Ghost Stories at Midnight #1

 His eyes were cold and lifeless as he stared at me.

"You have no idea who I am, do you?"

"No." I replied, "I know who you are but not what you have become." He smiled at me, a slow smile that made my skin crawl. He had dark hair with grey streaks running through it, and his eyes were like glassy marbles—cold as ice but full of malice behind them. His face was angular, hard-looking without being ugly or unattractive in any way.

It made me wonder, how could someone who had been so kind before do this to my family? How could he posses the guts to massacre my entire family? As I drifted further into my thoughts, my gaze travelled to the floor. It was a mess, no doubt caused by him. Our golden vase was upturned and cracked on the edges. There was blood everywhere and, clothes were strewn around. I felt my body freeze with fear as I registered what had happened a few minutes ago.

I did not know what to do, and my body was frozen in place. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth. It felt like a nightmare and yet it wasn't one because this was real life. The pain was so intense that it hurt me physically as well as mentally. "Do you think you can get away with this?" I demanded.

He laughed, his voice low and cold like ice water on a hot day. "You have no idea who I am now or what I'm capable of doing. Your parents deserved it and you do too."

"I don't even know what we did," I snapped, fear getting the best of me. I felt like crying, like begging the Celestials to return my parents but I could not show fear, not now.

A sneer decorated the man's face. "Do truly think I am a fool? I knew that your mother was not human."

My confusion only increased. "Well, yes but what does have to do with anything?" I asked, just so that I could buy some time to escape. I did not want to die today.

A dagger appeared in his hand, seemingly out of nowhere. He aimed it at me but I dodged it in time, making a few strands of hair fall to the ground.

"Your mother was nothing but a demon who destroyed the lives of innocents like my mother, cursing them to poverty. My mother was just rude to her one day. The next day, all her riches vanished and she was taken down by poverty. Do you know how much we suffered? I swore to kill her entire family and I will not rest until you die."

"You're not getting away with this," I said, my voice rising in anger. "We were friends, Aman. Long ago."

He laughed again, and I knew that he was enjoying himself too much. He had me cornered now and, there was no escape for me. As tears prickled my eyes, I got ready to face my doom. Oh, why could I not use magic like my mother? Unable to think properly, I did the worst thing I could do in this situation. I punched him in the face.

To my surprise, the man was not expecting that. As he gasped loudly, I took that momentary distraction to my advantage. I scuffled out of the room and raced into my bedroom, locking the door. Tears raced down my face as I tried to calm myself down.

Behind me, the door shook as the man started to bang on it. If I did not know better, I would have scoffed at him but after seeing him kill my parents, I was sure he could jam my door open too. I looked around for a way to escape. Just as I was about to give up, my gaze caught the window which was wide open. I was aware that my bedroom was on the second floor. If I jumped, would I manage to survive? After all, I was a witch and not a mere human. Even then, I might end up breaking a bone or two after jumping from that height.

As the man banged on the door, making the entire house shake, I decided to take my chances. If I had to die, I might as well do it out of my own will. I jumped out of my window, hoping against hope that I would manage to escape unharmed.

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A paradigm of duality. Those were perhaps the most accurate words anybody could use to decipher the puzzle of thoughts Fear was. Everyone, from the mightiest to the weakest, was terrified of something, whether it was unfathomable depths, faults linked to their psyche, or simply the fear of fear itself.

Fear would flow around the world every day, every minute, every second, until time bowed down, kissing a youngster on the cheek and imparting a silent gift of trepidation. She saw everything—past every human's defenses and fortifications; even Death was terrified of something.

Fear would delicately let her fingers caress the orbs of consternation, awarding each and every human with their curses. And she would watch, silently, while they tore themselves apart, leaving behind their own broken pieces or, conversely, accepted Fear with open arms, embraced her, and conquered the unknown. It was all a blur. The faces were a riot of hues, thoughtless strokes splattered on a blank canvas.

A strange thing - fear, its meaning varying for different people. To me, it was something I felt at every moment, possessing me like a silent beast. And at this moment, it was at its worst, wrecking my thoughts and leaving my mind in shattered pieces. Every footstep made my skin tingle and ev

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ery noise made me quake. I had escaped, but I was still imprisoned, not by him but by fear herself.

