Through Clouded Glass

Prologue: Nightmares

Moonlight spilled in through the clouded glass window, painting the jet black canvas with streaks of pure white light. The glowing fragments were undisturbed, creating a sharply splintered mosaic on the dusty hardwood floor.

Though it may have been exceptionally quiet, silence absolutely does not exist as much as we will it to. The wind whispered softly outside as though telling you the secrets that the universe dare not speak when others were listening. Sounds of gentle, steady, and slow breathing echoed throughout the room. Every so often, the house would groan in stress as though its years of mindlessly giving shelter had finally caught up to it. A low hum radiated consistently on a cycle, occasionally whirring to life as the air would slowly chill. Together, these sounds made a beautiful, natural sonata that rippled through the crisp air by the gentle moonlight glow.

This was life at the moment. It seemed as though the world valued this single moment of peace, and it had paused everything just so that it could marvel at the wonders that almost no one bothered to stop and appreciate. Stars sparkled high above as beautiful as ever before. The moon continued painting beautiful pieces of art as it made its way across the deep blues of the sparkling night sky. What a wonderfully serene moment seemingly suspended in time.

Dark shadows darted in and out of the dim light. No one could possibly see them but for one occupant in the room, and they are fast asleep and dreaming. Wispy, dark tendrils reached for her porcelain skin. They traced her soft features before jerking backwards as though the figure feared the icy chill of its body would wake her. Then, it hovered a shadowy hand-like mass over her face, and it began to run its floating hand down to the girl's feet. Her body began to tremble. Her eyes twitched unnervingly beneath closed lids. She slowly began to rise up, her body twisted in uncomfortable ways until finally she was high enough that her features settled out, naturally hanging beneath her. The young girl froze unnaturally, hovering in midair with her torso high above and her feet dangling just over the wrinkled sheets. Her head was reaching as far back as it could, leaving her brilliantly dark waves of hair suspended in the thin air.

The wraith snaked itself around her figure, twisting and tangling, slowly multiplying into many shadows. They swirled all over the room, not even phasing the other individuals. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. However, they were lifeless and glazed over as though she were entranced.

The room encasing the scene began to decay. Slowly at first, then rapidly falling to pieces around the girl. Cracks ran up the walls as pieces of drywall broke into clouds of dust on the ground. The floor split and writhed into gruesome shapes. The ceiling began to fall in tiny specks. But the particles seemed to be descending in slow motion like some ancient, depressing snow.

Her body became even more rigid, and she fell to the mattress in a heap. Suddenly awake, her eyes were filled with life again and she collapsed over the edge of her bed at the scene before her. She was alone in the room, and ghastly figures began to surround her. A thick black liquid seeped through the cracks in the splintered floor. It was sickeningly warm. She leapt to the top of the bed, staining the sheets with her footprints.

Ghastly, smoke-like shadows began to tease her. They played with her hair, and scratched at her clean skin. When she reached her hands up to guard her face, she let out a mortifying scream as a thin layer of the liquid covered her. Her hands dripped slowly, covered in the warm matter. She closed her eyes tight, and a look of anger-fueled determination assumed her bloody features. The apparitions closed in on her, enveloping her small frame.

Pure, bright white light burst through the ever-darkening shadows. The wraiths dissipated into ashes, falling quickly to the ground. The room was filled with the brilliance of the light. And at the core of this energy was the young girl. Her eyes were no longer a deep brown, but rather were dark chocolate splattered with streaks of brilliantly luminescent blue. Her arms were extended near her sides, the hands proving to be a partial source of the glow. Slowly but surely, her body relaxed and the light seemed to fade away into her chest.

She carefully covered herself once more with her blankets, and rested her head against the fluffed pillow. She closed her eyes, but quickly opened them once more.

The room was back to how it once was. Back in its peaceful state. No shadows, no liquid, no destruction, no terror. The girl shed a single tear. It trailed down her cheek, and glistened on the edge of her skin. It fell to her hand, and evaporated into a sparkling mist on contact. Her deep, dark brown eyes fluttered closed, and she curled her body into a tight ball. Sleep slowly overcame her once more, but not until after she struggled hard to stay awake out of fear of what might return like it had so often before.