Nocturnal

by David Paul

  “Black forces that rule the night, I call upon you to destroy the light. I have given tribute to all that you ask, and I call upon thee to complete my task. I summon thee to grant all that which I desire and to be born again…baptized in eternal hellfire.”

  Zurelda’s voice carried triumphantly into the night and echoed throughout the mountainside.

  It was safe to say that I had to make this quick. The dark ceremony had definitely begun, and I could see that things were happening. Full-scale war with a bloodthirsty witch on her home soil wasn’t the wisest of ideas. If she completed her spell, then I’d surely be in a world of hurt. My actions needed to be swift and precise. Fearing the completion of her spell, I took action.

  Determined to put an end to this, I took out my bow and notched a hunting-tipped arrow. The bow was drawn back tightly, and I eyed the foot-sized glowing prism. She wouldn’t be able to complete the invocation spell if the prism was shattered into bits.

  With haste, I loosed the arrow, and it whizzed past the prism and found a home buried deep in Zurelda’s left side. The witch let out a deafening guttural moan. She stopped speaking, and the vortex of light and smoke raged out of control like giant colored snakes fighting in a weightless dark void. She looked around disoriented for a moment. A look of anger suddenly came over her face.

  Quickly, I notched another arrow and drew back the drawstring. Holding my breath, I zoned in on the enchanted prism and prayed to the good Lord to make my aim true. This arrow had to find its target. The arrow let go smoothly and sped to its intended destination. The prism exploded into thousands of tiny shards of crystal, and it sounded like a stick of dynamite went off in the crater. Zurelda was thrown back violently, and she skidded across the smooth floor and out of the circled pentagram.

  The blast echoed from the mountain and into the dark valley. My ears rang, but I rushed Zurelda while she was down. Half of her grotesque face was ripped off, and shredded gray skin hung from her cheek exposing a battered jawbone. The better half of her gore-ridden face was filled with shrapnel from the crystal shards embedded into her skin. Blood seemed to find its way out of every pore on her homely face.

  What a grizzly sight. She attempted to speak to me on her hands and knees, and she choked on her own blood. I wanted to ask her where Katerina was, but I would have never gotten a coherent answer from her. After seeing her pathetic face, I started to think about what this evil bitch had done to Katerina and my family…and the priests in the chapel…the poor boy Vito.

  “You,” the witch said barely. It was all she could manage to say.

  The fury inside me multiplied until I exploded.

  Dark rage overtook me, and I stomped her face repeatedly. She kept laughing at me, trying to speak as I whaled on her, but she was unable to rise up past her knees. The wormwood staff was in my reach, so I cracked her in the face with it mercilessly. The impact against her head made sickening thudding sounds. Over and over again, I swung on the evil bitch. She still laughed at me almost indifferent to my attacks.

  The bloody staff jingled and continued its chiming with each blow. The harder I swung at her, the harder she bellowed and spewed blood. Even swinging the staff like an axe could not end her taunts. This almost discouraged me to the point that I abandoned the staff. Zurelda just wouldn’t shut up with her incoherent gurgling and blood-filled chatter.

  For the first time in my life, I felt the urge to kill. The pure, unadulterated drive to murder had taken over. No second thoughts plagued me. No guilt weighted me down. I hit her with all I had, and she bled even more. She kept laughing wickedly. The beating went on for quite some time. The pain I felt inside had turned to unrelenting anger, and she was the recipient of it.

  I was ashamed to say that every drop of blood spilled brought tears of joy to my eyes. Her bones crushed under my hands and feet until her face was unrecognizable. My knuckles were raw and torn, and I was spattered in her unholy blood. Still, she cackled gurgling laughter at me. Even as a disfigured bloody mess, she taunted me endlessly.

  Now, her haunting perseverance fueled my rage. I snatched up the witch by her dirty blood-soaked hair, so she could see my face. Lastly, I wanted her to take the vision of my face into Hell for all eternity. With one fierce swipe of the hand axe, one more demon fell under its blade. I earned another notch on the weapon. Saint Michael would have been proud. I held her severed head in my hand hanging by her hair savoring revenge.

