Fateful Night (Revised)
The night clung to his figure like a shroud. His deep scarlet cape billowing behind him like demonic wings. The gleam of the ruby clasp on his cloak glimmered maliciously in the moonlight as if it contained a deep fire all it’s own. He walked briskly over the damp, cool earth. His feet striking the ground fiercely as his powerful legs carried him quickly though the night. The rich black fabric of his robes cloaked his ghastly figure from the night. The night itself seems to shimmer and twist with unspeakable horrors; bizarre sounds echoing though the stagnant air. Head bowed down the hood of his cloak masking his face. The malevolent gleam of his dark obsidian eyes darted warily about him. The man seemed to posses an odd grace about him; scarcely a sound was uttered from his footsteps as he glided over the soil, bare pale feet contrasting against his darkly clad figure. A small strand of shock white hair escapes the clutches of his tightly bound hood to flutter delicately in the wind. Watching the solitary strand flutter carelessly in the wind as if trying to escape the horrors it had known. Overwhelmed as memories flooded his mind. Collapsing helpless upon the ground weeping gently, thick tears clouding his eyes as he thought of his lost love. Staring desolately at the lone strand of hair recalling it’s once beautiful shade of golden blond, the once deep tranquil ocean blue his eyes had once been. A small shiver of rage passed through his body as he recalled that night. Stumbling to his feet banishing the ancient hatred from his mind; the loathing of who was responsible for his fate. Still quivering, he begins to walk faster seeking the place of his lost love.
Continuing to walk through the chill night, gliding silently over the ground like a wraith, deep in thought as he wandered towards his destination. He stops short gazing awestruck at the spectacle before him. The spires of the immense castle rising vindictively into the sky seeming to mock his long journey. The castle, long since abandoned to the forces of nature, still stood tall against all that opposed it. Nature struggled to overcome this massive beast. Ever so slowly winning as vines entwined themselves along the massive structure. He crept stealthily to the rear of the castle to a remote doorway hidden in the shadows. He ascended the stairs slowly, creeping up the ancient spiraling steps. The steps were still smooth and worn as last he was here, decades it seemed since he’d climbed these steps. Each step bowed slightly in the middle from ages of feet traveling secretly through this passage. It seemed as if forever since he has last climbed this staircase. It loomed in the back of his memory as if it were only a dream. Not entirely certain of why he was returning here. But he had never been so sure of anything in his life except one thing; the love that had held him together for so long. Images flooded his sight as he ascended these stair. Sights of the brutal figure, which transformed his frame and appearance to the ghastly creature he has become, seemed to be just beyond his grasp. He struggled to exile these thoughts from his mind; concentrating on the thought of the dear woman who had once loved him.
Stopping to catch his breath, tiring quickly of the steep spiraling staircase which seemed endless. He laughs quietly, smiling tenderly to himself as he recalls the great energy in which he would bound along this forbidden stairway to the promise held for him at the end. He sighed deeply in remembrance of his youth and the love he once possessed. Finally reaching the crest of the stairway he come to the door. Memories flooded back to him as his soft hands moved lovingly over the smooth worn surface of the wooden door. He remembered how he would come and rap gently upon the door. She always opened the door before he could even knock a second time, bounding into his arms and smothering him in kisses. The silken feel of her raven black hair as it tumbled loosely around her shoulders in like waves on the ocean. Her beautiful blue eyes always twinkled with some unknown humor. His melancholy faded as he recalled her beautiful eyes gazing at him with such love, once so full of life. That was gone now, the image of her cold lifeless eyes flashed in his mind as he fought back his tears once again; a solitary tear escaping to roll gently down along his cheek.
Shaking off the dreadful memory he placed his hand on the cold rusted metal. It’s chill touch bringing him back to reality. He sighed and pulled an old key from a deep crevasse in his robe. It’s peculiar black form glowed with an eerie luminance in the darkness. Sealing this door so many years ago so that none could ever acquire the power which flowed freely here. A spring of such power existed only beneath this one room; he could already feel it’s power ebbing against the force field. The force field just as powerful now as it had been the day he created it, perhaps stronger. The power that flowed through this room was an undercurrent; drowning those unexpecting few. He pondered why he has survived, still not understanding, but always seeking the answer. Curiously malformed by the incident, but still alive. Forced to live with unbearable pain, physical and emotional, but still alive.
Slipping the key silently into the door turning it quickly surprised by the ease in which the key swiftly overturned the lock. The keyhole flared suddenly; the key disintegrating to fine gray dust upon the floor as the door swung silently inward revealing the chaos shorn room. The room seemed ageless still bearing the marks of what had happened ages ago.
“Why am I here?” he muttered under his breath, “Am I so stupid that I want to feel this all again.” he stood in the doorway; afraid to enter; afraid to remember. Gathering his courage he stepped inside. The power struck him fiercely; it had only grown stronger over the years without someone to tap it’s strength. Draining his strength instantaneously; he fought feebly against it. Malevolence runs deep within this place, it’s evil presence swallowing everything in it’s path. His body transfixed in his struggle; his terrifying memories overcame him.
Kneeling on the cold stone; body aching from the forced position. Heavy footsteps tread nearby echoing carelessly through his mind. The image of his love spread naked apon the bare altar stone flashed before his eyes.
Hot tears ran down his pale cheeks as he glanced up. The vision gone, the body of his love to longer laid upon the stone altar, the dark man long since gone. He remembered how he’d mourned for his love. He’d fled from that place. Her body left behind. He had wished from that day he’d have at least had the courage to remove her body from her fateful tomb. But he had not. He had not ventured near this land since that fateful night. The stark white bones still lay upon the dull gray altar stone. A few black wisps of hair still remaining. Painfully dragging his body upon the altar laying along side all that remained of his lost love. He had never learned to love another.
“I am once again at your side never to leave it again; for eternity,” he murmured as he fell deep into sleep. A sleep from which he would never awake, for once without nightmares, for once without pain, and for once along side the one he loved.