Of Dark Things & Purple Eyes ~A Short Story~

Part 3 - Bittersweet

Silence follows as the young woman ended her story. Everyone looked melancholic, some of the girls were even sniffing. It lasted a couple of minutes, then everybody pronounced it quite a story. The young woman had then retreated back to her place earlier. Someone had started another mysterious ghost encounter that caught everybody's attention.

A short while later, the young woman's phone rang so she got up & went a little way from the group to take the call. After a couple minutes she went back to the circle around the fire.

"Hey, guys," the young woman said with a worried frown on her face. "I'm really sorry, it's been a while since we last hang out together but I needed to go right now. My younger sister just called me & told me that Dad has some sort of an accident. Bashed his head or something & Mom is quite on a state so my sister needs assistance. I hope you won't mind."

Everybody was disappointed to see her go but they understand. The young woman apologized to them again & again as she gathered her things but they've waved it all away. They're quite worried about her dad too & wish him well. The guys offered to accompany the young woman to the car park but she refused. She said (& hugged) her goodbyes then she went on.

The young woman's head was racing with thoughts as she trekked through the trees, a flashlight in her hand, but not about her father though she's still worried about him. Her mind dwells on the purple-eyed young man. It's been twelve years since she last saw him. A lot has changed in her life apart from moving to London. From an uninteresting child, she grew to be a remarkable young woman, finished high school in excellent grades, entered a university, have friends which she never really did have before, graduated & now has a very decent job in London. Her confidence grew as the years passes by. But all those times, she never forgot the young man. She still misses him terribly & more than ever. For sure, she never told the story to anyone before, even to her family. Who will believe her? But she doesn't care who will or won't believe her. For her, the boy is a memory. A sweet, cherished memory she only wants for herself. So she quite surprised herself on telling so now & she can't think of any reasons why she finally told some people though it felt just right. She smiled ruefully to herself & walked on a bit faster until she reached the end of the trees.

The car park was right across the highway from the camping grounds. The young woman passed the campsite manager's cabin. The windows were dark so she supposed the manager had gone home for the night. She crossed the highway to where her car was parked & stuffed her things on the trunk. She was just turned her key to ignition when her phone rang again.

"Hey," said her sister. "It's all right now. You don't need to rush here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Dad's fine, nothing serious. The doctors are working on him now, just needed a couple stitches. Mom's good now, too. They gave her a shot to calm her down because she panicked a lot when she saw how much Dad bleeds."

"Okay, glad to hear that. You gave me quite a scare earlier."

"Sorry," her sister said, sounding bashful. "I just don't know what to do earlier when Mom's having hysterics here in the hospital. I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"It's okay. Just keep a clear head next time. But I think it'll be better if I went there so you won't be alone. Besides, I'm in the car now."

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I can handle this right now, don't worry. And besides, it's you holiday."

"Really?" Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm..." the young woman thinks. "Okay, if you say so." She turned off the ignition. "But call me if you needed anything okay?"

"Okay," answered her sister. A moment of silence then. "Say hi to Eli for me, will you?"

"You really like him huh?" she teases her sister.

"Shut up." But the young woman can hear a note of smile in her face.

"Call me when Dad & Mom were doing well."

"Got it."

The young woman hang up. She's still worried about her parents & her sister but she said she can handle it so she'll have to trust her sister. She got out from the car, decided to leave her things on the car from the time being in case her sister changed her mind & started on going back to the meadow.

Suddenly, a car's headlights flashed from the corner or the road as the young woman was crossing. The whole thing went on so fast that she only registered the sudden flash of light on her right, then the sensation if being thrown off. The car crashed on the big tree beside the cottage, as the young woman hit the pavement hard.

Pain, incredible pain assaulted the young woman as she lay face down on the road. She tried to move, but her body screamed against it. And she can't breathe. Every gulps of air was a labor it's like she's drowning on dry ground. She can feel the wet blood pooling on her side. Then, something terrifying happened.

In the young woman's line of vision is the forest on where she emerged earlier, the cottage a little way from it, all awash in the crashed car's headlights. But some things were behind the trees that the lights can't penetrate, stirring, squirming relentlessly. The young woman's eyes widened with fear. She haven't seen them since that day from the old house's basement but she felt them everywhere though not as strong as like in the basement. She knows that they're the same hungry creatures, waiting in the dark, feeding on the weak & the dead. They're moving on faster, much faster like some excited starving creature. They crawled towards her& she knew that if she die now she'll be devoured for good.

"I can't die, please, I can't, please, please, please, I can't, PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The young woman's mind screamed, her heart thundering painfully in her chest. She tried to breathe deeply, faster & coughed a spray of blood on the concrete. The young woman's blood & fear of dying seems to excite the creatures more. They continued to advance as the young woman heard sirens & saw flashes of light coming on everywhere.

Just then, a flash of violet light up in the corner of the young woman's eyes. Then she understood & suddenly, all the fear, the fear of the things in the dark, the fear of dying left her completely. She felt calm though she continued to drown on her own punctured lung. The creatures tried to get to her faster but she's not afraid anymore. They will not touch her, they will not eat her. They can do all the damn squirming they want to. A promise will be kept. She can almost see those beautiful purple eyes she yearned for all these years. The young woman smiled. It's been long, too long. But finally that "someday" he's been talking about... it finally come.

With a last curious taste of blood & citrus on her smiling mouth, the young woman closed her eyes.

***

Deep down in an old house, in every dark corners, things hide in the black unseen, hungry & waiting.