On unsteady legs I stand as confidently as possible, ignoring the pain that shoots through my body. I stare upward at the shadow towering over me as I move closer to him. The hazy world around me holds my sway. I squint for a better sighting of Deacon Ash's face and his obedient companion.
"It's time," Deacon Ash says.
He extends both arms, his fingers stretching for me.
"Finally," Chaos says.
"Wait," I say.
"There will be no more waiting," Deacon Ash says.
He closes the gap between us, so close that he is no longer a blur to my troubled eyes.
"We have waited long enough," Chaos says.
"Just one more drink," I say.
Deacon Ash stops short, perplexed. "What?" he says.
"One more drink," I reemphasize.
Deacon Ash lowers his arms and cocks his head to the side, giving me a once over.
"Sure...why not," he says with a wink.
"No more time," Chaos says.
"Silence," Deacon Ash says without taking his eyes off of me.
I start to make my way to the table to fill my glass.
"No," Deacon Ash says.
The bottle of liquor was already floating through the air toward me.
"From the bottle," Deacon Ash says.
Once the bottle is in focus I reach out and snatch it from the air.
Deacon Ash smiles wider and his black eyes roll upward into his head. I can see whites showing highlighted by crooked blue veins.
"Drink," he tells me.
I raise the bottle to my lips.
"Drink it all down," Deacon Ash says.
Unknown to him, I no longer want a drink. I no longer want to be in this dead town, this dark house. I no longer want to be without my family. I no longer want to succumb to my own inner demon. For years, it had revealed itself to me but I was blind. My indulgence had dimmed the light and led me to this darker place within myself. I want to bask in the light again.
Angelos had told me that I must first save myself. In the darkness, I have found the answer. In the depths of the soul that is still mine, the will to drive away Deacon Ash reaches up to me. I know what I have to do. I tilt the bottle upside down and begin to pour out its contents.
Deacon Ash's black eyes return, flashing at me with surprised anger. "What are you doing?" he asks.
"Saving myself," I push out with labored breathing, unafraid.
"Impossible," Deacon Ash says.
"Take him, master," Chaos says.
"I can't just yet," Deacon Ash says.
"Then let me," Chaos said, moving forward.
"You take another step and I'll disintegrate you where you stand and torture you in hell," Deacon Ash says.
Chaos cowers away.
An invisible, icy grip falls onto my hand, forcing the bottle upward toward my mouth. I feel as though I can no longer sustain my breathing under the struggle. I am lightheaded.
YOU ARE READING
"Deacon Ash"
ParanormalSeth is the consummate alcoholic, a slave to his vice, and his family's constant plea for him to kick the habit has fallen on deaf ears. He escapes to his inherited Victorian in the dead town of Blackwood, Mississippi on a three day hiatus to escap...
