The Water

The damp, musty smell of dirt assaulted me as I crept into the gaping mouth of the Water Cave. I was only thirteen years old the last time I visited this place, and I swore then I'd never return. If not for the squirming bundle in my arms, I would have held myself to that oath.

I stopped just inside the cave to deliver a soft kiss to her exposed forehead, a nauseous knot forming in my throat as her skin seared my lips. People always say they will do anything for their children, that they will sacrifice their own lives for them if necessary. As I stood there staring down into her flushed little face, I knew I had never heard anything more true than that.

"Almost there, angel," I whispered, pulling her closer to my chest as I walked forward into the pit-like darkness of the cave.

Voices seemed to whisper all around me, and though I knew it was nothing more than the scrape of my feet across the dirt floor, the sounds were frightening all the same. It was all coming back to me, more clear with every step-the claustrophobic fear I felt the first time I walked this path into the heart of the cave; the cold, stale air penetrating through my clothes just as it was now; the feeling of descending into the very bowels of the Earth, perhaps, even, to Hell. I tried to push those memories away, but some managed to escape and haunt me as I pressed forward, determined to complete my mission. I was fortunate to have made it out of this cave alive the first time. For my daughter's sake, I prayed my luck would hold.

Never come back...

I heard the voice inside my head clearly, as if it had spoken now, and was not just a distant memory suppressed to preserve my sanity. Soft and lisping, yet sinister at the same time, the Water Witch's voice was embedded deep into my psyche. The legends claimed she devoured anyone who dared trespass in her cave, and that the Water was made from the collected souls of her victims, spat out once she'd had her fill of their flesh. Though I dismissed such tales before my encounter with the Water Witch, after, I did not doubt they could be true. I did not question her mercy toward me then, but many times since I left the cave, I have wondered why she spared my life. Though I fear she will be angry that I broke my promise and returned to the cave, in the back of my mind I cannot help but wonder if she knew it would come to pass. Had she let me go as a child because she knew I would be hers as an adult? Worse still, had she somehow cursed my child to make it happen?

The very thought of it made me want to turn around and leave this place, but I knew I couldn't. Whether it was the Witch's doing or not, I had to bring my child to the Water. There was nothing else left.

"Almost there."

The baby gurgled, and tears crept up behind my eyes. It felt as though the darkness had swallowed us both, and though I kept putting one foot in front of the other, the panicked notion that this journey would never end took hold and made my limbs tremble with each step. What if it isn't here anymore? What if it disappeared after I came the last time? What if all of this is for nothing? I shook off such troubling thoughts. It had to be here. It had to work. My baby's life depended on it.

Time lost all meaning as I carried my child through the pitch black. She grew quiet in my arms, but I could feel her breathing. She was only sleeping. All was well. For now. But I knew if I did not find the Water soon, her sleep might never end.

I felt a change in the air around me, and with my next step, tiny shimmering shards of crystal appeared from the darkness, set into the cave walls like stars in the night sky. They did little to illuminate the space, but the sight of them was comforting to me because I remembered the glitter walls and knew the Water was close.

I thought of the legends surrounding this place as I continued to walk. Once, the stories seemed like harmless fairy tales, no more real than Snow White or The Gingerbread Man. I didn't believe them. My first visit to the Water Cave was on a dare, accepted because of my skepticism. I was going to prove them all wrong. I was going to show how brave and smart I was, and how silly everyone else was for being afraid of this place. All I managed to prove was that I was neither smart nor brave, and that sometimes even when a story seems fantastic, it can be true.

No one really knows how old the Water Cave is, though people have attempted to find out from time to time. Most archaeological excursions made into its heart discover little more than terror and loss. Sometimes, members of such outings never return at all, and are said to have been eaten by the Water Witch, victims of her vengeful appetite. Any samples of water or soil procured by survivors never make it to a lab, for one reason or another. Most say the Water Witch is to blame for that, as well.

My grandfather once told me that the Water Cave had been here since time began, and that the Water inside gave birth to all life. It was a source of many great powers, among them, the power to heal the sick. Grandpa told me that the Water Witch was its first child, created solely to protect it from those who might one day seek to use its power to their own ends.

I saw her when I came to the cave as a child. She was perched atop a rock jutting from the cave wall to hang over the obsidian Water, her long red hair tumbling wildly over her bare shoulders. She wore no clothing, and her skin gleamed like alabaster in the virtual darkness of the cave. Her deep, dark eyes seemed a part of the cave itself, and when I stared into them, I felt as though I was drowning. She beckoned to me with flame-red fingertips and I came forward, unable to resist her call. I did not stop at the Water's edge, but continued to walk until it reached just under my chin, and wrapped around my body like a cold, wet blanket. Her blood red mouth slashed a smile and her head cocked to the side as though in approval of my predicament.

