FicWad

Thunder and lightening slashed through the sky as the old yellow car pulled up on the side of the footpath, its beaten tires splashing through the puddles of stagnant water that were pooling in the gutters. Shifting gears to park, Isabelle tugged the key out of the ignition and stepped out into the misty rain, slamming the car door shut and pulling a blue beanie over her dirty blonde hair. She stepped quietly towards the large, open steel gates that bordered the cemetery, shivering as lightening illuminated creeping green vines and spider webs that glimmered with tiny, crystalline droplets of water.
Isabelle had personally never liked graveyards, not because they were creepy or sinister, but because a cloud of despair and sorrow seemed to choke the very essence of life from the place, and the stench of rot and death was overpowering to her senses.
As Isabelle weaved her way through the headstones, some brand new while others were broken, worn, and covered with florescent graffiti. Her shoes filled with water and squelched at her every step. A light, cool breeze rustled the dripping leaves of the trees that hung over the bordering wrought-iron fence, and the fine hairs on the back of Isabelle’s neck stood on end.
She finally found the grave that she was looking for, a grave that had been dug only two months ago and was now occupied by a rotting body of its own. Some of the inscription on the solid black granite tombstone had already been obscured by vivid green moss, and Isabelle bent down to scrape it off with her fingernails. A silent tear trickled down her cheek as she read the inscription.

Thomas Black
1993 – 2010
A beautiful son and loving friend, forever to remain in our hearts.


