The Fallen Angel

Naomi entered the old house in the midst of jungle in Grisamwood. It was an abandoned house which looked like nobody had lived for ever in it. Naomi heard voices calling her to this place. She saw this place in her dreams. This crooked house has been haunting her for last 3 days. "Maybe she would remember herself if she gets to unfold the mystery of this house", she thought.

Naomi put on her camera as she made her way inside the cobweb covered house. It reeked of dampness. She held her breath and walked inside in a hope to find some hint for the voices she could hear and those vivid dreams she has been having ever since she woke up from her sleep in that lone house in Riverdale. She made her way to the cellar, it resembled she knew where she had to go. She has come to this place before. The room was dark and the walls inside the cellar were blue. She saw an old man sitting on a rocking chair in cellar. His skin was all loosened, there were marks on his face and arms as if he was bruised badly. His face was blank. He was looking outside the window drowned in his own thoughts. There was an unlit lamp lying beside his chair. The lamp looked oddly grave, its candles were as if they were never lit. Naomi tried to get his attention but the man wouldn't listen. She approached him and touched his shoulder and whoosh! Those voices again captured her entire self. They grew stronger and revealed all the casualties the world has ever witnessed in all of those 2025 years. The voices now danced in front of her as images and Naomi could feel the pain of each death that she saw. She saw people killing each other. There were babies involved in mass murders. There was world war. Ships sinking in ocean, Naomi coughed as she choked on water for breath. Simultaneously she felt her flesh burning with fire that consumed a mother and her kid in that house. She felt the fear of that boy kidnapped and murdered by a psychopath. There were killings in the name of offerings and pleasing the Gods. She suffocated as she felt building collapsing and people buried live inside. She felt the pain of those bullets crossing the chest of that soldier at war. She then saw a family of five drowning at Grisamwood Bridge on 21st Aug 2025 at 19:18 hrs. It was overwhelming, she thought she would die comfortable moment with all that pain. She made a run for her life and the moment she stepped out of that house the voices disappeared. She could no more feel the pain. She checked her camera and it was blank.

"What??" Naomi exclaimed. She knew she saw all that and felt that pain for real. "How's this possible!" mumbled Naomi to herself.

She thought she was going, crazy. She ran towards her car and speed back for her home. She still couldn't remember who she was. She decided to note down whatever she had witnessed. It was already 19:03 hrs. when she started scribbling. Naomi put on the local news channel to see if she really saw all that or if she has lost her sanity. It was 19:21 hrs. when the local news channel started broadcasting a live update of an accident at Grisamwood bridge.

"A family of five has drowned down in Grisamwood River after their car skidded off the road. The reason for the accident is not clear yet. The rescue team reached in time and tried to save the family but they had already choked to death by that time. A witness crossing the road reported the accident the LPD saying the car suddenly broke off the bridge and flew into the river. The family has been identified as the Ethen's. Maria Ethen worked at Grisamwood Library while Zack was with a private firm in Grisamwood. Their kids Jessica (9), Kate (7) and Peter (3) all choked to death. The GPD is inquiring this tragic accident".

Naomi was dumbstruck to see that. It was exactly what she had witnessed back at that crooked house. She felt a chill run down her spine. She knew it was real. All of it that she saw or felt in that house. "But how she could see it. Why wasn't it captured in her camera. Who she was?" her mind boggled by all of those questions. Suddenly she felt those voices calling her again. She couldn't dare move a foot and yet she felt herself making her way to that house.

On her way to the old house she decided she would capture everything on her camera and give herself some time inside it to see if the recording stays intact or not. She felt she was somehow connected to that old man and the voices she heard was his, calling her to himself.

Naomi entered the house and made her way to the cellar. That old man was still sitting there as she left him a few hours ago. She checked if her camera was working fine and took a step towards the man.

"Sir, who are you?" asked Naomi.

"Sir… can you hear me?" repeated Naomi as she stepped forward to the man. "Do you know me? How did I hear all of those voices and how did I saw that accident hours before it happened?'" she asked.

