The Red Abbey Chronicles by Maria Turtschaninoff Page B

the tentacles of darkness were licking at my body. They were creeping out through the cracks around the door, luring and drawing me in. I could not resist. Nobody can resist death.
    Then I heard the voice. It came floating through the darkness; it was made of darkness. Fragmented words stretching out to me.
    Maresi. My daughter. Here, see my gateway. My mouth.
    I danced on the threshold as the voice of the Crone scratched at my bones.
    This is your House , said the Crone, and the terror became so great that I finally found my voice.
    “I do not want to!” I screamed.
    As soon as I broke the song the music cut out, the moonlight paled and the door disappeared. Clarity returned to the world.
    “I do not want to!” I screamed over and over again until Mother appeared in front of me in the labyrinth and laid her hands on my body.
    After that I remember no more. When I awoke I saw that Mother had carried me out of the labyrinth. The torchlight flickered around us and the moon was back to being a little lamp up in theheavens. Mother’s concerned face was hovering above mine.
    In the corner of my eyes I could see slicks of darkness sliding around, and on them rode the voice of the Crone, wordlessly whispering.

 
    I DID NOT JOIN IN WITH THE CELEBRATION feast in the Moon yard. I lay in bed in the dormitory trying to forget what I had seen and heard. I tried to sleep. I must have drifted off around dawn because I was woken up at midday by Sister O.
    “Mother wants to talk to you. Do you feel strong enough yet?”
    She gave me a piece of bread to eat and watched while I got dressed. My movements were slow. I did not want to talk to Mother. I did not want to answer any questions. I did not want to think about what had happened. But I could not say no to a direct summons from Mother herself. So I followed Sister O across the central courtyard and up Moon Steps. It had never felt as long a way as it did that day. The sun was shining in the bright-blue spring sky, the sound of junior novices playing came from theKnowledge yard and I could see the goat kids frolicking gleefully up on the mountainside. The smell of the Crone’s breath still lingered in my nostrils. Her voice mumbled in every sharp-edged shadow. I walked as closely behind Sister O as possible. The Crone could not take me if I was not alone.
    Though I knew that if she wanted something, she would get it in the end.
    Moon House is a low grey building with the Moon yard beside it. The house is built of stone, like all houses on the island, and its back wall is formed by the mountain itself. The door is made entirely of metal. The surface might have been clean once, but it has accumulated dents and scratches since, which look like the result of many blows. It smells rancid. I had only ever been through it once before, when I arrived and was brought to Mother for the first time.
    Mother was sitting behind her large desk, waiting for me. The sharp wind up on the mountainside made her chamber very cool. There were two doors in the room: one into the cell where Mother slept and another simple wooden door with iron fittings and a hefty knob. The first was ajar and I could see that it led into a naked little cell. There was a narrow,comfortable-looking bed, a desk with a lamp and a little window.
    Mother’s face was calm and expressionless, but I thought I could see a glimmer of worry in her bright eyes. I tried not to meet her gaze. I did not want her to guess the truth from my eyes. Sister O stood next to me, her back dead straight and her lips pressed tightly together. I had never seen her back straight before.
    “Maresi, what happened last night?” Mother’s voice was authoritative. She was expecting an answer.
    I looked down at the ground. I could not lie to Mother. I could only stay silent.
    “It was the Moon, was it not?” Mother’s voice softened. “She can be frightening. I understand that. The first time she spoke to me I was also afraid. Afraid of the