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Rated: E · Short Story · Gothic · #1042746
Good V Evil
It is a dark place. Grey clouds keep it in eternal shadow. The beams of light from the sun do not reach this place. The air is shaken and begins to hiss as a feud between the eastern and western wind breaks out in the sky. Underneath this, an unknown village exists. Outsiders don’t know the place; maps don’t highlight its location. Yet, to the ones on the inside, the village is a place they feel they must remain in. To them, there is nothing beyond it; they are bound to its borders. They are bound to a place of darkness which they cannot escape.
The winds blow harshly and gradually build up into a fast current of air sending thousands of leaves tumbling to their fate on the ground. Most of the muddy land belongs to farmers who strive to make a living. They struggle to survive; each day is just another day of fighting to live. It is hard to grow anything in the dry, infertile soils of the village land. It is like they have been cursed by something disgustingly evil, evil and amazingly powerful to have had such an effect.
There is one building in the village which looks totally out of place. Whilst the other homes are small and battered, this residence is huge and appears to be very expensive. Even so, an odd atmosphere surrounds the place, as villages walk past it they start feeling different somehow. It is disturbingly perfect. People call it the tower. It is built from strong brick and the windows are tinted with a dark shade of grey. No one has been inside the place, only one man lives there. He dresses in a pure black suit, a brilliant white shirt and shiny black shoes. Like his home, he seems to be perfect. People see the man out of the blue, stood up straight in his flawless suit, but nobody really knows him. In spite of this, the villages assume he is a gentleman due to his sharp looks and politeness on each rare occasion he speaks. The gentleman glances out from an open window at the top floor of his tower, as he has been doing for some time.
The green strands of grass that fill the field he looks upon are long and wild, to the extent of being uncontrollable. A small house is exposed in the middle of the open land. Its outer walls are built from red brick and have three small windows fitted at the front.
Inside the house, a girl is laying still and looking up to the ceiling, as if to be staring into another world. Her locks of hair are long and black, her face is long in shape and her skin is as white as snow. The bags under her green eyes make her look like she’s not slept for days. What has disturbed the girl from sleeping? Only she would know. A closer look shows tear stains across her pale cheeks, yet there is still some sparkle left in her remarkably beautiful eyes.
Her body is sprawled across a tatty, brown sofa which appears to be approximately ten years old. Deep in thought, she thinks of how she has no one in the world that she can talk to properly, no one that will really listen to her. Her mother is preoccupied by too many things and her father is long gone. Her mother never showed her much affection and her father never bothered to keep in contact after he deserted her. The poor girl is alone. What the girl doesn’t know is how close she is to not having a home. There is no money left to pay rent for the land therefore their home is likely to be snatched away from them.
The girls’ mother is out of the house but is not too far away. In desperation she has gone to seek help from the last person she can think of. As the woman looks up, there in front of her eyes she sees the huge tower. Strong iron gates stand tall in front of her. Eyes wandering, she searches for a way to open them. Attached to the left hand side of the wall, she finds an electric device. There is a button; she presses it with her right index finger. Suddenly, a deep voice answers “Welcome, you may enter”. The woman hesitates for a second; she then takes a first step forward and into the garden. An evil laugh echoes from an open window but the woman is too distracted to hear it.
In the tower, the mother is uneasy. She senses a wicked side to the rich gentleman. “So, what can I do for you?” he asks in a deep voice. The whole situation seems a bit strange. “I need your help…” says the woman shakily. As the woman goes on to explain, a smile begins to form on the man’s face. He pauses for a few minutes before replying with, “What will you give me?” the man asks”If I help you?”
“I have nothing to give. My daughter and I have nothing” The man quickly turns to face the woman.” Your daughter…” He laughs. “She is very beautiful indeed. Tell her she must come and work for me.”
“What would the work involve?” the woman asks in a puzzled tone. The man replies, “Gardening of course. You must sign this contract and then it will all be done.” He pulls out piece of paper from his jacket; it was filled with tiny writing. The woman takes the paper but she cannot bear to try and read it all, and so in desperation, she signs the paper. In the same second, something evil begins to take control. The future has been altered. As the woman leaves the tower, she feels confused and is not able to make any real sense of what has just happened. A few days later, she tries to put it to the back of her mind. Meanwhile, evil is brewing.
A handsome young man, in his twenties or so is speeding along a dusty, long road in a sports car. The car is an intense red colour and shines brightly as sunrays are reflected. Loud music blasts out from the speakers as a fast breeze races in through the open windows. Unexpectedly, the car engine starts making strange noises and the man decides to stop. He tries to re-start the engine but it won’t start up again.
He opens the car door and steps outside. As he is looking around, he spots a small house in the distance. He has no other option but to go up there, he sighs and then starts to make his way across the field. Some of the plants are so long; he uses his arms to push them away from his face. The field is filled with weeds and nettles which begin to sting the bottom of his legs as they find their way up his trouser legs. The skin turns pinky red and starts itching extremely.
