Trembling With Fear 04/04/21

Boneyard by R. Michael

Anne ambled along a narrow dirt road that was little more than an overgrown path. The moon shone brightly in the clear night sky, surrounded by countless glinting heavenly bodies. The air had a slight chill, but it was still warm enough for her to walk without a jacket.

She loved the night and found walking in the dark calming. Earlier that day she received a call from her mom that her father was diagnosed with colon cancer. Though he was far from young, she still expected many years left with her dad. Now, Anne faced the real threat of him dying soon. On top of that, the company she worked for had been cutting back jobs every couple months, resulting in an increased workload and mounting stress.

Eventually Anne came to a gated cemetery. Something inexplicable drew her toward the burial ground, and without thinking, she lifted the rusted latch and stepped within the iron boundary. Rows of headstones greeted her in the eerie half-light of the moon. 

A gentle breeze tossed her shoulder-length, light brown hair. She paused and took a deep breath, basking in the stillness. Anne’s head pivoted to the left side of the graveyard, where a soupy, gray mist floated toward her. Soon the entire area was enveloped in the dense fog. 

Anne tried to get her bearings, and fortunately the haze dissipated as quickly as it came. Once it was gone, she saw the sky had turned orange and was dotted with puffy black clouds. The cemetery remained the same, but the surrounding landscape somehow morphed within a few short moments, and the mighty oaks and maples were transplanted by white pines well over one-hundred feet tall. 

Just beyond the far end of the cemetery, Anne spied a stone castle, its ramparts riddled with holes. Six cone-shaped spires jutted skyward, one of which still held the tattered remains of a black banner. The top of the seventh tower had completely crumbled away. Swallowing a newly formed lump in her throat, she decided to investigate. 

Anne cautiously followed the dirt path through the cemetery to a cobblestone road just wide enough for a single vehicle. A murder of crows flew westward, cawing madly to one another. Her eyes swiveled back and forth, taking in the new sights, awestruck and bewildered. Anne shivered and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. With the abrupt drop in temperature came an intense loneliness that permeated this area. Aside from the castle, there were no signs of human life, just wilderness. 

By the time she reached the castle entrance, more clouds drifted in from the north, yet streaks of orange still filtered through the black mass. The gate was rusted in large sections, and the top crumbled away due to countless years of neglect.

“I wonder who lived here, or where I am for that matter,” she mused, rubbing the pads of her fingertips along the oxidized metal. She gave one of the doors a gentle nudge, and the slab fell away from its hinges, dropping to the ground with a thud. Dark purple vines choked much of the decaying courtyard, but there was a less senescent staircase leading to the central tower.

Anne carefully ascended the stairs while simultaneously doubting the wisdom of doing so. The flight opened into a room with moth-eaten, crimson curtains. Unlit torches still hung on the walls, wrapped in cobwebs. Movement in the back caught her eye. Startled, Anne focused her gaze and saw a tall woman in a navy-blue gown with her hair tied in a beehive bun. Her skin was dark gray and peppered with ebony blotches. The being’s amethyst eyes surveyed the intruder.

“Hello there, stranger,” the gray woman said musically, slowly circling Anne. “Who are you, and how’d you get here?”

“I-I’m not really sure.”

“You don’t know who you are?” The woman’s lips spread to a sarcastic grin, adding to Anne’s unease. 

The young woman gulped and eyed the castle’s inhabitant without answering.

“It has been a long time since I’ve seen anyone else.” While she spoke, her skin seemed to grow gaunt and sicklier. “There was a time when villages dotted the landscape, but one by one-” she cut herself off, “well, they are no more.” She ran the back of her fingers along Anne’s arm, sending a chill down the young woman’s spine.

“I should get back home. My family is probably wondering where I am.”

“But you’ve only just arrived. Mmm, your scent is unlike anything I’ve known before. It’s so sweet.” The woman licked her lips, and Anne could have sworn her irises briefly flashed orange. “I’d love to hear more about your home.” 

“Who are you? What is this place?”