When she saw the man didn't move a muscle she took a deep breath and decided to touch him. She knew it would bring that overwhelming pain to her but she has to do it. She took a look at her camera and made her turn and touched the shoulder of the man. The images started flooding in front of her. She could again hear all of those voices. Her flesh again burned with fire while her throat choked with water and her chest swelled with fear of death. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead as she made a run out of that cellar. The images were more vivid this time. She stopped when she reached the front door of the house and decided to rewind the camera to see if there was something. She knew a minute in that house would kill her from all the pain that she felt but she had to find answers to who she was and what these voices spoke to her.

She saw herself walking past the front door to the cellar and standing beside the man witnessing all the calamities the world has ever noticed. Then she saw a man. He checked his watch, it was 27th Aug 2025, 10:45 hrs. She saw the man making a run for life with a child in his arms. He was running from something Naomi couldn't see. He made his way to the basement of a building and hid the child and asked her to wait for him there. Then he retreated to the look for his enemies. He crossed the Palm Street and made his way to the Sonny's Café. Naomi knew this man and certainly the place. The streets were surrounded by palm trees but oddly deserted as if no one lived there. As the man reached the café he felt someone following him and as he turns pointing his gun towards his enemy he finds the girl he left at the basement.

"Baby, you cannot be here. Daddy would seek you but first he has to take care of something", said the man as he took the girl in his arms and ran to hide the girl to someplace safe.

As he managed to enter a building's parking lot the girl in his arms squealed with fear and before he could react the girl was shot dead in the forehead. Blood came oozing out of her ears, nose and head. Man stood frozen to the ground. Naomi felt as if her head has just burst out, the pain was excruciating. Her nerves were bulging out with the pain, but the emotional pain that she felt was far beyond description for her. She felt as if she lost herself but the girl. Her chest was ripped open, seeing the girl lying dead in the arms of her father. She couldn't bear it anymore. She ran out of the house to her car and started for wherever the voices would lead her. She had to make in time to save this girl. She knew they both knew Naomi, she could sense it. The pain that she felt at her loss was different than what she felt otherwise. It seemed she has lost her only hope at life.

***

Naomi drove crazily to find the man and the girl. It was around midnight and she has just crossed Bonvalley. Her destination still far away, she could sense it. She tried hard to remember who these people were but all too vain. She drove madly to wherever the voices would lead her. At this moment she was thankful for these voices. Ever since she woke up in that house she had wanted theses voices in her head to stop, but now with them guiding her maybe she can save the girl. She knew she can, she had to, if not for them then for herself, they were the answers to her existence.

It was around 8:35 when she reached the Somerfalls. This was her destination, she knew. Her heart was racing fast. But she still had time, she decided to look for the building where the man hid the girl in the basement and wait for them there in her car.

***

It was 10:37 when she checked her watched. She was waiting for them in her car, trying hard to remember how she knew them. She could feel the man and his daughter around. Her heart beating fast as if it would come out of her chest. She could listen to her heartbeats. Sweat beads started rolling down her forehead. Suddenly she saw the man running towards the building. She checked her watch, it was 10:40. The man made his way into the building. Naomi followed him. The man was asking the girl to wait for him when Naomi reached them. The girl chirped "Naomi" as she saw her and jumped to her feet.

"Naomi, you came. I knew you couldn't be gone long", said the man as he turned around to see her.

They knew her and so did she. She could feel it strongly. She started having flashes of memories. Not clear but yes memories of them being drowned and then running from someone.

"How do you know me?" mumbled Naomi to the man.

"You don't remember anything, do you" asked the man, "well I am Clark Jones and she is Samantha, my daughter. You were friends with Sammy and me. It's a long story, but we need to hurry before they could find us. We need to somewhere safe. At least safe for Sammy", said Clark as he gestured Naomi to come with him.

Naomi nodded and held Sammy's hand. "We need to be out of this place, we need to be moving, else they are going to find us", said Naomi, "my car is parked outside the building, we can start for the road at once".

