Ensnared Read online

  She grasped the handle of her door and shook it; the lock had to be hooked on, just not locked. She shook it again; she stood up and kicked at it violently. Just when she thought it wouldn’t give, she heard the dead thud of the lock dropping to the floor and she smiled, throwing the door wide open. She made her way downstairs to the kitchen where she got her father’s carving knife out of the drawer.

  Singing to herself, Kiara skipped out of the house, filled with joy and happiness.

  Amari was nauseated just being aware of what Kiara was thinking.

  They were a few meters away from the end of the farm when Kiara looked up and through her eyes Amari saw Raven standing in the middle of the road. She was wearing a worn black clock around her shoulders with a large hood pulled up over her head. Beneath it Amari could the beautiful black lace dress she had worn the day she had arrived and hugged Kiara for the first time.

  Raven raised her hand, palm out, and shouted, “You are not permitted to leave!”

  Kiara tilted her head to the side and said, “Who is going to stop me?” She took a step forward, but hit a barrier, an invisible something that she could not go through. She looked at Raven, fuming. “How are you doing this?” she demanded.

  Raven glared at her. “You are dark and evil, Kiara, and you must be stopped. It is time you met your own end.”

  Amari realised it was the first time Kiara had ever felt fear and suddenly she took off to the left, meaning to go through the woods to get to the boundary wall where she could climb over.

  Kiara ran through her clearing and hit the wall. She then realised that she hadn’t quite hit it. She put her hands against yet another invisible barrier. Hearing footsteps behind her, she followed the path to the right.

  When she glanced back she saw Raven standing there with her hand up again, singing softly:

  Take this one away from me,

  I pray to Thee,

  Great Deity.

  Take this one far away,

  To never see the light of day,

  Great Deity.

  Take her to worlds a many,

  Take her to worlds that vary,

  Great Deity.

  Take this one away from me,

  I pray to Thee,

  Great Deity.

  Take this one and plant her there,

  That she may never again breathe air,

  That she may never see daylight,

  That she may live in eternal night,

  That never again I will see her face,

  That never again she will me disgrace,

  Take this one away from me,

  I pray to Thee,

  Great Deity.

  Branches wrapped around Kiara and agony went through her as she slowly disappeared. Amari felt the pain too and then suddenly didn’t.

  Suddenly she stood next to Raven, who watched as Kiara was engulfed by the tree, which then seemed to fold into itself before there was a small flash of light and a book fell onto the earth where the tree had once been.

  Instead of blackness, the vision Amari was in seemed to speed up as though someone had pressed the fast forward button.

  Raven hid her spell book in the tree, weak from the energy she used to cast the spell.

  The forest died as Kiara grew stronger.

  A tree branch fell on Raven as she left the forest, killing her and trapping her soul on the farm.

  People came and went, while Kiara and Raven waged supernatural war around them.

  Then Amari saw her part of the story, the moving in. She was Kiara’s spirit, making the book fall so it grabbed her, Amari’s, attention.

  Amari was creeped out as she watched herself read Kiara’s book. It seemed as if a darkness connected her to the pages and the book pulsated with it, as though Kiara was drawing energy from Amari.

  Raven stood in the mirror before Kiara shattered it, stopping Raven from warning Amari. Raven stood watch over Jono in the field, making sure Kiara didn’t hurt him.

  Sashqua got out of the car and Kiara watched her from the attic, waiting until Amari couldn’t see her anymore before she opened her mouth, giving an unholy shriek that shattered the glass that hurt Sashqua.

  Raven tried to stop Amari from casting the spell.

  Amari was hit with the spell and her body lay in the clearing.

  The book then did a weird aging process. It developed limbs and a head, all made of wood, until a whole girl appeared. The woody look then faded and Kiara stood there, looking triumphant. She moved to the end of the clearing where she pushed a rock to the side and removed the rusty craft blade from its hiding spot. She then approached the unconscious Amari, but the protective circle Amari had formed stopped her.

  She inclined her head before she turned and walked towards the farmhouse.

  The darkness returned and then Amari sat up in the clearing. A moment later she hurtled up and sprinted towards the house.

  Amari ran inside and screamed, “Mom? Dad?” She moved swiftly upstairs towards their bedroom yelling, “Mom! Dad! ANSWER ME!”

  Breathing frantically, she stumbled into their bedroom and froze.

  Her father and mother were lying in their bed. Blood seeped from the massive gash in Jono’s chest, and from the amount of blood it seemed that Kiara had pierced his heart. Her mother lay against him, and the blood from Sashqua slit throat ran through her blouse over her chest.

  Amari swayed on the spot, torn between throwing up and fainting. A scream of horror built inside her.

  Someone had dipped a hand in dark red paint and used a palm as a brush to write with, a message above her parent’s bed

  Amari knew it was blood as she read the words.

  NOW WE ARE BOTH FREE

  - KIARA

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Hailing from Johannesburg, Southern Africa, Sian B. Claven has enjoyed stories for all her life, whether she was reading them or making them. She has written for as long as she can remember, but Ensnared is the first book she decided to publish. Moving towards writing more for a horror genre, when Sian isn’t thinking of ways to terrify people, she enjoys writing science fiction stories, poetry and rather long and gushy birthday wishes. When she isn’t working on her writing you can find her knitting, scrap booking, reading, or playing Xbox. Sian also reviews for The Blithering Bibliomaniacs and clearly doesn’t know what the words rest and relaxation mean, at least not in the traditional sense.