  Finally, I came to my senses and threw the decapitated head into one of the still burning fire pans. The familiar smell of ragged burning hair billowed out of the fire pan.

  From the flames, the head spoke to me through telepathy. I was aghast. “You are far too late boy. You are a fucking fool…her flesh will rot, as will yours…see you in Hell.” Her words faded away. The evil Zurelda was no more. I left her gross body for the vultures to pick away at. It was a death befitting of a fiend.

  All of the lights and theatrics ceased with her death. There was silence once again in the Black Forest. It appeared as if I had stopped the completion of her evil spell. Up close, I could see some of the vile ingredients that she was using. Straight out of a voodoo cookbook, these forbidden components were disgusting. Blood, chicken heads, and more filth littered the stone altar. Strange herbs with even more bizarre odors were arranged in different areas. I thought I saw human hearts on the altar.

  An ancient dark tome of evil incantations also sat atop the altar. The book was bound with a vile and unknown material that resembled aged human skin. It had definitely come from another much darker time. I burned it before it fell into someone else’s hands. I didn’t want to invite any other evil forces into my life, so I never read one word from the book. The black book burned in the nighttime. The dark secrets held between those pages went up in puffs of heavy smoke.

  I looked around, but there was still no sign of Katerina anywhere. I prayed that none of the hearts were Katerina’s, and I needed to find her fast. Off to the right, a beat down cottage built into the side of the mountain sat. I never even noticed the cottage because I was preoccupied with Zurelda. With the glowing crystal around my neck, I went to look inside the creepy abode.

  The heavy wooden door creaked with the menacing grind of battered un-oiled hinges full of rust. I entered the cottage cautiously. The pungent smell of death lingered within the cottage. The inside of the filthy cottage made me feel disgusting. An earthen floor was covered with weeds and dead grass. Dozens of flies and moths buzzed around randomly in the stale smelly air of her home. It seemed like all of the insects from the entire forest took shelter in her cottage.

  Numerous books of black magic sat on a makeshift bookshelf of shoddy wood. Primitive glass jars were strewn about. Each one was filled with awful ingredients. A weathered table was covered in writhing maggots. A still burning brick oven heated a small cauldron filled with some kind of human or animal remains. I poked around the cauldron with a crusty wooden spoon, only to find more disturbing ingredients.

  The bloody mixture had a half-eaten human heart still simmering in it. I had never seen a human heart before, but somehow, I knew what it was. Taken aback by what I saw, I jumped rearward and banged into a moldy cupboard behind me. Some random items fell down and scattered about. Beyond the cabinet doors were even more sinister disturbing ingredients. I didn’t know if they were for food or for spell casting. This wasn’t Rachael Ray’s kitchen in the least bit, and I tried to forget what I saw. Every nook in this rundown shithole probably had its own horrific tale to be told.

  A faint glimmer caught my eye on the table, and I noticed a bloodied ring. Upon further inspection, I realized it was Katerina’s engagement ring. Semi-dried blood filled the inscription, and Bound by Love read in dark crimson. It was her beautiful ring, but I was unsure if it was her blood. It couldn’t be. Tears welled in my eyes, but none fell.

  Grief set in.

  An awful feeling came over me because she was nowhere to be found. I wouldn’t give up until I found
her, but I was really starting to think that my love was dead. Emotion began to come over me, and I choked back tears of despair just thinking about if she was gone. Anger took over once again, and my feelings of sadness were diluted. I refused to believe that Katerina was dead. Maybe I was just in denial, but I needed to know for sure.

  I put her engagement ring in my boot for safekeeping. My mind twisted and raced with conflicting emotions. In a panic, I quickly scoured the cottage for any additional clues at all that could lead me to Katerina. My search came up empty-handed. All that I found was more blasphemous tidbits that the witch left behind. Feelings of desperation took a hold of me as I exited the nauseating home of the slain witch.

  The night was not over with the brilliant eerie glow of the moon above me. This couldn’t be the end of my sweet Katerina. Another trail leading from the cottage descended down the mountain away from the crater. No other visible paths led anywhere else. Traveling further up the mountain looked impossible because the smooth granite face wouldn’t allow a foothold. I followed the path spiraling downwards into the unknown. A force within me pulled me to that path.

