Song Recommendation: Deep End by Ruelle
"AHHHHHH!!!- Oof!"
Delia laned flat on her face, unto a dusty ground. She groaned, slowly pushing herself up in pain.
"Oh my God..." She mumbled, staying on her knees a moment longer with her eyes still shut in pain.
"Ughhhh... Something must have definitely broken", she finally opened her eyes.
Scrutinizing her environment, she realized she was in a dark underground tunnel of earthen walls and a dirt road that led into more darkness . A crack sound from behind caused her to look over her shoulder.
There she spotted them; her parents. Her father, Alan Edward, stood still in a black suit, with his hands held in front. Her mother was next to him, dressed in a black gown, crying.
They had their eyes casted down.
Tracing the line of their sights, she realized they were looking into a grave in front of them. She then heard sobs from behind her.
She turned around once more — They were no longer in a tunnel but a grassy graveyard; surrounded by scanty trees and shrubs.
A small crowd of people dressed in black stood there behind.
They were all her family; Juliet, Jacob, her uncles and aunts, and even her cousins. They all carried sorrowful expressions — all seeming oblivious of presence — as if her living self was invisible.
Reaching out her hand to touch her little sister, her fingers passed right through Juliet like air.
"What the?"...
Tearing her stare away from them, she turned back to the grave her parents stood by. In a crawling posture, she slowly moved forward, looking down at the grave, gingerly.
Her brows shot up in shock.
There laid a dead body in the grave—a girl. It was her. Delia.
She was dressed in a black dress, lying lifeless and still with her eyes shut. Delia blinked her eyes in disbelief.
"I'm going to die?" She exhaled, trying not to have a panic attack. Everyone around had their focus on the grave, crying for the loss of Delia. Truly, no one noticed her.
"I can't be..." She shook her head.
Hearing footsteps at her side, she looked up, spotting a tall man walk up to her grave. He was dressed in a black trenchcoat with a hat; tilted forward to completely cover his face.
He had on black shoes and black gloves, completely covering his skin from sight.
He then squatted next to the grave whilst looking down. Delia remained still as she observed at the stranger whom she had never seen before. Unlike him, everyone else there was a family or friend she had met or interacted with.
But not him. He didn't look familiar.
He slowly pulled out a rose from his coat, gingerly placing it on the corpse.
Delia continued stare at him — feeling very sure he couldn't see her as the others — then her eyes instantly caught sight of his wrist, when his sleeve moved up slightly.
'A white man? Again!'
She gave him a perplexed look. She continued to watch him stand on his feet. He thrusted his hands into his pockets staring silently at the grave. Delia took a glance around, seeing everyone crying and lamenting.
She looked back at the man. He then turned to her living self.
Huh!? Was her first thought... He could see her. Staring back at the man who was looking straight at her, she noticed him grinning.
Still quiet, he squatted to her eyes level, as she was still kneeling. Delia couldn't see his face; only his chin and lips were visible. He slowly raised his finger to her forehead. Her breath hitched.
"Goodnight", came a whisper in the air, as he gently tapped her forehead. Her body saturated into dust.
Delia snapped open her eyes, with a sheen of sweat coating her face. She was back in her room.
The sun had already set and her lights were off, with only the security lights from outside lightening being the only source of illumination. Her room was gloomy and dark. Staring up at the ceiling, she watched her fan rotate slowly as her chest continued to heave in recovery from her dream.
A loud thud echoed from inside her closet as if someone banged on it from the inside. Lazily, she pulled her eyes to the shut closet door—having on a bored look.
Another thud sounded. Then another, then another, it was as if someone was trying to break free from it.
Delia expression was unhinged, watching her closet door vibrate to the continuous bangs. The sound began to move upwards. It entered the ceiling.
Her room then became dead silent, with only her breaths being heard — footsteps began to echo in the ceiling.
Footsteps like that of a crawling hooved animal.
It continued, moving towards the ceiling to above the door. Delia's eyes trailed after it —It finally stopped.
Slowly, the ceiling patch above the door started to darken. The white patch was stained by a black pigment, which slowly oozed out.
Taking its time, the gue gradually dropped down unto the floor before materializing in a slender figure.
"Quith!" Delia's tone was curt. She narrowed her eyes at the dark figure standing by her door. Two dark red eyes illuminated from the creature's head.
"Miss me?" Its hoarsely and coarse voice asked.
"Never", Delia remained lying on the bed.
With the creature's shape still being rigid and smoky like, it added, "Did you? Did you see it? What pain. Agonizing pain your dear mother was in as she molded into a beast?"
"That was nothing new", Delia had on a stoic look.
It was nothing new to her, as she had seen worst. The only problem was, she couldn't tell what harm would come to her if she didn't run from them.
"Not until it actually happens", Quith tilted its head.
"You've been saying the same thing for so many years, aren't you tired?" Delia raised her brow.
Quith chuckled. The girl was bold when it came to handling her horrors and fears. Before he could speak, Delia then asked, "Who was he?"
Not needing to explain, Quith already knew who she was talking about.
The white man.
In all her years of visions, hauntings, and nightmares, she had come across different types of people, spirits, and creatures, but something about the white man was just odd
"Him?" Quith acted unaware. He then tittered, "I can answer your question, only when you're ready to make a deal?" Delia rolled her eyes.
After all these years, Quith, her personal demon that haunted her dreams and sleep, still kept trying to offer her a diabolic deal for her immense ability.
"You don't know when give up, do you?"
"Not until I get what I want", Quith retorted.
"Foolish tactic", She growled, being too exhausted to move her body from the horror experience that felt too real. Each dream drained a minute amount of energy from her; depending on the intensity of the horror or gore.
"Leave or speak, Quith!" She ordered. Quith remained quiet for a few minutes before sighing.
"It's just a matter of time. Fate will tell you the answer. Behind every light, there is a darkness that grows. The truth of every being... Soon, that darkness will leak––".
Delia's bedroom door slowly creaked open.
Juliet stood by the door with Quith behind it.
Juliet, who was sent to wake her sister up for dinner, stood by the door, not being able to see or sense anything out of the ordinary around her. The room was already too dark.
With Delia's eyes still on hazy smoke behind the door. It slowly fading out of sight.
"Del?" She turned to Juliet's call, "Yes?"
"Dinner is ready".
"Thanks", Delia smiled.
Juliet nodded before shutting the door, to walk away. Delia slowly got up, stretching her hands in the air as she yawned.
'Nightmares are so exhausting', she weaned in her thoughts.
Turning to the side, she picked up her Bible, opening the bookmarks, and began to read. After her reading, she then shut the holy book, and took a few minutes to mumble her prayers.
Delia was more than used to the goresome or haunting dreams she had, and nothing affected her. But what made her alert was the appearance of Quith. The creature she had named since she was just ten.
She knew that whenever he appeared to her in the physical realm, adopting the form of a shadow or mist, instead of his usual whispers and whims, it meant she was about to enter a life-changing phase of her life.
He was just lurking around to strike her at her most vulnerable moments.