Ghost Stories // Jack-o-Lantern
Title: Jack-o-Lantern
Other: This is the prologue for a series I plan on writing that is a collecting of ghost stories and stuff like that. The first part (which this is a prologue to) consists of a combination of the Jack-o-lantern and the Will-o-the-whisp stories. It was fun to write; the beginning was in a style I don't use (I was actually trying to copy Kea's style xD;;;), and the second half was more what I was used to.
Jack was drunk once again.
It was no surprise to the others-he was in the tavern almost every night, and every night he would be drunk. Tonight was no exception. There was only one detail that altered it from the other nights.
The Devil was there. And he wanted Jack’s soul.
Now, it should be said that Jack was a clever man. He spent his days playing dice and tricking unsuspecting innocents, only to use his ill-earned money on a few drinks that evening.
The Devil took his seat across from Jack, folding his hands neatly on the table. And in a very business-like manner, he told the man the nature of his visit.
“I have come to collect your soul.”
Jack was less surprised by this than he should have been. “Figured you would come sooner or later,” he muttered. “Very well, I shall come with you… but I must pay for my drinks.”
Silently pleased at the reaction-it was very rare a person would willingly agree to have their soul taken by him-the Devil offered to pay the tab for Jack. With a single snap of his fingers, a shiny coin took his place at the table.
Jack picked up the Devil-turned-coin, and-instead of using it to pay the tab as the Devil had intended-slid it into the pouch at his side.
Outraged that a trick had been pulled on him, the Devil made to escape the sack, only to find that his powers had been suppressed by the presence of a silver cross.
“Clever man,” the devil growled. “What is it that you want so that you might free me?”
“I simply want another ten years to life before you return for my soul,” Jack wagered.
Ten years? The Devil supposed ten years wasn’t so bad-considering it was that or be stuck in the purse with the silver cross for who knows how long. He got the short end of the bargain regardless. “Fine, fine! Ten years, then I return for your soul. Additionally… you speak of this incident to no one.”
“Agreed,” Jack replied lightly as he took the coin from the pouch at his side; and making sure to knock it against the cross once more for good measure, he passed it over to the bar tender as payment for his drinks.
After that night, Jack made a point to not visit that tavern again.
Ten years later, the Devil found Jack sleeping at the foot of an apple tree. “Wake up,” he coaxed bitterly. “I have come for your soul like we agreed.”
“Of course,” Jack said, struggling to his feet and dusting the grass from his pants. “I’m a man of my word and our ten years have passed. But before I go…” He cast a longing glance at the tree they stood under. “I would like one last apple. Would you get one for me?”
With a disgruntled sigh, the Devil snapped his fingers, reappearing up in a branch of the tree. “Will this apple work?” he asked, plucking one.
“No, it’s a little higher up,” Jack returned from where he was kneeling on the ground.
Grumbling, the Devil looked up and tried to spot the apple in questions. “All of these apples look exactly the same.”
“I’m telling you,” the man said. “Just keep looking.”
The Devil opened his mouth to reply when he watched as Jack took a knife out of the pouch that he had been thrust into as a coin ten years ago. Before he could act out, Jack stuck the weapon into the tree and daftly carved a cross into the bark.
“You trickster!” the Devil swore, his body frozen by the symbol in the tree. “You dare to trap me a second time? We made a deal, Jack, and now you plan to go back on your word?”
The man tsk-tsked the figure in the tree. “You misunderstand me, Devil sir. I promised that I would release you if you returned to take my soul. Never in that agreement did I promise you my soul.”
Angry at having been tricked on several levels by this man, the Devil could only glare down from his perch. “Then to what do I owe you this time in order for my freedom?”
“I simply ask that you leave me be,” Jack returned quickly. “Let me live out the rest of my time here on Earth and make my own way to the afterlife.”
