Anguish
The darkness descended on the town again as dusk approached. It wouldn't matter really the darkness was only ordinary or the town upon which it descended was the same as any other in Midgard; but it was not so. This darkness was different. It wasn't only chilling… it brought death to those who wandered into this sleepy and deadly town and encountered it.
I watched as the reddish blue hue of the afternoon sky turned into the deep purple red that signaled the coming of the nighttime. The gloom that the night of this town brings began to seep into the alleys and houses of the village. Slowly, the dark mist crawled through the streets and entered the dwellings, snuffing out the life of any creature who may have wandered, purposely or not, into this damned place.
I waited, without moving, for a scream of horror or a squeal of fear at the arrival of the deadly haze. There was none, not even a single sound or sign that a live creature has somehow gotten there. Silence greeted my anticipating ears.
Sighing, I closed my eyes, feeling a sinking feeling weighing on my dead heart. No one had come, monster or human. The loneliness enveloped me like a suffocating mass of sticky mucus. I wanted –-- no, needed --- to see, to hear, to meet a living creature. I was going mad. No one had come for the last six months.
You are being selfish, do you know that?
Selfish… yes… I knew very well that by wishing that someone or something wandered into this ghost town, I was being selfish and self-centered. But it was a thing that I could not help and I was sure that anybody in my situation would also feel that way. I have been alone in this town for as long as I could remember… the only living amongst the dead.
Living? I laughed maniacally into the empty room. Could I still be called that? Is there still life in my accursed body? Does my dead heart still beat? Does blood still flow in my veins? Maybe… I have never known, really. All I felt was numbness and all I heard from my body was silence.
Lying on my bed, I stared at the cobwebbed chandelier as purple turned into the blue velvet of the evening sky. I could smell the dark mist, a sign that it was nearing where I lay. It reeked of death, of malevolence… and of despair. I turned to the window, preferring not to watch it arrive through the open door of my chamber.
I felt it snake at my ankle, inching upwards. The contact caught me in shock. It felt like cold ice touching your warm skin, sending waves of pain. Funny that it would still have this kind of effect on me after being exposed to this thing everyday… but my reaction was still like that. It has always been that way… for the past sixteen years.
The chill crept through my unnaturally white skin. Darkness enveloped me. I could not breathe. The mist was stealing all the breath from my lungs. I opened my mouth, trying to fill my struggling lungs with air. It was no use. There was not a single particle of air in the dark haze. I tried to push the suffocating mass but my hands just went through it. Darkness descended in my mind and I felt life, if I still had it, leave me.
I found myself separated from my body like a transmigrating soul. Hovering near the ceiling, I looked down the dark room. My body was enclosed in the dark mist, no longer struggling.
Am I… dead? Was that the end…? Did the mist finally snuff my last breath? Have I died… after all these years?
The questions flashed repeatedly through my unconscious mind. Death… did it finally claim me? I smiled at the thought.
Years before, I would have panicked at the idea. I would have told myself that I did not want to die… not yet. It was not time! I say to myself. I wanted to see the outside world first… I had to! I had to see a world where everyone was alive; a place where I do not see death and despair in every corner…
But now… it did not matter anymore. There was no hope in that wish… in that dream. Many times, I have tried to escape, to leave this cursed place… but I could not… I could never leave. So now, I just want it all to end. I no longer believed that I could really leave this place... alive. Death was my only avenue. Thus, now I pray that somehow I do not survive the nightly ordeal… that I die and move on ---
The air rushed into my mouth and into my lungs, filling it with much needed oxygen. Involuntarily, I gasped, willing more air to go into my lungs. The darkness lifted from my mind. I was "alive"… again.
I could not help the sadness coming. In those few minutes that I was out of my body, I had really believed that I was not coming back… that I was free. But it was not the case… it was NEVER the case…
"Hello, Arthel," said a voice maliciously. "Have you completely died, yet?"
oooOOOooo
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