The Engulfed

I - Shrouded

Trees rustled in the wind. And in the calm of the night, dark utterances dissipated. The sudden quiet was unsettling. He couldn't believe his eyes, he didn't want to. It was so sudden, there was no warning. The young man walked over to where she once was, his pace lingering. A slight crunch followed each footstep, the grass was frozen, the same as every time it happened. He knelt down and reminisced the phenomenon. Bent over, he glided his hands across the prickly cold layer of earth. There it was. Her ring. A recent promise to her, one he could now never keep. He smudged off a coat of soot from the tarnished jewel, and the diamond glistened in the unsettling moonlight. An unmistakable voice spoke from behind him. "Ahren lad, she's gone." Crouched over with his back to the voice he rebelled, "No. No... I can save her. It's no-" It interrupted him. "The beast has taken her. It is her fate." The boy clenched his fists, "Get out of here now." he warned. There was a slight pause, but he continued with a threatening tone, "Go away!! She is not gone, not yet. And I never want to hear from you again! You cannot choose her fate or mine!" Aggravated, he stood and turned to face it. His heart felt stabbed at the sight of it. He had never seen one before. Everyone had told him he mustn't lay eyes on them, and he now understood why. It was ghoulish. It bled a steaming ooze from it's face, like it was sad, teary, tormented. But it had no eyes. Emotionless it stood before him, glowing a dim putrid green. It began to speak though it made no movement. "You cannot defy the will of the beast!" Its words began to pierce Ahren's ears. Every word... "You" ...echoed and ringed... "cannot defy" ...shook and screeched... "the will of the" ...and pounded his head... "beas-" ...He lunged forward as continued, it's words unrecognizable and intense. He grabbed it and fell to the ground with its face in his hands. It paused and looked at him. At that moment he knew he made a grave mistake. A siren like sound emitted from deep within it. It's body creaked then snapped and turned to stone. Horrified he got up as quickly as possible. The stone began to spread, the near crickets stopped, the wind quiet, nothing but the alarming scream. A far thunder crackled. An instant downpour roared in the distance, but he could tell it was traveling fast. He had to leave, but where? They knew where he lived. He looked once more to where she last stood, to remember his final image of her, though corrupted and blank. His best friend, his love, he didn't want to go, to say goodbye, but the sound grew more intense every moment. A soft whisper passed his lips, "I'll find you Inna. I will find you." He gripped his shoulder bag and the ring still in his hand and rushed away, leaving everything behind.