The Devil tried to look like he was considering the offer. But due to the fact that he wasn’t in any place to force Jack to listen to him, his answer was already on the tip of his tongue before the man had even bung to speak. “Fine,” came the answer at last. “I’ll leave you be for the rest of time. But keep in mind that you would have been better off asking for ten more years. You’ll be dying before then anyways.”
Unfazed by the threat, Jack offered up his cunning smile and drew an apple from his pouch. “Then I’ll be seeing you!” he chimed, taking a bite from the fruit and turning to leave a flustered spirit still caught up in the apple tree.
Even now, it is still uncertain how the Devil got down; not only was the cross carved into the three, but the same silver cross that he had used to restrain the powers ten years before was buried by the roots.
Just to ensure his own safety under the apple tree.
Seven years later, clever Jack died after stumbling-drunkenly-into a foggy marsh and drowning. His soul was immediately turned away by Saint Peter at the pearly gates of Heaven.
“Your life of drinking, cheating, and swindling is by no means a path to take if you expected to get into Heaven,” the angel explained patiently. Despite this, his finger tapped irritably at the long list depicting Jack’s shortcomings.
With an overly dramatic and anguished sigh, the soul of Jack turned around and promptly descended into Hell. However, he was only met with a similar constraint.
The Devil himself was waiting for Jack in front of the black gates of Hell. He did not look the least bit pleased-which was in no way surprising considering who was applying for access.
“Hello, old friend Devil!” Jack called cheerfully. “I have been turned away from Heaven because of my long list of sin,” he announced. “So I have come here to-”
“Denied,” the Devil returned automatically, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jack was startled. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he shot back. “I’m denying entrance into my realm.”
By now, Jack was growing anxious and wrung his hands before him. “But I’ve been denied from entering Heaven. If I’m not allowed to enter here, where shall I go?!”
Face adorned with a sly grin-proud that he finally had the upper hand over this man-the Devil lifted one hand and pointed over Jack’s shoulder. “Back the way you came, of course.”
The soul whipped around, horrified to find a never-ending pathway of darkness. “There’s nothing back that way but to wander around lost…” Jack whimpered, the gravity of his situation weighting down on him. “What shall I do?”
At the sound of a soft pop, Jack looked down and saw and black iron lantern-a twisted pattern wrought on the four faces. Inside, a flickering and eerie glow was emitted from a lump of coal.
“Use that to light your way,” the Devil instructed, the gates swinging open behind him. “It is a coal from the pits of Hell, so its light shall never go out. Until the Final Judgment, you are doomed to wander through this gloom. Alone.”
Resigned to his fate, Jack bent down and slid his fingers over the handle of the lantern-wincing as the iron burned against his palm.
‘Whatever else you decide to do is up to you.” With that as his parting message, the Devil vanished into the fires of Hell and the gates closed with a deafening clang.
Since then, Jack has held tight to his grim lantern, using its light to guide him through the torrential darkness around him.
i must have been dead
that was the only explanation
Dark green eyes opened slowly, only to find an expanse of thick grey fog. A dark and narrow path ran under the girl’s feet, stretching before her in an infinite expanse.
She lifted a hand to her face, touching her cheeks, nose, and ears in turn. I still have a body… Then is this a dream? Am I not dead?
A gentle light bobbed to life next to her.
Startled, she turned to watch it hover. The girl extended one hand tentatively towards the glow, but it burst into tiny shimmers with a soft sigh the moment her fingers brushed over it.
Two more lights sparked to life on her other side, each with a single, ringing giggle. Then three, then five more bobbed into view. Each of them made the light laugh.
Her gaze darted back and forth, more lights laughing to life with each sweep of her dusty green eyes. She reached out to try and touch another, but it burst into tiny shimmers.
There was a rise in the whispers-a giggle peaking as the lights bounced back and forth around her. A light burst on its own, others shortly following suit.
The girl watched-silent-as the lights exploded in turn, taking it as a game. But for each rupture, another orb would emerge.
