Author's Note:
Second chapter of the double update here. All right, the story continues. At times, I find it hard to actually write about the more peaceful times in Amato's life. Referencing from everyday lives usually ends with the ideas being too stale or boring, not something that would draw your attention and definitely not something people would want to read. Still, I hope this chapter interests you.
Chapter 22: The Halloween Spirit(s)?
The moon shone in its full glory, the shape complete, daunting over me in the plain, black, shadowy sky. The whole scenes seems eerily quiet. The iconic sound of steps that's quite common in the Residential District is gone. I took my steps one at a time, each sound resonating throughout the gloomy shadows. Strangely, there was no wind tonight, considering how close we are to Winter. I must admit, this feels like the perfect setting for Halloween. Yep, its Halloween. The full moon makes it feel like there's a werewolf behind every alley in Venice. Looking up to the sea of dusk that is the sky, you can almost hear the screeching of bats, flying together in swarms under the moonlight.
I know it's not a very popular holiday here in Italy, but that doesn't explain the ghost-town! Last time I checked it was only nine! No way everyone's staying at home right now! I only walked on as questions filled my thoughts. I had hoped to go visit the Shopping District, but when I reached there, all the shops were closed, and more importantly, all the bazaars are gone! As I stood in the square, a fog seemed to be setting in, hazing up the area around me.
Time seems to slow as my steps took me to the City District, where the shadows looked like clowns laughing at my every move. This feels worse than the time I got attacked by that silver-haired assassin. Something just feels wrong, the setting so devoid of life.
There is no light to the buildings at all. My vision of the surroundings turn, circulating as I looked and checked from side to side. It almost made me dizzy just from that. "What.. What is this..?" I couldn't help but mutter it out as I walked, the scenery now a painting of gray monotone.
Suddenly, a sound caught my attention.
"Kihihihihihihihihihihihi..." The sound, strange as it were, was not something recognizable. I don't think any animal would make that kind if noise. Of course, with no one here, shadows about, I find myself a little freaked out. It sounded less like a voice, and more like noise made from instinct. A cat maybe? A sick cat?
That was when everyone appeared out of the fog, which was now enveloping everything and even making things difficult to see. They walked, sluggishly dragging their feet. They had this very pale complexion to their skin. White as sheets, their faces were plain, blank, with eyes lifeless and soul-less. The sound of their dragging now fills the void of silence from before. The look like zombies, all them roaching and appearing out of nowhere. Now, the area seems to be filled with the lot of them. Suddenly, something brushed against my legs, cold as ice and as hard as a rock. I looked down to see what seemed like a severed head. It looked really detailed, almost like a real head. Blood, dried and wet, can be seen at the edges of the severed neck, and the smell was revolting.
"Aha!" I snapped my fingers as realization hit me together with a thought. This must be something like a party! The thought of the item at my legs as something made of paper-mache quickly pushed aside any desire to go into further inspection.
"And they say people here don't take Halloween seriously!" I laughed at that sentence as I looked around. The costumes were fantastic! Blood and wounds were very realistic, some still dripping with artificial blood. They way they walk, all hunched, dragging their feet, looks really convincing. Some crawled on all fours, the limbs cracking at each movement, which made me wonder how long they did to practice something like that. Some looked better than others, I only assumed they're not as dedicated to the event as the rest. Strangely, the costumes they have, on top of their monstrous ones, seems to come from different time-lines. I can see some from the more older days, while others look very modern. Eh, they look more ghostly than monstrous, but, maybe that's just me.
I soon find myself looking around, enjoying what festivities these people are putting up. Apparently, I wasn't informed about such an event happening. Strange, usually Kiera tells me everything that's gonna happen in Venice, being our land and all.
"Ahhahahahahahahahah..." The sounds keeps coming forth, spilling into the area. They seem to be doing this as an act, I think. They do great for the atmosphere, but I personally think their taking the whole costume thing a little too seriously. "Hey!" I tried calling out to one of them again. So far, they seem to be ignoring me. Maybe this whole thing is scripted?
I was left wandering again with no reply from them. I walked on, the streets still dark, illuminated only by the light of the full moon. I don't I noticed it, but the moon seemed much larger that night. As I find my eyes staring at one of those crawling in front of me, movements as fast as a spider, the man, or woman, suddenly twisted his or her head around. A crack as loud as a gunshot shot across the District. It followed by a soul-wrenching screech. The face was covered with lines and sags of skin. And in the sockets where the eyes would be, there were nothing. Darkness seems to be seeping out. The voice female, she screeched with her mouth wide open, and that very sight sent a shiver down my spine and a scream of danger in my mind.
As the voice resonated, the rest of them jerked their head towards me as well. I didn't catch it, but they turned and started moving towards me. It felt hard to think, to concentrate. I felt my movements numb, the voice pushing away my thoughts.
Then, all I felt was a hand on my shoulders.
Dante stands in front of me, his face ever serious. I took quite a while to recover from what happened. "Boss, are you all right?" Dante asks out, before removing his hand. At the release of his grip, I could feel my body wobble slightly as I tried to regain balance from the lost of his support. "You were gone for a second there..." He says out, turning to look at the full moon, now much smaller than before, before turning and looking towards the City District. Wait, City District?
I looked and see myself right at the steps of my mansion, standing right outside my house. Impossible, I walked around for more than an hour! "Wha.. I was gone for more than an hour! I went to the Shopping and City District!"
"As I said... You were gone.." Dante gave out, his tone receding at those words. Gone? A second? That was when those images of what I saw came back to me. Of those ghostly figures, figures of the dead.
"Oh..." I replied with wide eyes as I came to realization of what happened. "Hmm..." Dante gave out after making sure everything was okay, checking me and my surroundings, before walking back into the house. I only find myself chasing after him with questions.
Dante said I was gone as in dead for second there. The world I was in is something people call the Limbo world, or the land of the spirits. When I asked how he knew, he said he always had. He always had the ability to see spirits, as well as the ability to sense anything supernatural. He dubs it his 'Spectral Sight.' His explanation to me was that time travels differently for the Limbo world. One second here could mean an hour, a year or even ten years. He also said that I was lucky to return. I can't believe something like this happened. I mean come on, I died, for no reason at all, went to the spirit world, saw all those things, on Halloween? Talk about cliches. I'm just glad to be alive I guess. With those eyes, does Dante see things like that everyday? All those stories of people with a 'third eye', the ability to see spirits, they're all true? Unbelievable.
Could he just be pulling my leg? Could everything I saw a figment of my imagination? Looking at his face, I can't see this as a joke. Well, if Dante really has 'Spectral Sight', I don't know if I should be more impressed or freaked out.
Well, this came later by a day... Sorry! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and maybe got freaked out by it! I'm thinking of writing chapters like this once in a while, providing a little insight on the other character's lives and abilities. They fall under the 'Extra' chapters, and can be serious, funny or just plain freaky! I hope I don't miss the next update...