You wake at half past three...
in the hours when ghouls devour,
and blood is shed upon the streets of this city...
You walk out into the mist,
and you see the silver road...
stretching out before you,
into darkness...
you see him there,
a pale silhouette waiting...
in the near distance,
you come close to him...
allow his endless white eyes,
to meet yours...
draw you away,
into the heart of emptiness...
his pale fingers take your arm,
wrap about your shoulders...
and with quiet words,
he leads you away...
along that silver road.
He takes you pass a solitary bus...
that glows with a faded light,
that waits for those disproportionate souls...
who know no peace in this life or the next,
who wait in the gutters...
and by the flickering light poles,
waiting for the Bus of Purpose...
to steal their souls,
and take them far away...
yet the pale figure,
his claws...
have already claimed your soul.
You are tugged through mazes...
created from the fractured remains,
of a glass chapel...
Bullets pierced its' side long ago,
cutting to shreds...
the people that had sought shelter,
within its' walls of light...
and in the end,
they were bled dry...
their blood a river that the Devourers,
drink deep from...
You shudder and the pale ones' fingers,
hold you tighter...
support you up with their cold embrace,
and though you feel your heart being swallowed...
the glow within you ticking out,
the cuts martyring your soul...
you feel the only way is forward,
along that silver path...
from which there is no escape.
Next you pass a lake...
beneath which darkness boils deep,
the hands and tendrils...
of shadow and despair,
wind and churn...
down deep,
you see at its' centre...
a small girl,
with eyes like the universe...
and the darkest of hair,
staring at you across its' expanse...
you try to run,
to reach and take her in your arms...
yet the pale figure holds you back,
grips his arms about you...
holds you down,
as he murmurs into your ears...
telling you to be still,
that there is nothing waiting out there for you...
but horror and death,
and so trapped...
you watch as the girl is taken,
as the strange creatures...
reach up and consume her,
and you scream...
Eventually the pale figure,
lifts you in his arms...
and carries you away,
down that long...
long,
Silver road...
Until it is quiet,
and you feel the memories...
slipping from you like the tide,
soon he sets you back on your feet...
and wraps his fingers about you again,
tugging you onwards...
Time passes,
you walk through the world...
you pick up a job here and there,
live to the bones of your breath...
fashionably starve,
as you slam out the words...
upon the typewriter the pale one brought you,
many moons ago...
and still he hovers,
pulling you through the darkness...
that plagues your life,
the sickness that is slowly killing you hour by hour...
and in the end,
what friends you manage to find...
leave once they discover the truth,
once they sense the death that is devouring you second...
by second,
each time they leave...
you see the look in the pale ones eyes,
again and again...
his claws find your shoulders,
and his eyes shine the dark truth...
that everyone will leave,
in the end...
for the monster that you have created,
of yourself...
He will remain,
for he sees and knows...
the darkness too,
and it is only he...
that finds more pleasure,
in feeding upon your weakness...
your desire to forget.
You grow old...
wars carve holes in the world,
and you see a thousand years...
of the leaves that die,
and burn and birth...
again and again,
and each step is slower...
takes more,
and your throat rattles...
the breath only a leak,
through which Fate swiftly steals...
and slowly ever so slowly,
you see the pale one...
replacing your strength,
with his own...
Soon he is the only one,
and in the dark hours...
as your days fade,
he waits in the shadows...
his claws about your shoulders,
and you see that hidden Silver path...
that doomed you so long ago,
and the words that are like prophecy...
that emerge from his lips,
and embed in your soul...
Soon you reach your last breath,
and the pale one comes to you with a smile...
you see the dark teeth he hid,
and the ghostly wings that he bore...
that stretches across the world,
he takes you again in his arms...
whispers that it is time,
and takes you finally...
beyond that Silver Road,
to a shade of darkness...
something close to light.
Miss C.L.Scarlett
xx
