[Sight] Believe it or not, the mold that was beginning to store on the forgotten walls wasn’t affecting her at all. Neither was the dust, gathered there for the thousands of years, showing just how old were the columns used to store the collection of strange and various things, for the people to someday buy. The objects themselves were curious and interesting, from the passed ages, picked out from places, no one has ever been to, except the owner of the shop. The old lady, wrinkled and barely standing was watching as the girl was looking at the shelf with mirrors. Her only crooked tooth, was helplessly hanging on to her prosthesis, as her wide open mouth was breathing heavily, due to her nose being stuffed by the dust. It was kind of creepy, to say the least, but what can we do? Age isn’t controlled by the human’s hand. It’s something natural, we cannot fight. No one was responsible for her state of being. Well, if she was a smoker once, her teeth might have fallen from that…or, her heavy breaths might be caused by the harmful fumes from said smoking. Or maybe…just, guessing at this point, her loss of breath was caused by the fact that the girl she was staring at, was looking at the mirror…the one in the back, not shown for sale, but hidden, as much as she could try and hide it from the people’s eyes. In truth though, she would always forget to move it away, and would freak out if someone saw it, just by looking at the ones that were for sale. Most of the people didn’t pay much attention to the dirty mirror, with the broken wooden frame, engraved with strange runic markings. But this time…the girl was looking at it. Which might be the reason for her to be not bothered by the mold and dust…too focused on reaching for the mirror, pushed way behind the ordinary ones. Jullie knew there was something more to it. Why would a perfectly fine thing, sit there and not be for sale? Perhaps it was something unique, and had a different value than the rest of the plain mirrors. Or, it was just stored for someone, friends with the lady. Who knows…the fact of the matter was, that Jullie liked it…and if she liked something…she would always make sure to have it, by any means necessary. This time however, the teen wanted the object not because it was pretty or something, but because…well, I don’t even know how to begin explaining the fact that she was somehow drawn by it, by a force she couldn’t meddle with, and that was “coincidence”. Who would know that today would mark the day that a girl would enter in this old lady’s pawn shop, and would be drawn to this circular thing…? Well, as far as I know, Jullie didn’t, and she always knew she wanted to buy something…and with this strange looking mirror, she knew she had to had it. But, what exactly was the cause of this sudden attraction between her and this glass? Maybe the reflection on said surface was kind enough for her to like it? Or was it that her piercing green eyes were sharper than usual, while staring into the reflective ones. Or that her hair shone in a different shade of black, or that her lips were puffier than before? Who knows…maybe all those combined. Certainly something out of them. And for an aging young girl, this was more than needed in a mirror, making it an “instant-have”. Without wasting anymore time she swiftly turned and faced the lady, gripping the wooden frame of the mirror tightly. -I would like to buy this one! – she exclaimed, quite out of character for her, but she couldn’t keep her excitement for having a new item in her massive collection of unused stuff. The lady though, not so energetic like her, looked as if she had lost her mind. Slowly, moving her hand above the desk she was sitting by, she waved her finger in a slow negative gesture. -What do you mean by that? I cannot have it? – asked Jullie and leaned over the desk to look at her better. Now that her eyes could scan her better, the granny looked even creepier. Her dilated pupils, made her blue eyes kind of frightening. The mouth which was still widely opened, began to shake intensely, as if she was suffering from something. Yet, a sound still emerged from it, yet distorted and nearly incomprehensible. -N-not th-...at…- she said, pointing her gaze at the mirror that was now placed on the desk. Jullie moved the mirror away and that suddenly calmed the old woman, returning her to her less-creepy state. Her breathing kind-of normalized yet, the eyes remained expanded and roaming somewhere. -Do not take that mirror young one…please do not, leave it here, with me…where it cannot harm anyone…- she said, this time not stuttering. -What do you mean by harm, it’s just a mirror?!- this time, a bit more aggressively said the girl, and saw how the lady tensed, thinking that she would hit her. Jullie felt bad for raising her voice, but…it was like someone ordered her to do it…but, she just wanted to get this mirror, and this pawn shop lady want giving it up for some stupid unknown reason. -It is cursed my child…back when I was your age…for so many years now- replied the old granny and looked at the girl, trying to focus her sight on her eyes. Jullie nearly chuckled hearing her reasoning, but remained calm, and a bit interested… -Cursed you say, and why by any chances I’m still here and not struck by a lightning? Don’t say stupid things like that…Cursed…huh… Yet the old woman remained persistent. Claiming the mirror was ultimately and solemnly cursed. Without listening to the girl’s arguments she began telling a story. -Back when I was young and didn’t believe in any fairy-tales or grandma’s tales, I lived, without any stops or regrets…until I got to meet with a woman. She, just like I am right now, was selling different kind of things…just like me…and now, just like you I wanted to purchase this particular mirror…which, by any means, was just brilliant. Ornamented with different runes I couldn’t decipher or translate, it proved to be a fascinating peace for my collection of odd things. Yet again, day after day, whenever I looked in the said mirror, with glass, pure and crystal, I saw…different things than normal people would. Horrific worlds, dreadful times…and most of all…I saw myself, looking at me…staring at this green wasteland of eyes, and diving into the abysmal lake of this never ending cycle of repentance. Regret that I have bought this…wicked…this…this…- she said and stopped due to the mass cough that came out of her lungs. It was visible that her body was wrecked from the years of smoking and such, yet, Jullie didn’t smell any cigarettes, nor did the place, which was a small apartment room reek of that sickening aroma. Nevertheless, she was a plain white sheet, and coughed as if she was diagnosed with third stage tuberculosis. She covered her face, enough to stop the flying saliva coming from her open mouth. Jullie didn’t know if she should look away, or just continue to stare at the woman, wanting to know the rest of her story. As the lady stopped coughing and managed to stabilize her breathing, she looked even more older than before, as if ten years had passed in the last five minutes. The girl felt uneasy looking at her dark-ish corpse like skin, though didn’t break eye contact, which was quite hard, taking the fact that there was no sign of a color in them…only blank white orbs…staring at her, yet not knowing of it. Suddenly, as Jullie was hypnotized, the granny energetically and quite quickly grabbed her exposed hand, resting on the desk, and squeezed it gently. -If you wish to take it girl, then so be it…yet I warn you…it will cost you a lot of suffering just by having it in your home…it will one day even cost you lives, those of the ones you deem dearest for you…and then…one day…you might end up like me…hopeless…broken…and old…So, take it, if that is your wish, I shall not charge you with anything for it…just get out of here...- said the grandma, with a voice, deeper that before. The girl was no longer set for arguing over stupid curses and such, she just wanted to get the hell out of there…not only because this old lady seemed crazy, but because her guts were telling her to do it. She pulled her hand back, and took some steps towards the exit door, before hearing the lady’s last words for her. -One last thing before you set your life in a dark course young one…Don’t…by any means…look at yourself in the mirror, alone at night…just don’t look at yourself in it, in any matter. Don’t even consider it yours…the more you don’t…the more it won’t harm you- said the lady and leaned back at her chair, tilting her head backwards as if she was going to take a nap. Jullie, felt a slight impulse of fear passing through her like a small fly. Without thinking much more…she left the shop and brought home a brand new mirror, minus the moldy-gray stains on it and the little chipped wooden frame. … At first no one even bothered to see that there was something new up in the bathroom, yet, all after a day acknowledged that there was something new, something, strange to the house. First to notice was Herold, Jullie’s father and driver for a company that gave him a really big paycheck. As he was the first to see it, he was the first to check the overall durability of the mirror. It kind of looked rugged at first, yet, at a second inspection it proved to be nice and fitting for their home. The wooden frame, was a shining bright-brown color opposed to the washed out nearly gray-ish one that was before. So was the glass, which stained with green-ish and gray spots, was now crystal clear and reflective of the smallest thing. Harold was glad to have such an amazing thing to look at, EVERY, morning since the day it came in the house. Thus, being the first one to suffer immensely from it. It started from back pain, which he normally had. Amplified by the mirror’s curse, the pain was ten times worse than before. It got soo bad, that one day he couldn’t even get up to go to work, so he had to call sick for the day. His muscles soon deteriorated and…broke down completely. By the time they figured out the cause of this, he was already gone. The second to fall victim of the curse was the mother, Angie, whose bathroom custom consisted of five things EVERY morning. One of which was combing her hair, like most of the women do. She would stare and stare at the glass, and it would reflect her image perfectly…until it didn’t anymore. Her image started to age rapidly, yet, it wasn’t only the reflection that aged quicker than a sandwich hitting the floor. She herself…was getting older each day, each look, with each gaze…she grew older…uglier…madder at the mirror. To say the least…she was affected by it so much…she decided to end her miserable face…and…well…end herself. Truly tragic. Though, one more member of that family was yet to suffer. The one that brought it with her. Little poor Jullie and her obsession for things that are peculiar. Her complaints started the very next day she attached the mirror to a rusty nail above the sink in the bathroom. She broke the warning the old lady gave her…and…unleashed…the curse. Well, at first it didn’t dawn on her that the bad luck with her grades was coming from it, nor the foolish mistakes she did the whole day…or the moment she fell on the ground, face forward, and nearly broke her nose…No, that was only plain bad luck. But that didn’t stop there. The very same night, day after she brought it, she saw it…or, saw them. Millions and millions of chained green figures, floating in the coastline of the mirror’s sea shore. It was unbelievable, yet there…and seeable. Her next blink, took her to a different place, a destroyed land, with a red sky…pouring blood as rain…and nothing…nothing but destruction. Her third and final blink before moving on, showed herself…staring widely at the mirror, not able to comprehend a single thing of the things she saw. The reflection was smiling faintly, as the edges of her lips slowly moved upwards and revealed a grin, which strangely didn’t bother Jullie that much…probably because she was too confused to be scared. That night, she didn’t sleep much. Nor the next one, or the one after that. Her luck continued to suffer immensely, and her reputation of the “best girl in school”, soon degraded and faded away. With all her brains, she thought that returning the mirror to her previous owner was an option…yet…she didn’t find no one at the small apartment room that she entered some time ago. Yet again, she was stunned to see that the old granny had passed away that same day she gave away the mirror. Curious. Another week passed…and, well…it was getting worse and worse. Her father had gotten numb and chained to a bed. Her mother was getting sadder just by the second as she lived…and she…well, her luck got her into some serious shit…getting her blamed for stealing something from a student, and getting her ultimately expelled from her high-school. Nice huh? One more week…and her father passed away from bone breakage…her mother committed suicide in the same bathroom, by slicing her wrists and letting a turned on radio blast her in the tub of steamy water. And Jullie…well, she didn’t do much. Rather than going anywhere, she decided to keep her bad luck inside the house. That didn’t work out for her the way she planned. A knife pierced her foot, right as she was preparing dinner for herself. At this point…I don’t think she bothered that much, since she might have gone mad after her parents dying this tragically. After making a lettuce salad and fried rice, she went up in the bathroom, with the knife not even bothered to be removed from her aching from pain foot; and chilled there, eating peacefully, as if her mother didn’t die there two days ago. “What more could happen?”. She thought at that moment, though the teenager, looking at the mirror from a different angle. “Is there something more that could happen to me?”. In truth…yes…though…she didn’t let it happen. Angry at everything…regretting all her actions…wanting nothing more than to bring her life back, she swiftly got up, gripped the knife that was still in her foot and approached the mirror with the intention of breaking it. As her hand got closer…as the blade of the knife was moment away to crashing with the glass…her reflection stopped her. She stopped herself? It’s confusing I know, but bear with me. So the reflection managed to stop her, from killing the reflection that was her. Oddly enough she stopped fighting the instant she was stopped. Looking exactly in the pupils, herself through the glass, she saw nothing but deep, darkened fields, with different corpses of people, men and women, children, animals…fallen trees and withered flowers. Nothing but endless decay from the unknown results of an unknown event, from a different time…from a future day? As Jullie blinked, the images changed once again, this time showing kids, decapitated, with the heads spiked on the fence to establish dominance. Each head had a different expression to it. The one that made her gag was the head that was grinning devilishly. As tears began to fall from her eyes, the final blink again brought her back in her bathroom, face to face with her different self. The reflection had green- dead skin, and eyes from which emerged maggots and clotted blood. Her sliced throat was wrinkled and hardened by the jelly-like yellow plasma, stuck in the wound. The worse part were the teeth…which…well, were absent from her mouth. In her gums were small blades, stuck inside them, tearing the flesh soo deep, it transfigured her jawline completely. Jullie herself was laughing hysterically at the picture she was forced to look at. With nothing more to lose…she didn’t have any will to continue on with this curse she didn’t even believe in. Which was why, she furiously stabbed the still gripped knife into her eye balls, and still laughing maniacally and feeling horrifyingly sick from within, she tore the eyes from her sockets, and splashed the blood everywhere. To be completely positive she wouldn’t see anything anymore…she took a bite from one of her eye, that was stuck on the blade of the knife…and started chewing as if it was gum. But, it proved to be thicker and harder than it looks, and made her throw up in the sink. As she was pouring herself out in the pool of black-ish stomach juice, the staring reflection was continuing to grin animalistic. -Isn’t that better now?!