I wake up to the front door slamming. He’s home, and he’s mad. I crinkle my nose as I groggily make my way out of bed and towards my window. I gather my candle and books up as I pass them and prepare to climb out the window when I hear his loud banging. “Get out here you little shit!” my dad slams his fists on the door. I quickly climb through the window.
“Why did it have to be tonight of all nights?” I whisper to myself as I lower myself down to the grass below me. The cold wind chills me to my bones. I hear my bedroom door slam open and book it into the wooded area in front of our house. I peek backwards for just a moment and see my father standing at my window and staring at me with a powerful rage. If looks could kill…
Candle in hand I run through the woods and to my hideout. Pushing through the brush trying to make as little noise as possible. My hideout is a small clearing near the lake. It’s name was its function. It’s where I hide, mostly from my father but sometimes from other things.
Suddenly I get snagged in a bush. A branch clings to my shirt and drags me back with it. I shake vigorously to try and free myself causing nearby branches to shake with me. “I can hear you! Get back here!” How could he have caught up with me so quickly? I give up trying to free myself. I blow out my candle, causing darkness to envelop me and all that is around. Only the dim light of the crescent moon filtered through the dying leaves on the trees. My dad quickly makes himself known. “Where did you go?! I’m gonna kill you for running away you little brat!” Although I had heard him say things like that many times before, this one felt angrier. Bitter like coffee. Spitting venom with every word. I get a sick feeling in my gut. Would he actually do it if he caught me this time?
He’d chased me before, yes, but never out this far. He was serious, determined. He was going to kill me. I was going to die.
There’s a rustling in the brush to the far left of me. “There you are! Get over here right now!” he yells to the noise. Using his own candle he throws it into some dry, fallen leaves nearby, setting them ablaze. “Those flames will get to you any moment, brat. Get out here before they do and maybe I’ll let you beg for your life!” Is he crazy?! By this point I knew he was, but it was worth begging the question again. I counted my blessings that I wasn’t actually in that bush. But it made me wonder…what was in that bush? Most animals would be asleep by this point and I doubt an owl would be hiding in a bush so low to the ground. I peered closely to maybe catch a glimpse of what it was when suddenly a blur of red bursted out of the flames.
“What the hell!” His exclamation was interrupted when whatever it was ripped into his exposed neck viciously with its teeth. His screams filled my ears as I closed my eyes. The sound of his flesh being torn apart and the fire crackling in the background were still clear even with his screams. I prayed that his horrific screams would soon silence and thanked the gods that whatever this thing was hadn’t attacked me first. After many minutes of screaming it slowly died down. A bloody gurgle was all that could be heard now. I reluctantly opened my eyes. My vision was blurred and a feeling of lightheadedness washed over me as I realized that I was still holding my breath. Despite realizing that I still did not breathe. I didn’t want to earn the attention of the monster that attacked my father.
Though, it seemed a bit late for that, as the figure was standing right in front of me.
I took a deep breath in, relieving my lungs of their fast, but immediately expelled the air in the form of a scream. I knew deep down that if no one had come to my father’s screams no one would come to my screams. That didn’t stop me though. Fear overtook my body and mind as I shook vigorously to free my shirt from the branch that held it. The figure in front of me was small, about the same height as me, but that was overshadowed by the nightmarish yellow eyes that stared at me. The fire grew closer, illuminating the red, devilish skin of the creature. It smiled at me, sinisterly, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth in its mouth. Last of all, there was blood. Blood covered nearly every part of it. It just stared at me for a moment before grabbing my arms. Claws dug into my flesh causing blood to run down my arms.
It lifted me into the air, enough to see my father. His chest rose weakly and fell heavy. He tried to reach out his arm to me. “N-no…stop…” he muttered. The monster looked at him in disgust. It dropped me on the ground and walked back over to my father. “Please…d-don’t hurt him…” my father said, a fading determination in his voice. The creature bared its teeth. My father’s eyes darted back and forth between me and it. Finally, he looked at me sadly.
“Corrin…run!” he said.
The creature lifted its claws up quickly and came down at my father’s chest. It plunged through his flesh and bone, or what was left of it, and came out with fresh blood. It opened its hand to reveal the dying heart of my father. I looked at my father to see the last bit of life leaving his eyes and his chest fall for the last time.
Once again, I screamed. “NO! DAD!” All the air had left my lungs and yet still I screamed. The creature began to approach me again. “NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!” I yelled at it. It was unphased and continued its march. I stood, gripping my bleeding arms, and ran again towards my hideout. Tears running down my face for my father. Every few steps I looked behind myself to see the monster that had killed my father running after me.
”It’s gonna kill me! I’m going to die!”
After a short few minutes that felt like hours. I made it to my clearing. My hideout. The trees surrounding me were getting more and more sparse as I moved close to the lake. The lake’s edge was as far as I could run, unless I wanted to try my luck at running on water. I didn’t.
I turned around to see the creature standing right in front of me, the only light revealing it’s figure being the dim crescent moon’s light. I took a step back in fear to feel the very edge of the land beneath my feet. My heels were being pressed nearly against the water. I looked at my death in the eyes and, once again, it smiled.
“I’m going to die,”
There was only one way out of this. I could try to swim to safety. There was one glaring problem with that plan though. I didn’t know how. It didn’t matter if I stayed or jumped. I was going to die either way. After only a moment of thinking I made my decision. Drowning would be less painful for me. I took my last step backwards and fell into the water. It wasn’t much of a fall as I was just on the water’s edge, but the water running up my nose and into my eyes caused my reflexes to kick in.
My limbs started flailing trying to keep me afloat. My head dipped below the surface every few seconds, causing me to lose my breath. My legs were already tired from running first from my father and then from the monster, and my arms were still bleeding, it all worked against me as I fought for my life. Out of any options I reached out my arm, hoping that someone or anyone would be there to grab me, to save me.
The last thing I see before my head goes under for the last time is the monster still looking at me, and still smiling it’s devilish smile. It lifted its claw up and waved at me. It looked as if it were trying to say something to me, but I sunk under the water’s surface and couldn’t hear it.
Despite my basically giving up my body still struggled for survival. I tried to breathe, but there was no air. Water filled my lungs and slowly but surely I closed my eyes.
“I’m going to die,”
I felt a feeling of relief flow over my body as I stopped thrashing and my body finally gave up as my mind had. But I noticed that something was off. I was still sinking. The dull light of the moon faded from above me. I was now surrounded by inky black water.
Minutes passed, then hours, or perhaps they didn’t. It was impossible to tell if time was actually passing or not. I still sunk. Deeper and deeper. Still I had yet to die. I had yet to even lose consciousness. Or had I already died. Was this heaven? Hell? Maybe somewhere in between? Is this what death was like?
THUD! Suddenly, my back hit something. My body did not feel light and floaty as it did when I was sinking. It felt heavy as if gravity was working on me again. I sat up. I was incredibly sore. I let my eyes drift around me. Above me was the empty void that I had fallen through. Below me was something like dirt, it was different though, somewhat soft and warm. And around me there were graves. Hundreds of thousands of graves as far as I could see.
I stood and looked around at the headstones. Some were cracked and some were broken. Some had names and some were blank. But what really scared me was the one right behind me. It was right where my head was when I was laying down. I read it over and over again until I finally comprehended it’s message.
Here Lies Corrin Cromwell
??? - ???
Age 11
I was dead. Truly and surely I was dead.
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