The Crystal Ball

Chapter Four:

Darkness. Never ending darkness. I was walking through what seemed to be a black abyss leading to no where. Every where I looked there seemed to be just, nothing.

Where am I? I spoke these words in my head, I know I did because my mouth never opened, and yet, they echoed through out the darkness surrounding me. It doesn't feel like a dream. There's no ghostly feeling about what's  happening and there was an all too realistic and overwhelming pain shooting through my leg. I look down.

Blood, hot and gooey blood trickling down from my calf to the floor below me. I'm not sure it is a floor actually, it's just as dark as everything else but it was definitely firm enough for me to stand on.

The blood was mesmerizing, drip drip drip. Yet the dripping sounded louder than life, like rain hitting a tin roof during a thunderstorm.
How am I seeing this? Echoed my thoughts.

That when I realized that it wasn't pitch black, there was a light source. Bright enough for me to see the red blood leaving my wound. I turn. Where is it?

The scene changed as I spun. A bright light emitted from a tall building across a skinny path. Pebbles cemented together filled the path way up to this mysterious yet alluring home. It was made of bricks of various size and color, giving it a tacky yet inviting demeanor. I stepped towards it, my injured leg leading the way.

It moved as if there was nothing wrong with it. As if two morons hadn't shot me just moments ago. Moments? No not moments. Seconds. I took another step. Then another and another. As I continued to walk I watched the house, feeling drawn to it, like I had to get to there and find whatever lies within.

After making it about 5 meters I noticed it, i noticed the one apparent problem with this house. It wasn't something that most people would notice at first glance unless you knew what you were looking for, which means I saw it coincidentally.

A large emblem lay just atop the front door. Carved into what seemed to be granite and stone, a common building mixture in the kingdom of Errandite. But this sign, this emblem was not common, in fact it was unwelcome. A bad omen that would turn even the youngest of children's days sour. It was hard to describe the look of the sign. Usually placed upon a shield, there wasn't much detail in it. There was a large X holding as the center piece of it, two snakes wove in and out of the X leading up to the top of the emblem and there at the very top was an eye. A single eye that seemed to see everything.

"Run!" The voice came out sharp and forced, like it was something you shouldn't say. But where did it come from? Not me this time, my mouth was closed and my mind was focused on the emblem which was linked to so much death.

"Run run run!" It was coming from behind me, I spun around, the scene changed again.

As the new room came into focus, I knew exactly where I was this time. In my fathers bedroom, in the castle. It didn't take me long to notice that something was wrong, all of the candles had been blown out and almost all of the furniture had been turned over.

"Father?" Came a child's voice from just behind me. The child walked forward. It was a little girl maybe 4 or 5 years old. She had long blonde hair that had been braided back. "F-father?"

She must be lost. I thought, she must be looking for her father. The girl took a few steps closer to the bed. She looked scared and confused, just as confused as I.

As she stepped closer so did I, walking just behind her and looked around the all too familiar room. As we walked closer to the bed a gasp left my lips and a squeal left the child's.

"Father!" The girl and I both yelled in unison, as if we were the same person, but we weren't. She had long blonde hair and my hair was choppy and black. Her skin was pale and littered with freckles while mine was smooth and brown.

The girl jumped onto the bed and looked down at the man she called father. His eyes were open, unblinking. They were a piercing green that seemed to see through everything and yet, today they were blank. His mouth... blood trickled down the corner of his lips. Drip drip drip. It continued down his chin and to his chest.

"Father no!" The girl was hysterical, she was sobbing and wailing. Tears falling down her face and dropping to his chest.

No... His chest.

There a knife stuck out of his chest, piercing deep into his skin. Blood surrounded his body, a pool of red goo.

This isn't real.. My father is alive and well, and who is this girl? My mind was spinning a mile a minute. I turned away from the scene feeling my tears start to build up and in that instant, the scene changed yet again.