- asked the vision from the mirror, with a growling and terribly rusty voice, patting herself on the back. -Yes…-replied Jullie, without any sign of fright…yet, happy, because she wouldn’t see anything scary nor dark. Becoming the rag doll with no will to be alive…the thing, barely bringing out a beat from her heart, as she wanted to die. Yet there were still some lingering things, popping out in her mind. Wickedly twisting her brain cells, and making her dissolve from the light. It was hard to see a normal human being, get this fucked up and conjured from a sickening demon, though, she herself was the thing that brought it to her house and deemed it. The reflection wasn’t responsible for the deaths of her parents…and feelings. It was only guilty of relentlessly showing her the nightmares of the deep and haunting demons. Making Jullie see images of darkness brought to her by the curse of the mirror…even without seeing. [Death on Tape] The propeller was getting dangerously close to the electrical line and the helicopter itself was in risk of getting hurt if I didn’t move it just in time. Releasing a huge sigh, I continued miraculously playing with the flying toy, without having to care about things as damaging it or breaking it completely. I knew that it was a toy…my toy, and taking care for it came in first place, but I was overwhelmed by its special ability. The hidden front camera in the pilot’s cabin. It was barely a good looking one, and couldn’t quite capture pictures that well…but it was awesome, seeing everything from your phone, by looking it first from the sky…using just a mere toy. Which was why, the complete lack of responsibility was out of the picture. But, what could I do? I was just a kid…and, well, I was too excited to play, rather than worry for it. Though, if I wasn’t paying much attention to the details, my elder brother sure was. A couple of years older than me, Jake, always liked playing guardian and protecting me for no reason. And yet again, he was trying to scold me for not looking at where I was piloting the drone like thing. -Be careful now Tommy…you could’ve broken the helicopter there…-he said in a semi-mocking tone and grabbed the phone I was using to navigate the machine. -Look now, let me show you how a real pro does it! With swift movements he started playing with it more smoothly than me, and with easy, as if he was walking, but on the air. I clinched to him, only to look at the screen, and was amazed at how well the camera was starting to focus. I didn’t quite understand how was he able to move it without it trembling like a fly having a cold, but I didn’t ask, too amazed to plead for advice of how to play with my own toy. -The trick is- he continued, as if reading me mind, - is to get the chopper in a stable position, from which you can transition better and smoother, like this now…- Jake moved the drone around and managed to make it rotate in place, without wiggling around as if playing a hula-hoop. After that, he took some time to make sure I got it right and could maneuver the thing without having it tremble like a little Chihuahua. Soon, I was making 360 turns with ease and could see perfectly well from the little camera embedded in it. -See, you just need to focus more and you could do things better…well of course, nothing can help you with your bad grades, yet, I believe you can still make it better- he laughed and sat on the little bench by the garden table, at the backyard. -For your information, I got this specifically by improving my grades and not staying all night in front of the computer and playing games, unlike someone else I know- I replied, without taking a look away from the phone’s screen. I heard Jake chuckle and I grinned myself, while trying to stabilize the movements of both backside and upside propellers. -It’s good dad decided to buy you this…you can now visit the outside world, and not stare all day in your PlayStation…- he returned my “attack” at me. -Touché… The argument about who was better at not wasting time finished there, and both me and my brother continued…wasting even more time by playing the heck out of the drone-like, helicopter camera thingy. First we checked on our neighbors, which were right next door. The machine didn’t seem to bother traveling far distances, so we pushed it even further in the neighborhood, reaching over until the end of the street, passing around six to seven houses. I was impressed by its ability to stay stable until it gets up to 500 meters’ distance and still not shake. -How much does it tell on the box? 1 kilometer or? - asked Jake, looking at the screen which was pretty far from our house. Looking at the box from which I got it this morning, I started locating the lines where it said how much distance can it cover until it shuts down. With huge yellow letters it said it can travel up to nearly 1 kilometer with stabilized flight and bright picture. -Yea, around that point...- I answered and got closer to my brother, who was testing it out by traversing between the light posts around the street. -Look who isn’t acting responsible now…what if you hit some of them? Jake looked at me challengingly and increased the speed of the drone, beginning to move between them faster and even more smoother than before. He grinned by the look of my shocked face and stopped playing around. Pushing the button to ascend further, he got up as much as we could see the next neighborhood, and even the school. -Hey…wanna test the distance thing? – I asked looking at the forest right next to the end of the street. -Sure, but where should we go? There aren’t many interesting things about our neighborhood- replied Jake and looked at me, waiting for me to suggest something. -What about the old Crackery house in the middle of the forest…its right next to the street, so I don’t think we will extend the duration more than, what…100 meters? – I said and pointed at the location from the screen. He was hesitant at first, but agreed, wanting him, himself to test it out. Rotating the drone around he launched him at the forest and got captured by the large amount of tree crowns bellow. In truth, the forest was quite nice and lively, filled with many different kind of animals, roaming around in its woods. The thing that stopped most of the kids from entering it, was the old house, nicknamed “Crackery”, since the incident with a boy who overdosed with crack in it. He was found dead, with his body lying there for over a month. It was a gruesome thing and most of the kids my age didn’t feel really comfortable playing around that area. Ever since then, all kids and different kind of homeless people who entered there to do their business were called “cracker”, and no…not the biscuit. The drone picked on the white, god forgotten little house, with its white paint nearly dried to ashes, and now fading gray. The shingles revealed some unsmoked blunts and a few beer bottles, left there to vaporize until around twenty or even more years. Jake descended a bit and got a closer look at the scenery of the house. If it was restored, it could become a really neat looking place to live, but in its current state it looked nearly destroyed. Some of the parts of the walls, where the paint was fairly durable, were vandalized with not even that impressive graffiti, while the rest was just as I described earlier. -Well…I guess we saw pretty much the entire house, should I head back to our house? – asked Jake and started ascending. -No…wait, I think I saw movement in there! - I exclaimed and pointed at one of the broken windows. It could have been my imagination, or a moving piece of cloth from the old curtains, but I was certain I saw something. I was more than sure, since the camera at that slight moment was perfectly focused on it. -I can try and get close to it…but I’m scared the propeller might get damaged by the frames… It was a chance to take, yet, it might end with us having a broken drone…but it was kind of interesting, at least for me, to see if there was really something in there, playing tricks. -Try and do it…maybe it can…fit through, I mean it is a small helicopter…- I said looking at his tight grip over the phone. Jake got nervous for a second, but then swiftly pointed the drone towards the window, and quickly pushed it forward, without touching the frames of it, avoiding any collateral damage. Surprised at his expert level of piloting I celebrated and got excited to see the furniture and overall things in the house. Since we were on the second floor, we started from there. The drone passed broken couches, filled with ton of pent-up dust. A couple of book shelfs, with nothing on them. Some broken stools and a pair of damaged paintings. The paintings themselves weren’t damaged literally, but damaged by someone who wanted to write something. It was faint, but on the really colorful display of a wheat field, were red markings of the word “help”, over and over again. -Is that blood? – I asked, knowing it was stupid. Jake shook his head and continued exploring. To be honest, he wanted to see if there was someone living there as much as I wanted, which was why my remark of the blood seemed unrealistic. Without moving that quickly, we managed to uncover most of the second floor, with all the rooms being most like the first one we entered. Empty, abandoned, broken, dusty and littered with junk from people who have previously entered before us. Yet, there was still one last room that we forgot to check…and that was the attic itself. The three ladders leading up it, were rusted and seemed like they would collapse any moment now, yet, with the help of the flying drone, it didn’t bother us that much. What did kind of bother us, was the lack of light in there. Hopefully, the embedded camera had a little spotlight in it as well, but it was powerful enough to project a really small beam which guided us around 1 meter ahead of it. Using that we managed to slid through some boxes filled with more litter, and most commonly, beer bottles and dust…lots and lots of dust. As the beam of light was moving through those thick layers of ashes, it got kind of focused at a different point of view. There was something like a coat, hanging there, hanged on a clothesline made out of chains. For some reason…it was there, in the attic…and was hanging around, gathering dust, just like the rest of the furniture that was left. The drone moved a bit, controlled by Jake, and revealed, several more coats, more like leather jackets…also hanged on the chain clothesline. -What are all these jackets doing there? Did we enter something like an above the floors wardrobe or something? – I asked, confused at the image that was produced from the camera. Jake however, remained quiet and really serious the whole time we were inspecting the sight. His eyes seemed…kind of scared or, as confused as mine. -Those aren’t…jackets…- he muttered, as I took another peak. Further inspecting them…I did notice something off. Why were there hairs on the back of them?... Were those wrinkles on one of them? I could swear…that the last one still had eyes…but does a jacket have eyes? And that’s when it dawned on us that this were not coats or whatever…those were human skins…hanging there…collecting particles of filth…storing it on the flesh of what was once alive. Jake was barely moving the drone, as it illuminated perfectly the image. There were five or six of them…hanging by the hairs of the victims. Blood was still dripping from them, signaling that they are newer. We moved the drone a bit, and saw…more chains, attached to the wooden ceiling. With more of those human skins…hanging, like used towels. -Jake…what the hell is this? - I managed to say, not knowing if what we were looking at, was real. He didn’t reply. Nor say anything at that matter. He remained visibly scared and not knowing what to do. He looked at the little display for the battery life, and it showed 15%. Enough to bring the drone back to us. If he could manage to pilot it in this state. His hands were sweaty…but he decided to act quickly, before the one who collected those skins, gets back. The helicopter started rotating, and slowly moving towards the exit of the attic. Just as it was about to get to it…a hand emerged, and gripped the front desk that connected the three ladders. It looked huge…bigger than our heads…Then, as if on cue, a large amount of hair poked from the small hole, and looked directly at the camera. This is where Jake couldn’t control himself no more and wanted to throw the phone away, not wanting to look at the disfigured face of a…a beast…a human…some sort of monster…wearing similar to skin type of mask, hiding away the burned scars. His eyes glowed in a red-ish glow that made his portrait even more fearsome. The thing that freaked me the most, was the bland look in his eyes. As if a lunatic was staring into a wall…he was exactly the same…yet his bigger size made him look intense. And intense he was, as he suddenly pulled his second hand, and attempted to grab the drone by hand, ignoring the rotating propellers capable of slicing fingers as if wieners. His gauntlet like palm proved to be stronger, and gripped the helicopter by the front and squeezed it, covering the camera completely. Jake, snapping from the sudden paralyzing fear, started moving it left and right, trying to get lost from his grip, yet that also proved to be redundant. His hands were already onto it, and there was no letting go. With a vicious slam, he smashed it on the floor, breaking it like a little twig. Yet, the camera remained safe, as it was the last remaining connection. For some reason…he picked it up…and pulled it closer to his face…revealing his gnarly like nearly rotten teeth. He then, proceeded to do something we couldn’t see, yet remained hesitant to do anything because we were young boys, and didn’t understand what that really meant. Finally, after some movements around the premises, he placed the camera on a wooden desk, splashed with different variations of red, and slammed a human severed head, with the spine still attached to it. At this point…I threw up…while Jake, pale and shaking widely stared in horror. The head looked to be that of a girl…a young one…barely even eight years old. The eyes that were still there were lifeless…and reflective of the grin that the huge person was wearing. A grin…terrible and evil…ghoul-ish. The camera managed to show one last thing before it died. The masked one, gripping a sharp butcher’s knife, closing in on the girl’s head… It stopped showcasing what was happening and thankfully we didn’t get to know what happened afterwards. Yet…we didn’t want to anyway. Jake dropped the phone on the grass…and he himself sat on it, as if he was a bag of potatoes. While I stood there like a statue, thinking of all those questions I wanted to ask, but was too stunned to even stutter something. Even if we wanted to report this…we didn’t have evidence, because we weren’t recording any of the footage we saw…it was only showcasing the view…how could’ve we predicted that there was gonna be a massacre. We couldn’t even tell our parents…yet we had to give an explanation for why isn’t the drone with us. There were just so little things we could do…but, being the kids we were…we remained quiet…and, to be honest…it was for the best. We didn’t say anything to anyone…and soon forgot about it all. Moving away from that town…I still dream of that time me and my now married brother looked at that house…and examined it from head to toe. Still see that terrible looking disturbed from burns face. Remember…when we almost caught…Death on Tape. [Lockdown in Life] What was this thing, so constantly chaining him, not allowing him to breathe for a single moment…letting him see the good things in life…showcasing all what’s worth to live for? He didn’t know…nor actually wanted to know. Maybe he, himself was responsible for all the dumb things that happened. Maybe he wanted to be surrounded by shit he couldn’t get away form. Yet…was there a period in his miserable existence that was actually pleasant…wholesome and interesting? He couldn’t even remember. And if there was no single fragment of his memory that couldn’t produce that sequence of positive emotions…was there even a motive in this world, possible enough to make him…feel again? Because not only he had succumbed to the darkness…let all strain away from him…make so that his feelings, tear all living and good things in his life…but the darker ones, they were the main ones. Those black thoughts were the cause for his downfall of…living. Going way back to when he was younger. To be certain…yet again, he didn’t remember having a bad childhood, actually…he didn’t remember anything that vivid, from the past, ten minutes, let alone years and years of depressing collaboration with his mind to continue working correctly. But that mind