She found herself laughing along with them-the light whispers and sighs brushing against her cheeks and hands when a glow fell to sparkles too close to her.
There was an odd sound, like hundreds of voices rushing together to form words. The glows and lights stopped their laughter, a mere suppressed whisper spreading through their ranks.
It came again, the voices pulling together in an attempt for her to understand. “You… you’re like me, aren’t you?”
Obediently, the lights parted before her-opting now to hover along the edge of the path.
There was a solitary figure haunting a point further down the path. He was covered in darkness. She wasn’t able to put a shade to it-the path beneath their feet seemed pale in comparison. Black like the pits of hell? No, no words except…
Dark.
The figure shifted, rocked back and forth for a moment. “You are like me, aren’t you?” the rushing voices repeated.
The girl opened her mouth to speak.
“What do you mean?”
She lifted her hand to her throat. No sound had come from her lips, but her voice had uttered her thoughts through some other way.
“What’s going on?!”
Again! The girl whipped her head to the side-just in time to see one of the lights fading to a dull glow.
“What…?”
Another light flared up briefly, fading as the sound of her voice died.
“Little girl… you know what I am here for,” the rushing voices cut in-drawing her attention back to the cloaked figure.
“No, I don’t...” a light voiced defiantly.
“Who are you?” asked another.
Something resembling a low, menacing chuckle came from the dark thing. “You know who I am… Little girl…” The figure looked for a moment like it was folding up on itself.
In the time that it took her to blink, the figure had closed the gap between them-reforming as the lids fluttered open over the dusty green orbs.
The lights let out a collective gasp in her stead as the girl stumbled backwards.
One skeletal hand protruded from the dark robes; the iron handle of a twisted lantern was grasped by the bony fingers. Within the confines of the cage, a glowing coal pulsed-as if with a heart beat.
In the light, the girl could make out the figure’s face-nothing more than a dirty skull with a full set of teeth. The eyes, however, were still there, staring back into her frightened face.
The low laugh came again, but this time it was one man’s cracked voice. “I’m just… like… you.” His eyes got wider on each syllable-despite how impossible it seemed with his flesh stretched so tightly over his bones-and the sound of his dried tongue flicking out the words rattled through his skull.
The girl let out a scream, chorused by all the lights around her. She stumbled backwards again, but only resulted in stepping on her own feet and tumbling to the ground.
The cloaked man let out a barking laugh, swooping down to hover just above the girl-his face inches from hers. “You’re just like me, little girl. Cheating the devil and thinking you can get away with it.” He spat out the last phrase to the best of his lipless ability. The man tried to grin, but it only resulted in making the skin around his mouth pull taunt.
“No…” she gasped. “No, I didn’t…”
“All these years, little girl, you have cheated the devil. He has yet to catch up with you… But he’s close on your trail.” The eyes darted to the side and his teeth clattered together in thought. “The fact that you’re here-that I was able to bring you to this place-is proof enough…”
“Where… am I?”
The eyes swiveled back to her and he took a few rattling breaths before pulling back and looking around. “My purgatory.”
She scuttled back a little farther, glancing around as well. “Your…”
“Purgatory, yes. It’s a mirror of the world I left behind, designed to torment me as I haunt the marsh where I drowned.” The lantern rattled in his hands as he turned back to face her. “You have a similar fate, little girl, if you’re not careful.” The remaining muscles in his face twitched in an attempt to frown. “At the rate you are going, I won’t be able to shield you any longer.”
The girl stuttered for a second. “W-wait… you’re protecting me?”
“Of course,” he snapped gruffly. “What kind of ancestor would I be if I couldn’t even protect the girl who inherited my sins?”
Blinking a few times, she could only stare up at the cloaked figure in silence. Her fingers clenched and unclenched at her side as she tried to control her breathing.
“Believe me or not, little girl, but you don’t have much time left.” His image flickered-as if to emphasize his statement.
