Phantom Shadows

Prologue.

My aching heart hurts so.....ever since she left me. My Christine......oh my beautiful Christine........ Why ever am I still here? Why am I here to deal with the pain? I look at the glassy lake once again as I remembered that night....that night when she kissed me. It was as if heaven had finally answered all my prayers. Just one kiss was enough to end the pain that I had went through for years. But was it enough? No. I looked at the mask in my hands. The only thing that reminded me of her....along with her voice. How did she do it? How did she tame this beast? 

Warm tears ran down my cheeks. This was hell. Without her.....my life was miserable. It was nothing but darkness. I stood up and looked over at the vase of roses. I walked over and picked one up. It was black and had thorns on the stem. I cut my finger on one of the thorns and a smile spread across my face. Oh the pain......it felt good and I enjoyed it. I watched the blood run down my finger and fall to the ground.

This was insanity. I dropped the rose and stepped away. What was I doing? Why was I doing this to myself? The tears came back and I turned to the vase of hemlocks in my bedroom. I had always kept it there just incase this happened. I thanked myself every night for getting them. I walked over and took 8 petals off. This was enough to kill me. This was enough to end this hellish nightmare. I hesitated and looked back at the glassy lake. I swear I saw her standing there with a warm smile. No, no! It's another one of your hallucinations. It's not real. I walked over to my organ and ran my hand across the cold keys. Here they would remain untouched for centuries and along with my lifetime of work. 

Down once more to the dungeons of my black despair

Down we plunge to the prison of my mind

Down that path into darkness deep as hell

Her voice echoed in my mind pleading for me to live. No....this was how it was meant to be. I sat down and wrote on a piece of paper. I ate the leaves after every sentence I wrote. This was a note to my Christine. If she were to ever return again. When I reached the final petal I hesitated. I could still taste it and it was bitter. The stench was overwhelming. I put the last petal in my mouth and slowly chewed on it. Once I was done, I felt weak and dizzy. I tried to stand up but that only made it worse. I felt myself fall onto the stone cold floor. I looked up at the ceiling and felt my limbs become weak.

I closed my eyes waiting for death to come. "Goodnight my Christine.......forever." I whispered. I felt my chest begin to fall. I felt myself exhale my last breath. This was it. This was the night to end this nightmare. Finally I would be given a chance to go to heaven. To soon be with my Christine.....

To be continued...