Night of the Amnesiac

Here we are, preparing ourselves to search for a sense of excitement, all while bearing witness to an ill fated tragedy to one of life's many unsuspecting victim. This brings about the question of "Who is the true villain here?" Is it I for writing about such things, or you as the reader who engulfs these stories of death and tragedy for pleasure? Is it the bloodthirsty murderer who preys upon the weak, or the witness who watches death occur from the sidelines while recording every moment on their phone yet refuses to report the crime to the authorities?

Think long and hard. Now ask yourself "Just how villainous is my innocence?"

For those of you willing to accept the answer that you came up with, and who are looking to plunge even deeper into the darkness that begs to be fed, allow for me to paint a vivid picture to the beginning of the horrible tale that lies ahead...

A crescent moon dangles above the twinkling stars high in the sky like a lure casted into an endless ocean of darkness on the tip of a telescopic fishing rod. A palette of Autumn colored leaves rustle against each other creating an irritating sound that could have been misinterpreted as hundreds of slices of paper being ripped simultaneously. Even more irritating than that is the sound of an air compressed car horn infinitely blaring into the empty womb of the night. A balding black male with a shaved head has his face planted deep into the center of his mid-sized, silver, 2009 Nissan sports utility vehicle's wheel. The hood of the SUV had been bent upwards exposing the iron guts of the vehicle after having smashed into the trunk of a massive Thuja Green Giant. Liquid poured onto the Earth from beneath the car and formed an oblong shape drowning a colony of ants that had lived in a nearby ant hill.

Not far from the site of the accident, at the top of a long, winding driveway was a prodigious mansion. Surrounding the mansion was a beautiful garden with acutely trimmed hedges...but more on that later. For now we shall stay focused on the man in the vehicle.

Within the next few seconds this man will awaken and will be casted into a world unfamiliar to him. He will step out of his car and head into the direction of the lovely building built tall enough that it appeared to touch the sky. Unfortunately for him, inside of this mansion are events that take place primarily in areas that exist exclusively between light and shadow...

A dark line of blood seeped out of an inch long cut across the right temple of the man in the vehicle. With molasses-like speed the blood slid down his cheek, dripped from the corner of his jagged jaw, and fell onto the man's navy blue denim jeans leaving behind a barely noticeable circle stain. The car's left headlight (the right one no longer functioned since a majority of the glass shards were smashed against the tree) beamed ahead illuminating an abandoned wooded area. The animals had grown scarce, mostly from beginning their early journey of a lengthy slumber for the Winter known as hibernation. A piercing wind flung a hundred or so leaves into the air forming a tornado of Autumn nature to dance in the spotlight created by the individual low beam emitted from the vehicle. The nauseating smell of gasoline stormed into the man's nostrils. His eyes began to slowly appear beneath his rising eyelids.

He pulled his throbbing head from off of the car horn bringing a relieving stop to the annoying sound that screamed into the darkness. His visual focus remained blurry for a few moments until he was able to get a demanded control over his eyes. The shattered windshield took the man by surprise and he realized that he had no memory of how he had gotten himself into this situation. Still feeling the effects of disorientation, the man patted his hand against the side of his seat until his fingers ran across the seat belt buckle. He pushed his left thumb against the piece of red plastic releasing the seat belt and causing it to shoot across his body and retract back into it's holster in the upper corner of the vehicle. With his index finger he pulled at the neck of his shirt and could see a blotchy blue and purple bruise slant across his shoulder and down his torso where the seat belt had been fastened against.