Beware & Behold

The Fortune Cookie

The piece of parchment glowed inside of my pocket like a glow-in-the-dark clock kids would have in their bedrooms. It wasn't a simple Chinese proverb, wasn't a tiny paper that just fell into my hands by coincidence. I have heard that phrase before, and nowhere else but inside of a haunted house with Derek.

I was walking by the old bridge next to the Point when I thought I saw a spark ignite the night sky. Its appearance was so swift, I hardly distinguished the traces of luminescence it had left behind against the darkness. I've never seen a star fall, but that spark resembled a shimmering tail of a comet. If I was that desperate, I would have believed it was Derek sending me a sign that he was alive. Was it possible? Or was it something I desired so intensely that I was seeing things? Things that weren't there?

The voices of people trailed off behind me and broke against the walls of Harpers Ferry houses. I stood alone, letting the silence lay heavy on my temples. Hope... I thought. What a marvelous word. We always cling to it. We always chase it. It somehow brings such significance to our lives that without it we are nothing but shells of who we could be. I wanted Derek to live, and not just in my memory. Hope of seeing him again... That was all I cherished.

The wind wailed at the treetops. Someone's footsteps followed mine, breaking the silence.

My hairs pricked on end. Without looking back, I swiftly crossed the road and disappeared into the alley.

It was dark there with only one streetlight. Feeling my leg muscles tighten, I listened to the sound of the street, when I heard the footsteps again. This time, I turned around and peered into the dark, looking for my follower, but the street was empty. I couldn't figure out where the footsteps were coming from.

I slowed my steps and sighed with relief when, suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of me. I screamed and froze, locking my eyes with it. The shadow didn't look like a demon. It was a shapeless ghost that resembled a mist rather than a person's silhouette.

Horrified, I stepped back, watching it grow against the side of the house. I wanted to run, but it jumped me, and I fell to my knees. I screamed and kicked as it hovered over me while I lay on the concrete, whimpering. I lifted by hands into the air and tried to push the shadow away, but my hands went through the air without ever finding it. It was as if I was trying to find something in the fog. Before long, the shadow shaped into a being, and a man made from leaves formed on the road ahead. We exchanged glances for a moment before he dissipated into a pile of dry sticks and wet leaves, vanishing into the storm drain beneath the streetlight. This entire time I thought my heart would stop beating. Still in shock, I crawled close to the drain. I peered into it, my hands trembling, but I had to make sure the man wasn't coming back. Cold air made it painful to breathe, and I clasped at my chest. I waited and waited. The man had vanished for good.

Cars drove by with their hazard lights on. They gestured for me to get off the road. A woman shouted, and then raced off into the night with one continuous car honk. The sound, it jolted me awake. I felt the numbness in my legs, and I knew it wasn't just the crisp October air.

The house with lavender curtains shined with the warmth of the blazing fire logs. Upstairs, after a chamomile- bomb bath, I slipped into pajamas and crawled into bed. I couldn't forget about the being—it invaded my head. I feared the magic might have disturbed the balance among the living and the dead, and they crawled out of the darkness to chase me.

A hissing sound pierced the room. I lowered the blanket away from my face to find tiny white particles floating in the air. They looked like buzzing insects. And then, in the blink of an eye, a figure of a man shaped out of them.

"Leave me alone, you freaky shadow!" I yelled, shaken. My eyes turned wide, and I began to whimper. I watched as the figure doubled in size, and its shadowy wings, like that of an enormous bird, spread across the ceiling.