wasn’t working stable at all. At first, when he started that medication, which was prescribed for him to cure that numbness, he didn’t know if it was going to work at all, but now he was feeling it. It was so clear that it was laughable really. His mind, senses, feelings…everything that fell inside the dark, was now…deeper in it. Heavier by the restrains from the medication, not allowing him to see what was better for him, because let’s be honest about one thing. This person didn’t want to get better…he wanted to consume everything negative…and suffer immensely by it. But why? No one knew. Not even I, who was that person… That human didn’t want a cure, but a higher effect…something to stimulate the sensation of the summation he believed he was in, but he wasn’t. All that happened was reality. All the webs of chaos, spread across the membranes of his brain were there, binding and binding more and bigger with the time of no use. Because no single living creature wants to live in isolation, without the rays of friends, lighting away all the perfect times…or without the special partner in life, guiding him through the passage of marriage and all strings along that way. No…he was only a shell…I was the shell. An empty, coreless, emotionless, dark being surrounded by nothing but energy capable of destroying the life of a living man in mere seconds. And he liked that. Why did he like that? Why did I like that? As he said…as I did…because it was…good for him. Some wouldn’t understand what that man wanted…what this thing was capable of doing with his mental state…but he, well…I…didn’t want anything more…than what I already had…and that was misery. Nothing but untainted and originally bad…misery. Misery from those many times I tried to actually be sociable, make friends…do all the things that were trendy…yet failed. From the days of when I tried so hard to make a move on a girl that I liked…but…didn’t succeed in doing it. From the pain of having to suffer loss after loss…until all that I loved were gone…leaving me…alone in the darkness that was the world. That was how it began. The medication came later. Until then, I was just a living failure, walking the streets and releasing nothing but grief to the public. Soon, I was casted out from society. Forgotten by many who called themselves my friends. Left by all, who were all happy…had everything they wanted…and didn’t care about and piece of garbage that didn’t contribute with anything towards a future…towards a better light for the young generation. To be honest…if that didn’t happen…I wouldn’t meet with the medication…which came by the hands of a street dealer, who saw me, lying on the ground, crying and begging for attention. As he approached me, I didn’t understand if he was there to beat me up, yell at me to get up and get the hell out of there or just help me. What he did though, was much more serious. He gifted me the source to everything I was looking for. A medication capable of destroying all emotion, and turning it into darkness. “-Ello’ mate, here, help yourself at it” – he said and dropped a blister of unopened pills. He left as soon as he dropped the medication…left me to be happy, as there was a single human in that dirty street, that managed to share half a minute to talk with me…the hopeless fool. And as it turned out…this guy really meant to help me out, because that day, once I returned to the dusty old apartment that didn’t have a single spot that wasn’t covered in filth, I knocked myself out with those pills, literally. It did help that I drank three at once, but that’s beside the point. The awesome thing was that everything became what it wanted to be. Slow…monotone and shallow. As if all the remaining specs of happiness that were left, had been drained out from me and replaced with grief. That single emotion was capable of recharging my spirit to live…only to one day, die. That was now my motto, and that was the objective from there onwards. I can gladly see that the man I was…and the thing I am now…are totally different characters, stuck in the same loop of shadow…a repeating factor we both took with the upmost delight. With the weeks…it all happened quicker and quicker…as if time really did fly. The restrains from the medication really pulled back all that was once closer to my thoughts, and deleted it. All the worries of how am I going to survive from the hunger that was burning my stomach was gone. Even the memories of all the shit…started to drain away in a decaying hole, which kind of served as a black hole in the web of shadows…that was now my mind. A complete, foggy spiral of nothing but constant hate for myself…an insisting pain, causing every single muscle in the already broken from the meds, body to collapse even more. And even then…I didn’t feel or wanted to feel anything. I felt pleasure by not actually understanding what pleasure even meant. And that was fine…because I didn’t want to know anything anymore. I remained a barely living ghost in the hands of the pills that I was prescribed with, by the street dealer, selling several kinds of “newer” drugs. All was fine though. There really wasn’t anything I wanted but to stay in my apartment, and decay while being alive…feel the bones breaking, even at the age of twenty-five. See, as the walls of the room were getting thicker and moldier by the second as my lungs were getting filled with the smell of urine and excrement that aromatically refreshed the air. It was all so nice, yet, not a single soul to actually see my enjoyment. It was like I was suffering-ly happy at the same time…if that was even possible. What I reminded myself every single minute I was somehow still alive, was that this state of mind and actual life, wasn’t bad…nor good. It was a nirvana, achieved by the mind’s inability to actually convince the human that its healthier to actually be…alive, rather than be…dead. It was a utopia; with which I was fine with. And soon, I no longer was I. He no longer was he. The man, laying on the stained bed was no longer conscious of what was right and what was wrong, because that man was divided by the question of existence itself. Was it actually worth it? Was there a point in this life that actually made sense for someone to strive further and further into it, blinded by the curtains of what was coming afterwards? No. The person on that filthy mattress didn’t think so. Probably because he couldn’t even think anymore. That itself kind of proved the point, whoever was it, was making. If a person didn’t want to live…there was no single being on this planet, capable of changing his life. Was it important how he ended said life? No. Was it important where was he, when he did it? No. Important was the fact, that that very same human which wants to end his life, knows that he will sacrifice for his loss. Mortality. Health. Emotions. Pain. Pleasure. Nearly all things that made a living being, human. And once again…there was nothing wrong with it…there was not a single thing wrong with being able to say to someone you are actually unhappy with the ways your life is going about. What’s harder…is the moment you actually decide you want to change something in it. But that…my fellow creatures…is something, someone, should experience alone…confined in a cold room…in a dizzy state…when everything seems insignificant and boring. Where all no longer seem appealing to you. That’s the exact moment, you put the key, in the keyhole, and turn it, locking away everything you seemed dear before. Just like the man, not even breathing anymore, laying on the bed, stanched with rank stench. Just as him, no longer, alive, wanting nothing but pain in his remaining days. Locked away in a twisted parallel reality…away…so far away…from life and the gray old days. [Under the spell of Lust] It was kind of sad to what measures he would go, just to please the succubus that she proved to be. And im not saying this because I envied her, no…I am her friend to say the least…I’m saying this, because it was true. It was true, how she acted, mighty in front of other man, just to somehow seduce them to obey her wishes, and do as she commands them to do. It was freaky…but, as I said. I was her friend and, to be honest, I kind of wanted to see where her latest puppet would get to be. Most of them didn’t really get much out of her…only a single kiss on the cheek, and sometimes merely a glance for good luck. But this guy, this nerd, somehow got more attention than the rest of the nice looking men out in the school. Might it be that he did her homework precisely as close to perfection, or that he paid even more attention to her clothes and managed to give her advices about what to wear, making her even more a glow for the spotlight that was the high school life. Who knows? The fact was that, this single man, was not only in a contract with her…but in a way, relationship, which was new. It didn’t matter how a man would look for her, if he did exactly what she wanted. But this guy looked like a squished potato, followed by a spit vomit, yet, gained more and more of her time, with each task, done correctly. I don’t know what was that about, neither did I want to know…but it was scary to witness them together…looking at a princess and a puddle, conversing one another. What was even more frightening, was her ability to somehow, possess a person, and order him around like a little dog. I never figured out that trick of hers, neither did I want to anyway. I didn’t want to be followed by a horde of brainless horny boys, wanting nothing more than my attention and care for them. But she, well…she craved for more and more. Didn’t stop with five lackeys, oh no. It escalated to ten…then fifteen, and as time passed, she had followers around the whole building, even from the upper classes, considering she was only in tenth grade. What didn’t change though, was that horridly looking lad, always lagging behind her tail. He was always there, to not only show support, but…just be there, and do her bidding. -What’s with that loser you bring along everywhere? – I asked her once, hoping to finally get the answers behind that secret person. She didn’t reply at first, only smirked and continued to walk towards the math room, waving her fabulous blond strands of hair, as if it was a fan. -He is special…-she finally said, after we took our seats, and the class began. I always wondered what that meant. Was there something more to that story, or was I only imagining things. Surely, he didn’t play a bigger role than the rest of the boys in the school, right? I mean, he wasn’t perfect at all. Skinny, powerless, always sick, and above all, terribly looking. Most of the boys his grade are leagues away in quality, yet, the queen preferred the nerd to the macho. I would be fine if he was at least nice, yet, that wasn’t the point again. He would always act high and mighty, just because he was chosen for some greater role than the rest of the boys. And that was the most annoying quirk he had. -Is he some son of a wealthy man in the neighborhood at least, surely you haven’t fallen for him right? Tell me im wrong, please? – I pleaded, kind of demanding to know. It wasn’t that I was that curious…I was getting a bit tired of the same old act as follows. She gets to school, chats with me for about ten minutes, then goes about telling her followers the task she wanted them to do, and continued with the classes. Oh, and I almost forgot. The whole day, she would talk with Mr. pimple, and ignore my company. Understand this. I was just trying to bring my friend back, and this simple ass looking screw-up was in the way of me doing it. -Aren’t you the nosy one today? – she returned, and smirked, like always, - If I wanted to tell you, I would have done sooner, but, if you are that insistent of knowing his role…go to this address and wait there…you will see…- she finished, giving me a small piece of paper with a written address. I didn’t say anything to her that day, neither did she. It was kind of pointless of me to start predicting the outcome, because I already knew. The address…was her own one, her house address. If she wanted me to come, then the answer to the riddle, what kind of place did the nerd sit at, was obvious. The one opposite the queen. He was the one to enter her bed, stain it with his filth…and be with her. And I couldn’t do anything than watch. I did go to her house. And I saw them. They were in her room, it was visible from the windows, yet, they weren’t…doing it, they stood there and talked. I didn’t hear what about, but, honestly I was too disgusted to even be there, knowing what sort of taste my friend had developed over the years. And then, just as I was about to leave the street, a black van, parked next to the house’s door and waited. Suspicious. That triggered my sense of thirst for knowledge, which was why I hid behind the trash bin, and awaited. And there they were, walking towards the bus, with the boy…looking out of it. I mean, his regular face looked out of it, but this time he was completely stoned to another galaxy, far, far away. She on the other hand though, was smiling, nearly grinning by the sight of the man inside the vehicle. He looked rather old, kind of middle-aged, yet, his hairs were beginning to gray away, while his face was wrinkled and darker paled than the other few inside the car. What made the situation even more complicated, was the sigil, engraved on the man’s button shirt. A headless raven. That mark, might not be that distinct, but for the ones who kind of read newspapers, it was…and it was disturbing. That sigil belonged to the wealthiest drug dealer in the neighborhood, who had begun his villain career five years ago…with the murder of a whole family, whose head, had taken some packages without paying for them. I wondered why he was there for a lot of time, until I saw the exchange. The older man gave my friend a single small pouch of a white powdered substance, and in return, she gave him the…crazed nerd, under her spell. It was probably some drug she used on him to make him go with them, yet it was still wrong…on so many levels. Not only did she not have the money to buy something that was extremely bad for her, but she sold a human being…basically sacrificed him to the black market. All of this, because she wanted to paint her world up a bit, change the inevitable reality in return for the happy farce that was the drug. Even If I was her friend, I had to stay quiet, because she gave me the address and told me to come, so I can see the deal, and forever be marked with the stain of a witness. Even if I wanted to tell on her, betray her, it would back-fire to me. I would be in the same position; I would become exchangeable for her. That’s why I remained silent. After all those years…after all those horrible dreams I had. I stood shut. The only thing I felt bad for, was the boy…the boys, she sacrificed in exchange for some of her delicacy. All they wanted was her attention, and all she gave them…was death. And thus, the followers grew and grew, with some vanishing forever, in a single mission, guided by search for love. Love, entwined with a terrible need for Lust in drugs. [Rain inside the Church] His leather boots splashed in the muddy puddle energetically, moving away from the pouring rain that had conquered the whole village. It didn’t matter how fast he was moving though, only because the speed of the falling drops was quite faster than the old and suffering from back ache man. In a matter of fact, you could ask him what the heck was he doing in the middle of the open small village, walking around like a madman. The answer was simple. Being the next door villages priest, he wanted to go and warn the priest from this village about the thunderstorm of a fury that was coming towards this sort of place, in this particular area of the whole wide world. It seemed like his effort was redundant from the start, seeing the burnt houses, with only their remnants remaining. The fire that was spreading had calmed down due to the massive barrage of water bullets, dropping from the sky as if small bombs of liquid. Even seeing this, made the priest shiver, not only by the cold, but because he could see how many people had lost their homes. Some hope did stay with him, seeing the only two remaining buildings, standing barely intact of one another. One was the villages hall, and the other the church. His boots started heading towards the church, seeing as the lights from the hall were moving behind the windows and that the people inside it were safe. That kind of made him feel relieved, yet still worried about the church’s capabilities of withstanding the massive storm that was being unleashed on it. And that was worth worrying, looking at the nearly wrecked looking building that was sort coming off as a church. With its leaking shingles on the roofs, to the washed out paintjob on the walls…to the broken windows overall…it was barely standing, yet, the priest had to go and check if everything was fine. As he barely reached the front gates of the old looking building he cursed himself, looking at his dirtied from the filth robe, and about the decision to let his apprentice take today as a day off. He could’ve sent him to send the message, but no…he was the one that had to get his…whole body dirty, literally. But if that’s what it took to do something kind for the folk, it didn’t matter that much…in fact, it didn’t matter at all. The fact was clear. He was serving the lord, and that’s the important thing. Without wasting anymore time, he swiftly pushed the gates and entered in the old building. -Hello! Anyone inside?!