Eve's Hollow by Charles Bedlam (best free e reader .txt) 📕

It was a cold, snowy night somewhere where the land met the sea. Thick gray clouds blocked out the starry sky and the wind brought white snow that powdered the land. White-topped trees formed a forest that stretched to a mountain on one side and the sea on the other. After midnight the temperature took a dramatic dive and the wind suddenly got angry. Snow fell harsher on the trees. They, too felt the anger in the wind as they swayed back and forth.

It was the kind of night that no sane person would be caught in, alive or dead. However, there were two souls that had more pressing matters to be concerned with. The first of the two souls was a woman; a truly wicked person who had scorched the hearts of many. After a life time of cruelty and selfishness, the spirit of karma had finally caught up with her.

Karma came in the form the second soul. He was a man that she had wronged. A strong, devoted gentleman with solid features and an unbreakable will was the kind of man that attracted her.

One day she appeared in their mountain village, starving and near death. The man and his family took her in. She was kind, gentle, sensitive, and caring. She had been adopted and was one of them. But after a while, accidents began to occur, the children began getting hurt, livestock slaughtered, a fire was even started near their home. As family members turned against each other, the woman turned cold and lecherous. She waited until she thought the man was weak with worry, then tried to seduce him. Having misjudged him, he became furious and realized that it was she who tried to destroy his family.

She fled into the night and the man gave chase. Sword in hand, he would make her pay for what she did. No matter how quickly she trudged through the snow, she could not get away from him. The snow began to fall harder and the wind began to aimlessly cut all who would venture into the cold. The woman stumbled through the icy brush and fell down a steep slope and burning was the fresh cut on her arm from the fall. She bled, but continued to flee.

This was not the first time that she had to flee. She had deceived many, many people before this family, and after each betrayal, she fled and took a new name. With a guilt list consisting of lying, stealing, murder, prostitution, and arson, she knew she couldn't keep going. On this ice cold night, she knew that her long, sad life was about to come to an end.

The woman came to a frozen lake. It looked so beautiful. Like a glass dance floor with the swaying trees as spectators. She was tired. Tired of running, tired of lying, just damn tired. She fell to her knees and steadied her breath. He would be upon her any moment and then it would finally be over. She wondered what sort of Hell she would endure for her life of atrocities. It was then that she remembered a prayer that she had overhead in her travels. It was called the Hymn of the Hollow. She had recited it to herself several times and knew it perfectly.

She knelt down on her knees and brushed her long, tangled hair out of her face and looked straight ahead. When she spoke, she did so with something similar to a Russian accent. Her breath was shaky and she shivered intensely from the cold. She steadied herself.

“What once was pure has been destroyed

Where light once was, there is now a void

The light is broken by way of despair

The dream of life, now a nightmare

Though danger thrives and sin is real

The spirit is sick and I seek to heal

So I'll travel beyond, and I'll face my fears

I promise to fight through the blood and the tears

I pray to the Hollow, Please hear my voice

I will face my Hell, for it is my choice

Hear me, Eve, for I swear I'll succeed

This single chance is all I shall need”

As she spoke the words, her life flashed before her eyes. She had never truly done anything good and she did not feel like this was the time to ask for forgiveness. But this prayer was said to be for people like her. People who needed a second chance at life. If this worked, then she might have had a chance at redemption. If not, she had nothing left to lose.

In a deafening instant, the wind stopped. For a few silent moments, the snow fell and to her it looked so beautiful and peaceful. It made her sick to her stomach. She hated all things beautiful. She heard his footsteps, approaching behind her. They were slow, steady, and cautious. She kept her eyes forward and had no intention of running away again. She made this clear to him. She leaned forward, exposing the back of her neck, in a bowing position. The man approached from the side and looked down upon her. He raised his blade above his head, took aim, then claimed her life with a single fateful slash. Then, darkness.

It was the kind of darkness that had no up, no down, no anything. In this darkness, the wicked woman's soul poured out. It manifested as a thick red vapor that expanded in all directions of the void. It was a ghostly stream, representative of every foul action that she had ever committed. Her soul wandered aimlessly through the void. As it did, a tiny speck of light materialized. It wasn't very bright, but it stood out against the red soul. It flickered as if it had a life and it too wandered the darkness.