The lights, which had fallen silent long before, began to whisper once again as they pulsed in time with the lantern’s coal.
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to look into the wide round eyes of the figure before her. “You promise… that I’ll be alright?”
“You have been for eighteen years now, haven’t you, little girl?” he retorted sharply. His image wavered again, then backed up a few jerking paces. “I can’t keep it up for much longer. Maybe a few more months-I’ve lost track of time since being dead.”
The girl hesitantly rose to her feet, hugging her arms over her chest. “Then what do I do?” Her eyes roamed briefly over the surrounding gloom, clearly thinking that ending up in a place like that was one of the last things she wanted.
“You don’t have many options left, little girl.” The figure’s hand retreated back under his cloak. “After inheriting my sins, there isn’t much left for you to hope for.”
Her face fell into a pitiful expression, her lower lip quivering ever so slightly. “It’s no fair…” she whispered.
He turned back towards her, a muscle twitching over one eye socket-resembling the action of raising an eyebrow. “No, it isn’t. If I had known that all of this would have ended up happening to me…” the figure extended his other hand-a digit or two missing from his fingers-and indicated to the dark marsh, himself, and the girl. “Happening to me or even a descendant, I would have paused to rethink my actions.”
The figure hesitated, raising the hand to his mouth as a dry cough rattled his frame. The faint trace of light from the coal pulsed beneath his robe in time with the sound.
When the fit passed and his hand was tucked safely back under the dark mantle, the figure flitted back and forth on the narrow path, his teeth rattling together. “Little girl, I can’t keep you here much longer…” he said finally, ceasing his pacing and staring off into the dark marsh in front of him.
“Then what am I supposed to do!” she demanded, taking one step forward.
The lights on the side of the path all hissed, surging up and spilling over the edges. The girl lifted a hand to bat one away, but it exploded into shimmers with a soft cry.
He took a step towards her, the distance between them vanishing in an instant as he appeared at her side. One skeletal hand lifted from the robes, revealing the lantern’s eerie light. His finger slowly extended and traced an invisible line down her cheek. “Pray, little girl…” the hundreds of voices said.
Again, the lights pressed in, flaring to life with each of his words.
The figure grinned, his eyes shuddering slightly in their sockets. “Pray that the Devil won’t catch you…”
A small sound escaped her throat; her entire body shivered as his finger touched her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the feeling of the lights tapping against her arm.
“Fe…?”
The girl stirred, made another noise, and hugged her arms closer to her body.
“Fe…” The lights continued to rub against her.
“Go away…” she whispered.
There was a pause, the lights slowly fading.
“Felicia Monahan, get up right now before I have to pour this glass of lemonade all over your head!”
With a jerk, she sat up, eyes wide and staring around the familiar image of her kitchen. Her head darted to the side to find her mom poised above her, a glass of pale yellow liquid in her hand. “…Eh?!”
Her mother smiled, pulling away and grasping the cup lightly in both hands. “Oh good, you’re awake.”
“Then it was all a dream…” Fe whispered, running a hand back through her short hair, studying the uneven strawberry blonde tips.
“Would you like to tell me about it,” the woman asked, coming around to her side and placing the cup on the table. She lifted one hand, touching her daughter’s forehead lightly. Her eyes closed and she seemed to think for a moment. “You had been very troubled in your sleep. That’s why I had to wake you up…”
She tried to smile, but it just resulted in her lip twitching ever so slightly. “Later… I want to go out for a bit…”
Her mother straightened her posture and nodded. “Just remember that you’ll be back in the afternoon to help me close the shop.”
Fe sighed. “Yeah… I know…” Using the back of the chair, the girl pulled herself to her feet. “Call me if you need anything,” she called, shuffling towards the front door and sliding on her flip-flops.
“Don’t get into any trouble, hunny!” came her mother’s response.
A small smile curved her lips. “Of course not, ma…”
You’re just like me. Cheating the Devil and thinking you can get away with it.
