To Break Our Hearts in Stride
The Long, Dark Nights.
Gerard's POV
I took my black cloak from my bed and opened the door conscientiously. It creaked spookily as I looked down each dark hallway around me, but no sound answered it back. I turned off the light and began to carefully tip-toe down the sinister stairway, the blood thumping in my ears and my heart about to burst. For a second I saw a dark shape streak across the bottom of the stairs, but I ignored it; Mikey and I had always grown up with ghosts around our home, and this one was no different.
I cautiously paced down the stairs and opened the huge gloomy front door. Where was the danger? I thought to myself. I trod over the dying leaves and into the dense forest. The tall, thin trees loomed over me dauntingly, their bare branches reaching out to me. The bushes rustled, the leaves rattled, and the hairs on my neck stood up like hackles. I looked around the forest as best I could in the darkness but could see nothing.
The wind whistled again, and the leaves shivered around me; it was icy cold and only worsened my greatest fears. The shivering got louder, and I could feel a pair of eyes gazing fixedly on my silhouette.The black shape was back; it looked taller and thiner than I had ever seen on a ghost before and was hiding behind every branch and every bush that it could find. It even looked solid in the darkness. Strange, I thought, the ghosts never followed us outside, could this really be dangerous, like Frank predicted? I discarded that ludicrous idea. What was the worst that could happen?
Mikey’s POV
What was that?
I strained my ears for any signs of life, any at all, but this was a dead house and the ghosts inside it were more than just alive; sometimes you could even hear their heavy breathing and echoing footfalls. I turned away from the source of the noise and carried on filing my accounts. Suddenly, the front door slammed and I knocked my papers to the floor.
"Shit," I said under my breath. It was probably Gerard again, trying to sneak out down the dusty track to the local village so he could spend his cash on alcohol and prostitutes. I took my cloak and started down the track towards the tiny village. But as I looked towards the forest next to the track, however, I saw Gerard's lanky figure stumble through the trees. Why was he doing this? I thought he'd never want to go into that forest again after what happened to the girl there, after it brought back so many dark memories. I wandered through the dark wood behind him, trying to catch a glimpse of what he was looking for. He turned around suddenly, without warning, and I darted behind anything I could find. As I stopped to clear my head, I lost sight of him.
"Gerard, where the fuck are you?" I said irratably under my breath. "Gerard, where--"
My sentence was interrupted when my face collided with the forest floor. I looked up and saw a figure over me.
"Thank God, Gerard. Where have you--?" the person's hand slid over my mouth to prevent me saying anything.
"Gerard?" I said, my words muffled by this person's hand.
"No, I'm not Gerard, and if you start screaming I will kill you."
"Who are you?" I said, my voice constricted with fear. The man stepped back, and four other figures stepped forward.
"We're the Corpus Circle, and we're here to torture you."
I took my black cloak from my bed and opened the door conscientiously. It creaked spookily as I looked down each dark hallway around me, but no sound answered it back. I turned off the light and began to carefully tip-toe down the sinister stairway, the blood thumping in my ears and my heart about to burst. For a second I saw a dark shape streak across the bottom of the stairs, but I ignored it; Mikey and I had always grown up with ghosts around our home, and this one was no different.
I cautiously paced down the stairs and opened the huge gloomy front door. Where was the danger? I thought to myself. I trod over the dying leaves and into the dense forest. The tall, thin trees loomed over me dauntingly, their bare branches reaching out to me. The bushes rustled, the leaves rattled, and the hairs on my neck stood up like hackles. I looked around the forest as best I could in the darkness but could see nothing.
The wind whistled again, and the leaves shivered around me; it was icy cold and only worsened my greatest fears. The shivering got louder, and I could feel a pair of eyes gazing fixedly on my silhouette.The black shape was back; it looked taller and thiner than I had ever seen on a ghost before and was hiding behind every branch and every bush that it could find. It even looked solid in the darkness. Strange, I thought, the ghosts never followed us outside, could this really be dangerous, like Frank predicted? I discarded that ludicrous idea. What was the worst that could happen?
Mikey’s POV
What was that?
I strained my ears for any signs of life, any at all, but this was a dead house and the ghosts inside it were more than just alive; sometimes you could even hear their heavy breathing and echoing footfalls. I turned away from the source of the noise and carried on filing my accounts. Suddenly, the front door slammed and I knocked my papers to the floor.
"Shit," I said under my breath. It was probably Gerard again, trying to sneak out down the dusty track to the local village so he could spend his cash on alcohol and prostitutes. I took my cloak and started down the track towards the tiny village. But as I looked towards the forest next to the track, however, I saw Gerard's lanky figure stumble through the trees. Why was he doing this? I thought he'd never want to go into that forest again after what happened to the girl there, after it brought back so many dark memories. I wandered through the dark wood behind him, trying to catch a glimpse of what he was looking for. He turned around suddenly, without warning, and I darted behind anything I could find. As I stopped to clear my head, I lost sight of him.
"Gerard, where the fuck are you?" I said irratably under my breath. "Gerard, where--"
My sentence was interrupted when my face collided with the forest floor. I looked up and saw a figure over me.
"Thank God, Gerard. Where have you--?" the person's hand slid over my mouth to prevent me saying anything.
"Gerard?" I said, my words muffled by this person's hand.
"No, I'm not Gerard, and if you start screaming I will kill you."
"Who are you?" I said, my voice constricted with fear. The man stepped back, and four other figures stepped forward.
"We're the Corpus Circle, and we're here to torture you."