The metal gate groaned under her fingers as she pushed through the entrance. She had found it only a month ago, long ago destroyed by time and nature.
When she had entered the garden for the first time on a cold October afternoon, the first thing she'd seen was the angel stature in the middle of the garden. The whole area was covered in a canopy of old willow trees and ivy that had grown onto the trees and surrounding walls. It made her feel protected to be under that canopy protected and in touch with another world.
Crescent moved slowly down the crumbling steps stopping to look at the garden in it's entirety. On the sides of a pond were little gargoyles who looked down into the murky dephths, Crescent had named them the Watchers. On either side of the pond was the overgrown garden with scattered stone benches and other broken statues. The garden itself wasn't very large, about fifteen meters long and thirty meters wide but with all the overgrown shrubbery it looked even smaller.
A crow flew out of a bush, scaring Crescent. It circled under the canopy flew out through a crack in the wall.
"Damn bird." she muttered.
She sat down by the bench on the right of the pond. She'd come today to try and fix the gardens deplorable state. First she'd started to fix the broken statues as best she could. Many were destroyed beyong repair. She had brought a shovel to help her get rid of the dead leaves and put them into garbage bags. Some of the branches scratched her cheeks and pulled at her clothes.
She noticed that it wasn't raining any more, just damp with a haning mist swriling beneath the cannopy.It was just as she was reaching for a patch of dead flowers that she heard a distinct plop, the sound of something falling in water. she turned her head to the left and could just barely see the ripples in the murky pond. She stood up from her crouched position and looked to the pond to see if anything came out of it. Maybe that crow fell into the water,she thought.
Crescent pulled a loose strand of hair behind her ear and walked even closer to the murky pond. The raindrops had destroyed the path of ripples of whatever had fallen into it. She crouched down by one of the watchers and tried to look into the dismal dephths of the pond. It was usless.
The rain was now poring and it trickled down Crescent's face. She raised her free arm and whipped her face off. When she lowered it again and just glanced at the pond, her relief was jolted. The raindrops weren't dropping onto the pond. Instead the pond was a smooth and clear as crystal. No longer was the water black and sullen, but instead it swirled with a blue mist that seemed to fall forever.
Crescent, who had been crouched by the pond now collapsed onto her knees and stared. Out of the swirling blue mist a scene appeared in slow motion, with many people in beautiful costumes dancin to music Crescent couldn't hear. The scene grew and grew until it took up the whole of the ponds surface, and from the dephths of where it had comefrom, the music the people were dancing to floated to Crescent's ears.
The images seemed to grow and grow until it suddenly consumed Creescent and she was there among the dancers!! Among them with their maskswith feathers of all different colours and their costumes of silks and jewels. She floated as if in a dream between the dancers, weaving a path towards something. people laughed and stared at her as she moved by them. They grinned anda few women laughed directly ather. Suddenly from the swarm of dancers, a tall glass door appeared at the far end of the ballroom. Crescent started to hear towards it, brushing past people as they danced at a dizzying pace.
"What's your rush, dear." An old woman crackled at her.
Crescent stopped and turned to look at a short haggled looking woman.
"I beg your pardon?"Crescent asked
"I said, what's yoru rush? don't you want to stay for the big bang?"
"Big bang?"
The old woman raised a wrinkled hand and pointed behind Crescent's shoulder. She turned and saw a chain noose raised above a large dias in the center of the ballrom.
"Who's that for?" Crescent asked the old woman, but when she turned the woman had vanished into the dancing crowd.
Abruptly the music stopped and the dancers slow down to a halt. Crescent became aware of all the people around her looking at the dias with the chain noose.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, distinguished guest." A man said.
He wore a black to hat and a long black cloak. He stood on the dias, speaking in a booming voice. "It is my esteem delight to present the vile and heartless fiend...Drent"
The people around Crescent cheered and clapped with enthusiastic cries. She turned her attention back to the dias to see a young man with red hair being led up to the front with his hands tied behind his back. His eyes were covered by dark green glasses, and his dark blue dress coat whirled around his black knee high boots.
The dias itself was so magnificent that Cresent couldn't stop herself from looking at it and igrnoring the actions on top of it. It was a circular dias, with engraved figures of men and women dancing, much like the men and women around her. But as she watched, right before her eyes, the tranquil looking engraved figures suddenly turned dark and horrible, dancing in what seemed to be evil circles of three. The engravins began to move and come to life, Crescent heard their hideous laughter that scratched at her back and arms. She winced and covered her ears to keep the sound out, also shutting her eyes. A moment later, she re-opened her eyes, it was like nothing had happened. The dias was back to the beautiful looking dancers and the people around Crescent seemed to be waiting for something.
She turned her attention back to the top and could have sworn that at that very moment the man named Drent was looking directly at her...
But that was impossible because no one could see his eyes behind the green glasses. I want to get out of here, she thought to herself.
"Drent, leader of The Differents has been sentenced to death by handing." The annoucer said and the people cheered again.
"Any last request Drent?"
"Yes," the young man's voice though quiet echoed throughout the ballroom. "I'd Like a nice breath of fresh air before I go."
The man in the top hat looked to some other men standing behind him. They spent a few minuets talking before one called out for the doors to be opened. As soon as they were pulled, a tremendous gush of wind surged into the ballroom, sending people's hair astray and their costumes wild. Crescent pulled her hair away from her face and tied it back into the scrunchy she had on her wrist.
"Hang him!!" a woman next to Crescent screamed.
"Kill him now!!" someone else echoed.
"Do it now!!"
The people around Crescent pushed and shoved her and screamed for the death of the man called Drent.
Crescent knew she had to get out of here. She pushed at the people, trying to make her way to the open windows. The people around her pushed her from side to side and behind her she could hear the noose being lowered from its chain. She pushed harder through the crowd.
"Not going to stay for the big bang?!?!"the old womans' voice floated to her ears, but Crescent kept going ignoring everything around her.
She was just a few steps away from the doors when she heard a rush of cheers. She turned to see the man Drent hanging lifelessly in the air from a chain noose.
Copyright 2000, Charmeye Thyme.