Other: This is the prologue for a series I plan on writing that is a collecting of ghost stories and stuff like that. The first part (which this is a prologue to) consists of a combination of the Jack-o-lantern and the Will-o-the-whisp stories. It was fun to write; the beginning was in a style I don't use (I was actually trying to copy Kea's style xD;;;), and the second half was more what I was used to.
Jack was drunk once again.
It was no surprise to the others-he was in the tavern almost every night, and every night he would be drunk. Tonight was no exception. There was only one detail that altered it from the other nights.
The Devil was there. And he wanted Jack’s soul.
Now, it should be said that Jack was a clever man. He spent his days playing dice and tricking unsuspecting innocents, only to use his ill-earned money on a few drinks that evening.
The Devil took his seat across from Jack, folding his hands neatly on the table. And in a very business-like manner, he told the man the nature of his visit.
“I have come to collect your soul.”
Jack was less surprised by this than he should have been. “Figured you would come sooner or later,” he muttered. “Very well, I shall come with you… but I must pay for my drinks.”
Silently pleased at the reaction-it was very rare a person would willingly agree to have their soul taken by him-the Devil offered to pay the tab for Jack. With a single snap of his fingers, a shiny coin took his place at the table.
Jack picked up the Devil-turned-coin, and-instead of using it to pay the tab as the Devil had intended-slid it into the pouch at his side.
Outraged that a trick had been pulled on him, the Devil made to escape the sack, only to find that his powers had been suppressed by the presence of a silver cross.
“Clever man,” the devil growled. “What is it that you want so that you might free me?”
“I simply want another ten years to life before you return for my soul,” Jack wagered.
Ten years? The Devil supposed ten years wasn’t so bad-considering it was that or be stuck in the purse with the silver cross for who knows how long. He got the short end of the bargain regardless. “Fine, fine! Ten years, then I return for your soul. Additionally… you speak of this incident to no one.”
“Agreed,” Jack replied lightly as he took the coin from the pouch at his side; and making sure to knock it against the cross once more for good measure, he passed it over to the bar tender as payment for his drinks.
After that night, Jack made a point to not visit that tavern again.
Ten years later, the Devil found Jack sleeping at the foot of an apple tree. “Wake up,” he coaxed bitterly. “I have come for your soul like we agreed.”
“Of course,” Jack said, struggling to his feet and dusting the grass from his pants. “I’m a man of my word and our ten years have passed. But before I go…” He cast a longing glance at the tree they stood under. “I would like one last apple. Would you get one for me?”
With a disgruntled sigh, the Devil snapped his fingers, reappearing up in a branch of the tree. “Will this apple work?” he asked, plucking one.
“No, it’s a little higher up,” Jack returned from where he was kneeling on the ground.
Grumbling, the Devil looked up and tried to spot the apple in questions. “All of these apples look exactly the same.”
“I’m telling you,” the man said. “Just keep looking.”
The Devil opened his mouth to reply when he watched as Jack took a knife out of the pouch that he had been thrust into as a coin ten years ago. Before he could act out, Jack stuck the weapon into the tree and daftly carved a cross into the bark.
“You trickster!” the Devil swore, his body frozen by the symbol in the tree. “You dare to trap me a second time? We made a deal, Jack, and now you plan to go back on your word?”
The man tsk-tsked the figure in the tree. “You misunderstand me, Devil sir. I promised that I would release you if you returned to take my soul. Never in that agreement did I promise you my soul.”
Angry at having been tricked on several levels by this man, the Devil could only glare down from his perch. “Then to what do I owe you this time in order for my freedom?”
“I simply ask that you leave me be,” Jack returned quickly. “Let me live out the rest of my time here on Earth and make my own way to the afterlife.”
