The mist curled around my feet as I walked, the siren call of the spirit beckoning me deeper and deeper into the darkness. The pitch blackness of the night swirled around the twisted branches and clawed at my arms, legs and ankles, snapping at them. Still, the siren call of the spirit that haunted our little village on the outskirts of the forest summoned me from my slumber and into a dazed walk.
Once I was within reach of the opaque spirit, a silver light shimmering around it, their skeletal fingers wrapped around my wrist. A thin smile etched across the kindly face, sharp edged teeth jutting out on top of their bottom lip. What should have sent me recoiling back instead kept me in my place as a blue light flashed around us and the scenery changed around us.
My head throbbed as the skeletal fingers let go of my wrist, their shifting form recoiling back into the woodland that surrounded me now, shadow casting over their face. It took me moments to realise I was alone in the unfamiliar darkness that glowed a red darker than blood. The mist was different, too. It felt as though I were wading through water rather than traversing through the fog.
The branches of the trees were twisting and turning, burnt without any amber or red leaves falling from them. The grass was non-existent, mud covering my bare feet and encasing them as I walked blindly, the pain in my head growing stronger as the rough wind bristled through the branches and raced past me. My brain felt as though it was being battered against my head until it would inevitably implode inside of my head. The breeze didn't make it any easier to travel, either.
The woodland felt like it went on for an eternity whereas at home it was a five mile stretch until you reached the other end of the village. This was a never-ending cycle of what would eventually lead to exhaustion, dehydration and hunger and then, if I was lucky, death. But that could take a while, I knew.
I had heard the stories of those who had travelled outside of the village never to return. Once, I would have said they were just there to spook the kids from travelling further away as they wandered and explored. Now, in this desolate wasteland, I knew differently.
Taking cover by one of the trees that were a little thicker and larger in size comparison with the others, I sat under the towering branch over my head that shielded me from the glowing red light of the sky and the vicious breeze. Soon, I dosed off under the darkness that had befell me on the cursed night.
I had never seen any other souls here, no one who had disappeared, but I could feel their bones digging into my back as I slept. Their presence was all around this world that had been cut off from the living.
Word count = 498 words
Written for the Secret Treasures prompt for the Halloween Vault 3D
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Spookerella | Horror Short Stories
Horror- Created for the Halloween Vault contests hosted by Wattpad - On Halloween, things always go bump in the night in the lonely pages of Spookerella. Whilst the dead wander the earth, haunting those still among the living, Spookerella waits for a fool...