- yelled the man as much as he could, feeling his senile voice resound around the whole premises. From the looks of it, there was nothing left of this place…not a single soul. Not even the paintings around the walls looked alive anymore. Probably because of the candles, burning inside every day and every night. Even the wooden benches, placed on each side leaned on one leg, broken and unkempt. From the looks of it…not only was this church long abandoned, but the whole village was…Strange. It was raining from the past hour and a half, yet there wasn’t a single man or woman in range. -I’m here from the neighbor village close to here…I wanted to warn about the coming storm and…help as much as I could…but- his speech stopped, only because he didn’t want to talk with himself, seeing as there was only him and the wind. He felt rather silly, coming all this way, just to inform someone that was already informed. At least he did though, it wasn’t like he saw the clouds forming, or heard the thunders rumbling in the sky. He felt as if this was his duty, and he did call upon it as one. Yet, when there was no one here to respond to his call, his only choice was to run all the way back to his own church, and keep all the students and kids from going outside…where it rained and poured, and clashed and dropped…as if it was the end of the world. He turned around, and as he was about to push the gate once again, he felt a cold drop of water, splashing on his neck. It was the single most painful thing for his old bones, and probably the most annoying that could happen. Wearing a hood, the whole time and right when he decided to take it off, he got splashed with rain. Yet as It dawned on him, he got confused. Why was there rain…inside? Looking above himself, his heart nearly stopped beating. Right on the ceiling, where the old and garnished with dark-ish spots paintings graced the eyes of all who entered, floated bodies five or seven…yet, didn’t float but just…stand there…in the air. Frozen, yet burned…somehow gravity-less. There weren’t faces on their heads…no eyes, only blackness, that stared at the priest, even if there wasn’t anything they could watch with. The questions that he started asking in his mind, exponentially rose and amplified by the sheer shock and picture he was kind of force to look at. His eyes couldn’t stop seeing all of the bodies, somehow standing in top of the building, without having to hang on anything. What actually brought him back from his mesmerizing gaze, was the second drop, that fell from the burnt body in the air. It fell right on his forehead. The priest didn’t know what to do, rather than wipe it away, though, as he did, his hand got stained with something red-ish. It smelled metallic and had a strong scent of blood. That’s when the blood shower begun. All the bodies floating steady in the air started dropping blood on the wooden floor, on the old man watching horrified. The old man looked in horror as the blood started staining his robe, but another thing caught his eye. One of the floating bodies, started descending all of a sudden swiftly as if it was a balloon. When it finally touched the ground, covered with metallic liquid, the priest was already by its side and was inspecting it, fearing of it nonetheless. It was a spit image of the six above them, with just one thing in difference. This one, still burnt and lifeless, wore a leather bracelet of his left arm. It didn’t seem rather fashionable or even nice…it was torn in places, filthy from the age of it, and above all…shone in a faint black light. The priest didn’t want to touch it, yet his hand was reaching for it, as if it was commanded by something…a feeling, a higher thirst for having it. Just as his fingers ran on the surface of it…a loud explosion came in his mind. A voice resounded in the depths of his core…and illuminated his knowledge with the truth behind what was this scene. Yet the priest remained resilient-ly scared of what was to come. In opposite to the voice, which seemed rather calm. It spoke in a similar way to his own speech, making it clear he was once a priest as well. -It started two days ago…Once we found this strange looking bracelet. It was buried here, in the backyard of this old building. It was by fate that we found it, so we figured it was a gift from our lord…yet, as I started wearing it, I started experiencing different kind of flashes in my eyes…strange visions if you will…of what’s to come in the next years…in the next ages. How the time as we know it…completely eradicates into a wasteland of nothing but fire…fire and only…fire. But that was not the only thing… -After those two days, clouds darkened and gathered above our village, and rain started to pour down upon us- continued the voice, making it so that with each word, the priest saw the events with his own eyes. –It rained day and night after that…and it didn’t stop…never did. Even inside the building we are standing…even then we didn’t know what was the cause of this. But I know now. It was caused by this ancient bracelet on my wrist. This “gift” was responsible for the rain…for the destroyed houses…for the blood that was spilling down on us, as if we had meddled with thigs, way beyond our understanding. And it was true…I did not understand what was happening…yet a terrible hate started growing within my soul…a thirst for revenge against the ones who had…enslaved our existence in the most inhuman way possible. That’s why I unleashed the bracelet’s full potential of destruction. That’s why nothing seems true, everything is twisted in a way a man’s eye can’t comprehend. And all…because of that bracelet. His voice then changed…a pleading tone shadowed the angered one from before. The priest remained focused on his words to the very end, calm. As if all the dread from before had drained in a black hole. All he wanted now…was to understand it all… -Destroy it- echoed the voice of the dead man, -…hide it, and never return for it…Or it will consume your consciousness…just like it did to me. - said the voice, and disappeared the same way it appeared. Once it vanished, the body turned to ash…as did the ones that poured blood from the ceiling. The ashes then evaporated into particles, invisible to the eye. Leaving only the bracelet intact...shining with the dark hue…demanding a new owner. And just like a moment ago…the priest’s fingers reached for it…touched it, and ran over its surface of washed out leather. Picking it up, he brought it closer to his eyes, witnessing the runes that were engraved on the inside of it. He hadn’t seen any sort of language that was on it…but that didn’t matter. What did, was the affection, his…towards it. It was strange, but in a way…it made him calm…whispered to him that he would impact everything if he was the one to wear it proudly on his wrist. And so he did. With excited breathing, he placed it on his wrist by pushing his hand through the large hole. Once he did, it suddenly tightened around it, and started heating up, glowing even more profoundly than before. As it did…the priest experienced a trip so grand it made him dizzy. The bracelet reviewed to him what was to come, and what was to follow. It showed him a distant future…that will obliterate all living…all. First his mind traveled different time periods to happen, and saw the affects it had on the planet. Saw the rivers that will evaporate and the trees that will wither. How the oxygen will cease, and so will the creatures living using it. The priest saw everything the bracelet wished for him to see. And he believed it all. All seemed possible. It told him about two different artefacts that could help him…her brother and sister. A ring and a medallion. Together they could prevent the cataclysmic Armageddon that was inevitable. But, the only thing stopping him, was that those two elements, were unfound…and that his life could end before they are. Which meant he had to travel to different regions, different countries, cities, before reaching the goal of ending, what might be the end. Yet the priest believed all, but didn’t want to contribute to anything, seeing as he was old, and tired…broken, retired. Even as the bracelet told him exactly the things he had to do. He felt down beneath the thirst for it, that it was deceiving…plotting something not comprehendible. Telling him that it is trying to prevent things…rather than the thing it really wants to. Opposite to that was the feel of immerse power that the priest was feeling. As if his whole body was twitching in electrical prowess, ready to destroy anything and everything. Mostly that was the leading string, navigating his wishes…that power was fighting over the suspiciousness…and won…empowered by the bracelet itself that was still whispering what it needed to be done. His mind was beginning to collapse and snap…and so did his power that had gathered. His body wasn’t powerful enough to obey its commands, even if his brain was listening. The bracelet was too powerful for him to wield it without a cost. The light that was shining from it engulfed the whole building, releasing a wave of invisible energy that collided with the walls. That itself was enough to calm everything. His body was relieved from the stress and the bracelet was now silent. -What…what happened? - asked the priest…looking at the vanished building. Nothing was left from the entire village. Even the hall building was annihilated to dust. All of the remnants of the houses were grounded. Only nothing…but nothing remained. With his spirit evolved to see what was the reality of the future the priest did not understand what was to be done. But knew if he was responsible for this destruction…the other two artefacts the bracelet was talking about would end up actually causing different varieties of casualties enough to bring everything to nothing, as did the bracelet to this already ceased village. “I need to hide this”- he thought looking at his wrist and begun sprinting as fast as he could, avoiding the huge puddles of blood that had gathered as it was continuing to fall down from the gathered clouds, moving to the pace of the priest. And in the end, it happened to only remain the silent, washing the pain away…bloody rain. [The dog from the Other side] The summer was just getting warmer and warmer, when the little toddler named Johnny decided to go outside for once; and enjoy the sun. It wasn’t because his mother made him, or because he was just bored, no…on his own initiative, he went outside, grabbed his old football and started kicking it at the trees beside the house. The trees themselves were blossomed and lively, with the green leaves on them waving along with the slight breeze. The area was secluded to say the least, so Johnny didn’t have to worry about hitting a car…well because there wasn’t a vehicle in sight, in fact…they were many kilometers away, on the road, where Johnny wasn’t allowed. He had the permission to play in front of the house, or by the little bridge, connecting the two villas together. The house in which he lived in at the moment was the one his family used in the summer when they didn’t have that much work, while the other house, at the other side of the bridge…well, it was unknown for him, which was why he had never crossed it; that and because his mother had forbid him to…which was a mandatory law to follow. He didn’t want to end up going to summer school, which was why he followed all his parents biding and did as they said. It was easier. He was having fun as well. Being young he didn’t feel the curiosity needed for someone to actually break their rules. So from the two weeks that they have been living in the summer villa, he didn’t bother crossing the wooden bridge. Instead he ran and kicked the football, which then flew and either ricocheted on a tree or continued to go further in the part of the woods he was allowed to be in. -And here goes the young Johnny “The Lightning” McFlare, passing the opposite attackers and heading straight for the door goal- he screamed to the living creatures listening to him, and flew past three trees had had grew in a strange pattern. His little feet controlled the ball perfectly and didn’t panic when he tripped on an overgrown root, but continued to dribble past the rest of the strangely grown trees from that line. -Look at “The Lightning”, he has the opportunity to score…wait, oh no…another blocker from the opposite team, yet, he dribbles pass him with a feint from the books, and aims at the goalkeepers left side! He strikes and!!!- his little voiced disappeared, looking at the football, that was flying passed the two trees aligned perfectly to represent a goal door, - GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! - he yelled seeing as he scored. He continued to commentate on his imaginary play, as he made one voice for one of the commentators and another one for the other one. As he walked to the spot where he thought the football had landed, he was left amazed to see the ball way further in the forest, reaching even to the spot where the bridge began. What was kind of bad, was that it had stuck a stone, overgrown from the water flow under said bridge. If there really was a current like before, it would have floated above the waves and little Johnny could’ve gotten it…but now, he could only stare at what was left of the flat ball, hanging deadly on the edge of the stone on which it had stabbed itself. To be correct, he was the one responsible for it popping...if he hadn’t kicked it that hard, it wouldn’t fly way up here…and he wouldn’t have to pass through the line he was forbidden to stay behind. Yet, he did. And he was kind of amazed at himself for doing it, and not because of sheer spite for his mother, but because of his old football. -Well…it seems Johnny Lightning won’t be playing in the next season of the league, but will be making an appearance sometime later in the next one…- he said in his commentator’s voice and giggled. It wasn’t that big of a deal to begin with. Well, it was a really cool old ball, but he would ask his father to buy him a new one. It wasn’t a big fortune. Yeah...they would understand! Johnny left the ball there and started walking towards the little route leading to the villa, when something took him out of his thoughts. -Woof! – barked something from somewhere. The little guy got startled at first, but then made out the source of the noise and its producer. Right on other side of the bridge, where the road to the second unknown villa begun, stood a golden retriever. His tail was happily waving as his front paws were fully extended up, making it look as if he was guarding the bridge. The toddler on the other hand wanted to go and either pet him or get close to him, breaking the rule of his parents for the second time for today. Hey now, it didn’t hurt no one, and he wasn’t going to go there…he only wanted to see the dog…nothing more. As he got closer to it though…he felt this immense pressure in the air around him. As if it was getting harder to breathe. That didn’t stop him, as he stopped only three steps away from it. Johnny smiled at it, yet, it seemed…off. At first when he saw it from afar, it looked normal, but being close to it…it was, so really odd. His overall shape of his nuzzle was kind of to the left, as if someone had punched it really hard and dislocated its jaw. Though, there wasn’t a visible damage to it, apart from the…large spreading hole in its chest. Johnny didn’t saw that before…or he just missed it…though it was kind of impossible to miss something so…awful. -Woo…ul…f..f... – barked the retriever and