erik: prologue

chapter 1: who are you?

A night different from others. The sky filled with something new.The atmosphere was strange in a way. Too cold to be a schoolday . But then again I live in Belgium. I looked up at those few stars that tried to brighten the night but failed sadly. It was a full moon. Time for  vampires and werewolves to sneak out I say with a fascinated smile. The moon shone brighter than any star or plane did that night. I watched the reflection of the mighty moon on the pond in the backyard of my home. It was getting late and I knew the old clock was waiting to struck midnight. I hated that old clock it felt like he had some stormy times ahead of his. I changed into a short and old t-shirt that made me feel comfy in it. As soon as I know I fell into a deep sleep. My dream wasn't ordinary I guess. I was in a place that would be great for a picnic. It was a beautiful forest with kind flowers. I can't express how peaceful it felt to be here. If I was a princess out of some fairytale I bet I would started to sing an animals would come to join. But I guess I'm a bit old for that. I hold a flower in my hand and see a drip of water fall on it. I guess it didn't turn long into one of the many nightmares I had. The sky that was blue as a sapphire but only lighter and more brighter, had turned into a deep grey colored sky. A shill left my spine as rain started to poor down and thunder stroke six meters away from me. Out of shock I lost my sense of rational thinking and I could not move or hide. I heard the wolves howling and bats screeched. It felt like I was watched by a hundred eyes. I felt death awaiting for me. You would have thought I would awake any minute but I just wasn't in panic. After watching some horror movies with my dad this wasn't so scary. I didn't fear death. It would come when my time was ready. It would be sad without a lover but that's the price I am willing to pay. I was waiting on my black moment. You know...the moment your dream turns shapeless and black and all you hear are voices that try to pull you back into your dream.

Today that moment didn't come.

I started counting how long time passed and when I was around thirty a voice interrupted me. 'why are you counting silly' a male voice said. I looked where the voice came from but I just didn't know where. 'come to me child' he said gently. Could I trust this guy even thou this is a dream? I was surprised that I wasn't stuck at the ground anymore and my bare feet felt cold because of the rain that still continued to fall. 'what are you waiting for' he asked me and I just couldn't answer. 'Who are you....where are you?' These questions filled my mind. 'trust me and follow my voice'. I knew his voice came from the woods and he gave me directions. What I noticed was that I didn't were the t-shirt and shorts like I did in reality. And my hair was not in the ponytail I wore every day. I was wearing a black dress and my hair was longer darker than the brown it was now. Even thou I hurt my feet by the many  rocks and trees that lay on the way, I was going to find out who that voice belonged to. He sounded impatient and rude and at other times as gentle as a man could be. I don't understand what he needed and why I would dream about him. I guess being single for almost eighteen years pays a price. 'can you find me in this place, I won't say anything until you found me'. Are we playing hide and seek now? I stand in front of a gate that seems like he can fall out any minute. As soon as I touch it, it opens with a heavy sound that make my ears hurt. I have seen it drawn in books. I have heard of places like this but I couldn't believe I would stand on this ground.

A Christian cemetery.

I knew the Christians where buried alive in the medieval. They were tortured because of their fate. Why am I here? And where is he. All the graves where old and dusty. And there were huge rocks with names. I saw children, pregnant women ,infants, teenagers and men all lay here with one familiar thing...their fate. I looked and looked but nowhere I saw a male standing there. I wanted to ask him if he really was here. But he promised not to say a word. An frightening thought escaped my mind and I tried not to think about it. But I couldn't help it I was drawn to the place just three meters away from me. 'found you' I said as I whipped away the dust of the black marble. 'Erik huh?' I said as I watched the golden letters that were engraved in the marble stone.  

'Erik James River born 6th January 1142 died 28 December 1160. Died at age eighteen. He is as old as I...almost because in four days I would turn eighteen. How would he have looked I thought silently waiting till he would answer again. Just when I thought that a skeleton hand came out of the ground and I screamed in true terror. I wanted to run but again my legs couldn't move out of shock. And believe me I wanted to run away. I screamed in my head 'wake up Naomi please wake up' but I couldn't. A part of me wanted to stay. I wanted to know what he wanted from me. I heard the voice I waited for asking me to stay calm. That voice...Erik's voice...was his...as he stood in front of me. He only had one eyeball and no nose. His skin turned into dust with the small movement he made. He acted rude and smiled false. He said: 'aren't you.....scared' it pissed me off if he was here to scare the crap out of me he passed. But that didn't mean I would allow myself to fall for his dirty tricks. I got a grip out of myself and said: and aren't you...skinny?' he made a strange sound that almost sounded like laughter. It became silent as he stared at me. It made me nervous. He thought and said almost royalty: " excuse my manners my name is" " Erik James River" i interupted him "and my name is Naomi". Before he could have said something else I interrupted him again. "what am I doing here" he didn't say anything. He was surprised because of my difference. Different than....a girl whose name hurt him by only saying it. A women should know when to be quiet he thought bitter.  My impatience couldn't last any longer. It became silent....not a word was spoken. "Could it be?" I thought." Am I really talking to a death man right now"? Someone who died eight hundred years ago? At a long pause he spoke again: " I know this is confusing but don't think that when you open those eyes I will be gone" sounds like a challenge to me. Who can stand the other as long as possible. "sure I really like to talk to a death man who is dead for almost eight hundred fifthly years,...Stupid dream world". He looked at me and I think I heard a smirk from those rotten lips. " honey this is the ghost world."