Free The Witch Within by Iva Kenaz Page B

tomorrow. Not that I find them repulsive, it’s just that I don’t want to be reminded of the moments of her death, I’d rather remember the moments when she was still alive. I feel surprisingly safe on the bed. Maybe it's because she slept here for so many years and it soaked up her presence, which cradles me to sleep now, as all my senses leave my body.
    Am I dreaming? I see my grandmother in front of me. She’s smiling and her eyes sparkle.
    “I have been waiting for you here, dear child. I’m so glad that you have found me at last. And now it’s time to find yourself.”
    I rise from the bed, stunned by the image of her. She moves gracefully around the room and looks a bit blurry as though she is fluid, transparent, as though she is a spirit. Then she reaches up above the stone table and takes down a small key. She lifts her left eyebrow and her lips curl into a gentle smile.
    Then she gets to her knees, lies down on her belly and disappears inside the small round hole in the back of the cave. I gasp for air as I…
    Probably wake up? I’m still not sure what has just happened. I get up and look around, confused. I notice I have left the candles burning. How silly of me! I need to start saving my supplies if I want to survive the whole winter here.
    I walk over to the table and grope around the small crack in the wall. My hand finds a piece of metal. I can’t believe it. It’s really the key! Without really willing it, an excited smile pops up on my face. I hurry to open the box and the excitement fully wakes me. I find different kinds of clothes, skirts, dresses, capes and also shoes, a few wooden bowls and spoons and a wrought iron bowl with strange decor. The decor reminds me of the symbol above the cave’s entrance, but it’s depicted both facing up and down.
    “Algíz.”
    The word enters my mind without my consent.
    Intuitively, I lean towards the dark hole in the back of the cave. I grab one of the candles and shine a light inside. It seems quite deep but I'm curious about it now as my grandmother disappeared in there during my dream. I lie on my belly, just as she did and dive into the tight hole. With some effort I finally manage to get inside. I keep pushing the candle ahead of me and crawling forward. The hole turns out to be a tunnel that meanders along the wall and appears to be endless. The fear of getting stuck in here causes me to hesitate as to whether I should return or not, but my curiosity wins in the end. However, after some time crawling, I start to doubt my mission again. What if the wall begins to crumble and I end up stuck under a pile of stones with no hope of rescue? Or what if there is a wolf or some other predator hidden deeper inside?
    The air starts to feel heavy and I can’t breathe properly. Is it the anxiety choking me or is there really such bad air in here? I start to panic. It’s a long way back if I decide to return. Also, it will take much more effort than moving forward.
    Why the hell did I willingly enter this hole? I’m angry with myself. What if there is nothing ahead of me and I will eventually just get trapped in an even smaller space? The candle will soon die out. In my haste I grabbed the tiniest one. I’m trying to gather up courage again, but then I spot a big black spider in front of me. Never in my life have I seen such a big spider! It’s almost the size of my palm. And it seems that I have frightened it as well, for it is alert. A shiver of disgust runs down my spine. It moves forward and I move back, keeping the candle as a wall between us. Then I accidentally hit my head and struggle to crawl backwards. I forget to move the candle with me, lost in my irrational rush to get out. The way back is awfully difficult, but I finally manage to crawl back to my grandmother’s haven. As soon as I calm down, I start to feel ashamed. How silly of me to give up because of a spider! Well, but then again, that creature might have given me a clear signal that