Black Ghost

My eyes open to a blinding light, my head leaning back in a chair. I blink a couple of times. Then a head blocks the light as she's looking down at me with her blue eyes. "Were you napping!?" Her black hair falls across my face, tickling my cheeks. I jerk back in my seat. I'm in a dining hall - one that I used to see every day a long time ago.

Everything ... everything is exactly as it used to be. It feels like I've woken up from a long terrifying dream and I'm finally awake.

We're sitting around the rectangular table for dinner. Selina my cousin, she's standing on her knees on the chair to look over me. She smiles. "Oops, sorry hehe. Your mom asked me to poke you"

I turn my head towards my mom. She smiles gently, "You don't want your meal getting cold, do you?" I simply nod.

Selina and I sit on one side, facing our mothers across the table. Our fathers sit at each end.

The chandelier light shines directly on my face, which is annoying. I never wanted to sit anywhere else, because I was always busy laughing at my uncle's jokes. Besides, I love the view. I can see the backyard - the maple trees, the flowers, especially the flowers that Selina and I helped in planting, the ones between the two trees right in front of me. the double-seater swing at the end of the yard.

The scents of my mother's cooking filled the air - fried chicken, crispy fried potatoes, and sautéed mushrooms. As always, she had prepared my plate, decorating it with a drizzle of sauce. God knows how much I had missed her.

My father and uncle fell into their usual banter, digging up old secrets to jab at each other. They're twins. they basically know everything about each other.

This house would feel strangely empty without their lively exchanges.

This house would be dead without them.

"My dear sister-in-law, has my brother ever told you that he used to have a crush on every female teacher we had back in the day?"

My father's eyes jerk towards him and he points his fork at his twin and looks at his sister-in-law "when we were kids, this guy loved mom in a very toxic way. so he went so far to write a love letter to dad, hoping that mom would find it and break up with him. he really wanted to screw our Parents marriage so he would marry her when he grew up, but there was one big flaw, mom knew his handwriting ... I mean who wouldn't recognize a 7 year old handwriting? Mom still has that letter"

My uncle slaps his hands on the table. "You son of a bitch!" My mother covers her mouth, laughing softly, eyes closed, her head tilting.

Selina rests her head on my shoulder, joining in the laughter. Everyone is laughing except my uncle who's staring at my father.

I ... I ... I managed to smile slightly. I'm so happy to be back ... to be here.

I want nothing more than to be here with them - gathering around this table, enjoying silly jokes and meaningless banter.

My gaze drifted toward the backyard and fixed on something out of place. Someone who shouldn't be here. A stranger standing between the two trees in front of me.

there he stood in the shadows.

His figure is lost in the darkness. But his eyes - those eyes - are the only thing I can see. He is so close.

No. He had always been this close - but I never knew ... We never knew.

He had been waiting from the shadows. I couldn't understand.

Now I know why.

It's all my fault.

The monster had always been here. I thought they were all fairy tales, but how naive I had been. One had always been here. That is what scares me. He isn't a beast or something beyond this world.

He lives among us. He can be anyone, and I wouldn't even be able to tell he is close till he decides to show himself. He is no fairytale. He is just another man - and I had seen how terrifying one man can be.

Only a mere glass was keeping him away from us.

I dropped my fork. The sound of the fork hitting the dish made everyone look at me.

"Someone's outside in the yard, Dad." I said.

My mom turned to look, then back at me again, with concern in her eyes. "No one's there, honey."

Everyone's so drowned in joy that no one sees him.

Those blood-red eyes, radiating in the dark, are fixed on me. Slowly his lips curled into a smile from ear to ear as he tilted his head to the left. The more his smile spread across his face, the more his eyes seemed to bulge.

His eyelids narrowed as he straightens his neck and stepped into the light, crushing the flowers under his feet. I can see him clearly. I drop my head onto the table.

"Go away .... GO away ..... GO AWAY!!!" I shouted, making my throat hurt.

He can't be real ... This isn't real.

I don't even want to look at my mom. I know if I raise my head, I will see him.

