The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

I Have Promises to Keep
K.R. Morrison

Away, bright and terrible Light! What need have I of your promises? This business must be taken care of before you come for me.

And bats! Do not think that you may have the leavings of my destitute soul. Your master must await the outcome as well.

Oh, Teresa! Dear Teresa! If you had not spurned my advances, stolen my heart, and then trod on it with your darling feet, my non-ending demise would not have had its roots.

For you I sought, for you I tried every possible overture, yet you ignored them all. Your brothers, my boon companions, would often say that you just needed more time. But time is of no consequence to me now. I am free—and cursed—to bring our relationship to a satisfying conclusion.

How many times have I been destroyed at the hands of these, my friends? When I was caught dabbling in the dark arts, did any one of them stand up in my defense? No! I was hung without a protest from any of them.

But playing chess with the Devil never finds a result that is positive on the side of the mortal. This I now know. And this is why I now haunt you, Teresa, and will do so until I have you, body and mind.

I refrain from the term “soul.” This I cannot have, as it seems that my own will not stay at peace, will not go to the Light or to the Dark. You may keep your soul—although it will probably avail you not.

I am amused at the thought of how many times the villagers—my dearest friends!—have tried to put me into the ground for good. Hanging, stabbing, flaying, tearing me limb from limb—none of these worked. I could feel their anguish as they did these things to me, and so I do not detest them for it. However, I imagine that the church registry is quite full of the many deaths to which I have been subjected. The burial dates on my gravestone must be about to fill up the granite upon which they are inscribed. Before the vultures plucked out my eyes on one occasion, when I’d been left to rot after being burned, I used to laugh at the crossed-out numbers.

Of course, the laughing stopped months ago, when my head was removed from my body. This time, the villagers buried me without it. But my friends—and here I am not talking about the men I used to spend hours with in the alehouse—my friends the worms and insects, the vultures and spiders, all helped me to become reunited with it. It is surprising how well they work together when a powerful curse is in control.

Now I dodge this blasted Light and the minions of Darkness, in order to sense my darling’s presence yet again. The last time I was able to see her, she had become quite a mess from lack of sleep. Her own eyes were sunken in, and she walked in a daze. No longer does she believe her kin, that she can be protected from me.

Smart girl—for she is becoming me. And I am becoming her.

This last time I pulled myself from the grave, I felt new sinew growing between my fingers, and my soul grinned.

Oh, Teresa, I am coming for you!

Fiction © Copyright K.R. Morrison
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Author K.R. Morrison:

Be Not Afraid (Pride’s Downfall Vol 1)

Lydia’s faith in God is strong – at least on paper. But what happens when that faith is tested? Turned into a vampire by the worst – Vlad Drakul – she feels that God has abandoned her. But the opposite is true. God rescues her from a fate worse than death, and brings her into the plan He has for global redemption. With the help He sends, she feels like nothing can stop her. But when Vlad torments her again, and then her family, the temptation to run and hide is almost too strong to resist. Her answer to God’s call is the deciding factor in the battle that pits the angelic powers of God against the demonic powers of Hell.

Available on Amazon!