"N-n-no," Nathan muttered and moved slightly to the right, eyes shut in deep sleep. He continued to mutter under his breath as he tossed and turned, eventually getting his legs in a tangled mess with the brown duvet.
Suddenly, he began to jerk fiercely in his sleep, gripping the pillow hard.
"No! Leave me alone!" He screamed and jumped from the bed, dashing for the far corner of his sparsely furnished room.
"Nathan!" James rushed in, eyes darting around in fear.
"She was here," Nathan said in a hoarse whisper, "I heard her, felt her," he hugged his arms to his chest as goosebumps broke out on his skin.
"She'll be back," he looked at his best friend and brother from another mother whose facial expression mirrored his.
"This will be the last time," James sat on the cold cement floor beside Nathan.
"I'm beginning to doubt that," Nathan muttered.
"It has to be, as long as we haven't seen her face then it's still all good," James said.
"For how long?" Nathan asked, frustrated.
"How long will we keep running for something we did innocently?" He flung his arms out angrily.
"There's nothing innocent about murder and though we were quite young when we did it, we were also old enough to get cursed." James said quietly.
"I mean, who in his right state of mind would curse little children over one silly mistake?" Nathan retorted.
"Silly mistake? Nathan, we killed her son!" James looked at his friend in disbelief.
Nathan shook his head furiously, "No, we pushed him, that's all,"
"And he died," James added.
"We were twelve bro! We deserve a break already! We can't keep running from something we can't even see for the rest of our lives," Nathan roared.
"We were twelve, yes. But we're also responsible for our actions. Her son did nothing to us and yet all we did was bully him till his death. I think we deserve the curse on our heads," James retorted angrily, frustrated as well.
This could have been prevented if he hadn't gone ahead with Nathan's plan in the past.
Nathan shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe you right now. Get out," he ordered.
James only shook his head and shrugged.
"We'll go see a priest tomorrow, hopefully this will work," he said and shut the door behind him.
Having nothing to do to dissipate his rising temper, Nathan began to arrange the bed while muttering under his breath.
"How dare he say that I deserve to be cursed?" He tucked in the bed sheets fiercely.
"You don't think so?"
"No!" Nathan grunted as he arranged the pillows, "I did nothing wrong, I was young and innocent,"
"Were you?"
"All I did was push him a little. It's not my fault he stumbled and fell off the cliff," he gave the pillows a punch, his breath coming in rapid pants.
"But it is your fault, it is entirely your fault!" It roared, sending Nathan stumbling backwards in terror as he realized that he hadn't been soliloquizing all the while.
His heart beat hard in his chest as he stared at the corner of the room where the voice had come from.
"Who are you?" Nathan asked, his voice shaky.
No reply came.
"What do you want?" He raised the tone of his voice a little.
Still no reply.
"Show yourself!" He ordered and moved farther into the wall, if he could pass through the wall, he would.
Seconds passed before he began to hear a dull scratching sound, like someone was trying to claw their way out of the wall only that the sound got louder and it went closer to Nathan who was beginning to shake and soon he heard the voice he had always heard in the nightmares he had been experiencing since he was thirteen.
The voice that made his blood run cold and sent shivers down his spine.
"Nathan," it whispered over the scratching noises that filled the room.
"No! James!" Nathan shouted.
"I have come to take you," a woman's voice said and immediately, the lights overhead came on and Nathan saw the most hideous creature that he had ever seen in his life.
Steinar Engleland From Unsplash
It took the form of an extremely old woman, so old it was as if the flesh on its bones was peeling off. Its face looked hideous with sunken eyes, so deep it was difficult to ascertain if it had eyes at all, it had no nose and no lips but teeth that looked so white and sharp.
Nathan stood frozen as the creature dragged its feet towards him, it made scratching sounds on the cold, cement floor.
"Don't you remember me?" The creature asked, smiling broadly.
"No! Leave me alone! James!" Nathan screamed.
"Let me show you," the creature chuckled and wrapped bony fingers around Nathan's shirt, dragging him towards the wall.
"James! James!" Nathan called as he fought to get out of the creature's tight grip which was proving impossible with each passing second.
"You'll see now, you'll see soon," with that, the creature dragged Nathan through the wall cutting off his screams at once, leaving the room ringing with echoes of his screams.
Suddenly James rushed in, "Nathan!" he called.
"Nathan?" He called again and walked into the room slowly, already dreading what he might find.
"Bro, where–" he stopped short in front of the wall where the imprint of Nathan being dragged by the creature was carved into the wall, on his face was nothing but fear and his mouth was open in a perpetual silent scream.
James only stared and stared, his fingers trembling.
He could hear echoes of Nathan's screams as he stared at the horrifying imprint of his best friend on the wall.
"No," James fell to his knees and sobbed bitterly.
He was never going to see his best friend again.
Oh no, the ghost of the past comes to collect! What a suspenseful, spooky story. You deliver well on the tension as Nathan and James face the consequence of their childhood action. I almost feel sorry for them until Nathan trivialised their action and spoke to James rudely for making him see the truth. Murder is not an act to be minimised. It shows he wasn't remorseful so I encourage the creature to drag him through more walls! 😄
Your story is engaging and an enjoyable read. Well done. Would you like an in-depth/critical review of your story? Thank you for participating in the Scholar N Scribe Invitational. Good luck. !LUV 😊
I really didn't know what to expect from the story while I wrote it and I really hoped it met the requirements.
Your positive feedback has made me feel much better.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story and yes, I'd very much like an in depth review of my story.
An eerie, suspenseful and haunting story! Amazing narrative style! You kept me on the edge of my seat. Those guys made their problems worse when they denied the fact that they killed someone, hiding behind the excuse of young age and which means they were not remorseful. I guess that why the creature decided to take James.
I love the way you introduced the creature. It was spooky, especially with the scratching sounds and the whispers. Nicely written! Wish you the best of luck in the contest!
!discovery 40
Hello Esther! 😇
It's really good to see you. There's really no excuse for murder and Nathan refused to acknowledge that.
I'm really glad you enjoyed my story. Thank you for taking the time to read and for your wonderful feedback.
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The story is intense, really. It's so vivid how guilt takes on a physical form and unfortunately takes him with it. A monster produced by our actions and that intensifies guilt. Interesting story.
Thank you so much for your feedback. 😇
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