“Difficult questions to answer, and you still haven’t answered mine. I’ve been called many things, but Vermina suffices. This world is separate from but intertwined with your own, different but the same.” She forced a laugh. “I know it seems contradictory, but if it helps you to understand, those who’ve visited here call it the spirit realm.”

“If this is the realm of the dead, where are they? You said you hadn’t seen anyone in ages, but there must be others here. Besides, I thought you didn’t know where I was from.”

“Again, difficult to explain,” Vermina said coyly. “This is more than just a place of the dead. There are many layers of existence.”

“I really should go.” Anne turned to leave.

“But it is so nice to have someone else to speak with. You wouldn’t believe the loneliness I’ve felt. The isolation is maddening.” Vermina smiled eerily.

“I can imagine, but nevertheless, I must go.” Anne descended a couple steps before Vermina suddenly reappeared in front of her, grinning. Her maw was lined with inhuman, blackened, jagged teeth.

“Where are you going, my pretty little lamb?”

Anne tried to push past the being but was shoved backward. The heavens darkened further, and red rain dripped from the clouds’ bloated bodies. Glancing over the side, Anne decided the distance was worth the jump, and she rolled to the ground below.

“Gah!” Anne belted, cradling her right ankle. She glanced left to see an emaciated face with its tongue lolling out. She screamed and struggled to her feet. Dozens of bodies were sprawled throughout the courtyard, purple vines weaving through and around them. All had horrified expressions forever locked on their lifeless faces. Despite the pain shooting up into her knee, she hurriedly limped toward the cemetery.

“You cannot escape me, my dear.” Vermina appeared to her left and reached out with inky, claw-like fingernails. Anne side-stepped the hand and fled into the graveyard. The pallid lady attempted to follow but screeched and jumped back. Vermina glowered at Anne as the woman hobbled through the cemetery. The fog grew so thick she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, but as before it lasted only a minute or two before the mundane sight of oaks and the simple dirt road out of the graveyard greeted her. Anne sighed in relief and called her husband, Mike, to pick her up.

Within a minute or two after she hung up, the fog reappeared, forcing its way through the cemetery gates. “No, no, no,” Anne uttered. Her swollen ankle throbbed, but the pain couldn’t compare to the rising fear. Unlike before, the mist turned nearly black and brought an unnatural chill which penetrated the soul. Anne’s skin puckered to gooseflesh, and she rubbed her hands along her forearms.

Lightning cracked in the western sky, briefly illuminating the landscape, revealing Vermina’s castle in the distance. “That’s not possible! I got out!” she screeched, anxiously combing her fingers through her hair. When a second bolt arced across the sky, the castle disappeared. Swallowing, she gaped northward, bewildered.

“I can’t stay here,” Anne mouthed, limping toward where she guessed the road might have been. A haunting sensation hung over her. Looking back, Anne could see the silhouette of a woman prowling back and forth.

Minutes later, the fog subsided, and a blue SUV rolled in. As she swung her injured ankle into the vehicle, Mike gave her a sideways glance and asked, “What the heck happened?” 

“I tripped over a big rock. I feel so dumb.” Just before the door shut, a laugh echoed, startling Anne. “Did you hear that?”

Mike’s brows furrowed. “Hear what? What’s got you all jittery?”

“Nothing. Let’s just get home.”

“If you say so.” He shrugged, dropping the topic.

Just before the SUV came to the end of the dirt road, Mike slammed on the breaks. “What the-” he gasped, cocking his head to the side. Anne looked up from her phone then dropped it. The sky to her right had grown an angry orange, and a pale woman stood in front of the vehicle, leering at the couple with elongated, sharpened teeth protruding from her rotting gums.

“Don’t just sit there, Mike! Step on it!” The vehicle rocketed forward, but before it could slam into the woman, she vanished.

All Mike could do was look at his wife wide-eyed, silently asking what she’d gotten herself into.

Anne didn’t know how to tell him what she had encountered. Even faced with the impossibility of what he had seen, she questioned whether Mike would believe her tale.

“Keep driving, and don’t look back,” she eventually said.

“For how long?”

“Until we don’t see her or that anymore.” Anne pointed to the castle, once more looming behind the cemetery, cloaked in an isolated tempest.