The Ghoulish Man

09/03/2021 The Ghoulish Man

Someone stole my friend. There was a village by the sea. In the village was a house, that everyone knew about. In that house was a man who was hardly a man and more of a creature. Nobody knew his name, just his nature. Nobody knew if he had a face because nobody had ever returned to tell of seeing it.

This man was adept at traversing the shadows. You would always see his figure but never his face and you would never let yourself cross his path. What we did know, is that his friendship with the shadows and darkness meant he could snatch people, mostly children, with ease and nobody knew what he did with them once they were gone. There was a fear gripping this village and nobody seemed to have the courage to confront him.

This person stole my friend. Like every other abduction, we knew who it was but this time, we wouldn’t be gripped by fear. Andrew and I picked up swords and knocked on the door. Through the mottled glass I saw a light flicker on, indicating that someone would soon answer. He answered, I was stunned for a moment. He towered over us like the shadow against a curved wall. His face was nothing more than a pale white with large, hollowed, ghoulish eyes accompanied by many bags. His figure was long and slender, his features were sharp and gaunt. He appeared sickly but his face contorted into what appeared to be a pained smile. It was sickening.

With renewed courage at the sight of this pathetic creature, I jammed the end of my blunted sword into his chest. He tumbled to the floor in a heap and with all the might I could muster I demanded “Where is Liam”. I was ready to kill him, but not out of bravery or righteousness, but out of fear. I had heard what this man could do, and I was not interested in finding out if this were true. Fear alone drove me crazy and made me murderous.

He held his hands up, palms facing outwards in a submissive gesture. This wasn’t the monster I had heard about. This was a scared, vulnerable creature, very aware of the danger that I posed. He gestured to the hallway for me to see for myself that he really didn’t have Liam. I didn’t believe him, how could I. His terrifying appearance alone was enough to incriminate him. I started for the hallway, then, fear gripped me again. What if this was a trick? What if this creature, so at home in the shadows, would swallow me up once I stepped into the darkness of the hallway? I turned to Andrew, still waiting at the open doorway which led out to the beach with the crashing waves. He stood, sword at the ready to assist at any point. I gestured at him that we should leave, and I turned for the door, leaving the ghoulish figure quivering on the creaky floor of his dark home. We began to walk back to the village in silence, both unable to comprehend what just happened.

“We need to just blow it up”, I say. It is the only solution. The fear still sat there in my mind telling me that at any point that creature would reposes its power and swallow me like so many others. I knew that what had happened could only have been because the Ghoulish man allowed it, that I could never really defeat him. I knew that I had to act fast, or he would find me in my bed at night while I slept and take me to whatever doom awaited his last victims. Perhaps I was not even safe for one night. I had knocked him to the ground and humiliated him after all. I began planning in my mind how to blow up the entire home and what would be involved in constructing a homemade bomb. I couldn’t save Liam, but if he were still alive, at least I could end whatever suffering the ghoulish man was inflicting upon him.

I laid my head down that night, unsure if I would wake again in the same bed, waiting for the ghoulish man to get his revenge.