A moment of quiet passed - until I heard: "poor ... little BOYYYY."

The voice was blocked by something - probably the glass. He was getting closer.

I heard a knock on the glass. After a moment, another one came - this time harder. Then two knocks at the same time.

I take a deep breath. What happened? What stopped him? I was too afraid to raise my head to see. Hoping to see him gone, I raised my head a little. The moment I did, I saw his face - a grin from ear to ear that showed his teeth slightly.

He started to smack his left palm on the glass repeatedly. His ear-to-ear smile opened a little as he laughed without a sound. I screamed and dropped my head again.

The glass shattered. A sudden gust of wind swept through the house, and he stood outside - but now free to walk inside. The chandelier flickered and died. I couldn't breathe. No one moved. Everyone had been quiet the entire time.

My lips twitched as tears ran down my cheeks.

The rhythmic rasp of breathing filled my ears. I raised my head - and he was there, inside the house, standing behind my mother. His features are clearer now. He was tall ... too tall. Maybe I feel that way because I'm so small compared to him. He had a long neck. His eyes never blinked. His gaze was fixed on me.

He raised a thick hand, his fingers long. He curled some of my mother's hair around his pointer finger.

"No!! Noo!!! Don't touch her!!!"

A twisted smirk formed on his face. His gaze shifted to Selina. He straightened his neck a little as he turned his head toward her. He's laughing - a deep, soulless sound. It's barely audible, almost nothing. He let go of my mom and started walking slowly around us. His left hand held open above our heads, as if at any moment he might grasp one of us.

I couldn't hear his footsteps - only his low chuckles that started and then stopped.

His blood-red eyes were staring at each one of us as he circled around us like a vulture.

The laughter grew louder. It was erratic, fluctuating between low, deep rumbles and sudden high-pitched shrieks. His gaze settled on my uncle. I saw his fingers brush against my uncle's shoulder, slide toward his neck, and wraps around his throat.

I managed another scream. There was nothing I could do.

Suddenly, the laughter ceased. He let go of my uncle. I watched his eyes dart from face to face before settling back on me. His long neck craned as he stared at me with those blood red eyes. A moment passed. Then I saw a smile creep across his face ... slowly ... bit by bit ... stretching.

He moved fast - nothing like the slow pace of before and reached my mother and Selina's mother. His hands dug in, grabbing as much hair as he could, and pulled Their head back. Their face were frozen in terror.

His face, dead serious, looked at me with those eyes - eyes that held me where I sat.

"Runnn."

His massive form leaned down over the table toward me.

As if control of my body returned, I turned my head toward Selina. her face drained of color, her eyes going red from crying. I grabbed her wrist and started running toward the door.

Don't stop.

I could hear his footsteps. Each step echoed behind me. He was getting closer.

"ʰᵃʰᵃ ... Haha ... haHAHA" his mocking chuckles are first low and builds up to high-pitched then again low.

There isn't much left.

"ʳrRUN - haha ." His deep, soulless laugh came from the living room, filling the house with its encouraging tone. His laugh starts as low as a whisper, then grows louder the closer he gets - and then stops, as if he is faking it. For a second, I thought he was behind us - the silence behind us is absolute. As I ran toward the door, I turned my head to look - and there he was. Those red eyes radiated in the darkness ... standing still. Watching.

I reached the door and slammed my shoulder against it as hard as I could. The door's hinge broke, and the door flew into the street, hitting a parked car across the alleyway.

Out of the house - it's raining hard. I take in a breath like I'd forgotten how. I feel light shine on my skin. I look up - There it was - the full moon, radiating in the blackest night of my life.

I looked back and saw Selina's shocked expression - her face pale, tears running down, her mouth twitching and mumbling, trying to say something.

At the end of the hallway, in the darkness, his red eyes shone.

I saw him ... behind Selina in the hallway, walking toward us at his slow pace.

When I saw him, I almost stopped. Then I saw Selina turn her head nervously, and that made me move - I had to save her.

I grabbed her wrist again and started running through the streets.