Oh, how optimistic I was.

And now, I was waiting for the sun to rise. The morning light would surely help me forget about him and all his evil deeds. I had been in this motel for a week now, hiding from that man who had taken everything away from me - my family, my friends, even myself. And yet I couldn't stop thinking of him.

Every time he came into my mind it felt like a knife stabbing through my heart again and again until there was nothing left but blood oozing out of every wound. My whole body shook with fear as I remembered how he tortured my sister. I couldn't believe that he had done such a thing. He was supposed to be my friend, but now I didn't know what kind of monster he really was.

The sun rose slowly and the light filled the room with warmth. I had thought that it would help me forget about him for a while, at least until nightfall came again and his shadow fell over me once more. But as soon as I saw the sunlight streaming through the window, I remembered how we used to play together when we were kids - chasing each other around in our backyard pretending to be superheroes or soldiers fighting wars against the Beast of Shadow. How much he had changed! It was true, I did not know who he was anymore.

I walked out of my room in the motel and straight into the reception area. I could not stay in one place for long. "Hello ma'am," I greeted the woman seating behind the desk. "I am leaving."

"Sure, there was this man searching for you. I told him you were out," she informed. My heartbeat became erratic as I stood there, unbreathing. He had been here?

"T-thank you for informing," I stuttered, looking away. "I have to go," saying that I rushed out of the motel, carefully staying hidden in the shadows. There was always hope and I was sure that I would survive. One day, I would be free of my worries. That day was not today.

My feet led me to the forest, and deep inside I knew why. Witches like me connected to the wilderness; we thrived there. The forest would protect me , at least for a while. In the break of day, the forest was supposed to be bright. However, the looming trees spread darkness and the forest looked like it was the abode of ghosts. The courage that had filled me when I had started the journey had vanished into thin air, rendering me powerless. I had no idea what to do. Even if I was a witch, I was not 18 yet, which meant I still did not have any power. The forest would protect me from the outside but could it protect me from itself?

The forest was dark and quiet; so quiet that you could hear the echoing sound of crickets chirping. I was like a lamb with hundreds of wolves lying in wait for me; a lamb without a shepherd, free for the taking. However, I could not give up. Not when I had come so far.

As the smell of dried blood met my nose, I felt my courage leaving me even more. I turned to my left and noticed a path formed by the parting of trees. The path led me to a cave which was decorated by green fungus and algae. I tiptoed across the forest floor and entered the cave carefully. There was light inside, shining brightly and illuminating the dark, dreary forest.

With the passage of time, I felt fully at ease, as if the forest had embraced me. The trees enabled sunshine to fall from the sky into the forest floor, bringing me relief. I could feel my spirit weave itself into nature ,in the dappled sunshine, among the boughs and strong raised roots, as though for that moment I was one with the forest and all the life that was there.

I sat down on a rock and looked around. The cave was decorated with an abundance of different types of plants, some flowering, others not. There were also small animals living in the cave as well; they seemed to be afraid of me but I did not mind. Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from behind me and turned around quickly to see what it was. A dark figure emerged from the shadows of the forest floor and came towards me slowly.

"Did you think you could escape from me?" he snorted, laughing maniacally.

"Ah," I screamed. "the forest...it was supposed to-"

"Protect you from me? It only protects you from humans. Who ever said that I was one?" he smirked.

As I inched away from him, frantically looking for a way to escape, I asked, "What are you?"

His eyes darkened. "None of your business. It is something your mother hated."

What my mother hated? My mother hardly hated anyone , unless.... No, it could not be. "You are a kitsune?"

"Wrong answer," he whispered in my ear, making me shiver. If it was not a kitsune, what could it be? No, no, no. This was bad. Very very bad.

My mother had once said that "The monsters' warning is a call to action. It's an invitation to join the fight, and when you do, you'll find that it was worth it." Maybe that was what I had to do. If he was what I thought he was, I could never escape. I had to kill him, even if it killed me in the process.

At that moment, I realized that my entire life was truly a curse and I had no other choice.