looked at the little child’s confused eyes. That bark was hundreds of times different than the one he used to call him on the bridge. Though, it revealed something more…The dog didn’t even open its mouth when it produced the noise. Johnny stared at the yellow-ish eyes that were staring at him…and felt nothing but fear out of a sudden. As if all of this was wrong. This dog was wrong…there was something really wrong with it. -Are…are you okay boy? – asked the child and waited for it to respond in a way. What followed was way more the boy could handle without freaking out. At first the dog remained silent and didn’t appear to even listen to him, but then, out of a sudden, it slowly nodded its head in response to his question. That was freaky. In fact, it was too freaky. But that wasn’t it…oh no. As if on cue, the dog moved its left front paw, revealing a yellow tennis ball. It pushed it sideways, and it rolled a couple of meters to the right. Then, to make the boy chase it…it tried to imitate the last bark, but sounded way twisted and growl-y. -Worrrggr…. r. r…. ooolf…. – cried the dog and locked his gaze on the little boy’s face. His eyes looked too real…way too real. The irises weren’t yellow anymore, but milky white and somehow blinded…while the pupils remained rounded and nearly faded to a black dot in the overall eye. The sclera’s, perhaps the biggest of change, were now…pink-ish and veiny. Seeing as the boy was getting frightened by the second, the dog smiled…His mouth opened revealing human like teeth, yellow and crooked, with ones filled with black-ish carieses that had split them wide open and covered them with putrid blood. The stench that came out of that smile was enough for the boy to fully enter the fear zone…but…the fact it actually did it was enough. How could a dog smile like that…like a human…Not even that…it looked sinister! Twisted…demonic…And to be honest, Johnny being six was the driving point in this, because in his little consciousness, that image of the dog smiling was going to get framed and never forgotten as much as he would try in the future. Now, on the other hand, he could only scream...turn away, and run towards his house. He didn’t want to turn back and see if it was chasing him. He could only remember the smile. As he ran, he tripped on an overgrown root, on the same one as before, tripped and fell flat on his face. It stung for a moment, feeling his bruised nose and knees. What made him get up though, was the following growl that came from the direction of the bridge. The dog wasn’t even trying to imitate the bark a normal dog would do. No. It straight up screamed as if a siren combined with a static wave from a TV had sang together in brutal symphony of broken decibels capable of destroying someone’s ear drums. Johnny covered his ears, and now crying from the pain of both nose and knees, ran as much as he was able due to the injuries of the fall. He didn’t look back, nor wanted to. Only ran, and ran, until he finally reached the house, entered it and hid in his room for three hours, until he fell asleep out of fear. That same night, after his mother had promised him probably a thousand times that monsters aren’t real, and that there aren’t in the woods, he finally calmed down and turned to the side of the wall, and closed his eyes for a good night’s sleep. He could feel the slight tapping coming from the window from the rain that was pouring down the whole state. It was making him relax, so it was okay. The tapping didn’t stop all night, and at one point, it even started roaring with thunders and shining with lightning’s. Johnny didn’t mind that either because it illuminated the whole room, making it look like it was day, while it was dark. And you know what day say, the day always beats the nightmares of the night. Or so the little boy wished it to be. But it was okay, he didn’t have to worry about things right now…in his sleep, where he was always safe and sound. Finally, Johnny turned to his other side, the one where he could see the window, just in time for the lightning in the sky to illuminate the smiling figure of a dog, staring at the poor and defenseless boy, who wished he never, ever, crossed the bridge to the other side. [High-school Stalker] “Did you know that there is a fifty-fifty chance of you being stalked?” Of course you didn’t, that’s why you are reading this article to understand the seriousness of this problem in today’s society. Many, and I mean, many sexual predators, like to observe their prey, as long as they can, before they strike or ignite the fuse. Sure, there are some of those people that just like to be creepy and watch you without doing anything, and those who don’t even show themselves. Most of the times thought, the situation is much, much worse, with you being the center of the events, and they…the hunter in the shadows. So, if you want to be safe from those attackers and not be in their radar, follow these easy steps and you will be stalker-free!” That’s where the article stopped and prompted the reader to turn to page twenty to read more about this problem. Belle, on the other side, too uninterested with the theme, tossed the newspaper in the bin by the entrance and quickly entered the school without thinking much of it. And why would she? No one really believed she was “stalker worthy material”, whatever that meant, and…she honestly thought they were correct. What would they even like in her, to even spy her, day and night? Her big nose? Messy hair? Hideous green glasses that had tape on some spots…or the covered with pimples face that didn’t really scream beauty. The braces on the teeth weren’t that bad, but them aside, the girl felt like a complete outcast between the other Barbie’s, with their makeup, and blush, and fancy clothes, all the while she was wearing second hand clothing for the second year in a row. Nope…definitely not a “stalker material”, at any least. That was why she didn’t feel the need to continue reading through the pages of that boring newspaper, printed just because the authors they had this one responsibility as school news reporters. So, no thank you, thought Belle and reached her locker, which was covered in old drawings of…anything mostly. Her first class was just about to start, and grabbing her textbooks and the notebooks quickly as possible, she pulled them with a force that brought something more with them. It was a small white envelope that slowly descended and fell on the washed floor. That surely wasn’t for her, or was it? The name written on the side of it clearly said: “for Belle”, and she didn’t know any other Belle’s from her or the other classes. Which only mean, that someone was either playing a joke on her, or was…sharing his feelings for her. Both things sounded evenly laughable because she wasn’t even considered as a main objective for the bullies, neither a top notch chick that people would like…so why in the heavens had someone placed that, here, in her locker? No clue, but she wasn’t going to waste any more time, because the bell was ringing, alarming all that the first class was about to begin. Belle grabbed the letter and quickly rushed towards the biology class room. … “I can never stop staring into your galaxy of blue eyes…”- she read, trying not to listen to the professor’s boring lecture about the global warming and how it affects animals. That sentence itself though, nearly made her laugh because her eyes weren’t blue, they were green, and the writer of this probably hasn’t stared that much in them. -Who can tell me the reason this warming is happening? – asked the teacher and looked at the students whose heads quickly turned away from him, or looked down on their notes. Belle didn’t bother to do it, because it was known from the whole class that she was something like a nerd. That being said, the teach picked one guy from the third row and started asking him questions, while Belle looked at the letter and continued reading. “I can never stop wishing you were with me, in a beautifully crimson sun rise. But I cannot approach you, seeing you in pain. No one wishes to bother someone, when he is met with the disdain. I do not wish to hurt you in any way, only the other way around. My heart wishes only to meet you and tell you what I feel, and its awe. So please, give me this chance to convey this message, and bring you the dreams you haven’t dreamed about. Meet me today, in the park you always hang out.” The letter stopped here, and Belle clearly didn’t know what to feel. She didn’t know what he was talking about, with her being in pain, and acting with disdain and such off the topic things. Well, she wasn’t exactly cheerful or something, nor wanted to be, but that didn’t mean she acted like she didn’t care about anyone…right? At lease she didn’t remember it being so. Either way, she didn’t know what to do. It was either a trap, or a love confession, with both being things she didn’t really look up to. So the choice was hers…and she choose to do nothing…for now. Afterwards… Even after the math exam which she nailed, and the spelling bee that she also managed to ace, Belle didn’t stop thinking about that love letter. It wasn’t that romantic or something, but it did make her feel noticed and wanted for being herself and not someone portraying someone else from a magazine. It was strange how a person would like her though, seeing herself in the mirror, but that made it even more the frightening to pick. She felt stuck between a wall of two things. Love or ignorance. The first wall was easily breakable for the person being there, would probably prank her, while the love part, is something deeper than that. In the park, there would be someone, who deeply wanted to be with her, despite her flaws…and to ignore that would be more than any insult, which was why…her legs were walking stiffly towards the park she used to chill before going back home. And due to it being five and a half, the sun was beginning to fall. If it wasn’t for the extra classes she was taking, she would be already home, twice, but…there were bigger exams coming and harder questions to be answered. Yet, the only question in her mind now…was who was behind this letter…and that, was going to be revealed in a moment or two. That moment didn’t happen that quick as she wished it to have. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes had passed…the sun had hidden itself…and it was getting even darker in the park, surrounded by tall trees, reaching up to twenty-five meters. It was alright though, since she usually stayed there for that much time. When it passed six oh five, she stood up, ready to slowly and kind of disappointedly walk towards her house. A voice that came from behind the bench startled her, and ultimately made her stop to see who it was. -Hello! – resounded somewhere in the darker parts of a bush. The tone was shaky, a boy’s voice, and it sounded as if he was too nervous to even talk or something. Belle stood there, squinting her eyes behind the circled lenses to see if there really was someone there. Then, out of nowhere, the bush started moving, and from it, emerged a semi-tall young man, wearing a plain white t-shirt and green shorts. The image Belle had developed in her head was worse than this…but it still was kind of similar. A nerdy looking guy with black eyes, greasy dark hair, pimpled face and afraid of letting his feelings loose. And it was true. Just by his hand gestures, she could feel the anxiety coming from him. The “I don’t know where to put my hands” and the “I should smoothen my hair a bit” or “Scratch where it doesn’t itch me” were typical movements of a person who didn’t know what to say. Belle went first. -Are you the one behind the letter? – she asked and showed it to him. His eyes widened behind the squared lenses, but he shakenly nodded. -Yea… Bell also nodded, as if to herself though. She was kind of annoyed of the guys guts, standing there and not doing anything, when suddenly he started speaking quickly. -Thank you for coming here on such short terms, it was really challenging for me to do this, with the letter and such, but as you can see I am here and wish to…confess my attractions towards you…I’m just so glad you came here and didn’t take this for some sort of joke or anything…- he said all in a matter of seconds, as he moved closer to her with each word. -Look, I appreciate all of this, but I don’t think you even know me, to even have a crush on me, plus, I don’t even know who you are…no offense…- she replied a bit confused. -Oh, that doesn’t matter. You’ll get to know me soon enough, as for me, well, I have been looking at you for quite some time now…and know pretty much everything about you…for example, at twelve o’clock in the day, when at home, you like to go outside for a while and breathe some fresh air, but while on school, at lunch, you sit mostly in the corners, because they are mostly free at all times. Then after school, as I mentioned on this letter, you like to hang around here, then go back home, watch some TV with your family, do your homework, play some games and so on and so on… Belle didn’t know if she should feel afraid or not, mainly because this man knew all her habits…but not her personality at all. Even his eyes spelled crazy when he was listing all those details about her everyday schedule. She didn’t have much time to think about it though. -Oh, and by the way, I am Kreg, nice to meet you…- he continued talking, not letting her say anything, - I’m not that important though, so it doesn’t really matter what I do. More importantly, my point in all these reciting’s, is that we are perfect for each other…why? Because I do all of those things, the exact same time as you do! Isn’t that crazy?! – he asked, moving even closer to her, to the point where he was just a step away. Belle finally felt this man wasn’t as sincere as the letter made him sound like. He didn’t really wish to be friends with her…he wanted something from her…something she wasn’t going to stay long enough to find out. -Kreg, right? I am not interested in any of your proposals or anything at that matter, so I would ask you to please leave me alone and if possible forget about me? Us being together isn’t possible in the slightest…so…yea, I am sorry but you don’t seem really normal…-she said, looking at the boy who stood there like a log. Seeing as he wasn’t going to reply with anything, she turned around and walked away. Kreg though, wasn’t gonna waste his opportunity like that. Taking a big leap towards her, he grabbed her wrist, as gentle as he could, and made her stop again. -Wait, wait…just a moment- he pleaded, seeing the scared face of the girl, - What do you mean we aren’t mean to be together? I love you! Isn’t that enough…I mean…I mean, I…umm…. uuu…. i watch you every day…as you eat by yourself…when you go to the bathroom…I even have the toilet paper you used, with me…! - he said and pulled her closer to him. Belle on the other hand, pushed him away, making him release his grip from her. -Let me go, weirdo! I said don’t have interest in you, what do you not understand?! Kreg didn’t like that. He didn’t like when girls acted that way. He only wanted, wished to make her happy, yet she didn’t even bother to understand his feelings, and was trying to push him away…that wasn’t gonna happen! Oh no…his mother raised him to be unstoppable, to never give up…. And he wasn’t gonna let this clearly hurt girl walk off from him. Taking another leap, seeing as she was nearly running at this point, Kreg got to her, and grabbed her in a hug. -Please just listen to me…I want to help you overcome your sadness that I know is brewing inside you like a bomb, ready to explode and hurt you in the future! – he said, but was overpowered by her scream. Belle was one hundred percent ready to blast off away from him, but his hands were stronger than they looked. Like a vice, gripping a little mouse, not letting it breathe…not allowing it to do anything. -I’m gonna call the police! Let me go, now! – she yelled, trying to pull out her phone with the one free hand she got. That angered him again. Why in the god forsaken world wouldn’t she just succumb to him, like all the other did. She was making him use the tool that made them obedient. -Listen to me you skank! – he yelled knocking her on the ground and kneeling on top of her - You are in pain! Can’t you see that?! All alone…with no one by your side! And once someone comes and gives you the chance to finally be happy, you say you are not interested! What kind of fool do you think I am?! Do you think this is a game? – he said and whipped out