literature

Spectre

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My steps were light as I made my way to the abandoned house by the sea.
That morning I had picked out my best summer dress, the white and pink one that hugged by body in all the right places and always smelt faintly of vanilla. The wide skirt swirled playfully around my knees as my feet carried me down the neglected road riddled with pot holes like lunar craters and cracks like dried up veins towards the equally neglected house. Above me the sky was the most startling shade of azure without a single cloud frolicking in its crystal clear depths. That blue, coupled with the gentle breeze carrying the invigorating scent of the sea, filled me with hope as I drew ever nearer to the house. I smiled at the little daises that had braved the tangled meadow and managed to set up shop along the verge. Their shuddering heads sold me courage in ounces as I finally reached the house.
The wind chimes that hung from a rusted nail by the weathered wooden door  tinkled and trembled in the sporadic gusts of sea breeze. The ethereal notes stirred up my heart as I pressed my fingertips to the rough wood of the door and pushed it away from the warped frame in which it stood. I tread lightly across the ancient floorboards that, despite my efforts, creaked and wheezed out archaic secrets of past residents, long dead and returned to earth. Ahead of me, the wide Georgian staircase beckoned me onwards , deeper into the house, closer to him. I peered up its great maw, looking for him. Each step was blanketed with a fine grey dust of time, except for where my previous ventures had worn a path and revealed the deep, dark brown of the original wood.
I was tempted to call his name but decided against it. I feared my voice would betray my anxious excitement and scare him off. Hesitating just a half minute longer, I finally decided to head up the stairs. I draped the fingers of my right hand over the banister and placed my weight onto the first step, it groaned in protest.
Just then a familiar chill crept its way along my skin, raising the hairs along my arms and neck. I took a step back from the staircase and smiled eagerly as the air around me grew colder and a nervous shudder galloped down my spine.

The vapour appeared first, swirling in the air like the smoke of a cancer stick. Then it began to swell and roll around and over itself, churning and twisting into shape and form. It became easier to see, more opaque, though still just barely visible. I raised my arm as it finally began to manifest properly, and a hand emerged from the cloud to greet mine. His fingers brushed against mine, sending the most terrifying and delicious sensation shooting along my arm and through my body until it pooled in my stomach and began to warm. His eyes appeared as he gathered in the edges of his form to float before me as a clearly defined figure. They were bluer then the sky, an icy blue that belonged in the furthest reaches of the most inhospitable places on earth, and stared back at me with a warmth that made my heart swell against my breast. I strained to keep my smile in check, I so wanted to let it split my face in two as it desired to do.
"Hello" I said quietly, my lips trembling lightly and my heart thundering like impala across the savannah. Today I would tell him. Today I would let him know.
He smiled to return my greeting, his pale lips stretching into a perfect line that tugged and curled at the edges. His cold hand wrapped around my wrist and the electric shocks trebled through my body, making my head feel light and dizzy. Tugging at me gently he gestured behind him, towards the belly of the house through a once grand archway.
"I found something…" he said in that voice of his. Faint like the whisper of a butterfly's wings, as soothing as warm honey and as far away from this world as perdition. "I think you'll like it…"
My feet eagerly followed after that voice as he began to float towards the arch. Paint lay in flakes on the floor surrounding it, like snow. My feet scuffed the flakes and disturbed the dust as we passed through, but he left no mark. We emerged on the other side of the opening in a wide corridor with many doors leading off of it. At the far end a tarnished mirror reflected my cheeks, flushed with excitement, life, vitality, as a smudge of colour. He made no image in the spoiled surface.

