The Haunted’s Kiss of Regret and Repentance

I took a deep breath and I braced myself as the bed rocked back and forth a bit more aggressively. I didn’t scream or call anyone, because at this point, all I felt was anger towards whatever force was making this bed move.

“Stop it…”, I whispered as I gripped my sheets to try and balance myself, “I said stop it. I mean it.”

My lips were trembling and every hair on my body was standing. I felt my sweat drip from my forehead, and I took calm breaths. I needed to be strong, so I closed my eyes and jumped out of bed.

I opened my eyes when I didn’t feel the floor. Instead, I saw myself falling, and everything around me was pitch black. I tried to strain my eyes and see past the dark surroundings, but I couldn’t do anything.

All I was doing was falling, and the wind was loud as if I was falling faster and faster like an asteroid about to hit the surface of the earth. Whatever I was landing on, it would definitely break me. I tried to brace myself for the impact of my fall while trying my best to use my anger as a way of convincing myself that this is all a dream or a hallucination.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“My love…” the voice echoed as I still continued to fall, “My dearest Shyne…”

This time, the voice was mocking me. The small chuckles and sound of multiple laughters from different voices was something I knew would happen, but I still felt fear inside me. I just swallowed the lump in my throat to hide the growing tremble in my voice.

My body suddenly stilled. It stopped falling, and it was as if I was frozen in the air, or I was in an anti-gravity room, and I didn’t feel the rushing wind anymore. I tried to open my eyes, and as I did, I could see that the darkness was fading, and I was slowly moving downwards again. However, instead of my feet being the first one to break my fall, I was suddenly twisted in mid-air by an invisible force, and my head was now at the bottom. If I hit the ground, my head would be the first thing that would break my fall.

I hit a surface, and it was too late for me to realize that it was water. I couldn’t breathe, and I struggled as the surroundings became lighter, and I could see that I was indeed underwater. I didn’t see the water firsthand, so I wasn’t able to prepare my breathing, and I was now struggling to swim up as my oxygen was running out.

I was clawing at my throat as I felt lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. I knew it was a dream, but the pain and dizziness felt too real, and I nearly passed out. However, I looked up, and I saw a shadow of a person standing on top of the water, and he tried to reach me. I was pulled down with so much force that I screamed my last breath.

I gasped as the water disappeared, and I was now surrounded by intense heat, and as I looked around me with blurry eyes, I saw that I was in a red cave. I looked up and I saw that the water was above me, but it was dripping or pouring, like there was some force that the water was above me, and I was now sitting on the ground.

“My love…” my attention snapped back to my surroundings as the voice echoed.

“Why did you do it my love? I didn’t think or believe that you were that stupid…” the voice chuckled like a demon, and I realized it was Rian’s voice again, but it was mixed with multiple voices. They were talking all at once, and the hair on my body felt raised in nervousness and fear.

“R-rian… stop this. I’m burning everything that you and I ever had, and I’m changing my life around. I’m letting you go and I’m forgiving myself and-” he laughed. He laughed hard, and the voices joining him laughed in chorus like a thousand monsters laughing at me, and I felt like my head would burst.

I held my head as a headache began, and I covered my ears as ear piercing screams began to arise while the deeper voices just laughed and laughed like I was the funniest thing in the world. Blood started dripping from my nose, and as I wiped it, I realized my ears were bleeding as well, and now my eyes were bleeding too.

I felt my hands tremble as I looked at the blood around me, and I looked up as heat increased around me. I realized the rocky floor was now lava, and the little portion I was sitting on was now slowly consumed by the lava.

“My love… I’m in hell because of you, and I’d love nothing more than to share with you the world I now know…” I screamed as the lava burned my leg, and I couldn’t stand up, so my lower body was slowly consumed by the heat.

I just screamed in agony as the pain was too much. I tried to focus on the truth that this was a dream, but the pain was too much. I screamed until I couldn’t feel my feet anymore as the lava is now up to my thighs. I screamed some more while the laughter began again and the blood in my body started to flow out again. This time, the laughter of little kids joined the monstrous laughters, and I cried as I screamed.

“Make up!” My eyes snapped open, and my mom and Izzy stood in front of me with worried expressions.

I was sweating so much, and I realized that I was on my bed and in my room, and I was hyperventilating as well as crying. I met Izzy’s eyes, and she squeezed my hand as my mom tried to help me sit up and rubbed my back. None of us spoke. I just tried my best to catch my breath for about ten minutes as Izzy kept helping me drink water from a glass.

“Shyne…” my mom said softly, “I won’t ask what you dreamt of, but just remember that it was all a dream.”

She tried to soothe me with her words, and all I could do was nod. I felt a chill run up my spine as if a cold dead finger was tracing it. I tried my best to ignore it.

Late in the afternoon, I decided to burn every book and letter that I had found that involved Rian or any of my past. I had Izzy and my mom with me, and we tried to read the bible. I felt like it was my only hope to try and breakfree, no matter how long it takes.

As I burned every letter and thing Rian gave me, I felt worry and fear from time to time, but I also felt hope. I knew this is what I needed to do. However, a shadow tried to make me get hit by the door on the head as I was bringing the boxes down from my room to the garden for burning.

“Clumsy?” Perry asked, and I just shrugged. I shouldn’t tell her. We need to focus on burning everything here.

I still had nightmares every night, but it was just the same nightmare I had about being burned with lava. I always screamed, so my mom made me sleep in the guest room so it would be farther from my parent’s room, and my dad wouldn’t notice. I had Perry with me, so I had someone who could help me. Her and Izzy took turns, since they couldn’t sleep from my screaming.

After a week, I started to talk to Emmie, my church mate, about my past as the shadows around me were angered. I started to tell more of the church members about the past I had, and they gave advice to me. However, I didn’t tell the other elders yet out of embarrassment.

I was being tormented by Rian and the shadows, only this time, Rian was also controlled by the multiple monsters that were now using him. The last nightmare I had was a bit longer as the lava was now up to my breast, and it was worse.

“Shyne…” A soft voice spoke in my ears while I screamed and the laughter grew louder. I ignored the voice.

“Shyne…” it said again, and my eyes snapped open, and there was a bright light in my room. I blinked and it was gone.

“Hey,” Perry called and I looked at her beside me on the bed.

“Perry, what was that light?” I asked.

“What light?” She asked back. I looked around, and for the first time, there was no heavy feeling in the room. It was weird and pleasing at the same time.