𝐔𝐦𝐤𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧 | 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞

Umkommen

It was always the sword that drew Mikel closer and closer to death. Nothing and no one could stop what was bound to happen when his eyes laid sight on the reflective sharp object. There was no thinking, no reasoning. Just doing. It was as if the sword had its own mind and confiscated the control over any living being that took one glance at it.

That's why he kept it locked up. Away from all creatures that inhabit the ability to see.

It was just a blade; what could possibly be so scary about it?

The beautifully smoothed out steel was a work of art. The owner knew nothing of its background; where it came from, who created it, or why it was brought into this world considering the magic it withheld. The even bigger question was why of all people was he the one to possess this awful creation?

The hilt of the weapon was wrapped in a fine blue ombre that had a tiny sparkle to it. The pommel was a black matte with unintelligible marks engraved into it. The guard was of the same color and had small etchings sprawled on the thick metal. The long object was definitely a sight to see, and not very hard to miss. One peek, however, causes more harm than good.

Mikel knew what the sword did when it got a hold of someone's mind. He didn't like talking about it. In fact, he was the only one who knew. He intended on keeping it that way after what happened to his seven year old brother at the time of the incident.

Mikel is a sixty-nine year old German, living in a farmhouse – alone – just on the very outskirts of a small town. His wife passed away a little over four years ago from breast cancer. All of his kids either lived out of the state of Mississippi or didn't bother having a close relationship with him. They all favored their mother, but he didn't give a lick anymore. His sense of life has been long gone since he started developing symptoms of Alzheimer's.

He was just another person. A small dot in a small town in the middle of a small world.

Woodville wasn't very populated, a little less than one thousand citizens living there, including Mikel. The very same town he grew up in, the same town his older brother was murdered in.

The story goes that their father had gone bat-shit crazy and killed his seven year old son because he was getting into trouble. How did they gather evidence to prove their father guilty? Mikel could never figure that out. He only wished he would have spoken up about what truly happened that day.

But he couldn't.

Never in a million years would anyone believe a six year old boy saying an ancient sword came to life and made his older brother kill himself. No one. It hurt him more than anything to keep the secret to himself, but it hurt him even more to know that not a single person would consider trusting his truth.

In the very house that he was sitting in currently, Mikel and his brother, Bently, were in the cellar playing a game of hide and seek mixed with tag. It was a Saturday afternoon. Schools were closed on the weekend and the children were out playing to work off the energy built up inside of them. Mom was cleaning the house and Dad was out in the garage, working on his old car project.

A normal day for a normal family.

Until Mikel walked around one of the basement corners and witnessed the death of Bently.

Mikel was giggling, out of breath, About to reach over and touch his brother's shoulder and shout "tag", but something was off. Bently was facing something in the corner that he couldn't quite see clearly being that there was a very low source of light in the room. The stance Bently was in made Mikel stop at the entryway. He was slowly walking towards the dark corner, feet dragging sluggishly against the dirt covered concrete floor.