Chapter Text
From the thunder, and the storm—
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view—
-Edgar Allan Poe "Alone"
Prologue
Through the shuttering of the evening wind, a cool chill in the air cut through the ideas of spring and sent one’s mind back to winter. The moon sat in the darkened sky, swollen with light that made the ground below glow in a mystical hue. The trees swayed in tandem with the wind, their branches twitching and jumping like frightened little mice in a dark, looming cornfield. The stars above shone like horrified witnesses-forced to endure the silent madness below as the townsfolk hurried in the ever-growing darkness. Cries could be heard, as man and woman with torches and lamps shouted and hollered out a single name, Cream.
Young, spritely and full of life, the child of a beloved laundress, Miss. Vanilla, and her late husband. Her perfect rabbit ears were oft tied with ribbons, and she skipped along the cobblestone path with a bright smile for all who crossed her path. The child had gone out earlier, just before evening to check on the neighboring barn cat who had birthed kittens earlier than month. Her mother had called her back for dinner mere minutes later, before the sun was even fully set.
And yet she did not come.
No matter how loudly her mother, growing more and more desperate, cried out her name. A burning chill settled in the air and permeated the stomach of all who looked harder and harder.
Cream.
Cream.
Where are you?
The animals scurried about, frightened by the mood and the shouts, as townsfolk edged deeper and deeper into the darkness of these haunted woods. And yet, she did not come. And they did not stop crying her name until morning, when one man returned carrying a bloodied and torn little ribbon that carried the weight of a mother’s tears.