Howling Shadow
Blood is spilt…
The death has passed…
But the one who should have paid with their life…
Still lives on…
In guilt…
Or in Joy…
But those who are not meant to be dead…
Seem it…
And the worst is coming…
Blood is spilling over the brim…
And those who are still alive…
Are being threatened…
By only a shadow…
A dangerous shadow…
A threatening, wailing shadow that lurks…
Somewhere out there…
In the darkness…
Howling Shadow
K. T. Ochle
She was once again yanked out of the dazed, dizzying feeling that overcame her. The aromas overwhelmed her nostrils and they flared once again, her body growing stone cold, even though the liquid, sticky, thick, was moist. Yes, it kept her body warm, but as she was thrown against the tiled wall, she grew cold in a matter of seconds. There was another snarl, and the screaming continued after the silent period. But that time did not last long and he did not let her heal fast enough from the previous attack. He continued to rant, snarling, showing his sharp canines, questioning her, inquiring, rather screaming, about where they were, about what had happened, and why she was so important on the matter.
She didn't let tears come. There was no need for them anymore. They did not help her relinquish the hurt so much as clear her eyes of the thick ooze that surround her in a pool. He thrashed about, the shower and downpour ceased for a moment before he once again clasped the hair of her crown and threw her underneath the fountain of blood. He threw her head back so hard that her neck joint popped, but she ignored it. The only thing that was attacking her, that was making her weaker, was the blood that poured into her mouth. She wanted to spit it out, half of her tasting the foulness of it, the coppery, metallic tinge it had, but the other half of her, the half that hadn't taken over yet, the part of her that wanted to attack the man so savagely, tasted something different and wanted the taste there.
But as soon as he released her and let her fall against the wall, she spat out the semi-offending blood in a spurt, droplets of it flecking his face. He growled in a threateningly low tone, but she chose to ignore it and not abide by his threats, which were so obviously look at as rules by so many others.
This man was hurting her so badly, and he had hurt others as well, others that was dear to her, that were so important to her, that she wanted to murder him ever since her eyes had set sight on him. But she had been ordered to look out for him; although, ironically, she found herself being taken captive not so long after that command. Though warned of the danger, she had arrogantly meandered around the subject of fighting against him and his league. Now she found that she should have listened, but she was not going to give up on what she was supposed to do.
He wanted information, yes, he wanted it, but he had not gotten anything out of her since his torture session had begun. She watched him with cold eyes, noticing that his clothes had gotten soaked, not exactly he had intended. He spoke once again, his screams not seeming so far away as she resurfaced from thinking.
"TELL ME WHERE THE HELL THEY ARE! WHERE DID THEY GO?! WHAT DID HE DO WITH THE GIRL?! I WANT HER! YOU CAN GO THE HELL BACK WHEREEVER I TOOK YOU FROM! JUST GIVE ME THAT GODDAMNED CHILD AND YOU AN RETURN TO THAT BASTARD YOU CALL A HUSBAND! JUST GIVE THE FUCKING CILG OVER TO ME! TELL ME… Why does he want her so badly when she almost tried to kill him? Why are you letting him keep her when she almost tried to kill you, when she almost took hi away from you?" His voice was dangerously low and she could barely hear his voice over the roar of the spout. She continued to stare distantly at the black, darkened blood that stained the ceramic of the basin.
She knew that he had a point… Why did she want her there? Why did she want the girl in safe arms when she had almost killed the both of them? He meant so much to her, but what was it about the girl that kept her so attached to her. Was it because she was young? Was it because she was his daughter? She didn't know as she pondered the subject. Something about the girl… she didn't know as he continued his torture, screaming over and over again the lines of terrible threats, blood continued to fill her mouth, covering her hair, her face, filling her nostrils with the aroma of raw meat, something she so suddenly wanted.
And she wondered… How had she come to be in the basin, tortured at the hands of a man that had been so horrible to so many, that turned his back on normal living itself, in the rags of torn clothing that must have once been either a old, stitched sheet, or a very thin, worn blanket.
"TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE, GODDAMN IT!" He continued his rage…
But soon she found herself in containment, something she had looked forward to… And continued to ponder and wonder about how she had come to be in such conditions, wondering if anyone had gone through what she was going through. And the thought of returning to civilized living, daylight, and the arms of the people she knew, the thought of not being able to, of that being a faraway dream left her when her eyes closed and her mind gave into the welcoming darkness.
"NO!" The voice raged on, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE… KILLED HIM IS WHAT YOU'VE DONE, WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"
She pushed and shoved, trying to throw the man away, trying to get him to stop looming over the body, his haggard features full of triumph.
Selina tried with all her might, "YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER GIT, YOU MUREDERED HIM, HE WAS MY FATHER!"
"HE WAS WORTHLESS AND YOU KNOW IT!" His voice suddenly dropped to a husky whisper, his voice low, persuading, soft as it always was, always had been, "Now, love, you will be mine. You will be all mine, my darling, come to me." His voice, however sweet and velvety, soft and silken, was ignored; she was finally able to ignore that calm, gentle, persuading voice. But what worried her was the fact that her father, lying beaten, bleeding, dying on the ground, had stopped her.
She stared deeply at those deeply set yellow, golden, eyes. They tried to lure her, tried to get her to follow his orders, his demands, and they were finally unsuccessful. She was free.
"EVERYTHING YOU'VE TOLD ME HAS BEEN RUBBISH! YOU TRIED TO GET ME TO KILL HIM! IT'S YOUR FAULT, ALL OF YOUR FAULT!" Her voice raged on. And she was finally able to rebel against him, but it also earned her a slap on the face.
"Now that I have finally found you, you will listen to me." His voice was once again soft, softer than it had ever been, though this time he was trying to get her to listen, trying to make her believe what he spoon-fed her, and he did it slowly to reassure her, "She turned you in, it was her. And I killed him for your sake. I'm going to be your father now—"
"BOLLOCKS! I'm never going to believe any of the shit you say anymore! She never did anything and you killed my father just because I wanted to stay with him and I turned my back on you! I am never listening to you again!" And so she didn't… she had finally fought back…
Although it had cost her father his life…