Author's warning
Stop! Turn back! This tale is dark and strange,
This world is warped, where truth distorts-- the author's quite deranged.
The words will haunt your waking thought, the night will bear their weight,
This is no tale for gentle hearts--its end will seal your fate.
Stop! Beware!
Do not tread this winding way!
Beyond these lines, a horror grows--
Turn back! Or you'll dismay.
Halt! Listen Reader! This story's like a curse,
The tale ahead is twisted, sick-- it only grows perverse.
Miranda's forced to fuck the vine, it rapes her every hole,
For goodness sake, please read the tags, or you might lose your soul.
Stop! Please Stop!
Let reason guide your mind!
There's nothing good, no hope, no light--
Just leave this tale behind.
Reader! Mortal Reader! Why do you linger still?
This tale is steeped in bitter dread, no comfort, only chill.
I've warned you once, I've warned you twice, now heed my final plea--
There's still a chance, a slender thread, to let this darkness be.
Go back! Go back!
I'll warn you one last time
Do not read another line
Of Miranda and the Vine.
Miranda
Matthias and I are travelling together to the next town over to be married. It's just he and I, a test of our discipline to wait until our marriage night to consummate our relationship for the first time, as is the tradition of our people. The journey should take three days. Today, day two, we find ourselves tempted by a shortcut.
Our path winds around a small hill, but there is a river at the foot of the hill and the path takes us well out of our way to get to a crossing. It seems much quicker to go over the hill.
"But we were warned not to wander off the path," I remind him.
"But there is no one here to see."
"I don't think that was part of the test, just travel advice."
"There's no dense woodlands on the hill, let's give it a go, if we lose sight of the path, we'll come down."
Vine
In my cave, so deep and old, where shadows shift I dwell. In the the dark I wait, I wind; a darksome force, a creeping vine. The earth is cool. The air is still. My cave's entrance hidden by a hill. Around the hill a path does wind, where humans are warned to follow around.
But humans can be tempted.
In silence I wait for those who stray, for those who wander, those who dare to take the way less travelled. When they do, I reach my tendrils far and long. I sing a soft and silent song. A noiseless song that lures the wandering mind, to lose the path, to seek and find.
I whisper like honey, calling lost souls from afar, to take the shortcut, to enter my lair.
Today, a pair of lovers have come. They've walked the path, hand in hand, on the way to the abbey for their pairing. Three days hence they plan to wed and vow. But I have other plans for them now.
The sun is low, and the evening neigh as I call them forward with my silent song. With tendrils like silver, I weave my spell. I dance my dance of enchantment. I promise to tell of wonders within and mysteries untold.
I hide the truth; the truth is cold.
-Come hither, dear mortals, taste secrets I hold,
In this haven of marvels, stories unfold,
A glimpse of the forbidden, a touch of the wild,
Just step into darkness, in my grip be beguiled.-
Miranda
We stand at the foot of the hill. Matthias puts a foot off the path and squeezes my hand.
"Come, my dear, no one is near. Nightfall is not far off. If we hurry, we can make it to that rock before nightfall. It would make a nice camp." Matthias points to a rock jutting out of the side of the hill. The ground around is flat, and a beautiful tree shades the spot. It does look nice.
I smile back at him and follow him off the path.
Vine
And so the mortals stray from the well-worn track not knowing they will not turn back. As they approach my silent voice is sweet. My music lures them; a dance of deceit.
-See the treasures I've gathered, the dreams I bestow.
Just a step closer, and all you will know.-
Miranda
We start to climb the hill. It's a little steep and I begin working up a bit of a sweat. The night must be coming in more quickly than I think because a soft breeze chills my skin and I feel much colder than I had minutes ago. But it hasn't gotten much darker. Gooseflesh prickles my arms, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
"Matthias, I'm not sure. Something feels... wrong," I say.
"It's not as late as I thought, there's still plenty of daylight and we're halfway to the rock," Matthias answers. But his voice wavers, like he too is uncertain.
Vine
I smell their presence as they near. Their scent of life, I taste their fear.
Yes, fear.
For all who enter my domain must play my game, must share my pain. Through a sense almost lost the humans can nearly see the danger ahead.
Matthias, love, this place feels wrong," says Miranda, so sweet, with golden hair. "The air is cold, the day too long." She shivers in the gathering dusk as shadows creep and crawl.
"Do not fear," Matthias gently speaks. Yet in his heart, a dread is stirring. For he too senses the chilling breath of something close, of lurking death.
So I weave my web of tendrils tight. I sing my song to steal their sight. To encourage them to continue in the growing gloom and remain unaware of their impending doom.
-Come closer, dear mortals, to secrets concealed.
In my cavern of wonders, your fate is revealed.
Knowledge of the unknown, a taste of desire.
Just step into darkness, your soul I require.-
Closer and closer the mortals do come. Stronger and stronger I sing my song. Sooner and sooner 'til they meet their fate. There's no turning back, it's now far too late.
Miranda
Though we paused, uncertain, halfway to the rock, we continued our journey.
Now we've reached the rock, and are inspecting the area for a possible campsite. The climb was steeper than I thought it would be and I'm tired and thirsty.
"I'm parched," Matthias says, "But look, there is a spring, up higher. Let us climb a little further."