The Bride with the Black Umbrella

"Father, who's that man over there and why is he all bloody?"  A seemingly innocent five-year-old toddler, who had shaggy brown hair and bright-blue eyes, pointed to thin air while asking his father with a confused look on his bright face.  His father was constantly worried about his son, and whether there was something wrong with him.

"Nothing, Edgar.  How about we go inside and get ready for bed, alright?"  The father ushers his son into the small, battered, one-story building.  He doesn't know where the boy has learnt or seen these dark images, but he knows that if he doesn't make them stop soon, it might affect him later on.

"Dad?"  The boys asks while jumping into his bed, snuggling under the covers

"Yes?"  He was already at the door to turn of the lights before stopping himself

"Tell me about momma."  The small child wriggles over in the bed to give his father some room.  His father lets out a large sigh and sits on his son's bed, thinking of any good memories to tell about his now dead wife

"She loved you very much, that's for sure."  The father grins at the memory of his wife seeing their son for the first time.  "At night she would sing to you when you were fussy.  You would instantly fall asleep at the sound of her voice, almost like an enchantment."

"Will you sing to me?  Like momma would."  The boy's eyes were hopefully looking at the father, who seemed to be pained

"I could try, but I'll never be as good as your mother."  He says before singing a small lullaby quietly, forgetting the occasional word here and there.

"I miss her, dad..."  Edgar's innocent voice mumbles, then there's silence, except for his shallow breathing.

"Of course you do..."  He mumbles before pressing his lips against Edgar's temples, then walking out of his room.  He made sure to leave a small amount of light from the door for his son's sake.

***Seven years later***

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?"  The now 13-year-old Edgar said to a girl his age while walking away from his school.  She seemed like any other girl at his junior high, but she had snake bites on her ankles for some odd reason.  He noticed that he would never see her in any of his classes or in the halls, but he didn't seem to be fazed by this in any way.  To him, she was just a girl who was willing to be his friend.

"Hey Ed, talking to your imaginary friends again, huh?"  A random boy says before laughing to all of his friends, who were also laughing with him.  Edgar could never understand why they made fun of him for talking to a girl, but they apparently enjoyed it

"Don't listen to them, Edgar.  They're too ignorant to know the real you!"  The girl says before waving and and beginning to walk towards the wooded area behind the school, her long brown hair swaying with every step.  This made Edgar smile, knowing that there was someone who appreciated him.  Edgar is looked upon as the outcast of his school, and he talks to this mysterious girl after school every day about what he learned, his family, or anything else that happened to him.  And it appears to him that no one else can see the girl, but only he can see her

"Thanks, I need to go now, though.  Father is expecting me, and I don't want to keep him waiting!"  Edgar says before beginning to run down the street to his father's house.  He made sure to look back to see the girl was standing at the same spot of the woods every time he left, waving excitedly for his return.

As he continued running, he could see the all to familiar woman in her 20s walking eerily down the street of the chapel, holding a black umbrella to match her wedding dress.  He was always wary and intimidated by her, but he felt almost a bit of unexplained sorrow for the mysterious woman.  What could she possibly be waiting for to stay out on this street every day?  He's never confronted her, but he has always been curious about her whereabouts and anything about her in general.  As usual, he shook away these thoughts and continued walking down the street to his beaten up house he's lived in since he was born

"Edgar, where have you been?!?"  His father yells worriedly once he sees his son run up towards the house

"I was talking to my friend at school, dad!"  Edgar walks into the building and places his bags onto the couch in the small living room.  The wallpaper with a faded flower print was obviously peeling off of the walls on each side, and the carpet most likely wasn't a dingy brown color when the house was first made.

"Edgar, I thought you would have grown out of imaginary friends by now!"  Edgar's father was obviously exsasperated just from the sound of his voice.  He constantly wonders if his mother's history might be affecting him, but he doesn't want to believe it

"She's not imaginary, dad!"  By now Edgar was getting more and more agitated with his dad for not believing his words

"Then why can't anyone else see her, Edgar?!?  Every day, you talk to thin air as if there's a real person standing there!  Every day, I worry about your mental sanity!  Why do you do this?"  His father was in his face screaming at the top of his lungs with worry by now.

"Because!  I can see alot of people other's can't see for some reason, dad!  There's the girl at school, people walking down the street, a woman in a black dress and umbrella in front of the chapel!  I can't explain it, but it's just how it is!"  Edgar's voice was becoming even louder than his father's, to his surprise.  As his father heard the words coming out of his son's mouth, he knew that his worries were true, and something needed to be done about it

"Go to your room, Edgar.  From now on, you will be home-schooled and you will not leave the house unless you have my permission, got it?"  His father despised having to do this, but he was doing this for his son's sake

"That's not fair, dad!  What about Melinda?  She's my only friend!"  Edgar can't believe this!  Even his father doesn't believe the truth that he knows about, and he's the only family that he has

"Edgar."  His father was now kneeling in front of him, barely whispering now.  "There is no Melinda.  You need to promise me that you'll stop making up these people foolishly"

"But father, I'm not making--"  Edgar began to protest, but his father cut him off

"Edgar!  Promise me this, alright?"  By now his father was looking at him with pleading eyes.  "I'll let you keep going to school if you promise this."

"Alright, father..."  Edgar had his head hanging low, knowing his promise to his dad would be very difficult to keep.  He figured that he would have to keep Melinda and any other people he meet a secret from his father, but it was worth it to him.

"Now, let's get something to eat, alright?"  His father put his hand on Edgar's shoulder comfortingly and led him into the kitchen, thinking that this would be end of all of the imaginary people.

But it was just the beginning of a twisted tale.