A pale, glowing hand reached up into the darkness, spreading light in all directions. Decorated in silver bracelets and a marvelous sapphire ring, the hand took up the light and pulled it into the abyss. When deeper depths were reached, other small lights began to appear. One by one they spotted the darkness; ten, one hundred, ten thousand, and eventually into the hundreds of millions. Stars. They were stars. The light in the hand was a star as well.

The glowing hand was attached to the arm of a woman. A multicolored, jewelery-decorated tail identified her as a mermaid. She sat at the edge of a pool of stars, her tail dangling among the lights. Long, wavy, dark brown hair draped over her pale shoulders. Her blue eyes were supernatural and wise. Her vibrant red lips curved into a warm smile as she gazed upon the light that she had retrieved. She held out her palm and tossed the light to the other side of the pool. It hovered for a moment, then began to take shape. As it did, the being reached up and took a hold of the red vapor.

“I wonder what you'll become,” she said, expressionlessly before sending the vapor away. She then looked at the light in her other hands.

The light expanded and grew, forming arms and a pair of legs. Soon a figure made of pure light hover before the cosmic mermaid.

“Awaken, child,” she whispered. Her voice was soft and melodic, creating waves of energy with her breath. “Awaken. It is time.”

The figure became more detailed; a young girl, about ten years old. Her black hair fell just below her shoulders and her hazel eyes were sleepy. She looked up at the goddess, then at the galaxy far below her. Her body was still engulfed in light. The goddess raised her hand and the young girl grew and grew, the stars around her shrinking to the size of drops of water. She was soon able to sit in the galaxy, just as the mermaid did. It was warm and very comforting.

“What has happened?” the young girl asked. She spoke with the same accent that she did in life.

“Who you once were has perished.” The goddess still smiled. “You are the single pure piece of a wicked person. You are the part of her that only ever wanted to be loved. Before she died, she prayed for her soul. As I said, you are what remains.”

The girl was obviously confused. She looked down at her glowing feet, then to the mermaid's tail.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“The real question is 'who are you''? Do you remember what your name was?”

“I-,” she tried to think. “I- she never kept one name for very long. She forgot her birth name a long time ago. She has been dozens of different people, each one worse than the last.”

The girl shivered at the thought of her former life's actions. But at the same time, she felt a deep, dark, empty sadness behind it all.

“I ask again,” the mermaid said, “who are you?”

She thought for a moment, then the girl said, “She never kept a name for herself for very long, but she did always want a daughter. She had a name chosen for a long time.”

The mermaid tilted her head to one side in interest. “Pray tell.”

“Estelle. She always wanted a daughter named Estelle. So I guess you can call me that.”

“Does that mean that she is your-”

“No,” she knew she shouldn't have cut her off, but she had to say this now. “I could never imagine calling someone like her my mother.”

“I am pleased to meet you, Estelle. I am known by many names, but you can call me Baba. I am a deity of Eve's Hollow and a bridge between realms.”

Although Baba smiled, the girl still looked sad. Estelle closed her eyes and in the darkness of her mind, she could see herself performing the actions of her former self. She could see them as if she were there and it hurt her to remember.

“So vivid,” Estelle said, her breathing quickening. “These memories are so vivid in my head. So much pain. So much fear. What did I do?!”

“Calm yourself,” Baba said. “You are remembering your past life. Usually when one passes to a new life, they are left with no memories of the old. Because of unique circumstances, you must live with them. I am sorry for this.”

“Then who am I? Am I Estelle? Am I this evil woman?”

“Honestly, I think you are both. You are a separate part of her where you used to reside inside of her. Now that she is dead, you are able to become your own person. As I said before, you're the only pure piece of her left. But as for who you really are, that is ultimately up to you.”

“I remember it all. All of her life. ” There was a few moments of silence. “What will happen to her?”

Baba looked away and off into the depths of intergalactic space. This was the first time that she did not smile. “I can't say, honestly. What becomes of her depends entirely on her. However, she invoked a prayer of redemption for a second chance and you're getting it.”

“Second chance?” Estelle asked.

Baba nodded. “She spoke the Hymn of the Hollow during her final moments that, for normal bad people, can grant a second chance at life. But in order to do this, the person must be able and willing to change their ways. I looked into her soul and saw that her wicked path was long, twisted, and consistent. This is why she won't be getting the second chance.”

“What must I do then? For this second chance?”

“Please know that nothing is free and something like this can come at a heavy cost. You must venture through Eve's Hollow. There, you must slay the demons of your former self while at the same time facing your deepest and darkest fears. I know that those fears are real and so do you. In Eve's