Eternal Night

The coldness washed around me, and I felt colder than the surrounding air. I glanced down at the grass. It was pretty green for a place filled with so much death. The gray, moss-covered stones scattered around the cemetery. The tombstones stuck out of the ground like crooked teeth.

Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks and felt the air escape from my lungs. I heard a distant echo of childlike voices that sounded like they were saying my name. Veronica… Veronica… Veronica… Where were those coming from? As I moved forward, it seemed as if the voices got louder. I felt as if I was being pushed in the direction of the voices. As they grew louder and louder they seemed to warp and begin to say something else. Paper flowers… paper flowers…

I was pulled into a memory. I sat at the table with my mom, making paper flowers. It was one of our favorite things to do when I was little; it always seemed to calm both of us down. We both perked up when the we heard the front door open. My father came home unusually late again. I knew what he was doing, but I couldn’t bear to tell her, she would be heartbroken. She got up from the table to greet him. I continued to make more flowers, conflicted on whether or not to intervene. Should I go down there? I thought. Maybe not. It’s their problem, not mine.

“Hi honey,” she said, leaning into him for a hug. “Where were yo—” She jerked away. Her expression changed almost instantly. “Ben, would you like to tell me why you smell like cheap perfume, once again?”

Dammit Dad, I thought. He hadn’t been so careful this time. He had been sleeping with some young girl, cheating on my mom. They’d been down this road before, this wasn’t the first time she caught him with someone else. I honestly thought he was over this, but I guess not.

“I can’t believe you’d do this again! How could I have been so dumb?!” she yelled.

“You’re insane,” he said, casually brushing her confrontation off.

“Don’t call me crazy,” she said defensively.

“You always do this, Liz. You always make such a big deal out of nothing! Why can’t you just leave it for once?” His heavy feet made their way to the kitchen and hers followed.

“You know what, you should be grateful I’m even here! I take care of you, our daughter. When’s the last time you and her even spent quality time together? When’s the last time you did anything for me?”

My father sighed in frustration.

“Alright, alright fine! Yes, you caught me. I needed a break from you and all your bullshit.”

Why are they like this? I thought. I decided I should finally go and try to get them to shut the hell up.

“Guys, can you please stop you’re being really—” The knife fell with a loud clank and blood splattered onto the floor. Some of blood even made its way to the table, staining the white flowers I’d been working on just moments before.

I stood at the doorway, appalled. What the fuck did I just witness? I ran over to where my dad’s lifeless body laid. I knelt down by him, staring at him, wishing this wasn’t real. Tears began to well up in my eyes. I let out a small gasp and threw my hand over my mouth, muffling the inhuman sounds that came out. My heart rate sped up and I felt cold but hot at the same time. The blood eased its way down his light colored shirt, leaving a dark red trail.

“You knew,” my mom sobbed.

“You killed him!” I exclaimed. The tears that fell were unstoppable. I covered my eyes with my hands, and then wiped my cheeks. My mom tried to place her hand on my shoulder, and my first instinct was to jerk away.

“Don’t touch me!” I yelled through short breaths. She pulled me back again, this time into a hug. I just let it happen, not knowing what else to do.

“It’ll be okay,” she said soothingly. I continued to cry and sniffle into her shoulder.

“Life is just filled with pain and unfortunate events.”

She ran her fingers through my hair. “I really don’t want to do this, but I don’t want you to live with this burden.” I held her closer. My head was spinning. Nothing was making sense. I felt the sharpest pain in my back, it was unbearable. It felt like something was dripping down my back and my whole body felt numb. My eyelids felt heavier than ever and everything went black.

+++

The moon blazed through the sky, lighting the area. As my eyes came back into focus, I was able to read the names inscribed on the headstones. The first one read Ben Mills, the second one read Liz Mills, and finally the last one, Veronica Mills. Wait, what? Why was my name on there?

Suddenly, the voices were back. But this time they weren’t really saying anything. It sounded more like soft weeps and cries. I stepped over to the side to get a better view. I saw a white, almost translucent glowy figure with its head in its arms crying behind the slab of cement. I inched closer until I came to realize it was my mother.

I extended my arms out and displayed them out in front of me. My skin looked just the same as hers, glowy and translucent. Then, it finally hit me. Holy shit, I’m dead.