his small switch blade from the back pocket, and brought it lightning-ly fast towards her neck… That made her stop struggling to push him away from her, and listen to his words. -You are trash…always will be…but you have the chance to be trash with me. That will make you better…that will certainly change your way of thinking about me…all the previous girls who didn’t…ended on the wall of shame…do you want to be on the wall of shame? – he asked and saw how she swung her head in denial, trying at the same time not cut herself on the blade of the knife. Not only was she terrified of this man, she didn’t even want to know what this wall of shame was…she didn’t want any of this, why wasn’t he letting her go…was he about to…to…rape her? She only noticed the tears when she was about to start crying. She was, from the point he pushed her on the ground…and now her throat was plunged with lump of stone…and couldn’t produce a single word out of terror. -That’s right…you are trying to listen to me…that’s good…really good…if you want to succeed in this life, you only need to follow my instructions, and everything will be okay…it’s not that hard as you presumed it to be, dear Belle…Now…I shall test you, and see if you are worthy of being with me, not the other way around as you did! - he whispered and got closer to her face. The blade was still there, yet he was getting closer. Her entire body was trebling with horror of not knowing what to do, yet she didn’t do anything because of the blade, forcing her to not only obey his commands…but listen to his words. Kreg was getting closer to her lips, very, very close…to the point where he could breathe in her mouth…yet that wasn’t his intention. What he did though, nearly made Belle puke. Without warning, he viciously started kissing her lips, violating her mouth with his attempts to slide his tongue in it. She couldn’t do anything because of the blade…she could only struggle helplessly. Her legs instantly started kicking the air, and she even managed to land one of them, slightly. Once Kreg removed his face out of hers, she nearly threw up. What she did though, made the boy even more frustrated. Belle spat in his face and started coughing with disgust. Was he that nasty, that a single kiss nearly made her vomit? What was wrong with this world. He only wished to help all who looked like they needed help…but he was always the one who was rejected…and even now, he was rejected…And that made him mad. Really, wholesomely angry and enraged. And just then…he remembered his mother’s words: “If someone makes you angry, avenge yourself sevenfold!” And that was just what he did… -Wall of shame it is…- he said and lifted his hand, and viciously landed it on her breast. The knife pierced skin, and entered the flesh…letting the blood run free. Kreg pulled the knife away, and did the same…on another spot in her body. And another one. Once again. With a smile on his face. Yelling with a grin reveling his true nature. And finally, he stabbed her heart, pushing the knife to its handle, all the while laughing like a maniac. She was dead from the first stab, yet her deadly eyes remained opened, looking at the crimson elixir that was pouring out of the wounds as if punch. She didn’t even have the time to lift her hand to stop him from stabbing her…but it didn’t matter in the end. What mattered was the fact that Kreg was now happy…happy because he had helped her in a way. She was gonna live peacefully…wherever she was going. At least he had paid her back seven times. So it was worth it. Kreg finally got up from the corpse and looked at his little diary in which he kept the names of all his other nominees wanting help. Scratching the name of Belle, he looked at the other six, and grinned. His game was just beginning… [At the Edge of the Void] Yet another lonely day… Why was it always bound to happen? Why was there no emotion when he opened his eyes, right after sleep? He hoped there was an answer to the question he sought to understand for such a long time now…yet, no one gave him the meaning to it. Not even the people taking care of him. They didn’t know the answer as well. But it was only logical for them to not understand the mindset of his. It was complicated. His very existence was kind of difficult to actually follow. Orphan from the very start of his life, he was locked behind the bars of the old orphanage, growing up, not knowing anything about his deceased parents. It wouldn’t even help if he knew either way. The caretakers didn’t know the names of his mother or father, and it was confirmed that he didn’t have a living sibling, which inflicted more damage to the already torn area of emotion that was his mind. That itself was enough to silence him. The boy didn’t even have a goal in this life. No job, no nothing. Only a roof above his head, one that he hated. He hated everything and everyone, so it was only natural for him to leave. Try and figure out the question about his emotionless soul. Packing a backpack with everything he could find, the boy went on and walked and walked and walked. His feet didn’t tire much, only stopping at night to rest, and continue on the morning. He passed many different villages, cities, but he didn’t tire, didn’t stop there, and continued forward towards, what? To nowhere. There wasn’t a destination he wanted to reach, nor a place he wanted to stay. The boy only wanted to go somewhere he…could achieve a feeling. And where exactly was that place? Further and further ahead in the long road of this earth. Though, as he went on, walking towards nowhere, he started missing the voices of people. Not that he liked them before, it was just a thing he liked to do. Listen to the conversations in the orphanage and try to figure out why in the hell would people wish to actually grow up and start being productive. It was so strange for him, that he would listen the little boys, younger than him, converse about the things they wished to do after finishing school and everything along the way. He himself didn’t finish school. He didn’t need to do it, because there wasn’t a point. Why learn about stupid things he didn’t like. Why even try and figure out the equations he didn’t even know the formulas to. Learn what happened hundreds of years ago, when he didn’t even know what will happen after fifteen minutes or so. Or learn where in this world was he located in. Who cared if he lived in America or Antarctica…well, he did know he wasn’t there…just because it wasn’t always cold. So, in total, he didn’t need school, because he didn’t have any plans, and goals, didn’t want to become a doctor, lawyer, programmer, scientist, historian or any sort of existing job. He only wanted to know why he felt nothing. Why wasn’t he capable of understanding the need to smile, laugh or do anything. It wasn’t because of his parents. They died a long time ago, and blaming them for him not being able to be happy was stupid, which was why he sought off to find the answer to it alone, because only he himself could figure it out. He didn’t need the caretakers to help him, nor some psychologist to try and find a perfect description to his problem, and lay it out as a case in which the patient needs medication to actually understand the world. He didn’t need to take pills to kill his depression, because most of the people he knew in the orphanage that didn’t bother to feel things, just like him, tried to swallow their pain with the pills prescribed to them by the doctor who knew what was best. Who was the doctor to actually know what was best for him, when he himself didn’t? Nah. The boy had his hands on his life, and didn’t wanna stain it by breaking his rule of not going to place he had observed to break other people. Which was why he walked further ahead. And walk did he not, towards forests, mountains, surviving all just by clawing his way out. Picking out food only when he couldn’t bear no more to starve. Using the money, he earned by working as a cleaner in the orphanage. It was more than enough. He barely used it though, but when he did, he bought fruits and water to keep him healthy and full. It soon marked two weeks after he had left the old place, and he kind of felt something for the first time in his life. Hope. A single emotion capable of brining something similar to happiness. It was kind of nice to be able to look ahead and see that there is a different world, in your own one. A place where things can be way worse. A land, where there isn’t even enough food for the children. He wanted to go and…live through the road ahead. See the other cities, and see, that there can be more to life than he thought. Sadly, though, he didn’t feel much after the sudden blast of hope from before. It was just a mare fragment of himself, trying to be excited for the upcoming moments, but it failed, along with most of the things he tried to do forcefully and be somehow normal, as the rest of the kids. All in futile. Not trying to think much about his past failures, the boy decided to go and explore the cave in which he had taken resort from the rain that was pouring outside. Taking a small branch from the small fire that he managed to create himself, he stood and walked inside the darkness. It didn’t seem that big as it did from outside, and that was good, since the smaller it was, the warmer it will get, and he wanted to be nice and warm, since all day the weather was windy and cold, and the boy didn’t like that. As he continued the small branch illuminated the stony rugged walls along with the bat nests that remained empty, built in the strangest of places. Taking it even further he was forced to stop due to the massive blockade of rocks that were blocking the path. Either way it ended there, so he decided to turn away and go back to his fire. As he did though, he kicked a small stone that flew and was supposed to crash with the other rocks blocking the way. The boy waited for an impacting sound, yet…it never appeared. Confused he turned around to see if the rubble of rocks was even kind of impacted, yet it remained completely intact, as if nothing had happened. Odd. He lifted up a similar looking stone, and threw it at the rubble. To his surprise, it vanished before hitting the other rocks. His mind was terribly confused of the thing he saw. Where did the stone go? Why wasn’t there an impact from the hit that was bound to happen? And how did it just vanish? All those questions lurked in his head, while his hand was reaching for yet another stone, having the same intention of throwing it at the rubble. Though to the same result. Just before the stone reached the masses of collapsed rocks, it just disintegrated into thin air as if it was a fly that had burned from the sun. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There of course had to be an explanation for this, surely there was. He wasn’t no scientist but he knew there was something that could explain it. Probably the light didn’t illuminate the small premises enough for him to actually see the stone impacting it. That could be it. So in that same way he did before, he lifted a heavier stone, one that he couldn’t just miss out on. Without having to wait to test his theory, he threw it, this time harder than the rest and watched it fly. It went through the rubble, just like the other two stones, and vanished…as if nothing had ever happened. Now he could clearly swear on his name that it went through the masses and…somewhere behind them, just like that. The question was how? That’s when right then and now, he thought about something. He extended his hand forward, and took a couple of steps towards the rubble. As he reached the spot he was aiming at with all three stones, his fingers vanished. Startled he moved his entire hand back, just to see how his fingers re-appeared. Was this some sort of trick he couldn’t understand, or was this plain magic? He tried another part of the body, this time extending his foot. Just like his fingers, his toes along with the front of his shoe vanished. Incredible. This was some sort of…gateway or portal if you will. But to where? He didn’t want to sit and wait to find out. He gathered all his courage and ignored his fear, and quickly took the required steps, and went through the rubble as if he was walking through an open door. What he saw next, literally took his breathe away. A complete desolate and dry wasteland. Nothing, with miles and miles from the spot he had arrived from. His legs stepped on the stone he had thrown and he saw the larger one a couple of meters away from them. And just five more steps from the larger one, laid something bigger…bigger than anything. The boy approached the big hole, and looked, trying not to lean in that much. Though, as much as he squinted his eyes, there was nothing in the hole but utter darkness. There was nothing in this nothing of a place, and the boy liked it. After all, his goal, one and only one, was to reach for this place…this nothing, and remain here…forever. That’s when he finally felt this warm feeling inside him. Intensity, combined with excitement. He was feeling happy to be here. To see the thing representing his emotions. To see the void, that somehow, reflected his heart. Overall…to see his prematurely end. This thought made him move his lips and do something he had never done. Smile. Genuinely. Like he had never before. He then sat on the dusty ground, and hanged his legs over the streak of the hole, and happily started whistling as never before. And as his legs were dangling from the edge of the void, he threw the first stone he used and waited for the impact sound, to no avail, yet remained happy…as never before. [Experiencing Darkness] What I’m about to share with the world right now isn’t just a cash grab story for the ages…it’s much more valuable. It’s something untold of, something that the main character fought to uncover, but failed to live to see the result of his journey. What I, the anonymous government ex worker am going to reveal to all the readers right now…is something horrific…something, that the upper power had fought to cover for many years now, but has now failed to hide the truth from that one individual. The story itself revolves around the adventurous professor Donald Seeker. He was absolutely mesmerized with traveling and uncovering long lost artefacts, bringing light to subjects he haven’t even heard of, and above all…proving people wrong. In this case, he did prove people, a lot of people wrong, but not in the way he hoped to. He did uncover one lie, which got layered over another one. And so, until people didn’t know who to trust. And here comes my role. Probably the last thing I will post, alive, until they get to me, but today, I will show, retell if you will, what prof. Seeker tried to do himself. Here, is the story of the Collapsed Mine of the small town New Haskov, with the name “The Ghost Gold”. Now, for those who don’t know what I am on about, let me clarify, the “Ghost Gold” mine was founded in 2012, in attempts to prosper with finding funds, to rebuild the then city Haskov which suffered from a massive earthquake, into what was later renamed New Haskov, due to the renovations that took place after 2013. The damage that the people suffered was paid by the gold that was mined in said place, and all was nice and easy until 2016. After the said year, people who worked in the mine, started reporting on people missing. Not only that, but in some places, really deep in the mine, where the mines hadn’t developed the ground yet, were found the torn limbs of the missing people. The government then released a public statement, revolving the fact that many of the miners suffered hallucinations caused by the lack of air in the working environment, and that the bodies that were found were completely intact. And to cement the building of lies, they claimed that the deaths of the five missing people, were because of exhaustion and lack of air. Later though, when more than twenty-two miners vanished completely in one working day, they were forced to stop production in the mine at around December 13th, 2017. Another statement was released some months later, in regards to the families who had suffered the huge loss, claiming that no more souls would enter the mine no more. It was locked down the next month, and remained untainted for a whole lot of time, until last month that is. Prof. Seeker, propped up with the idea to uncover the massive secret lie that was going on there, entered the premises by breaking the lock of the gate, and started recording everything he could with both cameras and a voice recorder. Now