Ughh I’m late. I’m sorry :(
My schedule is super crazy now which is mostly the reason. The other reason is this one was particularly difficult for me. I had something else planned but I couldn’t seem to crank it out. Poe is one of my favorite authors and I still couldn’t get my brain to work. *hangs head in shame*
Soo this is a little different but I’m going with the flow and we'll see where this story takes us shall we.
Edgar Allen Poe – Read the poem The Raven. Use at least one line from the poem in your chapter/story. Dialogue is okay, but narrative is even better. You can read the poem online here -http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-raven-14/
*******************************************************************************
Overlooking the reminisce of wreckage Rafe was struck with a sudden sadness. His heart ached for the souls sprawled along the highway. He felt a call resonate sending a shiver through him. “Pull over.”
“What? We can’t. You need to leave...”
“Just pull over Seth.” He couldn’t explain it but the further they drove the more his heart felt it was being torn in two, leaving a piece of himself smeared on the asphalt. The memory of his own family began playing in his mind and he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them there. Pulling the SUV off the road into the dirt, Seth followed his king from the car to the bodies a few feet behind them.
Unaware of her surroundings, Eva was happy to find her mother and brother beside her in this strange place. Eva grabbed their mother’s hand. Raising her other, she shielded her gaze. They were bathed in the sunlike glare. Closing her eyes in awe, she wrapped her free arm around herself. Fingers tracing her flesh as if to make sure she was still whole. With little effort she opened her eyes to blinding light. Their mother squeezed both their hands to sooth them as they began to stroll the path lit in pure brilliance. Eva continued to peek behind them for something, but not knowing what.
“What is it?” Gabe asked searching for whatever was worrying her.
“I’m not sure.”
The sky and path before them sent pleasant warmth wafting through the air made them smile. Not a nook nor cranny lay before them that wasn't covered in that brilliant glow. Gabe studied his surroundings taking mental notes. The golden gleam of the trees bleed into the purity of the blinding bright sky. The gravel like a soft wool underfoot lead them onward. Eva grew curious yet anxious with the feel of something nipping at her feet. Even the ground sparkled as she admired its beauty sprawled before them. Noticing their child like expressions their mother smiled answering their unspoken question.
"Darkness only follows the living." she smiled.
Eva looked at their mother. Just like her surroundings, she bathed everything in
her presence with a brilliant glow from the air around her to the pebbles at her
feet. Their mother's gleeful grin brought a peacefulness to this space. Wherever
they were headed, none seemed to be in a hurry to get there. Still Eva and Gabe’s
excitement and anxiousness grew as they continued. Eva’s pace growing quicker,
gawking at the nature that seem to spring forth from the vast void. Lost in the
beauty this place offered, Eva felt her arm gently pull as her mother and brother stopped
a couple paces behind. She turned to see her mother's sullen face. Following her
mother's gaze down to the nipping feeling at her feet, Eva gaze at her own
shadow.
Rafe checked the older woman but her heartbeat was still. He had mourned the lives of many in his years but this was different. I don’t even know this people he thought still he couldn’t stop the tears threatening to spill. The faint sound of a beat called his attention. Hurrying down the sloping ditch, he rushed to the side of a young woman laying in the dirt.
“Down here!” he called out as Seth slide down the slope leaving a dust cloud behind him. “She’s still alive.”
“We’ll have to take her with us then. We have to go Rafe.” Seth looked around to make sure they hadn't been followed.
Nodding his agreement he scooped her limp body into his arms before making their way back to their car. Sirens blared behind them as they took off into the night.
The constant hum of collective murmurs could be heard over the ambulance sirens.
Shards of broken glass sparked under highway lamps. Alongside the metal remnants
of vehicles littered the asphalt. Wrenching a woman free of the steel wreckage,
an officer lifted her limp body quickly placing her on a gurney to lay beside a
young man.