The Devil tried to look like he was considering the offer. But due to the fact that he wasn’t in any place to force Jack to listen to him, his answer was already on the tip of his tongue before the man had even bung to speak. “Fine,” came the answer at last. “I’ll leave you be for the rest of time. But keep in mind that you would have been better off asking for ten more years. You’ll be dying before then anyways.”
Unfazed by the threat, Jack offered up his cunning smile and drew an apple from his pouch. “Then I’ll be seeing you!” he chimed, taking a bite from the fruit and turning to leave a flustered spirit still caught up in the apple tree.
Even now, it is still uncertain how the Devil got down; not only was the cross carved into the three, but the same silver cross that he had used to restrain the powers ten years before was buried by the roots.
Just to ensure his own safety under the apple tree.
Seven years later, clever Jack died after stumbling-drunkenly-into a foggy marsh and drowning. His soul was immediately turned away by Saint Peter at the pearly gates of Heaven.
“Your life of drinking, cheating, and swindling is by no means a path to take if you expected to get into Heaven,” the angel explained patiently. Despite this, his finger tapped irritably at the long list depicting Jack’s shortcomings.
With an overly dramatic and anguished sigh, the soul of Jack turned around and promptly descended into Hell. However, he was only met with a similar constraint.
The Devil himself was waiting for Jack in front of the black gates of Hell. He did not look the least bit pleased-which was in no way surprising considering who was applying for access.
“Hello, old friend Devil!” Jack called cheerfully. “I have been turned away from Heaven because of my long list of sin,” he announced. “So I have come here to-”
“Denied,” the Devil returned automatically, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jack was startled. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he shot back. “I’m denying entrance into my realm.”
By now, Jack was growing anxious and wrung his hands before him. “But I’ve been denied from entering Heaven. If I’m not allowed to enter here, where shall I go?!”
Face adorned with a sly grin-proud that he finally had the upper hand over this man-the Devil lifted one hand and pointed over Jack’s shoulder. “Back the way you came, of course.”
The soul whipped around, horrified to find a never-ending pathway of darkness. “There’s nothing back that way but to wander around lost…” Jack whimpered, the gravity of his situation weighting down on him. “What shall I do?”
At the sound of a soft pop, Jack looked down and saw and black iron lantern-a twisted pattern wrought on the four faces. Inside, a flickering and eerie glow was emitted from a lump of coal.
“Use that to light your way,” the Devil instructed, the gates swinging open behind him. “It is a coal from the pits of Hell, so its light shall never go out. Until the Final Judgment, you are doomed to wander through this gloom. Alone.”
Resigned to his fate, Jack bent down and slid his fingers over the handle of the lantern-wincing as the iron burned against his palm.
‘Whatever else you decide to do is up to you.” With that as his parting message, the Devil vanished into the fires of Hell and the gates closed with a deafening clang.
Since then, Jack has held tight to his grim lantern, using its light to guide him through the torrential darkness around him.
i must have been dead
that was the only explanation
Dark green eyes opened slowly, only to find an expanse of thick grey fog. A dark and narrow path ran under the girl’s feet, stretching before her in an infinite expanse.
She lifted a hand to her face, touching her cheeks, nose, and ears in turn. I still have a body… Then is this a dream? Am I not dead?
A gentle light bobbed to life next to her.
Startled, she turned to watch it hover. The girl extended one hand tentatively towards the glow, but it burst into tiny shimmers with a soft sigh the moment her fingers brushed over it.
Two more lights sparked to life on her other side, each with a single, ringing giggle. Then three, then five more bobbed into view. Each of them made the light laugh.
Her gaze darted back and forth, more lights laughing to life with each sweep of her dusty green eyes. She reached out to try and touch another, but it burst into tiny shimmers.
There was a rise in the whispers-a giggle peaking as the lights bounced back and forth around her. A light burst on its own, others shortly following suit.
The girl watched-silent-as the lights exploded in turn, taking it as a game. But for each rupture, another orb would emerge.
