House of Darkness

Living Dead

I could feel freezing wind delicately touching my face. The surface around me was cold, as if enchanted with some spell. Not so quickly I opened my eyes looking up to a clear black sky and thick fog flowing around the surface like a dirty water. I couldn't move anything but my eyes, they went around to see where am I and I was terrified. I was laying in a coffin made of white stone, few feet under ground. The fog was slowly flowing into the hole, wanting to fill the empty space fully with its milky whiteness. I tried to scream or move but my body didn't listen. Looking down I seen my clothing consisting of a full black suit and a white rose in my pocket. But there was no item on me that could block my movement. I tried moving again as my eyes went to slowly back to the edge of wall. When I looked up I've seen a woman shape in a black dress looking down on me. Creepy right? Yeah... but for some reason I wasn't afraid, I felt a chill running down my spine as my body tried to express a danger brought by a probably fearful to it entity. But my mind was at peace, I kept looking at woman's hazy face as she looked back. Her hand moved to her eye, she looked sad. I couldn't see her expression but I.. felt it... seen it in her slow and graceful movements. Her hand pushed on her face and a dim crack could be heard. Woman stayed quiet but her body shivered slightly in pain. I felt my heart start pounding. The pain in my chest as if thousands of needles pierced me. Yet my body kept giving me warnings, the chills and shivers.
"If love and fear could be one emotion that would be it..."
I though as woman hand moved down holding something in her palm and letting it fall beside white rose on my chest. Little item kept falling slowly. Making those few seconds, an eternity. I looked at my chest to see a small cracked porcelain shard. It looked like a cracked part of a mask. My sight went back up only to see a hollow space where woman once was. I heard footsteps going further and further from my grave. They stopped as a most melodic voice I ever heard came to my ears.
- Let us meet... in place, where there is no light... - said woman before walking away.
The moment footsteps vanished my body started to wake up, letting me move again. I quickly sat up, making the shard of a mask fall on my leg. The piercing pain came through my back and arms, soon my whole body was aching as my hand grabbed the porcelain shard as if searching for any help in it. After some time what felt like hours pain dimmed out enough to start moving, my palm moved shard to my eyes letting them analyze small delicate looking object. It was pale pink colored shard for a mask... I held a eye part of a mask before me and after some time hid it under the rose. Standing up took some time as well as climbing but with some work and time I made it out.
Looking round I've seen countless graves. No animal was around, only sound in this pale smoke covered area was my own heartbeat. At least I knew I was alive...
- Going out of a grave says the opposite but let's keep to facts... - I said
"My heart beats so I'm alive... I hope."
I thought realizing it might be better to not speak in this cursed place.
Next thing I knew my own feet started to carefully move around hoarfrost covered grass and stones. My heart pounded quickly accompanying my quickening footsteps.
"This place is wrong I need to get out."
Said my mind as I moved towards the line of trees and a road between them leading to god knows where.
"Maybe I'll meet her again... ask what this place is... "
Reaching the gate of a cemetery it closed to me with no physical force to move them.
My lips let out a quick scream as I lost my balance and fell on the ground, looking on the symbols made in black steel gate.
"Oh god what in the world is this? Automatic? Sorcery? Ghosts... please don't be ghosts..."
Then I heard something behind me. A footsteps and heavy breathing joined by murmuring of countless voices, my body began to become heavier but I managed to get up and stand face to face with unworldly being.
Before me stood a tall suit covered pale man with his eyes covered by bandages. He was at least twice as high as me. His clothing was ripped in some places. His gray long hairs were moving in the wind as his head kept pointing in my direction. His long legs were easily breaking the distance between us. His long and scar covered hands held in one a hammer and in second a nail with round ending. Round ending was a beginning of a chain connected to the mans belt.
- Back... - Said 3 meters tall giant - Back to grave...
My body felt like it was in a bliss while mind started panicking. I slowly moved back while on the ground while giant hand with hammer moved up, he positioned his nail at the place I was just a second ago and pushed hammer down pinning a ground next to me with a nail. I held back an urge to scream and started to move back between gravestones.
"He can't see me... he is blind!"
I said in my mind feeling slight relief. I looked at the man as he fell on his knees touching the ground looking for me. Seeing his hand move towards me I moved behind a gravestone trying to be as quick and silent as possible. I felt wind move above my hand as giant hand that once had a nail moved above my head.
- Need to... get back... to grave... - said kneeling giant.
I looked again at him. Being closer then before I saw that broken clothes showed naked chest ribs behind a suit. The giant was a decomposing corpse. It caught loudly spouting black blood on the ground as he got up and tried to move away. I silently moved back and hid behind a gravestone further away looking at giant. At once he locked himself, the chain pinned to the ground didn't let him to get away. With his arm he pulled the chain with no avail. He kept pulling and pulling but the nail didn't move. My sight went to the nail seeing a glowing rune on it.
"Is it why giant can't free itself? Oh god... if it hit me even in the leg I wouldn't be able to free myself..."
I felt a chill running down my spine thinking of horrifying scenario.
"I need to find a way to open the gate... and not die or be caught by this monster..."
I looked seeing old fence I thought.
"Maybe I will find a place I can get through..."
My eyes went to giant again as I slowly straightened up. The sight of monster trying to get out was pitiful. My body was still in blissful state but helping the thing?
"That's ridiculous..."
I though as I've bitten my lip.
"I should let him stay here... "
Fully straightened up I kept looking at monster.
"It's stupid... but I can't leave him like this... Oh God I will die horribly."
- Not again... Not stuck again... - cried out powerful voice.
Saliva went down my throat as I gulped down and said.
- I can try and remove it... - my voice was colder then I expected, it didn't show any emotions even though my heart was beating to the point I though it would jump out of my chest.
Giant quickly reacted to sound picking up hammer and moving to my location, just in few seconds he was sprinting towards me with incredible speed.
I froze unable to move and also knowing that running... won't give any effect.
"My skull will be bashed in thousand pieces and I'll go back to that grave... this time dead for sure..."
His hand was just about to get me, I could feel a stench of decomposing flesh.
Then I heard something... aloud cling could be heard as giant flew few meters back to the point chain center was. I sighed with relief.
- No! - Screamed creature and coughed violently - Back... to grave - he said in a little breaks between bloody coughs.
Fists clenched as I tried to maintain calm.
"Calm down... "
Then I remembered something, my hand went quickly to rose holding pocket and took out a piece of mask. I held it up, looking at it. Small cracks could be seen on the surface as light absorbing jet black dust started to fall off, moving from the mask piece towards part of my face where shard was destined to fit. The grip on the mask let loose for a second as it quickly broke and flew on my face, covering the spot in porcelain surface. Few flashes came through my mind as my thoughts started to expand, trying to show what mortals shouldn't know, my legs gave up on me letting myself fall on knees and scream in pain. The pain I felt wasn't anything like anything before, not like the one I felt when I woke up. This pain was deeper and much worse, as if thousand hands wanted to rip my soul apart.
Then everything went black, there was no light even after I opened my eyes.
- You arrived - said echoing voice, with each word it kept changing, from male to female, from old to young - My betrothed