The Unknown

Without warning, the house begins to shudder with a deep, rising vibration. The room pulses as the floor trembles beneath them. Bubbling violently, the once flat tiles of the kitchen transform, rising into a mass with only the white and grey pattern of the marble from which it comes. Absorbing the room around it, a creature enlarges as it begins to take form. Frozen in fear, Gabriella screams as a glare from its dark liquid eyes stare down towards their infant child. Antoni reaches down swiftly and scoops his daughter from her rocker, yelling for his wife to run! They flee towards the door, rushing anxiously from the kitchen down the hall as they try to escape. But what are they running from? Where did it come from? Why was it looking at Olivia? Whatever it is, it seems to take on the outward skin of any material it touches, transitioning to the mahogany flooring of the hallway as the deep blue persian rug rolls slowly towards them like an ocean swell approaching land. It creeps as if it were intentionally holding back, learning their movements and waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Stalking them with the prowess of a lioness hunting an unsuspecting fawn. Its outer appearance changes from the hardwood floors, to the deep leather skin of the couch as it inches closer. The form ripples through the living room walls adorned with antique family paintings and heirlooms as Antoni slams the oversized doors of the entryway closed behind him. They rush out of the house, desperately piling into their car. Their minds race with fear as they pull away, unsure of where they’re going, just leaving, leaving their home behind, leaving the life that they had built for so long, leaving their dream-world.

Gabriella awakens suddenly, soaked in sweat and gasping to fill her lungs with oxygen. Antoni, roused by the sound of her heavy panting, sits up in their bed. “The dream again?” he asks, rubbing her back softly to console her. She sank her head into his chest and just nodded. “When will it end?” she says, choking back tears as she looks up at him. Antoni wipes her face and carefully removes the necklace from her chest, the only thing they have of her family's past. He holds his wife close, patting dry her damp skin, trying to offer comfort but knowing that it won’t help. They both know nothing will be the same after that day. The day of the first dream that seemed so real. It was real to Gabriella.

Twelve years have passed since that dreadful time, and although they are now halfway around the world living in a remote fishing village with no ties to their previous life, Gabriella still carries with her the sense of unease and discomfort from the past. They hoped that starting a new life so far away would give them some sense of safety again. But there were still so many unanswered questions. There is no closure, no end. It's as if it's not over, like the inevitable lies just around the corner. Gabriella is consumed by worrying thoughts, when she is revived by the sound of a child's laughter. She snaps back to reality and calms herself, watching her daughter, now a curious, energetic thirteen year old, run through the surf with her dog Lilla close on her heels. She buries those paranoid thoughts of the past deep inside and pushes on. She tends to the nets as her husband latches their boat to the makeshift dock and begins to prepare the day's catch for dinner. They don't have much, but it is a peaceful life that they live out on the island. The world was different now. Everything changed that day. The day the world began to live in fear. Fear of the Unknown. Life was much simpler for them now, quiet and poor but, like all survivors, they gladly traded their wealth for a chance to live. For their daughter, for her future.

Waking up early, the family heads down the mountain, taking a dew-covered trail through the fields towards town. Halfway there, Antoni splits off to the docks to see if he could scrounge up work with one of the bigger ships in port, as the girls continue into town. Gabriella, needing to stock up on supplies, lets Olivia run around in a field nearby with Lilla while she continues into the market. There was a heavy feeling in the air as she walked down the street. Things were different today. Normally cheerful and eager to do business, vendors were packing up, rushing customers off as they tried to close their storefronts. The typical stories of before, in lands far off, changed to rumors of new, lurking horrors. Alarming conversations spread all around. With fear in their eyes and despair in their voices, tales of death and destruction passed from one person to the next. Always hearsay, never the first hand recollection of a battered or bloody survivor. People told of the shrieking screams from those never to be heard from again that filled the air as the would-be casualties fled in panic and confusion. Those lucky enough to get away cry warnings to anyone that will listen. An ever-widening frenzy spreads as fear of the Unknown creeps back into the lives of those who still remember. With every encounter recalled, the culprit varies in frightful descriptions. One depicts death all around as abandoned cars throughout the city ran people down at random, no drivers to be seen. Another recalls the overgrown trees in the distance fiercely convulsing as if they were alive. The disturbance moved closer and closer as the cries from inside the dense canopy grew louder and louder. Stories told from shaking voices, uttered in complete horror, shared vague descriptions of the unseen terrors that ravaged the mainland.

