The House on Clamoribus St

Chapter 1 - Starlight

I walked for hours into the woods, the Autumn sun still hung in the sky, its rays dyed everything of golden and red light before it all succumb to darkness and the moon, gracious Queen of the night, took her place among the stars.

Shoulders bare, hair pulled up and pinned on top of my head in a loose bun, a satin white corset hugged my chest, waist and hips.

A swirl of leaves fluttered past me in their unhurried way, playfully dancing with the wind, like an autumn flurry of golds, browns and burnt orange, then landing on the earth beneath my bare feet partially covered with dirt and remnants of their previously fallen sisters.

I sat on an overturned log on the ground, near the edge of the gorge, quietly staring at the starry sky as the crisp air brushed against my uncovered skin causing me to shudder once or twice. I could almost see the air, like a little child, running around and moving everything he touched, the world was his playground. The warmth that had been here hours before would soon be nothing more than a memory as the temperatures continue to drop.

No singing crickets or loud cicadas were around me. All nocturne creatures had gone mute as if scared of what hid in the darkness, only the once soft breeze turned to gusts of wind; wind that soon became howling currents echoed in the night. Their song was one of mourning, and sorrow, bizarrely beautiful and tantalizing.

The angry currents tugged at the soft lace of my almost see-through ankle length skirt, nearly tearing it to shreds.

The time tic-toc-ed by slowly, it felt like eternities were trapped inside each second. My fingers tapped gently over my lap somewhat impatient.

I was alone… waiting… for him.

The witching hour drew near, I could feel it in my core, as if time and my mind were one and the same. In spite of the long wait, I felt no tiredness; contrary to that, every inch of me, every cell, every drop of blood in my veins burned with life, I was ablaze, burning like a living flame caught in a wintery night.

Listening intently, desperately even, for the call of my name, I waited.

And then, out of the shadows it came, but not how I expected it.

Goosebumps appeared on my skin along with a soft electric current that started at my fingers and toes, then quickly spread all over my body and caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up while sending my head into a violent dizzy spell. Everything spun out of control as I gasped for air.

My hands bunched around the fabric of my skirt as my anxiety reached a new high, I completely lost it and tears began to flow. More so as the pressure building up inside my skull turned into massive headache that sent sharp pain from my forehead and temples to the back of my neck, like thousands of needles being hammered in my head at once.

I fell on my knees, choking like an animal. I wanted it to stop, but couldn’t speak, I was mute and the agony I felt caused me to go blind as well, as if a veil of darkness had wrapped tightly around my throbbing skull and prevented my eyes from seeing anything at all.

And then it all stopped, just as quickly as it began. A gush of cold wind swept over me and remind my lungs how to function properly.

After few deep breaths my vision was restored. And I smiled like a fool, I smiled as if I had felt no pain, as if my life had not passed right before my eyes, as if his arrival had not almost kill me.

“Starlight…”

“You came,” I said.

“I always do,” he replied, his voice echoing with mystery, caressing me without touch.

How could I doubt him? I reprimanded myself in my mind because I knew better. Night after night he came to me, no matter where I was, he always found me and joined me under the stars. Sometimes announcing his presence with thunder and lightning, a terrible storm or gale force winds, but hardly ever nearly killing me by his quiet approach.

“You are troubled,” I stated.  

“Troubled indeed, my dear.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

He didn’t offer a response, instead lay his hands heavily on my shoulders, his sulky fingers pressing into my flesh, threatening to rip it open if I dared to move even though he well knew I would not budge.

The smell of his rotten flesh was sickening to my stomach but I held in my revulsion as his fingers rubbed gently against my cheeks. I craved his touch more than food itself. I needed him. My entire being cried out for his attention.

I closed my eyes seizing every moment, but as I put my hand over his, pressing the warmth of my skin against his icy flesh, he pulled back.

I turned around to face him wounded and angry. Lightning fast, he put distance between us before I could see his face. He stood a few feet away, quiet and still, enveloped in a blanket of fog, glaring at me with black eyes from the distance. Eyes that shone like black flames.

“I’ve told you never to look at me, Starlight!”

Hands clenching and unclenching at my sides, I retorted. “Why do you torture me this way?” I asked furiously. “Since I met you, my days are hell itself. I am lonelier than a stray dog on a deserted street and that is saying a lot. You’ve no idea how hard it is for me to wait every night for you, like a sick pup begging for love; wagging my tail behind me, seeking a single caress from your hand, a meager treat -”

“You have betrayed me,” he cut me off, there was an edge of danger to his words, the scent of hate that travelled in the air like darts aimed to kill.

“What?” I asked confused.

“I can smell his scent on you...all over you…” He said in disgust.

His eyes went from black to red, gleaming like rubies in the dark, his lips parted and before I could say another word, he launched himself at me.

Searing pain shot through my every limb as his fangs buried themselves deep on my neck, and I…

And I...slowly I faded...