The Gathering Dark

02

Dark of hair, with skin that rivals the pallor of moonlight, Claude's handsome face registered surprise as he looked at me with eyes of liquid silver.

'He seems . . . so real!'  I couldn't help but stare at him, dressed in the fashion of those times--a dark blue coat over a gray vest and white shirt, black trousers and black boots.

"H-hello," I said tentatively.

Claude's brows drew down, a troubled expression on his face, his low voice seeming to resonate within the room. 

"You should not have come here."

Turning to Arthur, he said with a sense of urgency, "Escort the lady out of the house, and make haste! Do you not know what night this is?"

"Of course, it's Hallows' Eve, young master." Arthur closed the door behind him, a smile playing on his lips, revealing rows of black, razor sharp teeth.

I stifled a scream, "Holy sh-t!!!" I backed several steps away from the butler until my back hit a side table.

"I'm granting you a favor, my master." The man's sibilant voice hurt my ears. "Don't you want to hear it?"

I thought frantically, 'No, this isn't Arthur James, or his ghost--but something else, something purely evil!'

"Where is he? What have you done with him?" Claude strode toward the demon that had stolen Arthur's face and form--only to meet an invisible barrier inches before the creature.

Unable to move from fright, my hand fumbles on the table behind me for anything I can use to defend myself, although it likely won't do any good.

The demon laughed derisively. "He's served you long enough. I merely ate what's left of his soul—tasteless, that.  But nothing compares to how I'll relish that pure soul of yours."

Its hand, fingers tapering into obsidian claws, reached across the barrier toward Claude. Where it touched, blood welled from deep cuts on his face. Claude stepped back, clutching at his face as he gasped in pain.

I don't know what came over me--anger at the creature or the desperate need to escape--the large, glass vase on the table went flying from my hand! It struck the demon full on the head, glass shattering to pieces everywhere.

"Take my hand!" I reached out to Claude and he grabbed my hand, pulling him away and around the distracted creature toward the door. To my relief, it opened readily and we ran through the long, dark hallway, as the hollow sounds of a clock began to chime, echoing all around us.

As the sixth and final chime rang, heralding Hallows' Eve, we burst into the entrance hall. 

I turned the main door's ornate knob, pulled the heavy paneled frame--but nothing happened.

"What is wrong with this friggin' door!" I shouted angrily, gasping for breath. Frustrated, I pounded at the door with my fists.

"Jessica—stop! It's too late!" Claude said desperately. "This house will never let me go, and, I'm afraid it has you trapped as well."

His strength left him and he sank onto the marble floor, head in his hands.

I whirled around to face him, blurting out a cutting remark. "What the hell is going on here?"

But on seeing him down on the ground, seemingly in pain, I relented with a sigh and knelt beside him. I suddenly remembered the wounds the demon had inflicted and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Let me see your face."

Claude slowly raised his head, and to my surprise, his face was clear of cuts and blood.

"I don't know how you are able to touch me, let alone free me from that cursed room I have been confined--for more years than I can remember."  His remarkable, silver eyes were filled with anguish and wonder.

'He's been trapped in that room all this time?'  I thought, chagrined, his plight wrenching at my heart.

The souls of the dead don't have a sense of time's passing, so how does he know how much time had passed?

I snatched my hand from his shoulder as the realization made my head spin.

No one, not even I can touch a soul's ephemeral form!

Who-- or what-- is Claude?

Clap!.... Clap!.... Clap!

Claude and I turned at the sudden sound of applause. Lounging in an armchair near the tall fireplace, Arthur—or rather, the demon, regarded us with eyes that glowed redly in the filtered light.