Demons

Bodies. Everywhere. Mangled corpses of young children, grandparents, mothers, father. All dead. I did this. The ground all around me was stained with the dark blood of the innocent, the same blood that coated my hands. I felt so alone, so very, very alone. The air around me was still and fetid, and the world was deathly quiet. I could not move, the voices in my head tormented me. The voices killed those people, not me. Not me, it wasn't me, please tell me I didn't do it! The voices in my head grew louder and louder, convincing me that I did kill them. I killed them. I killed them. Suddenly a scream filled the air, full of pain and sadness. It was the scream of someone whose mind was constantly tormenting them. It was desperate, hopeless, haunting. Then I realized, the scream came from my mouth.

My whole body was shaking with horror and self-loathing. I collapsed to the ground amongst the rotting, stinking corpses. I could not hear, I could not see, I could not breath, I could not live. Suddenly the air became cold and lifeless, like a shadow had been cast across the land. I looked up and saw a massive skeletal horse looming over me, with eyes like glowing coals and jagged black bones. The earth seemed to tremble as he moved, yet his hooves made no sound as they struck the ground below. As he came closer, I saw a sight that paralyzed me with terror. Trapped within the horse's hollow rib cage swirled the souls of all the innocents I had murdered. They screamed and howled, struggling to escape their gruesome prison. I scrambled backwards, finding my feet and sprinting into the forest behind me. I had no idea where I was going, I just knew that I never wanted to see that horse again. I ran on, branches whipping into my face and roots catching my feet. All I could here was the pounding of my heart and my ragged breathing. Fear and adrenaline were pumping through my veins keeping me running.

Eventually I burst into a clearing. I turned around and looked back the way I had come. The forest was shrouded in mist, but the skeletal horse was no where to be seen. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned back around to examine my surroundings. To my horror, a few steps away from me stood the demon horse. With my heart in my mouth I spun around and raced back into the forest, but everywhere I ran, the horse appeared, blocking my path. Each time the horse appeared, the wailing of the souls grew louder. They began calling my name, taunting me, pleading with me, cursing me.

No matter how hard I tried, I knew I could never out run this demon creature. Death comes to us all, and with all the terrible things I had done in my life, I was surprised that death had taken so long. Looking at the skeletal horse, I realized I was staring into the face of Death. The Death that took the guilty and the wicked. I knew that once I died, those tortured souls would be released. I felt at peace, I wanted to die. It was such a simple way out of the torment that constantly haunted me like a twisted shadow. Now was my time, this world held no hope for me. I did not care where I would end up, I just knew I had to go.

I began to jog towards the horse, slowly at first, then faster and faster. I closed my eyes seconds before I reached the looming creature. I passed right through the horse, as though he was made of vapor. Then I felt my body go numb. I looked down and saw one of the horses jagged obsidian bones impaled in my side. I collapsed to the ground, an icy sensation spreading from my wound throughout my body. Black blood oozed from around the bone, creating a sickly puddle on the forest floor. The skeletal horse appeared above me, and suddenly all the souls were released, shooting towards the heavens. The horse looked down on me, and touched his nose to my forehead. The bones of the horse began to dissolve into mist, swirling and dancing. The mist enveloped me and I felt my body become heavy and sink down through the earth. Finally, I was at peace.