The Door of Flesh
A Short Horror Story
Part of the 'Society of Guardians' Series
By Luke M. Charles
Copyright 2016
Chapter 1
Festering on my left cheek is a curse, placed upon me by a brood of witches. I failed to stop their ritual and now they've imprisoned me in my own apartment.
Embracing everything is a deeply unsettling presence of evil, rattling my nerves like quiet rumblings of a deadly storm getting closer. Shadows reach for me just on the edge of my vision. Heat emanates from my floor, getting hotter as the day grows long. Soon it will be like an oven in here, baking me like the main course in a feast for this approaching evil to consume.
I don't know what they want from me. Who am I to them? I didn't even know they existed, at least I don't think I did. The memories of this past year are scattered and disjointed. Broken into so many pieces they're barely distinguishable as either my own or something created to confuse me.
I'm writing this hoping that it will help me recover any crucial lost memory. Anyone who finds these pages will know my story, and know my fate, whatever that may be.
The curse has something to do with this black dot on my face, appearing around a month ago. My thoughts are fuzzy with the exact date. Hardly noticeable at first, but still there, right in the middle of my left cheek. All I know about the black dot is that it is evil and it is growing. Not merely black either, it is an unnatural shade of dark, something that destroys any light cast upon it. Gazing at it for mere moments turns my stomach, racks my bones and twists my face. Covering it with a small band aid has prevented accidental glances.
Going to the doctor proved futile, telling me there's nothing to worry about, that it was just a freckle, a tiny harmless dot. He dismissed me as a hypochondriac and ignored my claims of malaise and the twisting sensation.
What does he know? He refused to listen to me, let alone help me. But maybe no one can help me and I'm forced to struggle alone against these dark forces. I must figure out what it is and how to get rid of it if I am to survive.
Chapter 2
I'll start at the beginning with what I can remember.
Weeks before any of this, but after the black dot appeared, I struggled to sleep. Feeling like I was under constant surveillance from a malevolent spirit, I couldn't get into a comfortable position no matter which side of the bed I took.
Getting up, I wandered into my kitchen in search for something to drink. Flowing across my floor was a dark smoke that I thought at first was from a fire, but the smoke felt cool like mist and it had no smell. Stepping into my living room to investigate the source, I heard the muffled sounds of drums beating and women chanting just beneath the floor.
Leaning in closer to the spot where the smoke billowed from, a freezing wind blew across my shoulders which penetrated past my skin and dug down into my bones. My blood veins turned into icicles that pierced through my body and stabbed me when I struggled to move.
Standing there frozen in place, I felt an invisible molten liquid drip over me, searing my body in places. A drop hit my cheek and shattered the bone on impact, causing my jaw to unhinge and droop down. The molten continued to drizzle over the rest of my body and my flesh oozed to the floor. Refusing to burn, my body instead melted like a pile of clay under a hot lamp. In the corner of my eye I saw the black dot open up and fill with a darkness that spiraled into oblivion.
Violently shaking near my feet, the wood boards awoke from their slumber and curled open, creating a hole in my floor that was filled with the dark smoke. Floating upwards, a dark figure wearing a ragged black cloak rose above me. Stretching his bony arms towards me, he held a scimitar in one hand and an amulet in the other. Holding the amulet up to my face, close to the black hole, my soul pulled towards it like some dark magnet beckoning me closer. But it called for something else, something far deeper inside.
Reaching out through the hole in my cheek, a hand, old, gray and wretched, with fingernails long and pointy, clenched the amulet and pulled it back into the abyss. Pressing the scimitar against my forehead, the cloaked figure looked down at me and studied my agonizing torture with his sunken, pale eyes.
I woke up in my bed with a cold sweat and a terrible sense of dread. All the anguish and pain disappeared like a dream half remembered.
Nothing much happened the following days besides a strange heat rising up from my floor. Going to the apartment below mine, I went to ask my neighbors if they had their heater turned up too high. The neighbor directly below me turned out to be an older woman who lived alone but was surrounded by so many black cats – around a dozen or so. Her sisters in disguise.
Looking at me with those dark eyes surrounded by wrinkled skin, she denied having anything to do with the heat. I thanked her for her time and left. Walking away from her apartment, I felt her eyes watching me through her peep hole. She probably put a hex on me that moment.
How little I knew about all this then. I could have probably did something sooner, but I remained willfully ignorant.
Chapter 3
The knocking! The knocking just happened again. There were only five knocks, but they nearly crippled me. The pain, in my head, the pounding, pulsating pressure, like some wild animal trying to escape by bursting through my skull. The whole room shook and I fell to the floor, landing on my shoulder. But it finally stopped, as sudden as it started, and I'm finally breathing again without pain. Everything in my apartment has become quiet. Though this has happened a few times before, it's never been as violent.
Like a fist rapping upon a large wooden door. The first time this happened I thought someone was at my actual door, but no one was there, maybe some kids pranking me I had thought. But then it happened again and again, always just around the corner or in the other room. This time it was right on top of me, right over my head like something was going to come through the ceiling.
