Anthology: Into The Dark

Haunting of the Dead

"A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being, nor can the dead ever be brought back to life." -Sun Tzu

The neon light reflected a face in the window, one that she'd tried for years to forget only to find it chasing her like a ghost in her dreams. A fracture of the past. Taking yet another sip of her drink the sensation of it burning as it travels down her throat brings her eyes back down to the crumbled family photograph in her hand. Tightening her fingers around the faded memory in failed hopes to hold onto them.

"Ready for another glass?" Asks the man full of saddened glances and fingers that whisper of pity, "You've been nursing that one for awhile..."

Slowly lifting her gaze the bartender comes into focus across the counter. A hoarse "no" scrapes its way out of her throat in such a way the man's eyes trace her slumped form. With a solemn nod he whistles a tune off to assist with refilling the glass of an older gentlemen.

Now alone her gaze drops back to the last bit of amber liquid left inside of the glass, it flickered in the light as a burning ember. A reminder of that fateful night. The slightly warm atmosphere of the bar leaves an uncomfortable layer of sweat alongside the fact that a slight wave of panic has set in heavier, the torn photograph has her shaking hands. The hair on the back of her neck stands on end forcing her out of the chair. It scrapes against the hardwood alerting the building of her awareness.

The glass falls as she pushes herself up from the table. Amber liquid spilling onto the counter, a stark contrast to the dark themes of the bar. A groan emits from the building as she pushes past the entrance door. Nature wraps her in its embrace of cool air and darkness. The uneven sidewalk that she walks and sweaty skin flashes memories to life before her very eyes.

A night of a fire so out of control it burnt everything to the ground. The house and the three people inside of it. The screaming of the dying inside battled against the roar of the fire as it grew. Overtaking the house as it burned bright throughout the night. A torch among the darkness. The fire in her eyes was something she can't forget as it burned her skin as memories of the dead. Of those she loves.

Stumbling into someone, the memory fades from her glassy eyes. Darkness once again takes its place as the rightful ruler of the earth. A region of fragmented memories and stumbling steps reforms into shadows as she passes by flickering street lamps. They flicker to a tune to which the likes of the drunk women can't hear.

As she crosses the dark and into the light and shadows move as if attached to her being. Following unseen. It grips her in fragments of sound and shards of darkness, perhaps a thing created from her own torment blurry past. One she drinks to forget. A voice or maybe a memory calls to her from the haze of which she wandered into. She turns as her face contorting into one of pain and longing.

"Chris! Christopher, Is that you?" Only the dark chuckles back as she searches the void for a desperate memory. Raspy cries reach the ears of the dead, "Come back to me! Please, I didn't-"

Upon hearing her cries the shadows form into a shadow of memory. Her watery eyes grasp at the silhouette and hold on tightly as she walks closer. Her arms outstretched to grasp him in her hold once again. Desperate to comfort her boy. Ever closer now her voice cracks as her fingertips close around his form, "Mommy shouldn't have ever let you go play when it was so close to supper. She's sorry... I'm sorry."

She can almost feel his tousled dirty brown hair and hear his sweet voice in her ears. This in mind she reaches out again, "Let me hold you Christopher.¨"

As he turns around she recoils at the sight in front of her, for this is not her boy.

"Won't you hold me Mommy?," slips past his trembling lips. Milky eyes blink up at her awaiting her response. Still dressed in dirty summer clothes he was last seen alive in, the young boy steps forward once more. This time his arms outstretched needing to be held by his mother. A tear falls from his eyes as amber as the drink she'd intoxicated herself with. A smeared reminder of her sins.

The closer the creature moves her eyes widen as she gasps. A hand covering her mouth as it turns into cries, "Who are you? What happened to my baby boy?!"

Giggling at the questions it then grins displaying a sight of which the likes of this drunk women has never seen. Crawling out of his throat is a mess of words and crimson liquid. His bottom lip trembles, "But Mommy, don't you remember? You left Daddy and I inside. It was so hot and I- I couldn't find you..."

Sobbing falls out of her covered mouth as flashes of a burning house fill her mind. The night of wine stained lips and sins. Sins to which she can't live down. She remembers locking the door and turning around to meet something she can't resist. The consequences of temptation now stare her in the face. Falling to her knees a mess of slurred words fall from her trembling lips, "Christopher- My baby, you are not him. Get away from me!"

"You're right, I'm not. He died that night along with your Husband."

The touch of a small hand on her shoulder has her looking up into his milky eyes that are just as vacant as her own.

"What are you talking about?" She asks right before pain shoots through her body as the smell of death overwhelms her senses. A tear falls from her eyes as the little creature grins. The voice deepens as the grip tightens, "You know that you deserve this for the sins you have committed."

Her own pain has a empty scream falling from her lips. Limbs tense as her eyes roll back as the effect of the alcohol fading as pain replaces it in her system. The pain becoming all she can sense. Now at the mercy of the creature in front of her.

"No- I-" It laughs at her failed attempts to speak.

"You broke your marriage vows that night and because of it your Husband and son burned alive. This is why I am back from the dead. This is revenge." With those last final words a snap echos through the night. The shadows reclaim the dead as her body falls to the floor. Blood staining more than just her hands and scratched wedding ring.