Tragedy's Loom

“Is this it?” Austin exclaimed. “I thought there would be more to it than this junk. So much for a mansion, this place sucks.”

Austin kicked one of the small, decorative beams supporting the railing of the stairs, causing it to break off and land at our feet. A slight creaking sound started from the top of the staircase in front of us at the center of the lobby. It grew louder and heavier as it approached us. By the time it had reached the bottom step where we were standing, the sound dissipated.

“Ooh, seems like you’ve angered the spirits that haunt this place,” Merissa said playfully.

The front door exploded open with enough force to rip it off its hinges. It flew over our heads and crashed into the middle of the staircase. In a panic, we ran towards the entryway just to find there was nothing behind it. There was only a black void where our home once was. Another loud crash followed up behind us as the door was thrown further up the stairs, crashing into the door at the top. Before I could react, I was shoved to the ground and dragged to the center of the room between the entryway and the stairs.

What felt like claws dug into my torso as I was slowly dragged up the stairs. Small lacerations formed on my skin through my shirt, adding to the already paralyzing sensation that was coming over me. I glanced in desperation at my friends to see if they were watching what was happening to me. Their eyes were blank, and their faces were pale as the moon. They walked up the staircase like drones, ignoring everything that was happening. An ice-cold, hand-like anomaly wrapped itself around my throat and squeezed. The pressure around my throat intensified until air could no longer fill my lungs or escape. I fought until darkness began to envelop me. As I began fading to black, whatever gripped my throat suddenly let go. I frantically gasped for air, but my lungs were no longer cooperating. I was grabbed again and thrown against the door. I figured trying to catch my breath was no longer a possibility. I had to fight with whatever remaining strength I had left. I was not about to die here, fighting for my life against something I could not see. If I did die, I was going to make sure it would be quick and painless. I felt the ice-cold touch on my neck again. It did not squeeze me. This time the temperature of its anomalous hand rose quickly until it began singeing the hairs on my neck. It lifted me off the ground while my friends stared with empty eyes at the top of the staircase. I was dropped as quickly as I was lifted. Immediately after, I was grabbed by my ankles and thrown up the staircase, each step battering against my body. Several deep wounds appeared all over my body as a wet, red puddle pooled underneath me. Multiple shattered bones poked through the vicious tears in my flesh where there was once skin. The pale, moonlit eyes of my friends turned black, staring through my soul. I was alone in this, and there was nothing I could do about it as I lay there, choking on my own blood. My shattered body refused to endure another round of torturous malice. Like lifeless drones, my friends picked me up slowly by my hands and feet. I was dragged up several steps before being thrown against the wooden door at the top. There was no give. Instead, I was picked up again and rammed headfirst into the door several times before it erupted. Wood splinters crashed down to the floor as I was hauled through the massacred door. The jagged splinters etched crevices into my skin, forming heavier blood trails until I was dropped.

“I can’t believe I’m not dead,” I thought, as the pain of everything became numb.

“Yes, I can’t believe you are alive either, yet you are.”

My vision started fading, but in the distance a chair slowly rotated towards me. In it sat the man from my dreams.

“Welcome home, Ryan. I won’t let you die, not yet, but I will let you continue suffering. For as long as I have power here, I can do as I please.”

All feeling drained from my body rapidly, leaving me in a state of nothingness. Everything was turning white as my blood continued pooling. A euphoric feeling washed over me as I felt my breathing stop, my body relax, and my eyes close, letting death consume what was left.

Is this what death feels like? The light was calming, amazing, beautiful. It won me over.

The euphoric feeling vanished as I awoke in my bed at home. Panic immediately filled the void it left, then everything around me was set ablaze.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? The outside world; your universe, your home, your life. It’s something I’ve always wanted, yet I hate the thought. Watching the world burn is what I always wanted. It’s beautiful. Watching the flames devour everything in their path.” The man paused and gazed away before raising his voice and turning back. “Fire doesn’t care. It doesn’t discriminate. Fire is the ultimate gatekeeper to destruction and death. With it, I can watch my masterpiece light up the sky in its ever-amazing beauty, and solace.”

The man was standing beside my bed. His gaze locked onto mine, trapping me in paralysis.

“I can feel the love in your heart, but is it pure? Do you have any anger or hatred flowing through your veins? Your mother, your beautiful lady friend, and the others. Are you willing to sacrifice everything you have just to protect them? I know I am, but I have no one left to sacrifice. Not anymore.”

“Oh my God! Ryan! Ryan! We need to get out of here right now!” my mother screamed from downstairs. The fire alarm was blaring, drowning out the words my mother was yelling. Frantic rattling of the door handle and her violent thrashing against the frame sent tremors through the house. “Oh god, I can’t get the door open. Ryan! Please come down here, I need you!”

“Your mother will be the first. You love her the most, do you not? Come, let’s go watch.”

I was thrown out of my bed by the being I could not see. I was then hauled to my feet, and my body began moving on its own. Panic morphed into fear and helplessness.

“Ryan! Come help me. We need to hurry and get the door open!”

After being led to the bottom of the stairs, I could see the flames lashing towards the door where my mother was standing, quickly surrounding her in orange and red hatred. There was nothing I could do to save her; my body was no longer mine.

“Ryan, please. Why are you just standing there?” My mother pleaded in a helpless voice.

“Mom, I love you,” I said quietly as the flames crept towards her. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched them engulf my mother, her deafening screams overpowering the fire alarm. Her skin began melting in the blaze, dripping to the floor like wax. The enraging flames exposed her flesh and bone, evaporating any blood spilling through. I watched my mother burn away as the charred remains of her lifeless body crumbled into ash.