Whyyyyyy have you come heeeereeee?

The question bounced off the cave walls, creating an eerie echo reverberating into the depths of the Water. It seemed to tighten around me when she spoke, and every inch of my body submerged in its dark depths prickled from some sort of viscous static electricity. When I finally found voice to respond, I was truthful with her, for I did not have it in me to lie. My disbelief must have amused the Witch, because she let out a cackle worthy of her cartoon sisters and pointed a fiery finger at me.

There are none so blind as those who will not seeeeeee.

I did not quite understand what she meant, but I begged her to release me from my watery bondage and tried to convince her I would not be good to eat. To my relief, she did just that, warning me never to return, lest I suffer the fate of those who trespassed before me.

What would she do, now that I had broken that oath? This time, I was not an arrogant child ignorant of what I'd done. I came to this place with full knowledge and understanding. I came seeking the power of the Water for my child. Would the Water Witch make good her promise to devour me and trap my soul here for all eternity, or would she once again show mercy, if not for me, for my child? If this was, indeed, her will, then I did not think she would. Doubt consumed me as the glittery walls gave way, once more, to pitch black. Just ahead, I could hear droplets of moisture from stalactites hitting the Water below, and my pulse jumped.

"Almost there, angel."

Darkness surrendered to the odd green glow I remembered as a child, and at the center of this glow was the Water. A great rush of relief swept over me and I picked up my pace, stopping at the Water's edge to search for the Water Witch.

"You," she hissed, her voice just as I remembered. She materialized from hazy fog, perched atop the same rock where I last saw her.

She remembers me.

"I'm sorry, but my child...my baby...she needs the Water. Please."

The witch cocked her head to the side, her crimson hair falling in a curtain before her face as she stared at me with her fathomless eyes.

"So now you belieeeeeve?"

"I have to. This is my only hope. Her only hope."

"Whyyyyy?"

"Doctors can do nothing. They don't know what is wrong with her. They say there is no hope, no cure."

"Place her in the Water."

I gave my baby one last kiss, then set her atop the Water before us. My lips parted in quiet shock as the Water formed hands, carrying her across its surface to the Water Witch. She bent down to pick up my child and I had to bite my lip to keep from calling out in fear that her fiery fingers would burn my precious baby. Miraculously, they did not. I watched, silent and still, as the Witch lifted my child from the water and brought her to her breast.

"Can you help her?" I asked when several minutes passed without comment or movement from the Witch. She turned her head to look at me, her eyes betraying nothing as she stared.

"Yesssss....but there is a price to pay."

"Anything."

"Walk into the Water. Give yourssssself for herrrr."

"I will give my life," I declared, lifting my chin to the Witch, "but who will care for her? Who will take her from this place?"

"The Water will provide. The Water knows all. You must trust. You must...belieeeeeve. If you do not, the Water will not help her."

I nodded quickly, understanding what was required of me. In truth, it was what I expected. I stepped forward into the water, immersing myself step by step, my tears mixing with its obsidian moisture. The familiar prickling sensation engulfed me in degrees as I walked, and I could not help but tremble despite my resolve to face my fate with courage and dignity.

The Witch placed my baby back into the waiting hands of the Water, and as I continued to go forward, I could feel her tiny heartbeat move through it to me. It struck me with such force that I gasped, the sound of it cut short by the merging of her heartbeat with mine.

"Goodbye, my angel. I love you," I rasped, my eyes fixed upon her as the hands of the water took hold of my body, and pulled it completely under.

Down, down, down it pulled me until my lungs burned and I could no longer keep my lips closed. The Water flooded into my mouth as it came open, and death loomed before me, a gray shadow amid the blackness surrounding me. As it reached out with formless talons, a bright light flashed in my mind, and I was given one last gift by the power of the Water.

In my mind's eye, I saw my child. She was wrapped in her blanket, lying in a soft bed of grass just outside the mouth of the cave. A woman approached her, calling out my name as she broke through the dense trees of the surrounding forest and entered the small clearing. I smiled when I recognized her as my mother, and I knew, then, my daughter would be fine. I saw her sweet little face as my mother lifted her into her arms. Her color was normal and she was smiling.

Let's get you home, angel.

My mother's words of comfort echoed, then faded, replaced by the ominous cackling of the Water Witch far above the surface. I barely had time to wonder if my vision was real, or the product of my need to believe I had not given my life in vain, before all around me went dark and still, and I was no more.