.
    She noticed a large dent in her bed of red geraniums. As she wandered closer to inspect she saw that it was a girl. Willa put down her cup and looked at the girl.   Her hands were tied and black streaks ran down her face where Willa knew tears had been shed.   The bound girl was completely naked from the waist up and it was hard to tell where one bruise ended and the other began.   She wasn’t dead as she could see the rise and fall of her chest.   Willa thought she had seen it all up until this point apparently she had not.
    It didn’t take her medical skills to be able to determine what happened to this poor girl.   Willa made her way into her little cottage as fast as she could.   She wet some rags, grabbed a blanket and her big knife from the counter.
    Her knees popped and crackled as she sat down next to the girl.   She covered her nakedness with the blanket. Gingerly she began to wipe the blood off the girl’s face, a beautiful face despite the bruises.

    Slowly Tori opened her eyes.   She saw the old woman and screamed.
    “Calm down child.   It’s okay.   I am here now.   Whoever hurt you is long gone and I’ll be Creator damned if anyone will hurt you while you are under my care.” Willa said.
    Tori let her screaming melt into quiet sobs as the old woman continued to clean her face.   She was grateful for the blanket as she remembered every single second of last night’s horror.
    “Your face is clean now dear, now do you think you can sit up?”
    “I think so.”
    Willa assisted Tori to a sitting position.   Every movement hurt.  
    “I’m going cut your bonds, don’t be frightened.”   Willa said using a soothing tone.   She cut the bonds from Tori’s hands and Tori brought them around the front of her body and inspected them.   Blood oozed from the deep gashes worn by the ropes.   Looking at them tears welled up in Tori’s eyes anew.
    Tori looked at the old woman and the cottage not quite sure what to make of it. “Who are you?   Where am I?” she asked.
    “I am Willa and you are in my front yard.”   Willa said.   “And who are you?”
    “Victoria Clover but everyone calls me Tori.”
    “Well Tori if you can stand we can go inside my cottage and I can get you properly cleaned up.”
    “I think I can stand.”   Tori said as she slowly pushed up to her feet.
    “Come with me,” said the old woman as she gently guided Tori into her home.
    Tori did as she was told.  
    The inside of the cottage was very homey.   The downstairs was one big room with a huge fireplace at the back of the room with a plush couch directly in front of it.   There were also several chairs scattered about the room and rugs covered most of the floor. Half of the space was taken up by a large kitchen. Tori noticed the back two walls were lined with shelves and various herbs in jars all lined up in neat little rows.
    Willa went to a cabinet at the back and got some fresh white towels and laid them on the floor. She rolled up several other towels and made a crude pillow. “You lay down here dear, and I’m going to clean you up.”
    Tori complied.   She felt too shocked to know what to do and was glad to have someone else in charge.   She had no idea.   She had no idea about anything.   She laid back and let the old woman work.
    Willa worked with amazing skill. Tori watched as she mixed a poultice for her wounds.   The herbal mixture smelled sweet and felt cool as Willa applied it to her wounds.   Then Willa carefully bandaged her wrists and applied