The Dark Path (Part 2/2)

Death Of My Father

A/N: Need to make a second part because I'm having problems upload onto the original.

Death Of My Father

[Archer’s POV]

FEW MONTHS LATER…

Rain poured down in the area of the graveyard as I stood in front of an average tombstone. To others, it was just another tombstone in the graveyard. They would just pass it several times without giving a second thought as they had their own dead relatives’ graves to attend to. To me, however, the name engraved on the tombstone filled me with mixed emotions. ‘Brian Riaz Steele,’ it read on the tombstone.

I was sad that I couldn’t be there at my father’s death bed. God knows what his last few words to me could have been. I was confused as to why his death was sudden. Doctors could not find a logical explanation to my father’s mysterious condition. There was no hope in preventing his inevitable death. Most of all, I was angry with myself. I wouldn’t be standing over my late father’s grave with questions racing through my head whose answers would never be known to me.

I began distancing myself from my family and friends. What has been going in their lives lately, I haven’t the slightest clue. Miles? Tyson? I haven’t seen Alexis for months. My mother was the only one whom I have updated knowledge of. Unfortunately, it was something I wished I had not known. After hearing my father’s death, my mother became so heartbroken that she started losing her mind and became senile. Nowadays, she barely recognizes her own son. She has called the police over to our house several times and this has happened so frequently that the police officers already know me and have agreed to send over an officer once in a while to check on us.

Eventually, I had enough of my crazed mother’s antics and decided to permanently lock my room door. If I ever wanted to leave my room, I just had to climb out of the window with a ladder that I brought into my room when I climbed into my room and left behind some bushes when I left the house.

My friends have begun getting used to my alienation. At school, I barely talk with them anymore. While Miles embraced the fact that he could control sound itself, I, on the other hand, barely moved a shadow. Who knows what chaos I might unleash. I already knew that I had times when I went berserk, turning into a destructive beast and the time Miles stopped me.

Lately, it hasn’t happened. Tyson said I should be relieved but I fear that whatever is inside me could build up and if ever let loose, who knows what could happen. I spent more time in my room trying to find peace. Without realising it, I spent more and more time by myself. Tyson and Miles came by to my house a few times but when I didn’t answer them, they gave up a few times. Many of their calls were left unanswered.

As I stood over my father’s grave, the rain becoming heavier over time, I felt as I was being watched. Not by people but by the statues in the graveyard itself. Worse, it wasn’t casual observation but fearful ones. I could literally smell the fear in the graveyard. If they could speak, they might even be asking for mercy. I didn’t find it outlandish but the beast within me was…delighted. I could feel it laughing sadistically as I imagined the statues asking for their lives to be spared.

This happened once too often. Whenever fear filled the air, the beast within me awoke and had to try beyond what I was considered humanly possible to control the malevolent force. I gripped my stomach as the beast struggled to come out. Clenching my fist, I sent a straight punch to my stomach. I collapsed on the ground as the beast calmed down a little. Breathing heavily, I got up and walked away before I had to that again like I had several times before.

I walked through a dead forest on my way out of the graveyard. The bare trees looked like they were reaching for the sky as a fog enveloped the forest. Dead leaves cracked under my shoes as I walked. All these problems that I had, came from one thing – my dark powers. For some time, I learnt a lot about what I could do and yet, I knew that I had still much more to learn. What I was capable of, I had only scratched the surface. I figured that if I knew what I could do, I could understand my dark powers better and possibly have control over myself.

Eventually, I reached the gravedigger’s house. I knocked on the door and the old man opened the door with a warm smile. It softened my heart a little but only for a mere split second. My soul was too dark for any light to pass through.

“Here’s some money, George. You did an excellent job in maintaining my father’s grave.” I said as I pulled some paper notes out of my wallet and held it out for him.

The old gravedigger chuckled softly. “You don’t have to, my boy. What I have is all that I need. Besides, this old man’s got only a few years left in his life. Money is just going to make to things way too noisy for my liking.”

I placed the money on the coffee table and sat down on a sofa chair as I looked down at the ground.

“He was a good man from what I heard. Lead a good and honest life. Judging by your expression, I’m guessing you’re taking this really hard. Don’t blame yourself for your father’s death, my boy. Death is inevitable. It happens to everyone that has a soul. It’s not possible to go anymore beyond death.”

I sighed. “I’m not blaming myself, George. It’s just…it’s just I wished that I hadn’t been so oblivious to my father’s condition.”

George nodded his head. “I understand. If there’s anything you want to talk about, don’t be afraid to drop by.”

“No.”

George raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

I stood up. “I said no. I don’t need your help. You can’t help me. Nobody can. What I’m going through…it’s beyond anyone’s comprehension.”

“What do you mean?”

I walked towards the shadow of a grandfather clock. I heard George gasp as I walked through the shadow like a portal.

I was back in the Dark Lands. The sound of the rain from the graveyard had disappeared and was replaced by the eerie silence of the Dark Lands. As I walked to the manor, the shadow people around me that were busy doing their own duties stopped and bowed to me. I knew deep down that it was not a bow to a beloved leader but a bow to a destructive monster that could announce their deaths at any moment.

As I climbed up the front stairs of the manor, Syschela appeared by my side. She floated beside me, not uttering a word. As we moved up to the main room in the manor, I took the initiative to break the silence.

“I suppose you’re going to say you’re sorry too, just like everyone else?” I grumbled.

“Why should I? Your father didn’t die due to my actions.” Syschela spoke in her whispery voice. “You should have anticipated things like this, my lord. Not being at your father’s death bed, I mean. Acting as the dark lord comes with a heavy price. Confusion and sorrow. You think you know everything there is to know but in truth, you know so little. Even more, why do you distance yourself from the ones who care about you? They are your only lifeline in the real world.”

“It’s because of a choice I had to make. I don’t want to cause the death of anybody else. My powers…they are beyond my control and I fear one day, they will eat me up from the inside.”

“Forgive me for saying this, my lord, but you’re being foolish in your choices. What you’re doing is only going to cause you to lose more of what you have. As time goes on, you’ll give in to the beast within you just like all the rest before you.”

Rage quickly built up within me. “Listen here, Syschela. I made a decision and I intend on sticking to it. Don’t you dare tell me what I can and cannot do. I am your lord and I will do as I see fit!”

I walked away as my shadow wolf sat next to Syschela. I heard Syschela whisper a few words to it. “He’s becoming less of who he was. Archer Garth Steele is dying. I wish we could do something, Ava.”