Short Story

Memories of the night before became a vivid memory in the recesses of his dimly lit mind, underneath the sunlight's intruding yet blissful gaze and the sensation of silk against his bare skin felt like a euphoria, a river of midnight encased his slender figure and with the scrunch of his refined nose and furrowed knit of his thin eyebrows, he rose from his slumber. Delicate fingertips leisurely danced across the silken sheets which lost its assuaging warmth only to discern that he was gone, Padding through the spacious house far too big for two alone to fill, and too much of a burden for one to find comfort in. To see his lover, clad in a suit that managed to take his breath away immediately

She first walked to him and removed the bloodstained glove from his hand, taking it with her to a basin in the south corner of the room. The glove was placed into the water and soon after she held her hand in the lukewarm water. After a few moments she removed her hand and picked up the gilded basin, carrying it back to the center atrium. Only then did she return to the hooded figure.

My heart leapt in my throat- I did my best to try and regulate my breathing so I wouldn’t give away my position with massive, choking gulps of air. Closing my eyes, I tried to re-collect blissful memories, ones that were far away from this state of affairs. I couldn’t calm down; this was so bad- what was I going to do? His steps were getting closer; they were getting louder. I panicked, I panicked.

What was going through his head, obviously, was not what she expected. He started to walk out the door without her help and before she knew it, he was gone out of sight. She sat down thinking he was going to come back, but as time went on, she started to feel anxious and scared and called the police after going out looking for him. The police brought him back, not knowing that in the back of the police car, he had passed away.

He was silent. Watching the guests waltzing — crystalline and beautiful — their faces alight with the numbing adrenaline of alcohol and the sweaty exhilaration of a party. He’s had his tongue dipped in the honey of the party but something doesn’t sit well in his stomach, the once-sweet taste now churning poison in his gut. He gulped down a heady swallow of his drink, running the back of his hand along his mouth.

Crumpled newspapers scattered the table like the bones of dead bodies after war. Windows wiped down of memories huddled between oak frames, facing a street with cosy cottages. Single embroidered carpets hugged the floor, covering the marble tiles in delicate silk. A whisper of wind floated in through cracks of the panes of glass, whispering it's songs of misery throughout the house. I breathed in gulps of air, allowing the icy coolness to fill my lungs, and the morning frost creep out. My glistening blue eyes presented purple bags, and my sleek hair was a tangled cobweb. My feet dragged along the stone floor like the walking of the undead. I’d been up all night, searching and seeking for answers.

As she stands at the entrance debating weather to go down or to see if the light will flicker off on its own she’s reminded by the tales her brother used to tell of the women who strives in the dark, cold basement. Gently she starts to ascend the steep, concrete, dusty stairs, feeling her way on the rough, stone walls to the light. Getting further and further away from the warm. bright hall the hair on the back of her neck stands, as the loud click of the door echoes behind her.

Anna also took note of her hair. Her beautiful red hair which in the hospital stood out as such a strong contrast against her skin. It stuck to her face because of the cold sweats. In the coffin, her hair was perfect, it was straightened and laid over her shoulders and reached just below her collarbone. She didn’t look dead, she looked alive; like she should have looked when she was alive, Anna leaned in closely to her friend who lay completely still, half expecting her to pop up and start laughing, like this was just all one of her stupid

The dreams he had as a boy had returned to him. He could see and feel the welts on her flesh from the lashings and the wetness of her blood.

Veronica’s heart pounded as she stepped into the fire’s embrace. Sweat beaded on her neck as she felt the death throes of the burning house writhing around her.

“I fell,” Madge answers through gritted teeth, clutching her calf tightly as she blinks out tears from her eyes as quickly as she can. It was just her luck that she’d fall off the wall like a complete idiot right after being told to quit. Maybe the odds really weren’t in her favor.

It did not exactly hurt her in the way it might for another, it made curiosity coarse through her veins. She looked between Mr. Linden, moving toward her with cautious movements as one might do with a frightened animal and back down to the sleek cover of the book. There was not a speck of dust on the book, a large difference to the others in the room as if it had been cleaned each day. Her thoughts began to roll like thunder in her mind, the loudest screaming a chorus of ‘why?’.

She drew back and swung, putting her hip and body behind the blow. Justin braced himself as his years spent in the Warring Heavens flashed through his mind. There was enough time to inhale, to regret anew, to close his eyes. His breath came and went ... and came again. He frowned and opened his eyes.

But little did she know that he was there. Waiting, watching, following her every move. Hiding in the shadows, waiting for his chance to strike. He followed her step by step, his breathing increasing as he got closer. She was completely oblivious, so happy that she was left vulnerable. He inched closer and closer, his heart pounding louder with every waft of her scent. His adrenaline growing at the thought of the unthinkable act he was going to commit. He gripped her from behind with one arm tightly wrapped around her petite waist, placing his large free hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Her once so pretty eyes, wide in disbelief as he dragged her struggling body in to the darkness of the shadows. Stabbing her with a large needle to stop her from fleeing, he then violently threw her to the hard cold ground. He moved over her and she clamped her eyes shut. Unable to look at her attacker as he rendered her helpless. She could feel his breath staggering on her neck. His uneven breathing

The metallic smack of blood darkened the hard and unforgiving ground on which four humans lay at odd angles. The light in their eyes long extinguished. Their heartbeats still. And their breaths were no longer visible in an ice-kissed air. The foolish mortals’ who rose against him had sold their souls in exchange for empty promises, were servants of the demons he had vanquished back to the Netherworld.