Gabriella stops impulsively, seeing a young boy, no more than eight, sulked against an alley wall. Dirty, bruised and shivering, his eyes wondered, focused on nothing in particular. Just sitting there with a blank stare, murmuring to himself. Approaching slowly, with motherly concern, she stoops down to offer some sort of comfort to this poor child. What could have happened to him? How did he get here? Suddenly, he sits up, fixing his dark gaze upon her eyes. His once nervous rocking halted as he rose to his feet in one fluid motion, his stare never leaving hers. His whole being seemed to be leaning towards her, yet remaining as still and rigid as the statues of the past. She stands frozen, as the once incomprehensible sounds of a scared little boy transform into a deep, pointed voice of a man wise beyond his years. The penetrating glare from his onyx black eyes make the world close in around her. She stands paralyzed as he speaks:

Storms arrive and clouds release

Pouring rains that never cease

Thunder clashes, fire streaks

Only one will bring you peace

Souls battered, bruised, torn and bent

As blackened heart that once was lent

Debts are owed, yet still relent

So in this darkness hell is sent

The hour’s nigh, the blood is due

The reaper’s eyes are fixed and true

Just then, a rapid shock coursed through her body as Antoni’s hand latches onto her shoulder. “What are you doing standing here?” he shouts. “We have to get out of here.” She’s stunned as if she’s just woken from a dream, or fallen into one… She’s not sure. Things are in chaos all around them. The earth beneath them quakes, sending the once beautiful displays of handmade products from the market tables to the ground as they are remorselessly trampled by people running in every direction. Pushing one another, they vie for position moving through the streets, trying to get away. “Where did the boy go?” she asks, looking frantically through the mob of people surrounding them. “What boy? Gab, we have to go. Now!” Antonio grabs her hand and leads her away. With Olivia and Lilla in tow, they rush through the market crowd. The sky quickly darkens overhead as ominous clouds converge swiftly. Heavy rains pour down as they fight to make their way to safety. “It’s here. It followed us. Somehow, all these years later, it’s back! We have to get out of here.” Gabriella knows what he’s talking about. She knows what's here. She always knew it was coming. Coming for her.

The town is in chaos as screams echo through the streets. “Don’t look back,” Antoni yells to Olivia “just keep running. We have to go!” It was as if an unseen wave of energy was plowing down the street towards them. They flee back through town towards their mountain home dodging the panes of glass exploding from the windows all around as the destruction closes its distance. Evading the wreckage, Gabriella tries to tell him of the boy “He came out of nowhere..” she said, catching her breath. “Those eyes! I can’t get them out of my head.” Antoni pressed forward with the crowd, dragging his family close behind. “What boy? We don’t have time for this” he said, brushing her words aside. “Come, we must keep moving!” Gabriella feeling weak, filled with the dizziness of fear, pulls back her arm and leans against the wall for support. “Gabriella!! What are you doing? We have to go!” he demands. She looks at him with frightened eyes, “It has come for what it's due. The heart. We must protect the locket and save Olivia.” she said with a sincere and commanding tone.

The ground shook suddenly, echoing a thunderous crack as lightning violently cut through the dark skies above. Buildings began to break apart and crumble, shooting debris into the streets as the wind churned the town into a thick cloud of carnage and confusion. Antoni grabs his family by the hands and turns to flee. Just then, Olivia let out a piercing scream… “MOTHER!!!!” Antoni swings around in response as he feels her grip go limp in his. “Gab…” his words fall off as their eyes meet for what they know will be their last moments together. Gabriella lies clinging to life, pierced through her chest with the rusty metal rebar spikes that once intertwined the concrete chunks of wall that now lay heavy on her bloody body. Olivia rushes to embrace her mother, tears pouring down her cheeks. The world continues to crumble all around them and Antoni knew what he had to do. With a heavy heart he kneels down close, holding his wife cheek in cheek for the last time. With her remaining strength, she stretches her hand out towards his chest. Her arm falls limp as life continues to flee from her body. Her fingers slowly open revealing the heart-shaped locket from her necklace. Antoni gently lifts his young daughter from the limp grasp of her dying mother. The love of his life lying helpless, gasping her last breaths of air. Weeping and wet with blood and tears, he kisses her lifeless lips one last time. He rises and hands the locket to Gabriella, telling her to keep it safe as he holds her tightly in his arms. She watches over her father’s shoulder as he carries her farther away from her dying mother. Fading from life, fading from sight. “Momma!!” she cries out in heart-broken anguish. “I know dear. You will see her again one day” Antoni tries to assure “but we must keep moving. I must get you to safety.”

He turns and runs once more, just as he did on that fateful day twelve years ago. He runs from the Unknown. To the unknown. Wiping the tears from his eyes as he tries to focus on the path ahead. It’s not a dream. He must keep moving. He must keep his daughter safe.