Ever-Lasting Night
By: Rachel Kramer
I glanced around me, afraid of the night sky. The smell of abandoned cigarettes and rotten foods rising aweigh from the loads of trash in empty boxes. The sound of wind wandering through the cracks in aged buildings’ bricks, changing the colors of the leaves as it passes them by. Graffiti on the walls as if done by an artist. There were stars up above me as small as ticks, maybe even the angels watching from above, a black hole sucking them in as they decrease in size by the second, turning the sky into black. The frost in the air touching everything in its way, telling it to move, making the hairs on my arms raise into a spike. I could hear whispers from the flocks of people on the city streets, wind blowing them towards me, brushing against the sides of my face until finally reaching my ears, turning into a blur. Leaving the city wondering, when will this ever-lasting night come to an end?
I could feel the cold grasp from its breathing, circling around my neck, clasping it tighter and tighter. Its footsteps became quieter as they trailed off away from my hearings. As the panic started to rush away and the beating of my heart slowed down, a clash from the nearby cans of garbage with glass erupted. I gazed through the corner of my eye. Barely in sight was the thin top edge, with fluffed-out, filled with dirt, black hair of a cat’s tail. My heart sped up once again and I could feel someone approaching from behind. The closer they got, the less dense their footsteps were as if trying to be invisible. Besides the bad feeling I had, it seemed as if the traffic just went away, the world was asleep and I was the only one awake and breathing.
I felt a chill go down my spine, making its way down and ending in the middle of my back, unlike usual. I then felt the blood leave my head and go down to my feet as cold hands gripped by shoulders, sliding down making their way to my palms, gently absorbing my fingers as it slowly pulled away. I froze in silence with worry in my eyes, blood shot, wide open, starting to tear, making me dizzy. I turned around heavily only to let our eyes meet.
It was as pale as snow with an edge of blue. It had light brown, somewhat orange hair. It was wearing a jet black suit. Its eyes were charcoal black with the whitest riming. Its nose was at a point in the center of its face, yet so scary, it was the most amazing yet handsome thing “alive.” The corners of its mouth rose up into the slightest grin, its eyes still beaming into mine. The moonlight hit its irises causing a glimmer. My focus completely lost in sight. It was as if I and it were the only two things left in the universe, pitch black all around, it started to feel like I was floating. I then heard a soft, stern whisper in the back of my head saying to scream. The sound couldn’t escape my mouth. Its smile opened revealing a pair of two spiked teeth. A sparkle flew off of them in the moonlight.
It next latched its hands around my neck and bent me over. Its sharp, black nails piercing into my skin. I could feel the blood making its way down my neck as it turned form cold to warm. I could hear the slightest sounds. I could hear the blood land in a blob on the floor as it fell. It lowered its face toward the vein popping out of my neck and took a whiff of it. It then sunk its teeth in. I could sense the blood draining from my body. I grabbed his arms sinking my nails into it as if trying to say let go, but it didn’t seem to care or notice. My hand slipped away from its arm as the pressure became less and less. It started to become a blur as he let go from the suction and still held me, looking at my now pale body, starting again with the same grin as earlier, just the tips. It looked satisfied. I then felt cold and could feel myself fading away, falling down into the earth in a never ending hole, while my eyes shut. I knew they would never be opening again.
I looked at her as I looked at anyone else. Her body now cold and lifeless, making its way to another world that has not yet been discovered. I went there once, they said I was naughty and sent me back down for a second chance. But as I can see, there not letting me back up there at all, when it’s my time again, there sending me down this time. I dropped her. She got in my way as I started to walk off, so I used my foot to lift up the lifeless body and move it aside. I dragged along feeling powerful but lonesome.
I walked off to the nearby cemetery, where some fool would be waiting for me to arrive. They would try to make an escape, but fail to proceed with it. I stared at the statue of the guardian angel as it moved its lips trying to speak. But no words came out. A tear fell from its glowing, intense, blue eyes and landed on the floor making the same sound as the girl’s blood had. I continued to travel through each aisle slowly, reading each graves words as I passed by. I stood tall with my shoulders back as I saw my next victim arrive. He jogged by and I let out an arm catching him by the ribs, taking him in close, having a sip of his warm blood. As I took my teeth out, I tore out some flesh as I dropped him. He cowered in pain. I crouched down, each hand on a knee, elbows bent back and I asked him a simple question, “What do you fear most about me?” He moved his eyes up and down, back and forth, taking a good look, but gave no response, exactly what I had thought. It made me mad when I got no response, so I grabbed him by the neck and took one last sip. I let go by the time his hands fell limp and there was no more movement within him. I set him down by the grave and moved on.
I went back that same alley and passed by the once life-filled body of the girl one last time. I paused to look for a minute. I tilted my head and rubbed my chin. I tried to think because the best time something came to me was when I was looking at something I had taken the life from to make up for my own misery, but nothing came to my mind. I continued on into the darkness, fading away wandering, when will this ever-lasting night come to an end?
