03-18-2018, 01:21 PM
The sudden change in setting was anything but subtle. From a heavily wooded nature path, filled with the sounds and smells of the outdoors, to the unknown world Kaleigh now found herself staring at. It had happened in the span of a single blink, between the time her eyes had closed and when they had reopened. She was faintly aware of a time in between, of floating paralyzed in a void with a voice speaking directly to her, but that now felt more like a dream than something that had actually happened. Yet, the difference in where she had been and where she was now was impossible to ignore. With some trepidation, she blinked again, expecting the world to shift once more. To her mild surprise, it didn’t. After a few more seconds of hesitation, she started forward.
In front of her was what looked like a private cemetery, one that belonged in a backyard somewhere in the country. It was currently devoid of people, and yet it was clean enough that someone must have visited regularly. The vegetation was in check, and the headstones and sparse decorations were kept up enough that there wasn’t any significant decay. The grass was green and well kept, and each tombstone was given ample space just off the path that wound through the area.
Kaleigh approached the black, wrought iron gate that appeared to be the only entrance past the matching fence that surrounded the graveyard. The lock was a simple latch just above the handle on the outside half of the gate, and it was easy enough to undo it. She gave the gate a light push, the usual squeal of metal on metal much quieter than she expected, and stepped onto the gravel pathway inside.
She moved slowly down the path, her footfalls making a light crunching sound with each step, glancing at each marker as she passed them. Something in her head stirred as she walked through the silent graveyard, a memory in the back of her mind. Like a word she knew the meaning of but couldn’t quite remember the way it sounded. It wasn’t the gravestones themselves, she was sure she had never been to this place before, and they weren’t unique enough to stand out on their own. They were unusual only in the way the names were presented. Specifically, every single stone held multiple names on them, sometimes dozens or more. One of the tombstones she passed had engravings on every side of it, and yet the names were still too small to actually read. In the very center of the graveyard, however, was a statue that stood out to her, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to take a shortcut through the grass to reach it.
The path made a complete circle just inside the outer edge of the graveyard, leaving only enough room for one row of tombstones between the path and the outer fence. The inside held many more, and she estimated that there were roughly three or four dozen total. On the opposite side of the graveyard from the gate was where the path finally teed off towards the center statue, but as she turned her eyes caught sight of something. An object at the base of the statue.
The statue itself was about a little larger than an average human, and appeared to be some sort of cloaked figure holding a scythe. No part of the figure depicted under the cloak was visible, and the statue itself seemed to be weather-worn until only the most obvious features could still be made out. Down near where the statue’s feet would be, somehow wrapped around the stone shaft of the scythe, was a solid black collar.
For some reason, Kaleigh’s heart jumped in her chest when she saw the collar. The memory that had been faint a moment ago suddenly flared up, struggling to reveal itself, and yet something else seemed to smother it back down. The opposing forces struggled in her head, like a raging inferno fighting the howling rain of a hurricane, and time seemed to bend and stall as she stared blankly at the statue and the collar wrapped around it. The swirling battle climbed higher towards a terrifying conclusion, a world-shattering epiphany for her only barely contained.
And then it stopped, the memory finally engulfed by the censoring force in her brain. She snapped back to reality as the memory left her completely and, for a moment, she couldn’t figure out where she was. She glanced around, slowly remembering her first semicircle around the graveyard. Try as she might, however, she couldn’t recall the memory that had fought so hard to make itself known. With a sigh, she turned and headed back down the path towards the entrance, no longer interested in the graves.
A short time later, Kaleigh stepped out of the graveyard and looked around, noticing for the first time how the world seemed to just end only a short distance away. Far off, on the edge of the horizon, she could see some kind of structures placed at precise intervals. Carefully, she traced the outer edge of the graveyard, where the world seemed to melt away into a white void, and tried to see what she could about the eight paths presented to her. Eventually, halfway through her second lap of the perimeter, she picked a path at random and started down it.
In her heart, several emotions stirred for the first time in ages. Excitement, curiosity, a bit of hope mixed in for good measure. This felt like a new beginning, the start of something grandiose and indescribable. For someone who had been for so long with nothing to look forward to except a final ending, this was a nice change of pace.
In front of her was what looked like a private cemetery, one that belonged in a backyard somewhere in the country. It was currently devoid of people, and yet it was clean enough that someone must have visited regularly. The vegetation was in check, and the headstones and sparse decorations were kept up enough that there wasn’t any significant decay. The grass was green and well kept, and each tombstone was given ample space just off the path that wound through the area.
Kaleigh approached the black, wrought iron gate that appeared to be the only entrance past the matching fence that surrounded the graveyard. The lock was a simple latch just above the handle on the outside half of the gate, and it was easy enough to undo it. She gave the gate a light push, the usual squeal of metal on metal much quieter than she expected, and stepped onto the gravel pathway inside.
She moved slowly down the path, her footfalls making a light crunching sound with each step, glancing at each marker as she passed them. Something in her head stirred as she walked through the silent graveyard, a memory in the back of her mind. Like a word she knew the meaning of but couldn’t quite remember the way it sounded. It wasn’t the gravestones themselves, she was sure she had never been to this place before, and they weren’t unique enough to stand out on their own. They were unusual only in the way the names were presented. Specifically, every single stone held multiple names on them, sometimes dozens or more. One of the tombstones she passed had engravings on every side of it, and yet the names were still too small to actually read. In the very center of the graveyard, however, was a statue that stood out to her, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to take a shortcut through the grass to reach it.
The path made a complete circle just inside the outer edge of the graveyard, leaving only enough room for one row of tombstones between the path and the outer fence. The inside held many more, and she estimated that there were roughly three or four dozen total. On the opposite side of the graveyard from the gate was where the path finally teed off towards the center statue, but as she turned her eyes caught sight of something. An object at the base of the statue.
The statue itself was about a little larger than an average human, and appeared to be some sort of cloaked figure holding a scythe. No part of the figure depicted under the cloak was visible, and the statue itself seemed to be weather-worn until only the most obvious features could still be made out. Down near where the statue’s feet would be, somehow wrapped around the stone shaft of the scythe, was a solid black collar.
For some reason, Kaleigh’s heart jumped in her chest when she saw the collar. The memory that had been faint a moment ago suddenly flared up, struggling to reveal itself, and yet something else seemed to smother it back down. The opposing forces struggled in her head, like a raging inferno fighting the howling rain of a hurricane, and time seemed to bend and stall as she stared blankly at the statue and the collar wrapped around it. The swirling battle climbed higher towards a terrifying conclusion, a world-shattering epiphany for her only barely contained.
And then it stopped, the memory finally engulfed by the censoring force in her brain. She snapped back to reality as the memory left her completely and, for a moment, she couldn’t figure out where she was. She glanced around, slowly remembering her first semicircle around the graveyard. Try as she might, however, she couldn’t recall the memory that had fought so hard to make itself known. With a sigh, she turned and headed back down the path towards the entrance, no longer interested in the graves.
A short time later, Kaleigh stepped out of the graveyard and looked around, noticing for the first time how the world seemed to just end only a short distance away. Far off, on the edge of the horizon, she could see some kind of structures placed at precise intervals. Carefully, she traced the outer edge of the graveyard, where the world seemed to melt away into a white void, and tried to see what she could about the eight paths presented to her. Eventually, halfway through her second lap of the perimeter, she picked a path at random and started down it.
In her heart, several emotions stirred for the first time in ages. Excitement, curiosity, a bit of hope mixed in for good measure. This felt like a new beginning, the start of something grandiose and indescribable. For someone who had been for so long with nothing to look forward to except a final ending, this was a nice change of pace.