Gast: Volume 1: Dead to rights. (Gothic Horror) (Completed)

Chapter 35 - The Serenity Of Suffering (Edited)

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"All Things Truly Wicked Are Born From Innocence." Earnest Hemmingway

(Adopted Quote. Subtly Altered By Myself.)

Song = Hard To See by Five Finger Death Punch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTWINZ2L0Pg

Adam breathed deep and opened his eyes to once more look upon the Grave that belonged to Rose.

The Magpies had ceased in frolicking and with their absence, he realized just how empty the graveyard was. Slow and with great pain he pulled himself from the dewy grass, the grass was discolored and warped with days of Adams presence. He looked down at the boney husks that used to be his legs and sighed. Each day his skeleton was more prominent beneath his flesh. But oddly despite his gruesome appearance Adam never felt more alive, he felt strength resonate through every cell of his entire being. He wondered whether this was yet another symptom of his starved body or was it something more...

He stood amongst the silence of death and felt only peace. Hunger pains, migraines, nausea, terror, melancholy all were gone. Adam felt only the calming caress of inner peace.

He shuddered, smiled and slowly turned around to the Car park expecting everything to return in a violent wave once he saw Rose. Rose was nowhere to be seen. The car park was nowhere to be seen. The graveyard itself a distant memory.

Adam laughed as he caressed the oak of the wooden table with a frown. A voice spoke from his back.

"Yes, the table is real... Everything here is real Adam."

Adam tensed in preparation before he turned to face her.

Clara smiled and before he could speak she walked past him and placed a hot pot of tea in the very center of the table.

Adam looked around the room at every minute detail, the way the carpet was slightly discolored in one area, the way the curtains danced upon the caress of the wind, and the sounds beyond. Dear lord the sounds... Beyond this kitchen was an entire world. A world of Illusion or perhaps another world entirely... Maybe somewhere in this place him and Rose was happily married, perhaps with children.

The thought was enough to bring tears to his eyes. Clara stared at him reading him like an open book. He looked away and clenched his fists with misplaced anger and misery.

Clara sighed and slowly sipped her tea before gently returning it to the table.

"Are you done moping? Or should I drop you back in the graveyard to wither away..."

Adam stared at her with confusion and Clara laughed to herself.

"You're confused... It's to be expected... Let me begin by saying that this place is real. As real as the graveyard that you have been haunting for these past few days..."

Clara paused.

"And yes I'm dead but I'm also real... As real as you... In fact, I would argue that I'm alive more than you at this moment..."

Adam stared open mouthed and violently shook his head, he stood from the table, walked across the room and tentatively opened the curtains. He tightened his grip on the kitchen counter and stared at the street and the world beyond in both terror and fascination...

"How?" he asked as he turned back around to Clara.

Clara stood and joined him at the kitchen counter, she joined him in gazing at the life beyond her house and smiled.

"That is the one question that has been repeated ever since we opened our eyes and truly perceived the world around us... How? Why? Is this it?"

Adam sighed and leaned over the counter with his hands pressed into his forehead.

"I'm insane... This is all the result of a dying brain..."

Clara crossed her arms over her chest, breathed deeply and spoke once more.

"Adam this visitation isn't permanent... I need you to focus and listen to me..."

Adam lifted his head from the table and stared at her with tear varnished eyes.

"Rose must be stopped..."

Adam laughed with mania and slowly stood upright to glare at Clara.

"The one and only thing that I've learned from all this is that I don't have to do shit!!!"

Clara remained silent. The silence unnerved him more than any madness or any argument could.

Just as he was about to storm out her house and step further into this mirror world, Clara spoke.

"I remember exactly how you feel, so let me share something with you... When I died... When my soul was carried upon the wind I realized how futile the whole thing was..."

She continued.

"I was told that I could not stop her... that you had to be the one and I died trying to prove myself right... I died for nothing. Don't be like me..."

Adam stared at her in silence before he sighed and resumed his seat at the table. Clara smiled and passed him a cup of hot tea and began to speak.

"I know about the ring..."

Adam dropped the tea cup in shock and it smashed staining the carpet in tea.

"What?"

Clara repeated herself.

Adam's voice quavered, he nodded and retrieved the ring that he had been carrying with him constantly ever since that night of the crash.

Clara smiled as he placed it on the table and a tear dropped from her eyes and rolled down her cheek.

"I'm sorry Adam... If I hadn't have behaved like a cantankerous old cow then this never would have happened, you both would have been amazing parents..."

Adam stared at the ring and sighed.

Clara coughed and resumed speaking.

"You wanted to know why you had to be the one to stop her... well the answer is right there on the table. That ring is an embodiment of eternal love. She twisted and corrupted herself into the vengeful spirit that she has become because of that ring... Because she died not knowing about its existence..."

"Reveal it to her, show her the real truth of what happened that night. Then and only then can she be cleansed and released from this cancer that festers within her..."

Adam lifted the ring from the table and stared at it with fascination and smiled...

Clara spoke although this time her voice sounded as if it was coming from a great distance...

"All Things Truly Wicked Are Born From Innocence..."