His form twisting rather suddenly he passed through one of the old doors to the left. I quickened my steps to follow him, but the once shiny brass handle was jammed and the rust scratched at the soft skin of my palm. I felt fear rise in my throat as I struggled with the door, I bit my lip as I willed it to open. Much to my relief, when I pressed my knee against the door it gave, suddenly swinging open, letting me stumble into the room after him. I looked up to see him hovering by an old drawing table. Atop it sat an ornate box that lay askew beneath a pile of old paper. He turned his beautiful head to look over his shoulder at me, a sweet smile again stretching his lips across his perfect, deathly pale face. One vapoury hand raised itself to gesture me forward. I walked closer, my heart renewing its fervent pounding within my chest. It strained against my ribs as I arrived at his side and looked at what he cradled in his hands.
A necklace, I assume it once shone and glittered with the attractive sheen of silver. Now it was dulled and discoloured by time, though the craftsmanship was still undeniably breathtaking. A delicate chain clung to a six pointed star, elegant tendrils of twisted silver spiralled away from the centre of the star like spokes, taking on the appearance of beams of light. Fine engravings of constellations covered the surface of the star, all of them flowing towards the centre where a single, perfectly polished topaz stone lay.
I was lost for words for a moment as he held his hand out towards me, holding the necklace up to me. Finally, I found my voice, though it was muffled by my surprise and caught in the front of my neck. I coughed lightly to clear my throat as I gently stretched out my hand to brush the cool metal.
"It's beautiful." I managed to whisper then.
He nodded in agreement as he stared down at the necklace, his thin lipped smile still in place.
I stared with him, afraid to say anything else to break out silent awe of the forgotten relic. I tried to imagine who it might have belonged to, when she might have worn it, how much she might have loved it, why she might have abandoned it. But my thoughts kept drifting back to what I had promised myself I would tell him. I summoned up the courage the daisies had sold me and--
"Would you like to wear it?" he asked me, stopping my attempt to speak in its tracks. I blinked at him in surprise as his startling eyes glanced up to look into mine. I couldn't answer properly, only nodded at him dumbly. How could just one look throw me completely off kilter…
His cold hands stretched out to circle the silver chain up and around my neck. My eyes closed and my knees began to tremble as the bright sparks shot through to my bones whenever his hands brushed against my skin. My eyes opened to see him leaning in closer to reach behind my head. A chill shot through my body with every breath I took in. His eyes weren't looking at my face, but focused on the task at hand. My chest was starting to hurt. I had to tell him. I had to tell him today.
I had to tell him now. Right n--

"I love you." I blurted out.

His hands froze where his long fingers were about to close the clasp on the ends of the necklace. Somehow, he turned paler. He was almost transparent now. I stared at him, wide eyed, unable even to smile. I was so relieved to have finally said it but I was still deathly afraid of his response. Slowly, he looked up at me, his eyes as wide as mine.
"I…"
Time seemed to freeze between us, like I was lost with him in his void between life and death. I stared into his eyes, his painfully beautiful blue eyes. The eyes I loved. The eyes I wanted to stare into forever. The eyes I wanted to stare back at me forever. I read them and didn't like what I saw. Regret, an apologetic look that seared my heart strings. My teeth began to clench, my eyes began to sting before he even said it.
"I'm sorry."

A dull thump as the necklace slipped from around my neck and plummeted to the ground. I glanced at where it had fallen, two of the metal beams of light bent out of shape at oblique angles. I looked back up quickly only to see him fading in the rolling swells of his own vapour. My hand shot out to stop him. To beg him to change his heart. But all I grasped at was smoke as his final words to me echoed back, his eyes still staring at me from within the last vestiges of his form,
"I'm sorry…"

Then he was gone.
Then I turned,
and I ran.

I ran from the shame and his pity. I ran from the pain and my agony. I ran from the house and down  onto the road. I stumbled and tripped and crashed to my knees. A twinge shot up through my legs and arms before collecting back in my knees and palms. Blood began to seep from the grazes there, grit clung to the wounds. But the pain there was nothing like what was currently wrenching my heart in twain. That pain stunned my senses and pulled my breaths in ragged lumps down my throat, choking me. I slowly staggered to my feet as tears slipped down my face, one after the other. I cradled my hands against my stomach as I began to stagger forward. I saw the daises by the dilapidated roadside, shuddering as they laughed at my pain. I gasped and gasped before I screamed wordlessly at them. I limped past the traitors and their mockery and hurried back down the road towards civilization. I sobbed freely as I bled and hobbled and clutched at the aching pain in my chest that no medicine could heal.

I couldn't think it then, but later I would wonder;  
How did I let a dead man cause me so much pain?
Something I wrote a while ago to vent (It's kinda emo I know :/ )
Throwing it up here before I disappear to study some more. I don't show written stuff very often..I think the last time was... 2008? fffff--
But I hope you like it anyway ^__^''' And I'll see you guys again after my exams! whooo~! I'll try to answer messages between then and now haha~ XD;

oh and my by the way, I got 510/600 for my portfolio for my first choice college. I'm really disappointed (slowly getting over my annoyance with myself) but I did tell you guys I'd tell you. Hopefully I'll still get in! DX


Spectre [c] *minibubble
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Comments9
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Solayun's avatar
Woaah, not only you're a great drawer but a writer too! D8 Loved reading this one, it was sweet, sad, and had this deep feeling to it. The way you use descriptions and imagery is lovely~ You should post written stuff more ;3;

I think that's a lot of points, 510/600 :o Of course I dunno about the colleges but I'm definitely sure you should get in 8c
<33 Strenght and good luck for your exams and stuff ;u;