"HELP ... SOMEBODY HELP!!!" I shouted as loud as I could. No one came. No one even opened their window to tell me to "shut up kid, it's the middle of the night!".

Selina and I kept running. I could hear her sobbing. I was no different.

As I saw a narrow alley on my left, I ran into it to lose him. If I kept this pace, he would definitely fall behind with that slow pace, I should Keep changing directions. Don't let him track me.

It was a narrow alley, flooding with dirty water that seeped into my trousers, my bare feet soaked - I don't have time to waste on these thoughts.

"Selina, don't look back," I said, my voice shaking. I looked back to check on her. She nodded repeatedly, her eyes closed while crying, blindly following me.

Ahead, I saw two boys who seemed to be shouting at each other. The one closer to me is the same height as me. I shouted too - more like screaming - "GET OUT ... RUN ... A DANGEROUS MAN ..." and then I stopped, which made Selina, who had been blindly following, bump into me.

"Kw ... Kwaski!?" she rubbed her forehead.

I looked at those two ahead and gulped. Then I started running again - as fast as I could. The closest boy to me - has the same hair as me - also started running toward the other boy. I ran faster, splashing water, trying my best to reach the boy who was running. I blinked repeatedly as drops of rain hit my face.

The boy who started running reached the other boy, tackled him, and easily smashed him to the ground. The other boy was dazed, blinking fast, giving the attacker a look of terror, the last expression he would ever make - and he should have been terrified. The other one was too strong for a nine-year-old boy.

"STOPPPP!" I screamed, which hurt my vocal cords.

Then came one right punch, followed quickly by a left one.

boom, boom - the sound of pavement cracking, bone and skull shattering.

ᵇˡᵒᵒᵈ. Blood ... so much blood.

I got to them maybe two seconds too late. I grabbed the attacker by his collar from behind, pulled him away, and threw him back.

He's ... He's me. his face pale, lips twitching ... fists twitching, his fists pouring blood - not my blood, the other boy's. His eyes fixed on the boy lying on the ground.

I slowly turned my head at the other boy.

I stood paralyzed, looking down. The left punch, which had landed on his right forehead, had pierced its way into his head. Where his right eye and right eyebrow used to be, there was now a bloody hole gushing blood.

The right punch to his left cheek was even worse. It looked like the first blow had been stronger than the second. That punch had pierced its way into the cheek, breaking everything in its path, leaving an open cavity into his mouth. His nose was torn away, his mid-lower face was gone. His face, an unrecognizable mash of torn tissue and exposed bone.

Blood fountained from where the punches had landed, pooling on the ground. Blood merged with the dirty water flooding the alley, turning it into a sick brownish red. It felt like i was standing in a pool of blood.

I looked back at the other me who was on the ground. There was no sign of him.

Then I looked back at Selina still standing where I had left her before running after the boys. She was still shivering. I was shivering too as I turn away from Selina again, standing over the dead boy - looking at what I had done.

My clothes, drenched with his blood.

Blood had splashed across my face when the punches landed.

My hands twitching and shivering as I slowly turned them to look at my palms.

They are drenched in his blood.

I grabbed my forehead with my hands and screamed as loud as I could as I fell to my knees in the pool of blood - the pool of blood that I had made.

I cried without making a sound, as if my voice had left me. I couldn't breathe. I felt so sick I wanted to throw up.

I'm sorry ... I'm so sorry. I know it doesn't change anything ... but I'm so sorry, Adrian.

I let go of my forehead. My hands dropped onto my lap. I kept looking at his one remaining eye while crying. Then I looked at my bloody hands.

I took his life.

I took it with these dirty hands.

I'm here ... and he's gone forever.

I killed him ... and I can't go back.

I took something that I can't give back.

If I kill myself, that won't bring him back.

If I do every good thing in this world, it won't repay my debt.

He's gone ... but he's going to live inside my head till the day I die. I make sure of that.

He didn't deserve this. I don't deserve to be happy.

I will never forget what I've done to you, Adrian. I promise.

I am a freak for what I'm capable of.

Monsters are real ... I'm one of them.

"Kw ... Kw ... Kwaski!"

