31 Days of Halloween

Soul Seeker

 The putrid odor of decay filled every crevice of the room, as she pressed her body into the far corner. Quivering uncontrollably, cold sweat beaded on the surface of her skin and the familiar taste of molten copper coated her tongue. She tried to force herself awake, pulling herself from a nightmare she knew wasn't a dream. The hair, on the back of her neck, rose to attention, as she watched the shadows, black as night, curl from the mirror standing adjacent to her. Tendrils of thick, black smoke, with lace-like fingers, moved rhythmically, in a macabre dance across the floor. Reaching out to capture, in its grasp, whatever they could find to possess the soul on which it must feed. Inching, crawling, creeping closer to where she attempted to hide. She closed her eyes, making no sound, but couldn't escape the cacophony of a thousand voices, melding into one. Crashing into her, crying out, starving. The acrid smell of rotting flesh, combined with old, damp, earth, caused her stomach to churn, threatening to spill its contents. Bile rose in her throat, and her eyes flooded with tears.

Bone chilling cold seeped into her flesh, as the shadows pushed forward, closing in on her. Sensing her in the corner, thriving on her fears, it knew — it would soon feed, the thought occurred to her. How did she know this? How did she know any of this? But, now was not the time to consider answers to the questions occluded her mind. Out of time, the room now enveloped within the shadows, she became trapped, caught in its icy grip. It's slow, tortuous, spiral of death circled around her feet and ankles. Her heart hammered in her chest strong enough to resonate in her eardrums, and her pulse quickened. A scream surrounded her in the veil of darkness. With dawning surprise, she recognized the scream as her own.

"Please, stop!" she cried out, "Go away!"

No response, nothing in return which she could distinguish, only the garbled sound of pain and anguish. Farther and farther it climbed, snaking around her body until she could feel it suffocating her. Thrust into a darkness she had never known, she screamed louder, clawing at the wall, fighting to escape the grip of death.

"I'll do whatever you want, please let me go," she screamed into the darkness.

The smoky tentacles twisted tighter, as she was dragged over the polished, hardwood floor. Fighting with every ounce of strength she possessed, in both body and mind, she understood this was a battle she was never to win. Shadows covered her, consuming her body, rushing in through her nose and mouth. The pain hit her lungs, every inhalation a deep slice, cutting in, with the precision of a finely honed blade. She tried to scream, yet again, but no sound escaped from her lips. Only voices chanting, faster and faster, deafening noise filling her ears.

She heard it, for the first time. A distinct voice, piercing and clear. Her heart clenched, her breath caught and the world around her froze.

"You belong to us."

Gale force winds whipped around the room, over her feet and legs, as she found herself pulled into the mirror, from which this monster came. Shrouded in darkness, struggling to move her arms from her sides, she gripped the hand-carved wooden frame and held tight, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Fingernails ripped away from both hands, agonizing pain as they were torn from her flesh, slowly, one by one. She could feel her grip slipping, as the smell of her own blood, a mixture of sweet and metallic, filled her nose. This entity was much stronger, with one last rush of wind, it was over, and she was pulled through.

Silence. Absolute silence, deafening, quiet, no more voices. Everything hurt with physical pain so intense, the tears flowed freely. Her body burned as if open wounds had been anointed with acid. She couldn't worry about that now; she had to know where she was.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" her voice trembled with terror, "Where am I? Please, someone, help me!"

Her eyes began to adjust to the brighter lighting. She heard something or thought she heard something. Afraid her mind had started to play tricks on her, she sat silently, listening. No, there it was. She knew it. Radiating from the distance, a sound which she couldn't place. What is that? Her heart raced, each beat shooting pain across her chest. She couldn't take much more. As she forced herself from the ground and looked around, she instinctively knew, that whatever was out there, she had to get away from it.

Now that she could see, her surroundings became clearer. The dampness started to seep into her bones, and she realized she had been here before. It was the cemetery, in town, only different. No color was present, everything was in black and white. No sounds were coming from the streets, no noise from the woods nearby. She no longer stood in the world from which she came, she found herself in a realm beyond the corporeal. One she knew all too well, one filled with overwhelming horrors. Instinctively knowing her way around, she started to walk towards a gate, leading out onto the main road. As she walked, she became aware of a soft whooshing noise, growing in intensity as it drew near. It was the sound of wings, slowly and steadily flapping. A bat? A bird? She ran. The air around her became oppressive and burned her lungs with each draw.

It's getting closer, don't waste time. Run, you have to get away.

Her strides, smaller than normal due to the pain, were causing her to move slower. The thing, whatever it was, came closer and closer. The distance between herself and the gate — too far for her to reach.

"Janna," it called out in a garbled, gravelly voice, as she slid to a stop. Too terrified to look, but even more afraid not to, she slowly turned to face the creature which had spoken her name. As her eyes took in the picture in front of her, she felt the ground shift, and her head began to spin as she struggled to remain upright. Left with the feeling of being kicked in the chest, she gasped out loud when her lungs finally found air. It was perched on a gravestone, it's wings tucked neatly at its side, clawed feet gripping the stone marker on which it sat. She didn't know what it was — part bird, part human, part bat, and something else she couldn't figure out. As she continued to stare, she saw faces swimming in and out of focus, moving under the surface of the creature's skin. Souls. The creature was a construct of a multitude of souls.

"Look, child, look carefully," it spoke in the same tone in which it called out to her, "You'll find you within me."

"What does that mean?"

The creature spoke in riddles she couldn't understand. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, yet it only stared at her. Anger resolved her to stare back at the monstrosity before her - and then she could see it. Rather, she saw herself. The being was the mirror, or its eyes were. For a moment, she watched herself, both mesmerized and hypnotized by the slow sway of the monstrous being. The reflection started to shift. Her mother and father were now sitting beside her bed, her mother's head buried in her pillow. Her father's eyes, red and swollen, his face stained with tears. His hands gripped her blanket as if he had to hold on for his life. She couldn't recall ever witnessing this. Then she noticed she could no longer see herself in the reflection.

Why are they crying? Where am I?

The many voices she heard earlier now filled her head again. This thing began to answer her questions one by one, without making a sound. Wanting to scream, she called out to her mother and father but knew they wouldn't hear her. The creature spread its wings, threw its head back and mimicked her screams, followed by maniacal laughter. She no longer had a voice, she couldn't speak, and her memories were fading quickly. While she could still see the vision before her, it no longer mattered. She cast her eyes down, towards the ground, and saw her name etched in marble.

This thing wasn't going to kill her. She was already dead. It had come to collect her soul.

© 2016 Sherrie Weynand