Haunted Conscience

The Last Step

The wind is howling outside, the rain is mercilessly pelleting the windows, but inside the cabin the old lady's fire is almost out. She feels it deep inside. Her time is running out. They'll be here shortly, there's no way out, and soon they'll make her pay for all her sins.

She looks at her wrinkled hands, the spots staining her skin, the yellow nails framing her fingers, and a tear rolls down her cheek. If she could start all over, she'd do it. If she could take everything back, she would. But as she sits, huddled, on the rocking chair, she can't help but think it's all in vain and there's no escape for her.

She gathers all her strength and stretches her body to grab the last remaining twig on the edge of the fireplace, and it starts crackling as soon as the flame touches it. The wind hasn't stopped blowing. The rumble is deafening but, still, she hears their light steps on the moist dirt. Not with her ears. In her head.

They're here.

The door opens with a chilling creak, and the wind sweeps in blowing out the fire and plunging the cabin into darkness. She doesn't turn around. She knows what's on the corner of her shoulder. She feels their breath tickling the side of her neck. The foul stench of death burns her eyes and makes her stomach churn. She knows if she turns, she'll see them, and she never wants to see those dead cold crystal eyes again.

"Finish it already," she whispers.

The creature lurking in the shadows purrs in her conscience, "Not yet... I have one last game to play with you."

The cabin is no longer a cabin. She's at home. Her childhood home.

"Do you remember?"

Of course she remembers... How could she forget? Here is where everything started. Here's where she met Cora.

She's there and she's not. She's in her room studying. But she's in the hallway too. She's observing. She hears three loud knocks on the door and her young self gets up to greet the guest.

"Good morning, I'm Cora. Is the lady of the house here?"

She feels as she felt then; her heart jumping in her chest, her breath short.

The guest with the fiery hair and the alabaster skin... 

The Shadow speaks, but they're no longer a shadow. They're Cora. Not the Cora she remembers. They're a colorless Cora, a bleak memory besieging her like a specter.

You know what's next, right?" 

"You don't have to show me... I remember everything."

"Ah, I'm afraid you don't have a choice."

The scenery changes. The walls are clouds and the woman is a witness of the two bare young bodies, entwined with each other.

***

"Is this your first time?"

Cora takes a stray strand of hair and places it behind the young girl's ear, giving her a small peck on the nose. She blushes. 

"Mother would kill me is she knew..." she responds laughing.

***

"Why are you showing me this? It was a mistake."

"Was it?"

"Of course it was. I was young. I didn't know what I wanted. I thought..."

The woman's voice drifts away. The other Cora shrugs.

"If that's all you have to say..."

And the scenery changes again. The field is a luxurious ball. The orchestra plays a lively tune and the sounds of glasses clinking and intense conversations fill the room.