Linda's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Linda needs an audience before she can truly become the greatest. She spins alone on the grave, testing new movements with each turn. Her head tilts at strange angles as she experiments. What if she detaches it mid-leap? The thought makes her grin wider. But the darkness swallows her stage when the sun drops below the trees. She can't dance what she can't see. She needs light that matches what she's become. Something that glows with the same hunger that burns in her chest. She finds an old branch and wraps it with strips torn from her robe. The fabric soaks up something dark that seeps from her gray skin. When she strikes it against a stone, purple flame erupts. The fire doesn't burn orange or yellow like normal torches. It flickers with deep violet light that makes the shadows twist and writhe. She plants it beside the grave and steps back onto her stage. The eerie glow bathes the dirt in unsettling purple. Now she can practice through the night. Now wandering souls will see her dance from far away. Now they'll come closer, drawn by the strange light and her movements. She begins to spin, her white robe catching the purple flame's glow. Her laughter rings out between the trees as she leaps and twirls beneath her new light. Dawn breaks and she stops mid-turn. Three hikers came during the night. Their bones rest in a small pile near the edge of her stage. She remembers their screams, their terror, the sweet taste as their souls slid down her throat. But something nags at her as she stares at the weathered remains. They watched her dance. They saw her leap and spin. Then they ran. That's not right. A true audience stays until the end. A true audience understands the beauty before them. She needs dancers who won't flee. She needs souls who will watch her become the greatest without fear breaking the spell. The purple torch still burns beside the grave. The bones mark her first attempt. She steps back onto the dirt and begins again, slower this time, searching for movements that will make the next wanderers stay.