A Gothic Horror

6

"How anticlimactic of you! Just going out when the best part's about to start!"

Sarah squinted. She was completely disoriented.

"I know you can hear me! I know everything! And I know all about you! Which is not much since you're a boring ordinary human!"

Who's voice was that? Did she know it from somewhere? Yeah... She did...

"Are you surprised?"

Mr Schwartz's face emerged in front of her.

"It's so fascinating to watch you act like you were in some cheap horror flick." He smiled deviously. 

Sarah cleared her throat. "What... what have you done to the others?"

"Hm? Oh, they're all dead. Yeah, I know, I know! You talked to them just a moment ago, how is that possible, right? Well, surprise! They weren't real! They were just in that tiny little head of yours! I sent them there and you willingly took them in."

He chuckled.

"Why? Why did they have to die?"

"Oh... why! You're getting warmer! Good question! Why did they have to die? Well, they had to die so I could get strong enough for this." 

He then stepped up to the window and looked outside as if he had suddenly lost all interest in her. Had that window been there before? Sarah wasn't entirely sure. Where were they, anyway? This was clearly not the apartment on the fourth floor! No... no, they had to be in Mr Schwartz's apartment. You could even hear the cars drive by outside if you listened closely. It was pretty dark, though. The only light in the room came from three black candles that were surrounding her.

"Strong enough for what?"

Mr Schwartz sighed and turned around again.

"It's terrifying, being immortal, isn't it? At least, for mortals that is. The thought of having to live through the ages while everyone around you... eventually dies. The thought of being trapped in that eternal body..." — "Do you want to become immortal? Is that it?"

Mr Schwartz just ignored her, "Odd that you never consider what it must be like if you were immortal in the first place and then, through some terrible accident, you'd find yourself trapped in a mortal body! If you could live through the ages but your body would decay and you had no idea what would happen if you'd just let it rot! What would happen if you didn't... look for a new one...

"I have been searching for a place like this for a long time now, you see? Every once in a while, I choose to buy a remote place. Usually, a castle or a hut in a forest. Secluded places but ever so often, people come and stay there for a night or two. Funny, isn't it? Oh, and then, they die. Nobody ever misses them. After all, there are all kinds of things that could happen to you in the wilderness. You could get eaten by wild animals, get shot in a hunting accident, fall off a cliff.

"But you know what? In times like these, I don't have to do that! There's just no reason to buy castles or huts or whatnot in the middle of nowhere anymore when the most secluded places are actually those that are hidden in plain sight. Think about it! In a city like this, there are dozens of uninhabited houses. Houses that are just waiting for someone like me. Because, in the end, in a city of millions who would miss four unfortunate college students?

"All you need to do is buy the house, renovate it, prepare everything for the ritual and then wait for a small number of people to move in. They are unsuspecting. After all, this is a huge building and just how likely is it that out of all the people living here someone would want to harm you? Well, guess what, you were the only ones living here! Ever wondered why you never met anyone besides me? No? Thought so.

"Anyway, so, everything was prepared for the great ritual! The one I only get to do once in... I guess you could say once in a lifetime. And you had moved in here with the most excellent timing! So much faster than in one of those archaic castles! It was perfect! You were just in time! Just... in... time!"

A shiver ran down Sarah's spine. She tried to move. No chance. She was bound tightly. Why had she only noticed that, now?

Mr Schwartz walked calmly in the direction of a paint bucket that was standing in a corner of the room, dipped a brush into it and moved it until it was completely covered in red paint. Then, he walked towards Sarah, the light casting terrible shadows on his face, and started to paint a triangle around her. After he was finished, he thrust the brush carelessly away into the direction of the bucket.

"You still have a lot of questions, I presume!" he said in the softest of tones, his eyes being fixed on her. He wasn't wearing his ridiculous glasses anymore and his eyes, which had previously been a dull grey had turned into the darkest of black. He smiled.

"Please," he said, "Ask!"

"What did you do to my friends?!" Sarah cried in agony.

"Oh, no no no! Bad question! Bad question! The why one was much better! Much better question! Try asking a different why question!"

When he saw that Sarah wouldn't respond, he closed his eyes and shook his head. As he opened them again, there was a fire burning inside of them.

He raised a dagger which had suddenly appeared in his hands. He pointed it at his heart, theatrically.

"The important question you should have cared about," he said, "Is why... did I let you live... until now?" 

—The End—