As he reaches the muddy path that leads to the front door of the house, he pauses to catch his breath. He knocks his right fist firmly on the door and waits impatiently. Suddenly, a sound of someone moving comes from the house. An unknown voice calls out, “Who’s there?” The young man hesitates for two seconds before replaying with, “I’m Max, no-one you know. I was just wondering if you could help me out”. He waits for a response but hears nothing, “My car just broke down and…miss?”
“I’ll be right there”. Large bolts and locks are quickly opened, and then she flings open the door. The young man notices her pale skin and dark black hair straight away. She looks up at him, still with sadness in her face. The girls’ green eyes seem so beautiful to the man standing at her door. It’s like he is being hypnotized by them as he can’t find any words to say to her. “H-how can I help you um, sir?” said the girl with her eyes open widely, staring straight at his. They both pause for a while, lost in a moment. The man finally replies when a rush of words come flooding out from his mouth, “Max, my name is Max. I told you my name, but maybe you didn’t hear it”. He pauses and repeats his name again, “I’m Max”. The girl glances down at the floor and giggles to herself.
He begins to realize how nervous he must look. “So, what’s your name?” he mumbles. The girl flutters her eyelashes and whispers, “Natasha”, she replies.
As the months pass, Natasha grows evermore distant from her mother, who she comes to believe is utterly against her. Her relationship with the young man, Max changes immensely in such little time. She is infatuated by him. Before she met him, Natasha was lost in her own world. She wished for her life to have more meaning, to be happier. Now, everything feels right.
A small red card from Max rests on an old set of drawers; Natasha continues to gaze at it whilst she is sat huddled on her bedroom floor. She thinks back to intimate moments which they shared. Suddenly, somebody starts pounding a fist on the door. The shiny silver latch which was recently fitted begins to rattle. “Open this god damn door! You don’t walk away from me, I’m your mother!” screams the person on the other side.
“Stop scaring me mum, you’re acting crazy. Please, please just stop”. Tears stream down Natasha’s white cheeks.
Why can’t she let me be with Max? We’re in love and I cannot bear to be without him. I’ll do anything. She won’t even let me leave the house, why is she so obsessive? She just likes to keep me prisoner, the evil old hag. No wonder dad left her; I wish he took me with him.
“Hey you stupid little tart, can you hear me!” Then there is a long pause as the woman waits for an answer which will never come. “Don’t even think about leaving this house. I’m not standing for this nonsense about so called love; he’s no good for you so you’re staying here with me.” The pounding stops. The middle aged woman slowly walks away.
By now, red blood is flooding out from Natasha’s left wrist; a knife is clutched in her right hand. She stares blank faced as her fluid drains out from her body. Her dazzling eyes close as she feels her soul being extracted from her. What is this? Whatever it is, it feels magical.
It’s the next day. Natasha’s battered body is faced down on a hard marble floor. Gasping for oxygen, she struggles to turn herself over. Sharp pains from her slashed wrist are brought back to life as she regains consciousness. Her face creases up, she lets out a terrible scream of agony. Then, the idea of pain sinks into the back of her mind as she starts to question herself, “Where the hell am I?”
Back at her house, Natasha’s mother wakes from her sleep. She stumbles down the creaky wooden staircase. “Hello?” the woman calls as she reaches the bottom of the stairs. “Natasha, are you awake? I’m sorry about last night”. Her heart pumps faster and faster as a feeling of horror starts to mount from inside her body. The woman pounds her fist on the same door yet again, yet this time she hears nothing at all.
The gentleman is looming over Natasha, stood up straight as she looks at him with wide eyes, “Hello my dear” says the man in a deep, seductive tone. A grin immerges upon his face. “You have something which belongs to me”.
“What is it? What do you want?”
“Let’s just say, it’s something precious”
“I did your gardening, I watered your plants. My mother said that was the deal. What more do you want?” The man turns away, and then suddenly, slaps Natasha hard across her face. The colour of her cheeks quickly changes from pale white to bright red. Natasha screams and the man starts to laugh, first quietly, gradually building up into hysterical laughter.
Eventually the noise becomes inhuman, like a horrible creature choking. The poor girl covers her ears and shuts her eyes in terror. The devil voice says, “You are missing Max now aren’t you my dear?” Natasha stops sobbing, leaving a second of silence. She looks up at the monster of a man, like an innocent victim, helpless against such evil. “How do you know about him?” Natasha questions, yet she is filled with dread. The man pauses and looks straight in her green eyes, blank faced with no remorse. The devil is incapable to feel any. “He was just a device. Now, my seed has grown within your womb. Go if you wish, you can’t escape your fate”. The man in the suit walks out of the room and disappears, leaving an open door. Natasha struggles to bring herself to her feet, and then she runs out of the door as fast as she can.
Outside, the wind blows stronger than ever before as more and more leaves are sent hurling across the land. Clouds have formed, almost like a blanket across the sky. The poor girl struggles to find her way home in such darkness. Tears stream down Natasha’s face and total confusion invades her thoughts as she hurries across the wild grass. She fights to find oxygen before finally collapsing on the ground. Pain surges from inside her as the child of the Devil begins to eat its way out of her body. The innocent girl dies.

Remember, evil is everywhere, it is just cleverly hidden.
© Copyright 2005 S.Moulkizadeh (starshelley at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
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