Another flash of white lightening lit up the sky, and Isabelle screamed as she felt something grip her shoulder. She stood up and whirled around-- to come face to face with her boyfriend.
“Belle, it’s only me,’ Mark laughed over the booming thunder as he took his hand from her shoulder.
“Oh.” Isabelle muttered, embarrassed about her reaction. An adorably goofy grin plastered itself on Marks face, and he ran a hand through his shaggy black hair to get it out of his face.
“Nice to see you still care,’ he said, gesturing at the headstone. Isabelle gave a small smile and nodded, then turned back to the grave. She reached into her jacket pocket and drew out a small black box, and crouched down next to the grave and pulled off the lid. Lightening lit up the sky as she tipped a stream of crimson rose petals onto the tombstone, and they spiraled in the breeze as they fluttered to the ground.
“Touching,’ Mark sighed, a note of bitterness in his voice,’ it’s a shame, really, you two were happy together…”
“Yeah,’ Isabelle replied sadly,’ but he’s gone now. I’ve moved on.”
“Have you really?”
Mark’s response was cold, and Isabelle felt a shudder rip through her body. She stood up and turned to face him, and saw that his thin, pale face was set in a grimace. An uncharacteristic surge of anger made his cheek twitch.
“Is it so easy to just forget and move on?” Mark said icily.
“Mark, what’s wrong?” asked Isabelle, surprised by his sudden mood swing and taking a step back towards the grave.
“Two months ago there was a car crash,’ said Mark, his voice trembling,’ a horrible catastrophe in which one lived and one survived. Mark Taylor lived, and Thomas Black died.”
“I know, Mark,’ said Isabelle sighed as she tried to sound reassuring,’ but you lived! You’re here now, living and breathing, you’re ok.”
“Right up until the moment of his death,’ Mark continued, his fists now trembling with anger,’ Thomas Black was thinking about how much he loved you, and then you repaid his love by latching onto the survivor. How could you be such a heartless monster?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?!” Isabelle stammered, shocked, taken aback by Mark’s harsh voice and the cold look in his hazel brown eyes.
“Why were you so quick to forget him?!” whispered Mark as he grasped Isabelle’s shoulder, his fingers sending a sharp chill down her spine.
And then, as a flash of white lightening tore through the sky and bathed them both in brilliant white light, Isabelle screamed.
Mark’s features had suddenly become rotted and broken. His hair was bloodied and matted to his head, plastered over hollow eye sockets. His neck was slashed, blood flowing freely and mixing with the misty rain, and the fingers that grasped Isabelle’s shoulder were gaunt and broken, vivid blue veins standing out through the papery white skin. Cuts lacerated the clothes which hung from his tall frame, stained with dry blood and grime. He smiled, and shredded lips parted to reveal broken teeth.
“M-mark…’ Isabelle stuttered in fright, hot tears beginning to drip down her cheeks,’ what- what happened to you?”
“This is what happens when the dead inhabit a body. The body decays, and the original spirit is pushed out. It’s regrettable, but inevitable.”
“If you’re not Mark, then, who are you?” Isabelle whispered.
The…. the thing that looked like Mark smiled.
Another flash of lightening tore through the sky, and the thing shuddered. It opened its mouth and breathed out, letting loose a cloudy white mist that swirled around Isabelle’s trembling figure, wrapping her in an embrace that felt like shards of ice were sinking through her clothes and sinking into skin. Mark’s body crumpled and fell to the thick grass with a dull thud that was swallowed up by a booming clap of thunder. The body lay still on the lush grass.
“Take. One. Guess.” A disembodied voice whispered in Isabelle’s ear, and Isabelle’s heart stood still as she took a deep, shuddering breath.
“Oh my God…Thomas….!” She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to blot out the icy cold seeping through her bones.
This wasn’t happening. This just wasn’t happening!!!
“Too damn right!” Thomas’s voice whispered, and Isabelle shuddered in terror at the cold, disembodied sound.
“This can’t be real….” Isabelle muttered under her breath as the misty rain began to fall slightly harder.
“Don’t be so quick to deny me!” Thomas’s voice screamed in her ear, and she felt phantom fingers brush against her cheek.
“But you’re dead!!” Isabelle cried.
The wind began to howl, creating a tempest that scattered heavy rain and fallen leaves to the far corners of the graveyard. The matted hair on Mark’s body stirred in the breeze.
“True, I am dead,’ Thomas’s voice said regretfully,’ and I had to take over the body of your stupid boyfriend to just be able to be here now, but don’t you dare doubt for a second that I’m not real!”
The faint touch of thin fingers wrapped around Isabelle’s wrists.
“Leave me alone!!” Isabelle shrieked as she broke into a run and sprinted away from the grave. She could hear Thomas’s voice laughing hysterically as her feet pounded over the wet grass.
The mist was so thick that Isabelle could hardly see where she was going, but she continued to run forwards blindly, hoping to find the gate that would lead her out of this accursed place. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her breath was ragged as Isabelle sprinted forwards.
Just when she thought that she must surely be near the gate Isabelle’s shoe hit something solid. She tripped, tumbling headfirst onto the wet grass, and she heard harsh laughter as the mist lifted. Isabelle screamed when she saw that she was lying sprawled next to Thomas’s tombstone, and her shrieks reached new heights when she realized that she had run around in a circle.
“No…..’ she sobbed, frustrated, as she pounded her fist on the grass,’ no, no, no!!!!”
“Aw, don’t be mad, love…” said Thomas’s voice almost kindly.
Isabelle stiffened as the phantom touch of thin arms wrapped around her arms. Suddenly she was frozen, only her mind was able to move as she was embraced in a tender, almost loving, ethereal embrace.
“Leave me alone…” Isabelle wept, her body shivering from the cold.
“No,’ whispered Thomas’s voice.
“Please, just go away!”
Suddenly the chilling hug ceased, and Isabelle felt incredibly real, incredibly cold fingers grasp her face.
“Don’t you get it,’ Thomas’s voice whispered in her ear,’ don’t you see what I’m trying to give you? What other boyfriend comes back from the dead, just to see his girl one last time?”
Isabelle couldn’t force an answer out of her mouth; her body was too full of pure, white terror that wrapped around her vocal chords.
“I did this for you,’ Thomas’s voice whispered,’ I came back just for you. And now, I’m going to take you back with me.”
Isabelle froze.
“We’ll be together, Isabelle, forever. For the whole of eternity.”
Isabelle shrieked as she realized what Thomas meant.
“Don’t be scared, love, I promise it doesn’t hurt. Much.”
“N-no,’ Isabelle stammered. She tried to pull herself away from the other-worldly embrace, but it was like trying to push away a thick cloud of fog.
“Don’t struggle and it’ll all be over quickly,’’ soothed Thomas’s voice.
Isabelle didn’t listen and continued to writhe about, but then froze dead still as a glint of silver caught her eye. Slowly, horrified, she glanced upwards and saw the glistening dagger that hovered inches above her chest. Rain splattered onto its silver blade and dripped slowly from the tip, trickling onto Isabelle’s white, dirt stained jacket.
“Thomas,’ Isabelle whispered pleadingly,’ don’t do this, please, stop!”
“I just want to be with you forever,’ whispered Thomas’s voice in her ear, and Isabelle began to shriek and writhe in desperation as gnarled, twisted vines slithered forth like vivid green snakes and wrapped around her wrists and waist, holding her so tightly that she couldn’t move. The faint touch of cold fingers disappeared, and tears gushed down Isabelle’s face as she began to realize that there was no hope left of escape.
The last thing that Isabelle Cameron ever saw with her soft green eyes was the figure of Thomas Black appearing above her. His cold blue eyes were alight with joy, and his short blonde hair was plastered down to his skull from the drizzling rain.
And then, the knife he gripped in his gaunt hands was slicing down in an arc, and Isabelle gasped as it plunged through her chest. A sharp, agonizing pain shot through her body, and she gave a heaving gasp as blood began too seep through her jacket.
As she died, she felt the paint press of lips on her forehead and a contented voice in her whisper in her ear:
“Don’t worry, we’ll be together forever now, together for all of eternity.”