RedRavenPoems

VISIONS In The Mist

Mist rose from the ground, a swirling vortex of fantastical shapes. It was a strange type of mist rising here, quite unlike any other I had seen. Usually, the mist was translucent, easy to see through, and easy enough to ignore. This, however, was a nightmarish fog. So dense that even the keenest of eyes would struggle to pierce it, it was thickly opaque, deep gray in color. Ugly, yet peculiarly enticing. I watched as it curled and twirled. Gazed upon the phantasmal shapes that grew, then faded within its shroud. Harmless it seemed, it still conveyed a violent malevolence buried within its cloak.

It had a smell, this menacing cloud of dankness, as unique as its appearance. Ancient, like moldy dust from beneath the earth, the smell hung in the air, enveloping all who entered the mist. Mixed into the musty dust-like smell, was an undercurrent of a sickly sweet musk. It coated the inside of my mouth with its coppery tang, causing bile to rise involuntarily within. This mist. It smelled of decay, and it reeked of hidden death.

Striding forth, I descended into the concealing shroud, seeking the source of it. For surely such an unearthly haze was not natural. Nothing I had ever encountered before here had been this way. This sinister smog, filled with the tang of death, must have a source—one most unnatural, spiritual perhaps. I was determined to find it.

Creeping tendrils darted towards me from the mist, seeking and exploring the contours of my form. Almost playfully they embraced me, then broke apart again at my movements. Goose flesh prickled across my arms, and my hair stood on end, at this cool sensation. The feather-light caress of the mist. My gut churned with nauseous unease. My inner sense, that guiding light I’ve filled all my life, warned me to distrust this seemingly innocent mist. Instinctively I would listen, for this ghastly cloud was more than it appeared, and I knew it beyond all doubt.

I walked onward, mist parting before me like a curtain, closing back behind like a locked door. Now I was alone. The mist isolated me within its suffocating embrace. How long I would travel within this hazy shroud, even now I cannot say. For time is a mystery in the realms beyond Earth, and that is where I had traveled to.

Sometimes the mist would seem to crawl sinisterly up my body. Its serpentine tendrils snaked into twisting arcs, wrapping firmly around my limbs. As if to hold me in place, to make me it’s own. My senses all claimed it was impossible, yet my mind would not shake the feeling it could indeed hold me if it wished, but I persevered. At other intervals it rushed up, billowing across my face with its reeking form, seeking entry into me through my mouth and nostrils. My chest would rumble, and a wheeze would begin as if choking on watery air. A sharp exhale would dispel the terror of the mist. 

The mist, I was certain now, despised me. If it entered my form, I would die as surely as if truly drowning.

A dark shadow formed at the very edge of my vision. A long, low, rectangular shape, that grew steadily clearer as I approached. Its silhouette beckoned to me, and like a man possessed I moved toward it. Perhaps I was possessed, now that the ordeal is over and I can give it more thought. Possessed by the foolish belief I was safe here, in this realm I had traversed so many times before. I knew the rules, and the dangers, or so I had thought. Now? I’m not so sure.

The mist parted before me suddenly, stirred by an unseen breeze. I beheld a tombstone. Blackened with age, spots of lichen growing in patched so unseemly on its visage. All around me, shadowy trees could be seen, only faintly, as outlines stirring vaguely into a myriad of forms. The ground before the tomb was freshly turned, a sign of a new grave with a fresh body. Curious. From the loamy earth, shimmering strands of mist would arise in bursts, far darker in color than those in the air around me, shooting forth like jets of charcoal from an underground geyser. These strands dispersed outward into the swirling cloud around me, strengthening it further. This was indeed the source.

My curiosity fully aroused, I moved closer to the grave. The mist recoiled at my approach, tendrils of it curling back. They trembled slightly. Was it with fear and revulsion of my approach? Or excitement at a prospective victim? Either way, I disregarded them in favor of the headstone. Eagerly I examined it, intent on discovery. Oh, but that I had not! Horror unlike any before filled me, and a shocking panic overtook my senses, leaving me stunned at what I saw. My lapse in concentration was my undoing, for now, the mist struck with a vengeance.

No longer intangible, it lashed out at me. Coiling around my limbs, it held me tight within its steely grasp, unable to budge even the most minuscule of muscles. Arms and legs splayed wide, I was trapped within the malicious embrace of the Mist, escape no longer an option. I struggled as best I could, straining with all my might to thrash free of my bonds. To no avail. My head, now wrapped tightly by the mist, was forced backward. The point of pain was reached, and an instinctive reaction caused my mouth to open in a shriek. 

The mist pounced, pouring itself into my mouth. Driving spikes of gray through my nostrils. It filled my lungs, expelling all the air within. I thrashed now, the mist so deeply embedded that it no longer needed to restrain me. Suffocating smog filled my soul. My vision turned black as I desperately tried to breathe. Anything please, but don’t let me die this way! 

My body burst. I lurched forward onto my bed, coming out of the vision with a strangled cry. Sobbing I fought to regain control of myself, expanding my lungs to take in life-giving air. My body trembled from the horror of the sights and feelings I had experienced. Slowly I began to master myself, the terror ebbing away as sanity returned. Now my terrorized thoughts turned to the tombstone, dread still within me.

For the stone, had borne my own name.