A grand tower sat in the middle of this eery forest. No man dared enter for if they were foolish enough, they would never return. Many tried their best to stay away, but the seducing forest always beckoned those who wavered. It stood there, shadows loomed around it and over trees that remained small. The stone was molded and wisteria grew all around it in hues of chromatic and cobalt. Moss hung from the tower roofs. There were no doors, no windows, no way in nor out. Crows sat at the edges and croaked throughout the morning day. During the night a certain feeling of melancholy filled the air. Fog drifted off into the lonely village that sat next to this dark forest.
The village was desolate, little people lived there, for those who did were all old and their skin was full of wrinkles. No children played outside for there were none. No adolescents roamed the dusty roads during the day. And those old, people full of wrinkles, dared not leave their homes at night. For the villagers knew of the tower, they knew of the spirits that surrounded the strange gloomy tower. They spoke stories of that cursed tower to frighten and ward frightened travellers who were craven to come their way.
The stories goes as so, within the forest there was a tower, it was built for a dangerous prisoner who is said to still be inside that locked tower. A prisoner of their own witchcraft. They say the tower was the product of this witchcraft and to make up for their sins the prisoner locked themselves away. Though, they're only stories of course. Who truly believes in such stories? One person did, he truly believed in the stories they told of that tower and of the forest.
This young man was a traveler. He loved going from village to village to listen to their tales and exchanged his own. Each one greater than the last. Though no matter how many tales he had heard, the tale of the tower had always captured him, tangled him within the mystery of this prisoner and its tower. He found himself staying the in the village. The people were pleased to have such a handsome young man stay and they spoiled him with rich foods to keep him healthy.
Over time, the young man found that the longer he stayed in the village the more the forest seemed to draw him in. With every pass by, its whispers called out to him, tempting him to enter its shadowy domain. Many times, he fought off the temptation, but one night there was something odd about the air. A strange moon loomed over and peered down from the night sky. Her stars dared not to shine on this cursed night. Dark clouds danced along the midnight sky. The fog stalked the quiet village.
The young man noticed this and lit his candle to head outside. The chilling air sent shivers down his very spine. The flame flickered and danced with the howling wind. The young man’s eyes darted around, finding himself walking out of the village, he stopped in front of the entrance of the forest. He peered inside the darkened forest. It seemed like the very trees had faces painted on their trunks from deep inside. His eyes must be playing tricks on him. The fog seemed to thicken around him and a ghastly hand reached out, its fingers brushed against his cheek, drawing him inside.
His feet moved without him willing them to do so. He entered the forest, the very one that he had refused to enter, the one that had so many warnings. Still the temptation has overtaken and drowned out all warnings. His mind ran blank as he followed the mist blindlessly. It led him down a hidden dirt path. Owls cooed and wolves howled into the night. The moon beamed down, with her face red as if angered by something. The stars hid behind the clouds, timid to come out. The wind shook the trees and his shaky breath fogged within the air.
He feet came to a stop when he arrived to his destination. In front of him stood the tall dark tower. He caught his breath as he stared up in awe. This was the very tower he had heard of. His hand ran along the cool, moldy bricks. It was real. The story was real. His eyes scanned upward. “No window...no entrance….” he mumbled, a smirk on his lips. For some odd reason he felt disappointed. Here in front of him was the tower but...there was no way to tell if there really was a prisoner locked inside.
His hand continued to run along the bumpy bricks.Suddenly he felt a change. From the ground up two straight lines rose up. They curved and connected, creating the frame of a door, the glowing lines continued within the the outlining of the door, creating designs. The young man quickly removed his hand as he watched this wonder. Once the door was fully formed the lines became 3D. A handle formed and the young man reached out to grab it. Pushing it, the door opened.
He peered inside and saw darkness. A eerie call came from inside, calling out to him. Possessed, the young man entered. Behind him the door closed and disappeared, trapping him inside its darkness. A haunting feeling consumed him, a presence beckoned him to come closer and he did. His footsteps echoed throughout the emptiness. Soon, as he wandered around the empty shadows , he started to hear sniffles. The sound of someone crying.