She found herself laughing along with them-the light whispers and sighs brushing against her cheeks and hands when a glow fell to sparkles too close to her.
There was an odd sound, like hundreds of voices rushing together to form words. The glows and lights stopped their laughter, a mere suppressed whisper spreading through their ranks.
It came again, the voices pulling together in an attempt for her to understand. “You… you’re like me, aren’t you?”
Obediently, the lights parted before her-opting now to hover along the edge of the path.
There was a solitary figure haunting a point further down the path. He was covered in darkness. She wasn’t able to put a shade to it-the path beneath their feet seemed pale in comparison. Black like the pits of hell? No, no words except…
Dark.
The figure shifted, rocked back and forth for a moment. “You are like me, aren’t you?” the rushing voices repeated.
The girl opened her mouth to speak.
“What do you mean?”
She lifted her hand to her throat. No sound had come from her lips, but her voice had uttered her thoughts through some other way.
“What’s going on?!”
Again! The girl whipped her head to the side-just in time to see one of the lights fading to a dull glow.
“What…?”
Another light flared up briefly, fading as the sound of her voice died.
“Little girl… you know what I am here for,” the rushing voices cut in-drawing her attention back to the cloaked figure.
“No, I don’t...” a light voiced defiantly.
“Who are you?” asked another.
Something resembling a low, menacing chuckle came from the dark thing. “You know who I am… Little girl…” The figure looked for a moment like it was folding up on itself.
In the time that it took her to blink, the figure had closed the gap between them-reforming as the lids fluttered open over the dusty green orbs.
The lights let out a collective gasp in her stead as the girl stumbled backwards.
One skeletal hand protruded from the dark robes; the iron handle of a twisted lantern was grasped by the bony fingers. Within the confines of the cage, a glowing coal pulsed-as if with a heart beat.
In the light, the girl could make out the figure’s face-nothing more than a dirty skull with a full set of teeth. The eyes, however, were still there, staring back into her frightened face.
The low laugh came again, but this time it was one man’s cracked voice. “I’m just… like… you.” His eyes got wider on each syllable-despite how impossible it seemed with his flesh stretched so tightly over his bones-and the sound of his dried tongue flicking out the words rattled through his skull.
The girl let out a scream, chorused by all the lights around her. She stumbled backwards again, but only resulted in stepping on her own feet and tumbling to the ground.
The cloaked man let out a barking laugh, swooping down to hover just above the girl-his face inches from hers. “You’re just like me, little girl. Cheating the devil and thinking you can get away with it.” He spat out the last phrase to the best of his lipless ability. The man tried to grin, but it only resulted in making the skin around his mouth pull taunt.
“No…” she gasped. “No, I didn’t…”
“All these years, little girl, you have cheated the devil. He has yet to catch up with you… But he’s close on your trail.” The eyes darted to the side and his teeth clattered together in thought. “The fact that you’re here-that I was able to bring you to this place-is proof enough…”
“Where… am I?”
The eyes swiveled back to her and he took a few rattling breaths before pulling back and looking around. “My purgatory.”
She scuttled back a little farther, glancing around as well. “Your…”
“Purgatory, yes. It’s a mirror of the world I left behind, designed to torment me as I haunt the marsh where I drowned.” The lantern rattled in his hands as he turned back to face her. “You have a similar fate, little girl, if you’re not careful.” The remaining muscles in his face twitched in an attempt to frown. “At the rate you are going, I won’t be able to shield you any longer.”
The girl stuttered for a second. “W-wait… you’re protecting me?”
“Of course,” he snapped gruffly. “What kind of ancestor would I be if I couldn’t even protect the girl who inherited my sins?”
Blinking a few times, she could only stare up at the cloaked figure in silence. Her fingers clenched and unclenched at her side as she tried to control her breathing.
“Believe me or not, little girl, but you don’t have much time left.” His image flickered-as if to emphasize his statement.