  After about a half an hour of walking the dark path, I came upon something growling in the darkness. Vaguely, I was able to make out a large four-legged creature several yards away. A huge black wolf with its back towards me hunched down at something in front of it. I tried to get closer. The wolf appeared to be eating. It turned and locked glowing red eyes on me, and I noticed that it was Katerina at the menacing wolfs feet. Déjà-vu hit me again as I recalled my terrible dream. I have seen this beast before. I have seen those evil red eyes before. Those visions will forever haunt me. This same beast stalked me earlier.

  The wolf began to growl a deep authoritative tone. Its eyes showed no fear, and its teeth were large and bared. Without thought, I burst into a sprint and expected a difficult, if not deadly fight with the wolf. The black wolf ran away into the night frightened. The brilliant light of the glowing crystal probably scared it off.

  “Katerina!” I screamed.

  She gave me no response. Quickly, I dropped to my knees. Katerina wasn’t moving, and she had no pulse at all. Soon, I realized why. A deep bloody spot in the center of her chest on her blouse beckoned me to examine it. As I lifted away the blouse, I saw that she had no heart. Just an empty bloody cavern in her chest, but no heart was there. After the shock wore off, I burst into tears. Her body was still, and I picked her up into my arms. Katerina’s unique scent was still on her skin, but her life was taken from her. Like a madman, I cried my heart out freely.

  The mystery was finally over, and I found my love. It was too late. A huge part of my soul died on that mountain that night. For a moment, I cursed God himself for allowing this to happen. I had dedicated my life to God and lived as a righteous man. And this was my reward? I held her tightly and cried uncontrollably. If I had given my allegiance to the Devil, would I have suffered a worse fate? Crazy thoughts echoed in my head. Heretic thoughts overtook me.

  Every heartbreaking event that transpired in my life, I had chalked up to God’s will, but never questioned it. There was always a sense of greater purpose and a higher power that I always convinced myself to see in the past. This was the event that broke me down. I was having a crisis of faith. Nothing that I once believed made sense anymore. How could God allow such evil to freely walk the Earth? In all of his omnipotence, how could this happen? Did he cast the renegade angel Lucifer out of heaven to wreak havoc on the living?

  I strongly questioned my faith with the still beautiful, but dead Katerina in my grasp. I had given into the pain and allowed it to warp my now fragile mind. The wicked tears stung my eyes as I renounced my faith and cursed the Heavens above in utter rage. The ranting of a lunatic rang out through the silent air. Every creature, both living and dead, heard my screams. I had lost my love and my sanity. What a cursed life I had lived.

  Fiona hasn’t stopped weeping. She feels David’s pain. She never had the pleasure of knowing him as a human, and his story is a morbid tearjerker.

  Every source of pleasure and enjoyment had been stripped from me. All that I loved is gone. I cried to the heavens and asked to be taken from this world. The full summer moon became a blood moon, and crimson waves briefly painted the once white canvas red. It seemed as if the heavens had heard my request and obliged me. Waiting to be stricken down by God himself, I narcissistically prayed for death as if I had the power to control it.

  Once again, I felt the weight of a heavy stare as I turned around to see the black wolf behind me just looking at me motionless. It crept up on me while I was in the middle of the meltdown. The glowing red eyes lacked any emotion. The hardened eyes of a keen predator were upon me. Years of instinct and fearlessness made for an intimidating gaze.

  Once again, the anger brewed inside me, and I wanted to punish the animal for defiling my fallen Katerina. In my dementia, I honestly think I would have taken out my aggression on anything or anyone. The human mind could only take so much before melting down and giving into sinful devilish impulses.

  After tonight, I did not care if I was alive or dead. All I wanted was to do was inflict pain upon something to ease my own pain. I gazed into those chilling red eyes, and the wolf began to transform into something else. Those eyes changed from red to the fearsome yellow of the wolf. With my mind battered, I wasn’t sure of what happened.