As he reached the top of the tower a light could be seen. He entered the single room where the only light laid and in the middle sat a young woman, the light was just enough for the young to only see the woman everything else was drowned out by darkness. Chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles. She was hunched over, sitting on her knees, her long white hair danced around her. The weeping came from her. Slowly, the young man approached her. A stone was kicked away and disappeared within the darkness when his foot came into contact with it. The woman’s head jolted up and her soulless gaze went to his.
Her face was bleak and full of melancholy. The sense of gloom seemed to haunt her body. Her widened eyes were red from her tears. Her lips a darken blue, even her skin seemed to be a hue of blue-gray. Her nails were long and bloody, the stone next to them stained in streaks of her blood. She was beguiling. To the very core she was and in that moment the young man fell in love with the chained stranger.
Here she was, the so called prisoner, he heard of. The stories that he had fallen in love with were real. His heart raced, he couldn’t tell if it was from the sight of her, fear or something else. He didn’t care nonetheless, he was just pleased by the fact she was real. She was alive and sitting right in front of him. So many questions ran through his mind but no words escaped from his chattering lips. His eyes glazed over and his body continued to appear possessed. She had captured his heart a long time ago but now….he was obsessed. The fact he knew how to get to her, how to see her, visit her, filled him with thrill. She was his.
The woman sat there. Her eyes scanned the stranger. Her blue lips opened and closed as if she was trying to say something. Over and over again they opened then pressed together. Her hands clenched to a closed and her body trembled. Her pale brows knitted to a close and her red eyes narrowed. The young man didn’t notice the change in expression and started walking closer towards her, cautiously of course. The woman’s ghastly figure stiffened and her chest puffed out. Drawing in a deep breath, when the young man was close in range, she let out a horrid wail. The sound was so powerful that the young man was driven onto his knees. His hands clasped over his ears and his head shook from side to side, blood started rolling down the side of his neck from his ears.
The woman’s wail did not let up as she stood. She was a good seven-feet when she stood up straight. Her outdated dress was torn and dusted. Her bell bottom sleeves, along with her skirt, flowed gracefully in the air. Her hair lifted up, forming a halo-like crown. Her bare feet barely touched the ground, the chains keeping her from floating higher up. She stared down at the male, her eyes full of venom. A trespasser has entered her sacred tower once again. Any trespassers who were foolish enough to even enter the forest was punished.
The woman lifted her hand, lifting the young man into the air. Her wail had came to a stop by then, and the man struggled for air. Runes formed along her skin as her hand closed into a fist. The young man’s neck started to collapse and blood poured from his eyes, mouth and nose. His neck now broken, and his head started to turn. It did full circle then simply popped off. His body fell and upon hitting the floor it turned to ash.
The skin of his head started to melt off, leaving only his skull. Moving her head to the side, the skull clashed against the wall and falling onto the ground. It now sat next the millions of skulls that sulked in the darkness. The skulls of the punished, the skulls of young men who were lured into the darkened forest and were tricked into coming into her tower.
Her eyes stared at the pile for a good moment. A sad sigh left her blue lips, her gaze was full of woe. Turning her back to the pile the woman went back to her knees and her body hunched. She started weeping again. She weeped for her sins and for those were for foolish enough to enter her tower. The runes faded from her skin and her hair fell around her. Her forehead stayed pressed against the floor.
The night rolled on, the moon’s angry gaze calming and she returned to her pale structure. The clouds rolled on by and the stars came out to play. The fog lifted from the village but continued around the dark forest. The spirits returned to the shadows as morning light came around. Their song came to an end as Halloween ended for another year.
No one knew what happened to the handsome young man. For a long time they worried for him, but he soon became a meaningless thought. The young man was soon forgotten, for they assumed he had entered the forest and came across the tower, like those before him. The villagers went on with their desolate lives. The young man became one with the story he was so fascinated by. They knew very well what would happen to the young man the longer he stayed with them. The tower always takes its victim on Halloween night.
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