Naomi started her car and drove to someplace she had no idea about. She couldn't feel the voices leading her anymore. "Something was out of place. How did the voices stopped all of a sudden after all this time", she thought but kept on driving.

"Where are we going to?" asked Clark.

"I don't know, but somewhere safe" replied Naomi.

"Naomi" said Clark in a hushed voice. "It's happening all over again". There was agony in those eyes. Fear of being lost, death. Naomi could see it. "I just want Sammy safe, you can take me and we can get over with this. You cannot run from this Naomi. We cannot reverse the course of nature. It is what it is. All I wish is for my daughter to be safe", pleaded Clark.

"I don't understand what you mean. Rather I understand none of it. You don't know what I have been going through, I cannot explain it and even if I do you won't get it" blurted out Naomi in an agitated voice.

"I would trust you me. I have known you the way nobody knew you, not you yourself. You changed for me. You challenged the Gods themselves for me" replied Clark.

"Who I am, Clark" asked Naomi in a hushed voice. "I don't remember anything but that I woke up in a house in Riverdale, all alone with no memory of who I am. I have been hearing strange voices that tell me what to do. I …" Naomi took a deep breath and started again "… I see an old crooked house and an old man inside who somehow shows me things I do not wish to. Make me feel pain beyond imagination. To my dismay all of it is real and somehow related to me. You do not know how I feel. I have been running from those voices ever since I woke up and now the moment I met you the voices disappeared. It's like they were never there. Please help me find me. Tell me what you know about me. Please", pleaded Naomi with tears in her eyes.

"You are an Angel to me, a fallen angel" replied Clark. "It was sunny noon of 12th July, 2025. Sammy and I were on a beach in Somerfalls. Sammy wanted to go to the beach. She lost her mother in a car accident in December 2024, she was 5 then. I took care of her but I was nothing what she wanted. She was a kid desperate for her mother. Sammy was playing on the beach while I got a call from my office. I got taken away by it and wasn't watching over Sammy and suddenly I heard her voice screaming for me. She was drowning in water. I dived to her, but she was taken away to the deep ocean in a matter of time. I reached her but she was almost gone by then. I was swimming to the shore with her on my shoulder when I felt being drowned in the ocean. No matter how much I tried to make for the shore the water would draw me deep in to it. I fought with it, not for myself but for Sammy. It was when I felt I had lost it I saw you in the ocean with me. You were gazing into my pleading eyes. I was holding Sammy close and asking you to save her. You said nothing but looked at me as if you were frozen right there. The waters had no effect on you. You were there perfectly as if breathing in fresh air. I had lost it I knew, I could not fight it any longer, so I gave up and closed my eyes to let it take over me and drifted into sleep. When I woke up Sammy was sleeping peacefully on the backseat of my car and you were sitting beside me waiting for me to wake up. You save me and Sammy but death took its toll. The same evening four college students drowned to death in the ocean. We went home and you went with us. You wanted to make sure Sammy was fine. It was around 21:00 hrs. when you had tucked Sammy in her bed and was leaving for home that you heard a thud sound outside the porch. You were sure there was someone out there to get to us. I thought you were crazy until I heard Sammy screaming in her dreams. We ran to her and found her hiding in her sheets from ‘something' she saw in her room. She said it wanted her to go with her. Sammy was freezing with fear. I had to believe you when you said we were not safe there. You said it was best for us to keep running until we find an escape from this. We hit for the road at once. But it wasn't safe there as well. We escaped accidents that were unexplained. There were unknown forces following us. As if a dark shadow always lurked around us. It was the weirdness that somehow you knew them coming that cooked my goose. You told me then, that you were a messenger, a messenger of death" Clark stopped at that and locked his gaze with Naomi.

Naomi felt numb. She was just driving down the road without thinking where they were headed to. She heard everything Clark said and all of it made sense to her. All those blurred memories she had on meeting Clark she could relate to them now. She remembered how she fell for Clark the moment she met his pleading eyes. She now remembered every single death she ever brought on the world, just that then she enjoyed it. It was her strength, until she met Clark who somehow melted Naomi and made her change her nature and defy death. Naomi remembered it all and felt the strange feeling of agony, misery, loss and victory, all of them flooded together. She wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

"Naomi, you ok?" asked Clark in a concerned voice.

