Foggy Flower
(Random
2-word prompt- inspector, grounds)
The
mist was thick and cold. So was he. Cold, that is. His clothes were soaked with a penetrating
and perpetual damp that sank right down to his bones. Flower shivered, his breath caught by the icy
air, condensing around his lips with every exhale.
His
torch did very little to help his visibility in the dark of the night; it’s narrow
beam only caught misty grey walls closing in on him… and yet, he could still
somehow feel the wide-open castle grounds around him. It was both claustrophobic and agoraphobic. He felt vulnerable.
Flower
kept walking, a quick pace; he wanted to get home. His dull footsteps, and their accompanied syncopated
echo, were the only sound of life in the gardens, though a gentle breeze tussled
the bushes intermittently too.
He’d
heard that ghosts haunted the castle grounds; George, the old guard, had regaled
him with terrifying tales and supernatural stories all evening, and those eerie
yarns had spooked him.
Flower’s
torch flickered.
George
had told him of headless knights stalking the paths, vengeful wailing maidens
in white dresses with slit wrists creeping through the bougainvillea. He’d spun fables of gruesome beasts hiding under
the hedgerows, creatures with long red claws and creepy grins, waiting to grab
unsuspecting victims by their ankles and pull them into their lair. He’d told Flower about the evil witches and
warlocks who, hundreds of years ago, used these grounds for their dark rituals
and blood sacrifices, and who, while being tortured and burnt at the stake,
swore a cursed revenge in their afterlife as spirits.
His
torch flickered again. And again.
George had told Flower that the
witches and warlocks could still sometimes be heard, crying out their pained curses
in the middle of the night, casting malevolent spells on those with fear in their
hearts.
Of course, Flower didn’t believe
any of those fictional fables…
The torch died, and Flower came
to a sudden stop, the echo of his footsteps following suit almost immediately. The walls of grey mist were replaced with walls
of blind darkness in an instant. There
was nowhere to go. He couldn’t see
anything in front of him. He shuddered
in the cold. His clothes deepened the icy
feeling on his skin, sodden by the damp air, and goosebumps stalked up his
arms.
The wind crept around him, and
the flora of the gardens whispered secrets to it. Flower’s heart quickened, so did his
breathing. He was alone, hoped he was alone,
in the quiet dark. He began to see the
grey of the mist as his eyes adjusted to the dark; it did little to improve his
vision. He looked at his feet; he could
just about make out the path.
And then, a high-pitched cry in
the distance broke the silence of the night.
The whinny of a horse in the castle stables. Or was it a witch, a warlock, cursing him? Was it a gruesome beast in the hedgerows? Or a wailing maiden?
The silence retuned just as
quickly as it’d been disturbed.
And…
Flower broke in a run, boots thumping
against the stone path, eyes straining in the dark. He ran and he ran and he ran. He could feel it behind him. Something was there, following. It echoed his steps, chased him through the fog. His legs strained to move faster. His heart thrummed hard. He ran.
His lungs struggled. He tried not
to scream, but fearful utterances escaped his lips.
A rock or a branch caught his
foot. He cried out as he fell, his body slammed
into the dewy grass, his face collided with the earth. He was winded and hurt.
He didn’t
move, couldn’t move. He shivered in the
dirt, but not from the cold.
The
pursuing footsteps came to halt, and Flower could sense the presence standing
over him. He could hear it wheeze and
groan; it gurgled a death rattle.
The
supernatural creature was about to pounce.
“Flower?”
came a breathless, yet familiar voice.
Flower twisted
onto his back and looked up into a light that now shone on his prone body.
“You
forgot your keys,” wheezed George the guard, pointing his torch down at the man. He tossed the keys to Flower. “Why did you have to run so fast? Silly bugger.
I could barely keep up.”
The End.
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