  Before my eyes, I watched the physical form of the she-devil that raped me in my dream. It was Regina in the flesh, and she was even more appealing and frightening then what I had dreamed. She had used her shape shifting power to make herself appear as the wolf. Without a second’s hesitation, I swung the hand axe for Regina’s head. With lightning reflexes, Regina grabbed me by the wrist and caught my attack inches before I could inflict a wound on her.

  “You are going to have to do better than that,” she said. She laughed and nonchalantly snapped my wrist as if it were a bread-stick.

  The hand axe fell to the ground, and my hand hung limp. In disbelief, I reached for my crucifix with my left hand and put it in front of her face in a pathetic attempt to banish her. Regina grabbed the crucifix, and it burned the skin on her hands. An audible sizzling sound was evident. She crushed the oaken crucifix into tiny splinters like it was made from balsa wood.

  I stood there stunned and awaited the death that I had prayed for earlier during my meltdown. Regina grabbed a hold of my left hand with a vise-like grip. She squeezed it until I heard the bones crack in multiple places.

  “Did you think that was any better?” She asked. Her demeanor oozed wickedness. “You have to believe in that nonsense for it to work on me. I figured, after our little bedroom rendezvous that you would be sweet on me.” She smiled.

  I was outmatched, but not done fighting. Mustering up the courage, I tried to kick her, but found myself in a choke-hold, held high above her head as she lifted me off the ground. All I could do was flail uselessly in agonizing pain. Regina flung me to the ground, just as I thought my last breath would have escaped from my lungs. Struggling for air, I dreamed of ways to maim her. My hatred for Regina grew, and she saw the wicked eyes that I shot at her. Regina threatened me in a playful, but serious manner.

  “Come on sweetie, lighten up. I’m being so nice to you, my little pet.” She paused. Regina just stared at me. “I could rip off your balls and then feed them to you if that is what you prefer.” I was unable to respond, but she knew what I was thinking. “But why do that when we can have so much fun?” She asked. The vampire continued to speak in lieu of my lack of a verbal response. It seemed as if she would have continued her words regardless of whether I retorted or not. “You and I are going to have so much fun together, Davide.”

  I had nothing to say as I struggled on my elbows and knees in an attempt to stand up. My wrist was bleeding severely with the fractured bone stabbed through the surrounding skin. My other hand was all but pulverized. The rage inside my mind still hadn’t died down, but my body was battered
.

  “Wow, we have a feisty one here,” she said. “Anyone else would have given up by now.” It seemed as if she pretended to admire my determination.

  I was able to stand up again, and Regina quickly knocked me back down with a crushing blow to the chest that took the wind out of my lungs. After a few minutes, I caught my lost breath. She stood above me like an invincible tormentor. Struggling again to stand erect, I made it to my feet once again. With a swift backhand, Regina had knocked me off my feet again. My refusal to quit amused her greatly. My lips bled profusely, and it dripped down my face and neck. Regina had the strength of at least ten healthy men.

  She licked my blood off of her hand and smiled.

  “I tasted Katerina’s sweet virgin blood,” she said, “but it didn’t taste as delicious as yours.” Once again, I didn’t respond. “I watched Zurelda eat her heart as I drank her pure blood from a chalice.” The fire inside me burned hotter. “But don’t worry, we had our way with her before she died…I didn’t want her to die a virgin.” She gloated and egged me on as she reached down and scooped more blood from my wounds for her to taste.

  The horrible thoughts of what went on and what they did to my Katerina raced through my mind. For the love of all that is holy, I never had seen such evil and never had I been a victim of so much evil. At least I saved Tomassino’s soul, but I felt my own soul was doomed. Once again, I had gotten to my feet and ran at her in a feeble attempt to harm this vampire.

  “Oh Davide, you really entertain me with your pathetic efforts,” she said. She struck me once more in the side and tore off my protective amulet as I dropped. This ripped open the skin around my neck. Regina looked at the amulet as if she was amused before she tossed it into the darkness. Regina grinned like a soulless psychopath. “You are mine forever. Wait until I show you what real pleasure is. The pleasures of the flesh will drive you mad.”