I should finish my story before this curse destroys me.
About a week after the nightmare I had another horrible vision. I was at work like usual and everything seemed normal, as far as I could tell. When I arrived, the security guard at the front entrance had his attention on the photocopy machine, something to do with a paper jam. Lifting his hand up, he waved me by. I signed in and took the elevator up.
Sitting down at my desk, a pile of paperwork greeted me, something that my manager had just dropped off. He pushed away his little cart containing other stacks of paperwork for the rest of the office.
Across from me was Jenifer's desk, empty and unused. She was out because of a car accident. I don't know why, but my mind is most broken around her. Just her name elicits confusion and dizziness.
Looking over the paperwork of invoices and project sheets on my desk, I overheard some coworkers nearby talking about Jenifer's wreck. That she was standing at the corner to her apartment building when a car careened off the road and ran on top of her. Their words about her nauseated me, turning into incoherent garbled static in my ears. With the world spinning around me, I left my desk and bolted to the restroom.
The florescent light flickered above me revealing an empty restroom. Catching my eye was my reflection in the mirror. The band aid that covered the black dot on my face was gone. Drawn in by the black dot's darkness, I got closer to the mirror, peering into it. Tightening my face with pain, the black dot began to grow. My stomach cramped up and I bent over in agony, leaning up against the sink for support, but I couldn't stop looking at that mesmerizing darkness. Something was coming out of it, something small and hard. I cried out in anguish and my body quivered. Appearing at the edge was a white speck which continued to push out. Buckling at my knees, I gripped tightly around the sink and held myself up.
The object finally pushed out of my cheek, a small white knight chess piece. Falling into the sink, the piece landed onto a new born baby covered in blood and wrapped in blood soaked sheets. Breathless at the horrific sight, I wanted to reach down and take the baby into my arms, but my hands hesitated, shaking helplessly against the porcelain sink. The baby's cries echoed off the walls, filling the whole room. It cried out for protection, for it's parent's love.
I reached down and grabbed the helpless baby swaddled in the bloody rags, but it vanished in my arms. I held my own empty shirt, sopping wet from the water in the sink.
Gasping for air, I finally accepted the fact that something was terribly wrong with me. I set out to find answers.
Chapter 4
I took a week off work, citing a family emergency. The vision of the baby at work haunted me. Was I going crazy? Who can I tell any of this to? I remember spotting something at the witch's apartment when I talked to her, a certain symbol on the ceiling in her living room. I didn't want to ask about it at the time, because I didn't want to appear rude. How foolish of me.
It took me many days of looking, but I finally found a book on the subject. I've included photocopies of the relevant page with these writings, which details a ritual of binding, using the symbol I saw. It keeps a target at one location, like putting them into a box, but the walls to this box are invisible and guarded by forces keeping anyone trapped from escaping. Unfortunately, it didn't give any descriptions beyond this and there wasn't anything about the black dot, which is what I'm most concerned about.
While searching the internet for answers, I came across a group in a forum that seemed to have some knowledge about my situation but they all dodged my most important questions, except for one of them. This one said he would rather meet me in person than to discuss such delicate matters over the internet. Hesitant at first, I soon realized I had no other options and accepted the invitation. We decided to meet each other at the wharf during the evening. I believed that meeting in a public place with lots of people would make it safer.
There was a festival that night and the wharf had separate stages laid out for the different bands and performers. Occupying the spaces in between were carnival booths with a myriad of food, games, and alcohol; a reveler's paradise. Couples, families, and just people hanging out with their friends crowded the area, huddling around the stands. Street performers twirled around in costumes with their tip jars laid out before them, accepting donations from generous bystanders. The open area in front of the large main stage had became a makeshift dance floor for couples young and old. Electric Tiki torches were set up around the perimeter in addition to the normal street lamps.
Arriving earlier than planned, I had a beer and quietly took in all the sounds and colors, which soothed me because this is what normal felt like, what it sounded and looked like, opposite of what I've been experiencing. I wanted answers most of all, but being surrounded by so many people having fun melted away the clinging anxiety. Relaxation and peace overtook me, calming my nerves to where I almost forgot what I was doing there. Then I saw her.
Jenifer stood at the far end of the wharf, back near the edge of the crowd. She didn't dance or talk with anyone, but just stood there watching. I hadn't seen her in so long and I thought she was in the hospital, but there she was, perfectly visible to me among hundreds of others. My spine tingled and my face ached as if I was about to have another vision like at the office.
The music turned to noise and put me into a delirious state. I had to get away from the crowd, so I headed towards Jenifer. The beating drums got louder and faster. Someone let out a spirited cry and another blasted a tune from a horn. My heart pounded as I rushed past the throngs of people and finally came to the corner of the game booth where she had stood. Rounding it, I left the bright colors, lights, and sounds.
Chapter 5
The chilled, dry air in the darkened alley absorbed the sweat on my forehead. Looking around for any signs of Jennifer, I called out for her, but she wasn't there.