The lights, which had fallen silent long before, began to whisper once again as they pulsed in time with the lantern’s coal.
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to look into the wide round eyes of the figure before her. “You promise… that I’ll be alright?”
“You have been for eighteen years now, haven’t you, little girl?” he retorted sharply. His image wavered again, then backed up a few jerking paces. “I can’t keep it up for much longer. Maybe a few more months-I’ve lost track of time since being dead.”
The girl hesitantly rose to her feet, hugging her arms over her chest. “Then what do I do?” Her eyes roamed briefly over the surrounding gloom, clearly thinking that ending up in a place like that was one of the last things she wanted.
“You don’t have many options left, little girl.” The figure’s hand retreated back under his cloak. “After inheriting my sins, there isn’t much left for you to hope for.”
Her face fell into a pitiful expression, her lower lip quivering ever so slightly. “It’s no fair…” she whispered.
He turned back towards her, a muscle twitching over one eye socket-resembling the action of raising an eyebrow. “No, it isn’t. If I had known that all of this would have ended up happening to me…” the figure extended his other hand-a digit or two missing from his fingers-and indicated to the dark marsh, himself, and the girl. “Happening to me or even a descendant, I would have paused to rethink my actions.”
The figure hesitated, raising the hand to his mouth as a dry cough rattled his frame. The faint trace of light from the coal pulsed beneath his robe in time with the sound.
When the fit passed and his hand was tucked safely back under the dark mantle, the figure flitted back and forth on the narrow path, his teeth rattling together. “Little girl, I can’t keep you here much longer…” he said finally, ceasing his pacing and staring off into the dark marsh in front of him.
“Then what am I supposed to do!” she demanded, taking one step forward.
The lights on the side of the path all hissed, surging up and spilling over the edges. The girl lifted a hand to bat one away, but it exploded into shimmers with a soft cry.
He took a step towards her, the distance between them vanishing in an instant as he appeared at her side. One skeletal hand lifted from the robes, revealing the lantern’s eerie light. His finger slowly extended and traced an invisible line down her cheek. “Pray, little girl…” the hundreds of voices said.
Again, the lights pressed in, flaring to life with each of his words.
The figure grinned, his eyes shuddering slightly in their sockets. “Pray that the Devil won’t catch you…”
A small sound escaped her throat; her entire body shivered as his finger touched her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the feeling of the lights tapping against her arm.
“Fe…?”
The girl stirred, made another noise, and hugged her arms closer to her body.
“Fe…” The lights continued to rub against her.
“Go away…” she whispered.
There was a pause, the lights slowly fading.
“Felicia Monahan, get up right now before I have to pour this glass of lemonade all over your head!”
With a jerk, she sat up, eyes wide and staring around the familiar image of her kitchen. Her head darted to the side to find her mom poised above her, a glass of pale yellow liquid in her hand. “…Eh?!”
Her mother smiled, pulling away and grasping the cup lightly in both hands. “Oh good, you’re awake.”
“Then it was all a dream…” Fe whispered, running a hand back through her short hair, studying the uneven strawberry blonde tips.
“Would you like to tell me about it,” the woman asked, coming around to her side and placing the cup on the table. She lifted one hand, touching her daughter’s forehead lightly. Her eyes closed and she seemed to think for a moment. “You had been very troubled in your sleep. That’s why I had to wake you up…”
She tried to smile, but it just resulted in her lip twitching ever so slightly. “Later… I want to go out for a bit…”
Her mother straightened her posture and nodded. “Just remember that you’ll be back in the afternoon to help me close the shop.”
Fe sighed. “Yeah… I know…” Using the back of the chair, the girl pulled herself to her feet. “Call me if you need anything,” she called, shuffling towards the front door and sliding on her flip-flops.
“Don’t get into any trouble, hunny!” came her mother’s response.
A small smile curved her lips. “Of course not, ma…”
You’re just like me. Cheating the Devil and thinking you can get away with it.