Stories for Midnight

Girlfriend Girlfriend Come Alive

The casket was slowly lowered into the ground. For a few seconds it was all surreal for Jacob, that this was the last time he would get to see her. But then reality crashed down upon him that he would never see Amelia's smile again or hear her laugh light up the room. It was wrong that her entire life should be taken away from her because of some drunk man's stupid decision to drive! It was so wrong that everything she could have been and was was gone in an instant because of somebody else. Who knows what she could have done for the world? She had an entire life ahead of her and she never got the chance to live it. At these thoughts Jacob, the silent young man standing near Amelia's family began to have silent tears roll down his face. People moved around him, saying words and comforting each other, but he was rooted in sadness as he stood there.

Now, reader, i'm not going to go any further about this. If you have lost a loved one or somebody dear to you then you know how it feels. I am fortunate enough not to have, and I don't think I could ever accurately describe it. It is a sadness impossible to describe, or so i've heard, because all I can do is try to know without experiencing. So i'm going to move on, and reader just know that he was suffering and despairing.

He went through his daily routines, day after day, and people tried to comfort him. He was glad for their sympathy, but not for their pity, and he loathed the way that some people looked at him as if he was a wounded animal. If only she were here, he thought. Then one day a mysterious book appeared outside his apartment door. It was red with curved gold Greek lettering on the cover. There was ornate designed on the sides and it had a large brass clasp over the pages. Taped to the back was a brass key with a ruby set in gold. Gaping at the beautiful book he held it with reverence and brought it inside. But he was late for his job so as much as he hated to leave it there he set it down on his bed and left the key on top. He completed his day and went back to his apartment. The book was sitting there, just as he had left it. He hoped it was not all in Greek and opened the book to find Greek writing with an English translation written underneath each line. He flipped through it, taking it in. It was a book of spells. When he saw the image of s grave, he stopped. Amelia's grave flashed in him mind. As he read the title his hands shook, for it read "To Return the Deceased to their Natural State".

It was a spell to raise the dead.

A little overwhelmed and more than a little creeped out, he set the book back down and went to sleep. He dreamed of Amelia- them just spending time together and hanging out and laughing together. He woke up and got ready for his day, missing her more than other. His week passed like this- de dreamed of Amelia and completed his day and came back home and dreamed of her again. At his work, the workers looked at him with pity and he hated this. Life to him was unbearable without her. Then a nagging voice in his mind reminded him of the spell. And that nagging voice grew into a idea and that idea grew into a plan. Then one night he found himself looking at The Page again. On a whim of insane devotion he decided that he should do this. It was not against the law, so in he mind he rationalized and justified it. He retrieved her lock of hair and over the course of the next few days retrieved all of the ingredients. Then he was ready to do it. On New Year's Eve, he watched and waited until it was 12:00. Then he preformed the last, final step of the ritual. The altar he had created began to steam and throw sparks and as he watched they began to form a shape. Licking youngest of flame grew and connected to the mass that the Sparks were forming- an Amelia shaped form- and when they touched it the sparks caught on fire. Then the flame became solid, and the Amelia created by the altar fell to the floor. Jacob stood in awe, mouth agape, then knelt be her and hesitantly touched her. Her skin was a fair, soft olive, just as it had been. Her dark thick hair fell over her shoulders just like always. She turned her face towards him and looked at him with chocolate brown eyes that seemed off but were still beautiful. Jacob did not notice nor care. He began to cry tears of happiness, and hugged her. She was warm and comforting. But she did not hug him back. When he looked at her, her eyes had turned completely a glowing, neon green. He screeched sand backed away, but it got up and followed him. When it had him backed up against a wall, it snapped its fingers and its right hand caught on fire. Jacob was crying again, but now not from relief but from an intense fear. It brought its inferno hand to rest on his stomach, and he screamed as the fire licked his skin. It turned red then shriveled away, the puckered skin curling up and the blackened skin peeling away to reveal muscle and sinew. No blood came from the cauterized wound but Jacob screamed even louder as the pain became unbearable. His face was red from the tears pouring down his face and the screaming that was damaging his vocal chords. Then he passed out. It smiled, then opened its mouth and roared fire, sending mesmerizing spires to the ceiling and floor. The carpet instantly caught on fire. Then, it blew away into ash, leaving only smoldering embers, a momento of its weapon and of its creation. The entire building burned down, and only three families escaped. They never found the book-never even knew it existed. But weeks later, it turned up on a widow'd doorstep. Within the month her house and life and children were nothing but ashes and a newscast.