I stood up and turned around toward Selina - only to lose my balance and fall down in the pool of blood ... Looking at Selina, I was trembling.

I couldn't move. He's behind her, his hands gripping her shoulders - not with force, just holding her. She barely reached up to his midsection, shivering and whimpering in his grasp.

His right hand grabbed her face. His thick, long fingers covered her mouth - his hand almost engulfing her whole face, squeezing. His pointer finger and thumb slid down just enough for me to see her blue eyes looking at me, asking for help.

His upper body bent over her, his head beside hers.

"Shhhhh." He turned his face a little toward Selina and whispered into her ear, never stopping his stare at me, never blinking while doing so.

His face was so close to hers. I wanted to look away - to put those red eyes out of my sight - but I couldn't. Selina was looking at me, whimpering. I couldn't leave her alone with him. Even if I blinked, I felt like she'd be gone.

"Don't you think ... This ... THIS! —" he shook Selina's face forcefully. Her shriek muffled by his hand " — is the costtt ... of what YOUUU did?"

He raised his head to lean his chin on Selina's head. "Maybe ... maybeeee ... God sent me to punish you."

My eyes went wide. I dropped my head to see my shivering hands - drenched in Adrian's blood.

He was right. It made sense. Monsters deserve each other. I had drawn this monster close to my family, and he had taken all of them away from me. They died because of me.

When I raised my head again, Selina was gone. I was left alone with him - the pool of blood and Adrian's body behind me.

Now he's walking toward me. His hands are also drenched in blood - the blood of my family. Blood dripped from his hands into the pool beneath us. He's taking his time, approaching slowly. He knows I wouldn't run

His thick horns rose from each side of his head. They extended outward first, thickest at the base, then curved back toward each other, tapering as they went. Toward the end, both horns parallel. They radiated at the edges of the moon's light - his massive form blocking most of the moon's frame.

"I was ONLY ... messing with you."

"There's no God up there in the sky." He stopped moving, turned slightly sideways, and looked at the sky. His hand gestured - index finger, middle finger, and thumb raised together toward the sky while the other fingers bent down.

"I mean, if ANYONE is up there ... it would be ... idiotic to stay silent against ME. No one deserves his punishment more than me."

Then, for the first time, his eyes left me. He turned his back completely on me, raised his palms up towards the sky, his elbows bent a little, all his fingers except his thumbs bent to point at himself and said with his low, deep voice, dripping with amusement:

"After ALL ... I'm his greatest enemyyy ... he should come down here to challenge me HIMMM SELF."

His right hand drops to his right side, his left hand remains up and then slowly his whole body turns towards me again - those red eyes fixed on me, all his fingers bent except the index finger and thumb pointing at me.

Two quick steps, his voice more erratic: "see? ... you're all alone here ... —"

His pace quickened. His upper body bent slightly, hands pressing against the walls. His fingers made a screeching sound as he walked, dragging them along the plaster walls. Now I could barely see the moon. He would get me soon.

Good.

" — HERE ... with me" - he stretched the end of "me" - "and unlike the one and only God, I exist. The one and ONLY ... ASMODEUS."

He started running at me. Blood splashed against the walls as he closed the gap between us in seconds. I closed my eyes, ready for the inevitable.

Then I was pulled back. I opened my eyes in shock. I was moving through everything - passing every street and building, losing sight of them in under a second, at such a speed that my mind couldn't process it. The images changed so fast I got a headache, my head throbbing.

Then a voice spoke - a voice I could trust. It was very firm, a little harsh, but his tone was calm and caring.

"Don't worry. He won't get you. I'll keep you safe. I promise."

I knew this voice. I had heard it many times in the past.

"Who are you, really?" I asked, my voice dry.

Above my right eye, around my eyebrow, it hurts - I feel the blood pouring down the wound over my eye and running down my cheek. I feel cold, snows ... half of my face is freezing.

A moment of silence passed. My head was hurting so much, and I was starting to lose consciousness - but I heard his final words.

"Rogh Rovener's my name. Think of me as your spirit guardian."