Lunging in front of me, a creature large and tall, knocked me off my feet and into a nearby metal trash bin. Rolling on my stomach, I quickly lifted myself off the ground and faced the beast.
Standing tall and muscular, he had a horse's head and a human body completely covered in short white fur. His two ivory hooves, which faded to a coal black at their bottom, clacked on the ground as he moved. Breathing out the chilled air, a pillar of steam rose from the beast's flared nostrils. Focusing me with his big black eyes, he pulled his lips back and revealed sharp, jagged teeth.
“So this is where you've been, having fun?” He neighed, taunting me.
“What the hell are you?” I then remembered the knight chess piece falling out of my cheek at the office. “No, it can't be.”
“I am the first to cross over.” He snarled. “The emissary to my dark master. I will secure the way for his glorious rebirth.”
“What do you mean, what rebirth?”
“Enough!” The creature clenched his fists and grated his teeth. “There will be no answers for the damned.”
Charging at me with unnatural speed, I tried to leap out of the way but the horseman shoved me into the brick wall of the alley and I fell to the ground.
“Humans.” He grunted while pacing. “Weak as you've always been.”
Lying on the ground next to me was a metal pipe. Taking it, I stood up and lifted it in front of me.
“You still can't accept when you've lost.” The beast laughed with a deep rumble I could feel between my teeth. “Maybe after I've broken your arms and legs, then you'll be ready to serve.”
Raising my weapon, I prepared to swing, but voices leaped out of the shadows surrounding us. The creature hesitated and looked around in fear. Appearing out of the darkness, about a half dozen figures dressed in dark blue robes walked towards the horseman and chanted in unison.
“Get away from me you wretched worms!” He yelled at them. “You will not keep me from my prize.”
They didn't respond and kept getting closer, still chanting.
The horseman dove into the group and swung his fists at them but they dodged his blows, as each one of the robed figures was nimble and agile. They held short metal rods and struck him with them.
While they were busy with the beast, I fled the wharf, ditching my contact, if he existed at all. I wanted answers one way or another and where better to go than the source?
I wanted to fight back but I didn't know what to expect, so I went to the hardware store and gathered hammers, picks, hatchets, and rope.
Standing outside the witch's apartment, I peered down at my open bag filled with the assortment of weapons, but nervousness set in. I had to do this, it was the only way I could think of. This evil had to end.
Stuffing a smaller icepick into my inner jacket pocket, I lined the rest of my pockets with everything else. I held a pick axe in one hand and a hammer in the other.
I kicked open the door.
Chapter 6
Houseplants lied on the floor along the walls. Everything was quiet and motionless. No traces of the cats existed; no food dishes, no litter box, no toys, not even cat hair.
I found her standing in the kitchen no longer old and wretched. She was young, tall and slender with long, curly blonde hair. Her dark blue dress stopped at her ankles. I only recognized her as the witch because of those dark eyes she used to gaze upon me.
“This is how I truly am.” She answered the question that was on my tongue. “The old woman you saw earlier was a disguise. I had to because of your curse.”
“The curse you put on me.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You don't remember. That's expected.”
“Where are your cats?”
“You saw them as cats.” She smiled as her eyes examined the hammer and pick axe in my hands. “But they were not cats, they were my sisters also disguised and now they are away, preparing for the ritual
of binding.”
“What about that creature, with a horse's head? You sent it to kill me.”
“He is part of the curse.” She replied. “And the curse is of your own making.”
Her words frustrated me. They were lies. I couldn't allow myself to fall for this deception and my hands shook with anger.
“What are you doing to me?” I raised the hammer and pick axe and lunged at her. Swinging the hammer, I was about to land a fatal blow right between her eyes, but I hit only air. Coming up behind me, the witch sunk her claws into my back and paralyzed me. The weapons dropped from my hands and fell to the floor.
“I'm trying to save you.” She whispered in my ear.
The pain in my back spread to the rest of my body like tentacles twisting inside my limbs. Engulfing me was a bright light that burned the darkness latching onto me like a parasite, but it also burned my skin which blistered and peeled away. My muscles were left exposed, boiling out hot, molten blood, but they quickly turned to a charred black in the blazing heat. All of it fell away as ash, leaving behind only my white dry bones, clattering in the hot wind.
My eyes opened, revealing that I was in the witch's apartment and my body still intact. She stood over me as I lied bound with a heavy rope, the one that I bought from the hardware store, to an old wooden table. She stood at a podium with an open book on top of it. The book's paper was darkened with age and it's edges frayed from use.
“Thank you for bringing the rope, that was quite helpful.” She mocked me with a smirk. Then her countenance shifted and became serious as she flipped a page. “My sisters disagreed with me, so I'm doing this alone.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“No. Please, try to remember.” She mixed ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. “Did someone come to you with a soothing voice speaking sweet lies, offering you something you couldn't refuse?” She came over to me and rubbed a cool salve into my cheek, around the black dot.
The Door of Flesh Page 1