Naomi nodded as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"You helped us run from death for over 22 days when you decided you finally knew how to defy it. You lead us to a crooked old house in Grisamwood. It was uninhabited for years but you knew the house very well. You went to a cellar with me. There was an empty rocking chair there. You went to it and stood by it. Then you bowed down to it and took out lamp from your jacket and whispered to some unseen force to take you and spare Sammy and me in exchange of you. It was a dark lamp with the candles unburnt as if they would never glow and take away the darkness around. I leaped to get a hold of you but you vanished in thin air. The house suddenly started whispering voices I couldn't stand to and ran for Sammy waiting out in car. I had to save her. We had been on roads ever since then. All these days I had been trying to find you but you were nowhere. I knew you would show up. I wanted to plea you for Sammy. Take me Naomi and spare Sammy. Your sacrifice won't change the course of nature but may be taking me instead of Sammy can give us a hope" begged Clark in a broken voice.

Naomi's head was buzzing with thoughts. She didn't knew what she was supposed to do. She had to think of something to defy death. But she knew it wasn't easy to defy death. If her submission to death wouldn't change the course then nothing would.

The voices again started speaking in her head. They wanted to lead Naomi to somewhere. Naomi knew the only way to fight was to follow them.

"Naomi you seem …different, distant" remarked Clark.

"I am here. I am just trying to think a way to fight all of this. Trust me I would fight this off for us" replied Naomi.

"I trust you Naomi, I know you would save Sammy', said Clark with a ray of hope in his eyes.

***

Naomi drove all the way to the jungle of Grisamwood to that old crooked house. Naomi stopped just outside the house and asked Clark to come with her. Clark shifted in his seat as he turned around to take a long look at Sammy. "Darling would you stay here and wait for us" asked Clark.

Sammy nodded and held her doll close to her.

"Daddy will be back soon and then we will go and have a chocolate fudge together" said Clark and smiled.

Sammy smiled "love you daddy" said she.

"Love you baby" said Clark as he kissed Sammy's forehead and got off the car to follow Naomi to the house.

Naomi made her way to the cellar and asked Clark to wait for her outside the room.

Naomi entered the cellar. The voices grew stronger than she has ever experienced them. It was unbearable. The room was suddenly chilled. Ice started freezing on its walls. The man on the rocking chair turned around to look at Naomi. She couldn't move. She was held by a fear unknown to her. It wasn't the fear of death but the emptiness, the dark hollowness she felt building inside her ripping her of all the emotions that she ever knew.

"It's time Naomi" said the man in a voice that took over everything there was. Naomi suddenly changed. The voices she heard all these days were now her own voice. The chill that she felt was like her own aura. She transformed into something she knew she was meant to be but had been running from all the while. The man on the rocking chair got up and approached Naomi. Naomi didn't feel fear anymore. His presence didn't hurt Naomi anymore. She took a step forward and embraced the man who dissolved into thin air as he melted into Naomi's embrace and Naomi herself. Naomi transformed into something dark. Her aura now changed into fear and hollowness. Her face changed into death itself.

The room changed suddenly. The room that was just freezing with ice now burnt with fire and Naomi fed on it. It was her strength. Naomi walked out of the cellar and found Clark waiting for her in the living room downstairs. Clark was standing unaware of something approaching him.

"Clark" said Naomi in a soft voice.

Clark turned around and stood frozen and fell down dead to the ground.

Naomi made her way out of the house to the car. Sammy was holding her doll and waiting for her daddy.

Naomi reached out to Sammy. Sammy squealed at the very sight of Naomi but Naomi reached out to her and breathed inside Sammy. Sammy's eyes changed into something dark and cold. The fear on her face now replaced by a shrewd smile. Naomi reached out and handed Sammy her dark lamp. Indeed she had found who she was.

***