Heirloom

Serena fussed over her hair in the oversized silver framed mirror that hung over a white chest of drawers, gracefully picking through her blonde curls with her freshly manicured nails and artfully arranging them to frame her face. Behind her, her husband Adam was busy lint-rolling his favorite t-shirt, which had been showered in short, course, white hairs, courtesy of their dog, Phantom.

She reached for her favorite necklace without thinking, but found her eye drawn, instead, to the embroidered silk pouch that lay on her dresser. She knew what was in it. An ornate silver necklace, inlaid with several ruby gemstones and one slightly larger stone of pure onyx in the center. It had belonged to her great-grandmother who had given it to her as a small child, but she had never worn it.

She didn’t particularly like her great-grandmother and the trinket seemed garish and gaudy to her even as she grew older. Until now. Until today.

Usually, the jewelry stayed in its pouch, which she kept in a drawer, wrapped in an old scarf. It had tumbled out of the drawer earlier when she had gone to pull out a fluffy black sweater and she hadn’t bothered to put it away. Her hand hovered over the bag and hesitated for a moment before sliding the necklace out onto her palm. The opulent jewels gleamed even in the dim light of her bedroom, reflecting thousands of tiny rays of light in a fantastic array of sparkles. She couldn’t remember them ever looking so captivating and she was transfixed by the shimmering stones. Wrapping the silver chain around her neck, she felt the onyx gem settle in place right in the hollow of her throat. Almost perfect, she thought.

After applying a fresh coat of red lacquer to her lips, she spun around to give herself a final appraising glance in the mirror. Outfit, check. Makeup, check. Hair, check. She grinned, happy with her appearance, but the smile quickly fell from her lips as a dark shadow flitted just behind her in the mirror. Whirling around, her alarmed eyes darted to the space, now empty, where the shadow had appeared. She checked the mirror, gone. The shadowy figure had disappeared. Even as she observed the absence of the shadow, a cold chill ran up the length of her spine, unsettling her deep inside.

The event had left her unnerved and slightly cold. She poured a generous amount of bourbon over ice and took a neat sip. She grabbed another bottle from the gold bar cart and poured a measure of liquor out for Adam. No ice this time. Adam preferred everything in its purest form from his alcohol to the way he drank his coffee, black. She smiled, suddenly eager to deliver the drink to her husband and began moving towards the bedroom carrying both drinks.

She spotted Adam, still picking pieces of fluff from his outfit, his hard brow furrowed in concentration. Reflexively, her eyes flitted to the mirror again, drawn there by some unknown force, fueled by subconscious fear. She froze and barely registered the glasses falling from her hands as she saw the shadow creature, rise up behind Adam in the vague shape of some multi-horned beast with glowing scarlet eyes and a vacuous hole where a mouth might be. The tinkling of glass felt far away, even as the crystal glasses shattered against the hardwood floor of the bedroom. Her eyes grew wide, she opened her mouth to call out to Adam, but her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton and she was unable to do anything but watch as the huge shadow loomed menacingly over Adam. It's claw-like appendages inches from his neck.

She managed to let out a strangled cry and Adam looked up at her questioningly, completely oblivious to the dark shadow behind him. Upon registering the broken glass, he walked over to her and gave her a light pat on the arm, in a vague attempt at comforting her. Her eyes didn’t move from the mirror. She was frozen, paralyzed by the sight of the dark claw that now stretched towards her.

Her body unfroze a second too late. The shadow gripped her neck tightly, it’s claws digging into the delicate skin on her neck. She could barely make out a twisted, gnarled face deep in the ever-shifting shadows and couldn’t help letting out a garbled scream, even as the creature tightened its grip on her neck, strangling her.

She reached up to wrench herself free from the shadow monster’s sharp claws, but she couldn’t feel anything. It was like the creature had no corporeal form to grab ahold of. She couldn’t feel anything. This last hopeless thought reverberated through her head, echoing again and again.

I can’t feel anything.

I can’t feel anything.

I can’t feel anything.

I can’t feel anyth . .

Wait, a bubble of thought formed in her head, I do feel something . . . the necklace.

She barely had any energy left. She swung her hand up to her neck and managed to jam a few fingers in between the necklace chain and her skin and pulled hard. Nothing. Her hand dropped limply to her side.

I’m dead, she thought, no more Sunday morning brunch with Adam, no more sipping mimosas with Adam, no more Adam. The thought slammed into her with the force of a brick, giving her a jolt of energy. She tried again. This time, she managed to grab the chain again, she yanked the chain with all the strength that she had left, the chain strained against her neck, pressing into her skin, as if it had the will to graft itself onto her body. She pulled harder. Finally, at long last, the chain snapped and the necklace clattered angrily to the floor.

She took a sharp breath as the shadow dissipated, leaving only the marks on her neck as evidence of it’s existence. Adam walked back into the room with a broom and dustpan, whistling merrily and winked at her. She decided not to tell him about the shadow in the end, but made him promise to destroy the necklace. She never saw the shadow again.