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A Snowflake in Summer
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My heart hammered , unbearably fast. I stepped closer to the woman, taking her in . I shivered, gulping down the fear .Before i could reach out and check her injuries, She...no, not she...It was ...'it'. It was no woman i'd thought before, no human for that matter. Blue veins were bulging out from under her eyes, mouth too wide to fathom. It was a gruesome sight.
I retraced my steps , going backward.
What i should i do?
Before i can turn away and get some help, claws were at my throat, threatening to crush my wind pipe. I was'nt even given a privilege to scream before everything turned black.
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I came around ...finally conscious. My eyes were burning and my body ached. But apart from that and yes, that hurting throat, I didn't see any sign of having been assaulted or injured in any way. I groaned as I straightened myself up and with determination and resolve I hobbled along towards my apartment which was just around the corner..
Making my way to the apartment i thought about those claws and pale face . Was that even real? Was i sleep walking again? I wanted to gladly believe that but why did my throat feel like i just swallowed a whole desert? I shook my head. Nightmares does that to a man, i thought dryly.
As soon as the key made a clicking sound on my door , the building few blocks away blew up with a horrible BOOM! and momentarily i found myself deaf with such a explosion. Flames and smoke took place , followed by screams and cries of people . .
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Just where I had spotted the lady like creature the night before was now a neat precisely spherical crater with the neighbouring building wall gouged out to correspond to an invisible sphere almost eight feet in diameter. The bottom of the crater was still glowing red and the edges of the wall were smoldering.
Luckily the wall belonged to the garage section of that building. All the shrieks and screams and overall chaos were attributed to the simple question,"What the hell was going on!!!'
I rubbed my temple , a wave of nausea settling over me. Where is the world where things happen only as 'co-incidences' ? Situations , which have logical reasons and make sense? Did i step over some imaginary border, into some other world? Hell, this could NOT be real. Maybe YA books is growing on me. There HAS to be a reason .I walk closer to the crater , feeling the dread spreading its tendrils over my mind.
It was one like i'd never seen before. I wanted to look anywhere but there , but something caught my attention. A crystal, i think? I hover above it, now more curious than fearful. And then my scream got better of me.
The face of the woman appeared on the crystal. Her face on every single facet of it, smiling the way Medusa does before turning people into stone .
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It made no sense. The crater was hotter than really hot coffee,almost unbearable to stand close to. The crystal couldn't have been ice!
I remembered having read about esotericism on wikipedia last week while during a bit of research on alternate healing and the concentration of ambient energies. This almost felt like something straight out of my project.
My mind felt sharper,my thoughts focussed but senses alert. My aches had vanished. I felt at peace but still remained perplexed about the occurrences and their significance.
...........
Later that evening I sat down to browse the net hoping to find some logical explanation. I tries combinations like lady ,claws, crater and lady beast but what finally gave me something to go on with was the query long finger nails and energy!
"This would'nt help. " I whispered to myself, defeated. After all, even Google has its limits. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days and days turned into weeks but still no answers to the weird happenings of that night and of that incident.
The gnawing of the mystery was gradually leaking out of me as the time passed without any other signs of 'not-so-logical- ' situations.
I really hoped to forget about it until i seen her. Or at least her photograph in my neighbour 's house .
My own face, wide eyed with shock was reflected on the glass covering her photo. She looked normal in this. Pale face, with a hint of peach on her cheeks and barely a woman of early twenties.
"Who-who is she? " I asked the Maid, who paused in her cleaning to peer at me. Her gaze reluctantly traveled from me to the the photo, weary.
"Oh , Marie Snow. A fine , young woman. She was the daughter of My Lord, Steven Snow. She died a few weeks ago by the hands of her own lover. " She shuddered and looked away.
I was numb. For the first time in my life, now i know how it is to be shell-shocked.
"H-how many weeks ago she died exactly?" I tried to be casual about it lest she becomes suspicious of me.
"Two weeks or so. "
And here i saw her a .....week ago? All the Saints Of heaven, Help me !
Mod
Was she some sort of an apparition or ghost with an unfulfilled wish?
Was she trying to right some wrong or was she trying to tell me something?
Had she actually tried to harm me that day or was it out of a fear reflex thinking I was someone else?
Luckily the next day was Sunday and I managed to locate her grave after Church. It was a plain and simple one with a flat granite slab marking the spot.
The words 'Marie Snow 9*5*92 - 9*5*2012' and the picture of a snowflake were all that marked the stone.
I did a double take , seeing the snow flake in middle of the heavy summer afternoon. It sure looked a natural one .I bent towards it , feeling the texture of it in my fingers when i heard 'her'.
"So you've come." A woman's voice whispered im my ear . I gasped and turned towards her, heart beating like a drum.
How did i heard her whisper near me when she was so far away, looking like an angel?
This time, she didnt had any blue veins bulging out from under her eyes, no claws, nothing. She looked normal except her flowing white gown that i saw Lucy Westenra wearing in Dracula.
"Yes, yes i've come. " I choked out the words lest the silence killed me for good...
Mod
Curiosity piqued I asked " snow flakes?! But I only noticed one!!"
I could feel the amusment in her voice," Look at the dates on the stone...."
Sure enough,the numbers were separated not by dots but by intricately engraved tiny snowflakes.
'What's with the Snowflakes? Let me guess...was it your petname ?" I asked....
She raised her eyebrows in amusement, " Why, yes .""So...." So what are you? Are you real? An escapee from Tartarus , perhaps?
No, Im not a greek myth , Mr. Dan Cruise. Her voice said in my head with a chuckle.
I gulped. I wish i was going crazy than experiencing such craziness with sane brain.
"Why are you here then..i mean...you were..dead? " I said , sweat beads collection on my forehead.
"I was. " I was grateful for her not speaking in my mind . She was creeping the hell out of me , " And I am."
Mod
She laughed. It was a very pleasant laugh and before I realized I had joined in and felt the tension ooze out of me.
"No silly!" she chided, "for some peculiar reason, I am able to communicate with you and I am not one to complain or rationalize especially not in the state I am in"
"But surely there must be a purpose for my being able to reach out to you?" I asked my voice full of doubt sprinkled with my good old anxiety.
"I guess it is all because you are by nature a plain person. You lead your life by a clear demarcation of what is right and wrong. Probably you are here to help right my wrong" she replied.
"But what can I possibly do that can bring you back to life?" I asked.
"This is what I was talking about!" she replied, "You have an uncanny knack of zooming in on the right track. Your perception of righting my wrong involves bringing me back to life , happy and unhurt and doesn't necessarily involve bringing a so called offender to justice! I have to admire that and hope time will show you what is to be done"
"Shucks! The next thing I should probably expect to fall out of the sky is a DIY manual on using portkeys to travel back in time or something equally 'commonplace' " I replied humour laced with sarcasm
"Haven't you already unlocked one ?" she asked mirth in her voice as it dawned upon me that she was somehow referring to the engraved snowflake...
The night was dark,black as tar. The sky roared with unbearable rumble of lightning , tearing the sky with its ferocity . I could barely hear the my footsteps on gravel , breath coming out as fog , not surprising for such a cold night.
I would have kept walking if not for the scream from the alley on my right....