The Stolen Truth

The Dark Sky

Ires stood refreshed after a long and nice sleep. Ires yawned and painfully got up from the comfort of the soft bed. "God, that was an eventful night." As Ires remembered last night and the part when he had almost given up hope for his parents and friends, and Seliva put that trust and hope right back in him, this time for good. He also remembered the pounding pain in his skull as it began to remind him in a very unpleasant way, but this time it was different

Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.

"What the. . . ." Ires took a shaky step back and begun to analyze the sentence he'd just heard in his skull. What did that mean and what does it have to do with me, Ires thought and shuddered in horror at the image of the dying bird played out in his head earlier merged with the voice in his head right now. The very thought sent cold shivers straight down his spine and left him void of any heat that might have lingered from when he got out of bed. Ires shivered and sat down on the bed shocked at the sudden lack of energy. The bracelet on his arm grew warmer and warmer still and that changed that void and filled it with warmth and comfort. Ires stood and walked outside of the door to his house and made a beeline toward Soet's house.

Ires walked confidently along the uneven cobblestone path that layered the ground, the birds sung their morning song that was neither firm or soft. Or was firm yet soft, Ires thought about for a moment before deciding it was no longer important, I have other matters at hand right now. Ires arrived at Soet's house and knocked. No answer. Ires knocked again. No answer. Ires was growing impatient and banged on the wooden door, and the door swung open. Ires walked inside and payed no attention that the door had been left ajar. Ires walked into the kitchen and noticed Soet hunched over in the kitchen top.

Soet moved and seemed to notice Ires and without notice launched himself at Ires and tried to suffocate him. Ires attempted to shove her away but he felt heavier than he would have believed possible. The angle of his body was locked in-bent into the kitchen top-made it impossible for him to find leverage. He pushed forward with his hands and Soet stumbled back, but came back for Ires after a split-second. He did it again, but this time with more force. Soet's head swung back.

It wasn't Soet

It looked like him but there was something wrong with his face, like it had melted. All of his muscles had gone slack, reminding him of his gran when she'd had a stroke.

"Soet?" Ires said, the words half eaten by fear as he squirmed beneath him. "What's wrong? Soet, tell me what's wrong."

He came for him again, that sunken face closing in, his mouth so wide that Ires almost screamed at the sight of it. He pushed Soet with every ounce of power he could muster and Soet fell down. Ires recovered slowly as he made his way toward the door. He heard a snarling sound behind him and made the mistake of looking back. Soet screamed, the noise like nothing Ires ever heard before, the very noise was hate-filled and it craved for blood to be spilled. Soet's eyes were the most inhuman of all, the eyes were completely jet-black; insect eyes, fixed on Ires with a look of undiluted fury and rage. He felt something cold and solid touch his hand, he jerked his hand away and looked at the doorknob. Ires grabbed the doorknob, twisted, and pulled as hard as he could and shut the door behind him as there were suddenly pounding sounds as if something. . . . or someone were hitting the door with their body. Ires slid down the door and took deep stuttering breaths that matched the intensity of the pounding behind the door. He sat there for 10. . . .20. . . .30 minutes thinking, how did it come to this? Ires then remembered the promise he had made to Seliva that he swore that he would never give up hope. Ires forced himself to his knees with shaky legs, then stood on his two legs. Ires looked back at the front entrance of the house and turned around and started walking toward Seliva's house.

What the hell was going on?

He'd seen stuff like this in a million movies-people turning federal, ripping into their loved ones. Usually it happened when the dead came back to life, but not always.

Zombies, great thinking, Ires. You're a genius.

But that was exactly it; zombies were something from the TV, from video games. They didn't exist in real life, they couldn't exist, it was impossible.

But then what was it. What had made Soet turn on him then tried to strangle, to say the least. Ires started running towards Seliva's house. Ires tripped on the uneven cobblestone path and cursed under his breath, but got up with determination and continued running. As Seliva's house neared, Ires ran faster than he would have thought possible and knocked on the door and waited for agonizing seconds. The door swung open and it revealed a just-woken up Seliva. " Okay, you woke me up early, what do you want now" Seliva talked to Ires in her half-closed eyelids. " Ires rushed inside and mentioned her inside. Seliva just watched as Ires began pacing around in her house. Seliva stood motionless in the doorway. Ires sighed and led her inside " Please, I have something important to talk about."

Seliva nodded and led me into the dining room and nodded again for me to start talking. "Okay, I know you don't know Soet, but he was a great friend even though I only known him for like a 3 days." Ires looked Seliva the eyes " He tried to kill me, Seliva. Kill Me!" He began hyperventilating. Seliva laid her arm on Ires' shoulder and spoke to him in reassuring tones, "We will find out what's happening out there so get yourself together." Ires nodded, calmed down and looked out the window to the dust filled village where the sun was just starting to set.

Heed the breath of the beast:

in death he rises,

and in our darkest days

he will devour us all

-The Book of Hebron