of course I don’t have footage to show you, but I do have all his steps, perfectly engraved in my brain. To say the least, the first couple of minutes didn’t show anything, only tunnels and pathways, abandoned shovels, broken helmets and big metal carts, with coal and all sorts of minerals. I won’t bore you with the unnecessary facts, so I will just play the thing I managed to steal before leaving my job. It was a risk, but, at least I am giving all the truth of what lies there. There are four voice recordings I snitched out of the security computer, that have his last minutes on tape. Sadly, the video footage, which showed everything in a perfect condition was kept in a more advanced security system that I couldn’t easily break like the rest of them. So…here is recording number one. - “It is easily understandable how far have I travel through the tunnels of this place, by the sheer lack of air in already dusted with coal area. That doesn’t stop me though, because my mission is far more important than my wellbeing. Of course, it would be nice to emerge from this chapter of my life, untouched and ready to reveal everything I will record here, but that is far from what is probably gonna happen. Who knows, all those vanished miners, all those rumored limbs that were found in various places…maybe I wouldn’t leave from here in one whole swoop, but I sure as hell hope, that I will capture, tape, whatever is living here for the past year and a half.” The recording statics for a second and ends with him tripping on a rock, and nearly breaking his leg. It continues forward with the second recording. - “No wonder people suffered here, here I almost broke my leg…Well, I am okay, but I have to be more careful for those sorts of traps around here, because I don’t know if I forgot to mention, but its hell of dark around here. I’m approximately one mile from the front gate, and I don’t know how much time I have until the police comes to investigate the sudden stop in the security locks that I busted to get in here. I should have launched the lights from the control panel I used to enter, but I didn’t think they would work since it’s been at least two years since the shutdown. No worries though, I can mark my steps with a flashlight I bought on the way here, because I figured it was going to be dark…but, damn…not that much. The recording properly stops at around that spot, and the professor keeps moving through the tunnels. He is clearly excited to see what was in there, but didn’t expect what actually showed itself. The whole time the video footage was being investigated, me, including some other of the team were watching in horror of what that man was experiencing only himself. Well…here is the third recording. - “I’ve reached the mark of mile and a half now…I think so, at least, and holy hell I have to admit, there is some serious problem with the air around here. Not only is it limited, but its reeking of rock dust and sulfur, and something moldy and…rancid in a way. I don’t know but as much as I am walking towards the nothingness, the more the stench of carrion enters my nostrils. Perhaps I’ve reached the spots where the scattered human limbs were found, or I have stepped on a dead rat and haven’t noticed, but holy hell…its nearly unbearable… This is the spot where it gets…freaky. Just as the professor finishes his sentence, something in the way of the light projecting from the flashlight moves. It kind of resembles a human, but its spine is more expanded towards the head, with the ribs being horridly twisted in ways that seem impossible. The video footage shows how the creatures moves even further in the darkness, but due to it running quickly, his its size is unknown. The professor is kind of startled at that point and doesn’t know what to do. Yet he looks at the camera, pointing it at his face and continues forward. As he is walking, he is again forced to mentioned the incredible stench coming from the end point or somewhere between it. Just then, he is met with the remains of a human arm, or the bone of it. He notes that the smell of carrion is carried from it and that it could possibly be the most disturbing smell a human could imagine. Passing it, he is met with something like a two-way possibility to pick between. One goes to the left, and the other continues further in the tunnel. He doesn’t even bother straining away from the point and continues through the one going forward. Not a couple minutes pass when he finally reaches something not human made. A big rubble of rocks, scattered at the ground, with a big hole revealing a new way, with eight-inch claw marks around the edges of the entrance. He then questions if there is a possibility of the creature going through it. Very possible. Before approaching the hole, he makes the adjustment of the camera to not only shoot in dark mode, but reveal heat signals as spots. He again states that this might be the last point in his life when he could express the sheer fear and excitement locked in his heart at the moment, and how he is determined to release this truth, behind all the disappearance in this once golden mine. The professor then enters the hole in the room. As he emerges from the small gap, the camera quickly picks up three heat signals from the apparent ceiling. And then, they appear. Falling from the dark sky as if huge human boulders of a mess. The five seconds that the camera managed to record before going dark were the most important parts. The ones neither i or my colleagues could ever try and erase from our brains. The creatures weren’t something of this world. I don’t even know how to explain what I saw, because even after a month I haven’t the clue what the hell was that. I will try to make the most of sense I can. Starting with their legs. Thinner than any human’s leg would ever be, even in young age. The toes resembled that of a wind fan, but with claws replacing the rotating blades. They were barely standing, and holding on to the mass of…stored up body parts that was the torso of this thing. Imagine the inside of a washing machine…well that was the exact same thing happening on the torso, but without the lid and bloodier with some parts still actively decomposing. The one that showed in front of the camera had mostly arms and intestines hanging around like wrapped towels. Moving on the upper body, which was nonexistent, I could only see the remains of what were ribs, and what were now…wings. Yes, the thing we saw earlier in the footage wasn’t a spine, it was the wings, but bent in a way it could move faster. Now, looking at them fully expanded I made it look even more transfigured. The last part freaked me out the most…and still does. The head was something rather expanded…think of a giraffe’s neck, but exposed to the bone. It was that long with the head like feature being a not much bigger than a rugby ball, having the same exact shape. There didn’t seem to be a mouth, but there was a set of eyes. Two eyes balls, completely white, exposed by two fingers in front of the head, with veins covering what seemed to be the bone attaching them to the head. The whole being rose to about approximately 9 feet, and looked abnormally horrible. The video footage stopped right when the described creature jumped towards him, and that’s the last time we see what prof. Seeker does. I do have one more recording to show you, where he is still hanging to life…so…let’s have a listen. - “I don’t know what I saw…but I don’t want to go back there…They are coming though…even after taking my filming arm…they are set on having my body for their collection of limbs. Now…I know what was behind the disappearances, and I wished I didn’t…This sort of thing is really meant to be kept as a secret to the folk of New Haskov, but…I feel it was my duty to come here, in this stinking hole of a place, and see what it feels like to have to be in the dark…and see the nothingness staring me back in the eyes. But I cannot remove what I saw, so I hid the camera as I ran…but I feel like they are gonna find me sooner or later. I don’t know how far I am…I don’t know how much have I left…but I hope, that this gets shown to the media…I feel like this might be the spot where I leave this world…but at least…I leave it knowing the truth…They are real…The darkness is real………oh shit…. i think i…hea----NO!!!.......... And that’s how the recording ends. That’s how his life ends as well, since the body of the professor wasn’t retrieved from the save mission that was put out the moment the lock door was opened. It appears that the government thought about that, and installed a mechanism, informing them of a breach. Once prof. Seeker entered the abandoned mine, the police and swat force were sent out. Not the entire force came out alive…with some being wounded…and some claiming they saw more of them…During that mission, which of course was a failure, they found the camera hidden in a place where he could place it without those beings taking it away. His hand was found as well…the only part of him that is. I don’t know how he managed to grab the camera before fleeing, but it didn’t matter anymore. What matter was the thing I told you. The true accident behind the “Ghost Gold” mine. Of course, as I am writing this, they are probably on me, knowing I stole those files…knowing well that I will release them…But of course...as I said…I, as well as prof. Seeker don’t have a problem of dying or being captured, in return of guiding the people to what is a fact. And the fact being that there are more of them. More of those creatures, roaming in the mines of “Ghost Gold”, awaiting adventurers to enter their domain and claim their deaths. And now, with the gate to it being opened…even for the minutes needed to extract the body and bring a team to seal it again…it isn’t well known if there is something that survived that place. Of course…rumors could always spread anxiety and produce false fear for something we shouldn’t fear anymore…But I know…I truly believe that there might be a slight possibility of it escaping and roaming the world, and…I fear that. I am afraid of what lies in the dark. Even now…awaiting to be brought back to be questioned, hearing the kicking on my door, listening to the voices of my uppers, I will release this…and still fear. Fear what hides behind the deep layers of the darkness’s matter…and the best…that it has to offer. Posted by Anonymous. June 1st, 2019. 12:03 AM. P.S I can officially inform you, that no such thing as a “creature or monster” has escaped from the abandoned mine. The government has personally made sure to see if there is any sort of life form found in said area. Though, please make sure to stay away from the premises and not trespass on the newly installed electrical metal fence or you might suffer from immense pain caused by the electrical shock. Thank you. Posted by Anonymous. June 1st, 2019. 12:15…AM [Shadows from the Lake] As the car went past the sign post on the right side of the road, I instantly felt the guild of being the one responsible for the disappearance of my little sister, Jullie. Of course it wasn’t right to blame everything on me, because my father was there when she vanished. My mother was as well, but no one seems to know where she went, or if there was someone who took her that night. All I know, is that once we all woke up that day, Jullie was nowhere to be found, with no clues to leading where she was had gone. The police found no sign of break in, no visible clues in the entire premises, and eventually called out the case and closed it entirely just last year. Two years have passed, and…I cannot seem to think about anything else. All those sign posts didn’t change it either. Those necrologies taped on them, showing all the kids, all the people that had gone missing since the last twenty years, reminded me of her, and how no one knew what to do…No one knew where all these people went…Everyone searched the woods, the neighborhoods, the other cities as well…but there didn’t seem to be a single lead for us to hang on. Which was why I was looking at those obituaries and looked at the missing folk that had vanished so suddenly, until a voice brought me from my thoughts. -What are you thinking about? - asked my father, finishing his cigarette. Since then, he and mom have been trying to establish a link with me, talking all the time, just keeping in touch, and to be honest, as much as I pretended to not care, I needed that kind of interest out of them. -School stuff...i don’t even want to start thinking how many books do I have to start reading at the start of the break…- I replied, looking at the road which was about to split in two ways. The one we were turning left on, was leading towards a small lake, at which we were planning to camp out for the night and try to fish. -I know you won’t have any problems with them books now, will ya? - he chuckled and steered to the left. The Jeep, smoothly took the off-road way and started descending down the rocky way, until we reached a parking spot that we figured was gonna protect the car from the sun. The meadow that we stopped at, was filled with freshly blossomed violets, that painted the air with their soft, yet pungent aroma caused by the rain that had poured the previous night. It was kind of hot here, due to the vapor from the weather itself. One day it was raining the other it was sunny…no wonder we were catching colds left and right. Either way though, my father started unloading the tent we were gonna sleep in, while I began to take our fishing rods, the small bucket with baits and the lunch boxes mom made us for the small trip. I thought it was redundant since we were going to catch fish anyway, but she made them besides that. After everything was cleared out of the trunk, we started working our way of setting up the tent. -So, you have one more year of high-school, have you thought about what you wish to pursue after that? – asked dad, as he was hammering the rods in the ground. I didn’t answer for a while, thinking I had to align the rods with the corresponding holes, but his gaze kind of made me answer it for him. -To be honest, I don’t really know…maybe I want to try law, who knows? Our class teacher told us that next year they will give us a pamphlet with all the things that we can pick to study after high-school. – i replied, not really wanting to talk about that just yet. He nodded and helped me raise the tent and then we both staked it to the ground so tight that it nearly ripped. -Well, since you have something in mind, I won’t trouble you with school stuff now, so why don’t we set up the fishing spots and lay on the chairs for a bit? – he proposed and waited for me to take the bending chairs from the back seats of the truck. When we finally sat on them, the rods were slowly shaking in the waters, with worm baits, attached to the hook, and with father, snoring on his chair, with his hat, titled to cover his eyes from the sun. I had placed my chair so that I could hide under a tree which was a couple of meter to the left of him, and stared at the waters. They reminded me of things, memories, stored away in places of my mind where I would go, whenever i was feeling nostalgic. Now was that moment. The lake itself was a memory, a family one. Each summer we would visit here, and camp out, just like now…but then, it felt different. Mom was here, Jullie was here…we were all here and we were having fun, away from the neighborhood, which was a couple of miles away from us. We would make campfires and stay almost the whole nights, burning marshmallows and telling each other ghost stories. Dad would always make the perfect ones. My mind instantly started retelling one fragment, which was kept till this day, as it was one of the best nights ever. We had caught a couple of basses, and had made the perfect dinner. Jullie was six, and I was sixteen, and we were the best of friends. She was gripping my hand, and roasting her marshmallow, as we were all listening to father who was talking in his theater voice. - “And so, you wish to hear a spooky tale now? Well…I shall deliver you one, that will keep you awake all night! This story, is true…untainted to this day. Told to me by father, who learned it from his, and so on. It is a story that doesn’t know its years, but it is haunting…scary and nerve wrecking…SO PREPARE! – he raised his voice for more suspense and continued. When all the people in our town fall asleep. When all the sounds stop making their little noises. When the moon, illuminates the whole area completely, and when all animals stay quiet, they appear. The shadow people. From