Gabe woke with a startle. His heart beating out of control, the feeling in his chest was foreign as if it hadn’t been beating all along. The faint smell of blood tickled his nose as his eyes searched his new surroundings. Rustling leaves in the distance caused him to jump at the sounds echoed in the darkness. He ran his hands along his bare arms, the only defense he had against the cool midnight breeze. He stared out into the darkness straining his eyes to see what was there. Deep into that darkness peering, long he stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. It wasn’t uncommon for him to sit outside his house gazing at the stars but something about this time made him uneasy. Movement from the window above told him someone was there. Approaching the front door, he couldn’t see anything from outside the peephole. Cautiously he crept through the door. He was sure this was his house yet nothing about it felt familiar. His bare feet padded quietly against the hardwood floor. He wanted to call out but his voice never found him. The place once full of life felt dead and stale. The hallway was longer than he remembered with doors spanning the exaggerated length. Stoping at the first door, he gripped the knob twisting slowly. He peeked through shocked to see himself and his sister playing in their couch cushion and bed sheet fort. He remembered every detail of this moment from his one size too small, dirt stained shirt to Eva’s lopsided pigtails. Their dad was left to dress them that morning and this was sadly an improvement. He knew someone must have been playing old home movies because what he was seeing wasn’t possible. Still the two children playing in front of him were as real as he was. Whispering Eva’s name, the little girl never responded. The two kept giggling and playing as if he wasn’t there. He stepped cautiously forward until he was crouched in front of them. Still neither seem to notice he was even in the room. Lifting his hand he reach out to the younger version of himself. His hand connected with only air as the images disappeared and the room returned to its dim lifelessness. Dropping to his knees he searched under the bed. Looking behind the dresser and inside the closet for the source of these images but the room was empty. Rushing out to the next room he peeked inside finding Eva talking to someone. Yelling was more like it but he couldn’t make out who from his angle. He couldn't remember this one. Suddenly forced to jump out of the way as Eva came barreling towards him with a fist full of their cousin Simon’s hair. Giving Simon a not so gentle shove out the door before slamming it. Gabe had come out to his family when they were 17 though Eva had known for a while by then. Simon had given him more grief than anyone. Gabe knew better than anyone Simon’s self righteous grand standing was simply to divert attention from himself. Gabe could only laugh at their cousin’s hypocritical rantings. Eva sat on the floor letting the angry tears fall. Stepping closer he wanted to comfort her. She had been his constant source of comfort through everything. She took every insult directed at Gabe personally. This must be her memory he thought to himself.
“Don’t cry Evie.” He knew she couldn’t hear him.
“Gabriel?” Eva’s voice responded.
“Eva?” He tried to touch the image but it disappeared. Quickly realizing the voice wasn’t coming from the memory, he turned to see Eva standing in the doorway.
“Gabe!” Tackling him, she knocked them both over onto the floor holding onto him for dear life.
“Are we dead?” she whispered in his ear.
“I’m not sure.”
“Mommy, she’s gone isn’t she?”
Gabe nodded in response.
“Don’t leave me ok?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” he kissed his sister’s forehead as they rose to their feet still locked arm to arm.
Opening the veins in his wrist, Rafe poured himself into her mouth and her wounds. The blood spilled out the side of her mouth as she drowned on the liquid she didn’t have the strength to swallow. Tilting her head the king rubbed her throat coaxing the blood down her throat. Silently praying he continued to saturate her open wounds.
“So she’s coming with us the whole way then?” Seth asked mentally readjusting their plans.
His question left an uneasy silence. Watching Rafe from the rearview mirror he could see the pain on his face.
“Take me to Xavier.”
“The priest?”
A grunt was his only reply. Knowing it would take them days out of the way he simply nodded.
A knock at the front door stirred the priest reading in his chair. Picking the knife up from the coffee table he approached the front door. He couldn’t see anything from his peephole but the distinct smell of human mingling with something far from it told him someone was still there. Cracking his door he peeked around before settling his eyes on the woman laying on his front step. For a moment he debated leaving her there. He could call the cops and wash his hands of it but he knew what lay ahead for her. Apparently whoever left her there wasn’t planning on coming back. Cautiously he crept from his door to pick her up and carry her inside. Laying her on the couch he took a step back inspecting her while his palm flexed around the knife handle. From the faint smell of humanity that lingered in her veins and traces of what Xavier assumed must have been wounds from some type of attack he knew this was recent. Taking a seat back in his chair and he watched intently for her to wake.
Screaming she was ripped from her coma. Looking around wildly the priest held his hands up hopping to ease her fears.
“Are you...uh.” The priest was at a lost for words. He didn’t know what question to ask first and he could hear her heartbeat rise in panic. He knew she wasn't ok before he asked the question.
“You’re safe.” raising his hands higher for her to see. “Do you know how you got here?”
Shaking her head wildly the woman continue looking around the tiny home.
“I’m Xavier” the priest offered. “I found you on my door step. Do you remember anything from the last few days?” his concern only grew as the woman looked like a cage animal scared and ready to attack.
“Do you need anything?” he cooed crouching down a little.
She desperately tried to recall the event of the past few days but nothing clear came to mind.
She desperately tried to recall the event of the past few days but nothing clear came to mind.
“Where’s my brother?”
No comments:
Post a Comment