the shadow lake. This lake, that is right here. They ascend from the deepest pits and walk, as if normal human…but made out of things, we cannot even begin to understand, nor accept. These shadow people, they march, slowly, towards our small town, and collect those things we hold deep to our hearts. Some take money, some take gold. But the most common thing for them, is to take someone of our own. A child, or a mother. Perhaps a father could do the trick, as they won’t leave if they haven’t taken even a single thing. And if someone sees them, they take them away as well. But keep in mind, for them to appear, all the sounds must disappear. Each human must be asleep. And all the lights, withered for them to creep. The only way for a family to stay kept and never to be bothered, as they take what they find deep, is to maintain a perfect harmony in life, and never fight for the smallest thing. Would the shadow detect that this house is filled with negative mindsets, it will take all that it finds dear, and leave the same way it had crept. And if you somehow manage to see one of them…do not stare them in the face. As their eyes will represent nothing but hate…hate for the living and rage for the awake. For they are asleep. And their eyes shall open, once you begin to scream. And as they do, you will never even see…How the darkness enters your system…and you become a shadow, that will also never sleep. And once they have pillaged the small town, they head back to the lake; which they enter, all the way to the sleeping depths underneath…only to rise after a year from then.” That story was always embedded in my brain, as I remembered how my sister vanished without leaving a single trace. Of course, this story was a fictional one, created by my father that was trying to scare me and my sister back then…though, as much as I try to keep my mind out of it, it still redirects it to it. Trying to show me something I can’t un-see. All those similarities with the vanishing and never appearing again. All those children and folk, which somehow disappear each year suddenly make perfect sense, when I think about the tale. What freaks me out even more, is that…it has been happening for many years now, about twenty…and nobody has ever managed to find out whatever happened to their loved ones. Not a single soul. It was kind of strange if you think about it. How does someone just vanish? Go somewhere where you can’t seem to find him? I don’t know…but I somehow think that there is an answer for it…as much as I try not to think about it, it always pops up in my head like an add. What if…just…what if…this fictional, made up story from my father…is actually…real? What happens then? Is there a way to stop all those creatures…shadows, as he said, from pillaging our belongings and loved ones? My body shivers just by the thought of them being real, but it is something to think about when you don’t have anything left to think about. And right now…as I was staring in the lake that was peacefully reflecting the sun…I saw how my rod began to twitch. … A couple of hours later. I can’t begin to describe how lucky I got, in terms of catching fish that is. Not only did I manage to catch a bass big enough to be a sea lion, but my father helped me catch another one. We didn’t have a scale to weight them, but he managed to do so on eye, and figured they might be at least six pounds or more. The second one wasn’t that big so we didn’t really think that much about it, in fact, he insisted of grilling it on the fire we had made for the night. It was nice to say the least. We had a great time, just me and dad, chilling and watching the current slowly move around the big pound in which the water resided. I didn’t regret agreeing to going here…well, not for now at least. Everything seemed fine, we had a couple of beers, I, only two, because I didn’t like beer that much, but wanted to keep dad company. We joked about finally beginning the renovations in the house we were going to do for one year now, and figured it would be best to do all the things we planned to do during the summer break, since I was free and had more time to do stuff. He agreed and later on in the evening, at around eleven, we went to bed in the tent which was big enough to fit another person inside. When my body laid on the ground I instantly became tired from all the previous school stuff I had to manage, and all the energy thrown to catch those basses. Though, I did not fall asleep that fast, unlike dad, who was asleep even before hitting the pillow. I resumed to stare at the fabric of the tent, and listen to fathers vicious snore, capable of waking up the sleepiest animal in the forest. I don’t know, maybe that dragged me into the realm of dreams, or perhaps it was naturally, who knows, the point is…I started dreaming…and to be honest, I didn’t feel asleep, until I started seeing random flashes of stuff that had happened, or things that were completely fabricated by my mind. At first I was at the doctor’s office, trying to get a note to justify my reason to skip school for one day, the next moment I was at home and was helping mom with the renovations by moving boxes filled with junk we had kept for years without actually using. Even in the dream I felt the heavy masses of stuff, trying to pull me down, but I remained hesitant and stood my ground, not dropping a single box. Then, all of a sudden I was back here…in this particular meadow, at this exact same lake, or at least at the spot where it stood, the water I mean. Now, as I looked around tiredly I couldn’t see a single tree in the radios of five miles, but I could sort of make out where the pound for the lake was supposed to be…and right now, the only thing I could make out was the kneeing image of a…dark figure, weeping and strangely moving her body in agony. Her voice was the thing I mistook for the wind, since it began to howl strongly and crack at certain points. There were a couple of words in the midst of the whole theatrical spectacle. -Why! Oh…WHY! MY BOY IS GONE! – she whined and continued throwing a fit at something I couldn’t see. What made this particular thing kind of interesting was the fact that her whole entire body was completely black. And I don’t mean the skin…it was somehow, unworldly dark and in a way ghostly. I didn’t say a thing, but continued to stare at her cry, without the single thought of going there to here and ask what was going on. -WHY DID YOU TAKE HIM?! DID HE DO SOMETHING WRONG, DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG?! OH MY BOY!... – she rose her arms and extended them towards the sky and began threatening someone. Probably it was god or something similar to him, at least I assumed, but didn’t have the intention of finding out. Like the last time, I thought that my closing my eyes within the dream I would teleport to some other place, but that didn’t seem the case, because as I did, I still heard her weeps and cries. Kind of annoyed, it was meant to be one of those dreams where I had to follow the story until something broke it up. Which was why I decided to go and confront the lady who was pouring her eyes out. Without scaring her, I approached and kneed to the muddy ground to try and see her face better. Just like before though, it remained untainted by the immersive darkness that was covering her whole body. It felt as if I was staring into a living fog, but made of something similar to flesh. -Excuse me…- I stuttered trying to bring her attention to me. She completely stopped sobbing and looked at me, or I think she did, as the thing that was supposed to be her head rose up and saw me. Just then I managed to see something like eyes, barely even visible by the cloak of darkness that was covering up her body. -Are you my boy? – her voice was shaking, yet remained firm and suddenly filled with hope. -No…I was wondering what were you doing here…- I asked and pointed at the ground. Just then, her face became clearer, yet, disfigured as well. It was like talking with something through a thick black veil. Her lips were blacker than anything I could think of, and her skin, dark-grey, or at least that’s what I could make out of this curtain of black. -My…my…boy, he is dead…I couldn’t save him…and…look at him…he is gone…oh god he is GONE! – she rose something, that I could identify as mud, gathered and somehow made to look like a baby. -I am really sorry; how did it happen? – I asked and looked at her grey-ish face, and tried to seek her eyes. The only thing that resembled them, were the white orbs, faintly showing themselves. -Well…he was sick…I don’t know what was wrong with him…but…he…um…he coughed, yes he coughed and didn’t stop…so I thought I should give him water…and that’s when I made him drink…but he didn’t stop, and I didn’t know what to do, so I made him drink some more, but he still didn’t stop to cough and still I didn’t know what I could do…so…I made him drink and drink and…and then he was gone…. OH MY GOD HE WAS GONE! – she explained quickly and fell into a sob once again. I didn’t know what to say, but think that she was an awful mother to single-handedly drowning her baby like that. I didn’t say it, but I could feel her sensing I wasn’t really fine with all this. -You don’t think I am at fault do you? I just didn’t know what to do! – she replied to my worries, as if she already knew what I was gonna say., - Don’t try to deny it! – she stopped me right as I was about to say it, - Don’t dare to say you don’t think I am a bad mother! I TRIED MY BEST TO HELP HIM, AND YOU STAND THERE, JUDGING ME, TELLING ME I AM THE WORST! – she yelled, and pointed her dark hand at me. -No, no of course not, calm down, I wasn’t gonna say that… - I tried reasoning but she didn’t bother to listen. -All the men are the same! They see a single mother, trying to look after her baby boy, and they tell her she is bad at it, that she should give it to an orphanage or to a family that could actually care for him…BUT THEY ARE WRONG! ALL ARE WRONG! I CAN LOOK AFTER HIM MYSELF WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM…SEE! – she swung the mud that was supposed to be her baby… -I didn’t say anything about you being a bad mother…I just think…that the decisions you have made…are wrong…- i defended myself, as silly as I felt, because this sort of woman I didn’t know was going ballistic over something I didn’t know about. -Oh…but you thought about it…you don’t strike me as a bad person…but think negatively…which is why you suffered! – she said and made something like a grin. -What do you mean…suffered? I haven’t suffered… - I disagreed, thinking back to a time I have been in pain or something. -Oh, you didn’t suffer physically, but mentally! It’s a shame you don’t even remember when you lost your little sister…all because you felt the need to be the edgy teen you were trying to be…all because you wanted to act tough in front of your parents, but soft with your little sister. Yes…that is why you lost her…because the shadows, go for the family that is happy and doesn’t fight...and your family fought, because you wanted to be…different! – she said all this, in a tone that made my hairs rise up. How did she even know about any of this was above my knowledge, but the fact she knew about the shadows, and the tale, made me even more curiously-disturbed as I was. -How do you know about Jullie? Where is she! Did you take her? – I asked, not caring about her words of me being bad. She produced something that sounded as a giggle, then made a gesture, with her hands, as if she was making something rise…something invisible. Just then, as I was kneeing, my feet got wet, and then my knees, as the water rose as if It was kept for a very long time and was being unleashed with a force strong enough to push back everything in its way. The pound I was standing at, started filling up quickly. My feet started sinking, which was the first cue to get the hell out of there. Just as I turned around to face the surface, I felt that I was about to fall. Something was gripping my feet and was pulling me back. Having my other leg firmly stuck to the muddy ground I used the momentum to slip out of the grip and swim back to the meadow, just to see the shadows coming from the lake. -Oh dear little boy…Jullie is fine with us…and soon you will be reunited…you and your sister will join my family, and become my kids…forever! – she pointed at me…and everything ended. My entire body shook and I rose from the ground. Looking around, all sweaty, I felt the silence around the tent. Father was sleeping without snoring, which was a first…and I…breathed deeply…but couldn’t hear my own breathing. As if all the noise was…somehow silenced. My mind instantly went to the dream, and my body tensed with fear. If that was real…then…the stories about the shadows were also real…I looked up to see if the moon was shining above our tent, and managed to see if from the fabric…glowing and shining. That was the only source of light, illuminating the area, and it didn’t feel right. No sound, not even the wild animals, the insects, nothing was making a single sound. Only me…awake…trying to figure out what was happening. Just then, they started showing up. Rising up from the waters, their figures covered the tent, looming It with the shadows…of the shadows. Dark figured…with no faces…nothing. A foggy fabric of black skin…walking towards…me. My body was paralyzed and couldn’t move…but if it could, I couldn’t do it from the sheer intense dread that had taken over me. Seeing the dozens of figures emerging from the pound. Seeing as they marched silently…some passing by and walking towards god knows where…and some…stopping right in front of the tent. Then, the zipper started unzipping the door of it. As it went fully down, I could see a smaller shadow…a figure, barely reaching the middle of the tent. Its hands were quite smaller than the rest of the shadows…yet, remained as creepy as the others. -Time to go… - I heard a familiar voice in my head. Looking behind the smaller shadow, I saw the head of the very same woman, at least her figure, poking her head just above the water. As on command the rest of the bigger shadows, grabbed my legs and pulled me out swiftly, lifting me in the air in the process. I tried to fight back, but they grabbed my hands as well, leaving incapable of doing anything. It was just as dad said it was. Silent, leaving no trace…dark and scary. I could see the grin of the woman from the lake, and felt a big portion of fear, overwhelming me. I didn’t want to be a shadow…I didn’t want to die…And then, as i was being carried to my demise, I felt the touch of a smaller hand, touching my cheek. I remembered he smaller shadow at the tent, and twisted my head so I could see, who was the one touching me. It was her. The one I was seeking, the one I loved the most. Her smile was engraved on her face, as her eyes, more alive than the others, stared at me, telling me it was all going to be all right, without even moving her lips. Hearing it by her, I felt I didn’t need to fight back, I could feel that this was meant to be, seeing as I really was the one responsible for her death. I was the one, that needed to suffer, not her, but at least now…we were gonna be together. I looked at the woman for one last time, and felt my body entering the lake, with the shadows, gripping me tightly. She nodded to me, and I closed my eyes, trying to remember if there was something I had left behind unfinished. Even if I had, there was no way I could go back and do it, because I was going to become a nothing. A dead, creature…living thorough the connection of the woman, who had suffered, and was now the mother of the suffering…taking all who were negative and bad, and raising them as her children. Feeling the water enter my lungs, and my soul, aligning with the darkness…I felt nothing, as I was becoming one of them. Only the hand, still touching my cheek brought me something similar to happiness…and that was sweet little Jullie. If not for her, I was doing it for me. Dying, so I could redeem myself, and be the big brother I was supposed to be. I smiled, and closed my eyes…feeling the cold entering inside. The Shadows of the Lake, were my new family from today…and until the end of time.
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AuthorHello, this is Nedyalko Delchev, or Black Wing. I’m a writer and currently 25-years old. One of my dreams is to publish a book and impact the world! Until then, I will be posting all kind of contend on my Story Book! Archives
September 2023
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