The Orb of Light

My first horror type story. Tell me how you like it. Dedicated to someone very special to me, may we stay away from cursed things such as depicted in this story.

A dark night had befallen the small town of Brennenburg as a new moon rose high in the air. Round street lamps lit the main street and the few houses surrounding. It was one of those towns where everybody knew everyone, and they all worked to support each other.

It made me feel all the more out of place as I strolled into the cozy inn and up to the counter. One man lay passed out on a table with a beer mug gripped in his hand, half empty. I tapped the bell to call somebody out and took a look around the small place. It was built mainly of wood, but was insulated well against the cold, bitter air outside.

“Yes?” called out a kind, woman's voice.

I turned to see a beautiful face smiling at me. Her eyes sparkled in the dim lamplight. “Autumn? I didn't know you worked here,” I exclaimed, recognizing her instantly.

She giggled. “I'm but a mystery to you, my love.”

I set my hand atop of hers and took a glance at the date on the newspaper sitting on the counter. January 22, 1832. “So I'm guessing you lead me here,” I stated, looking back up into her beautiful, hazel eyes.

“You know me.” She smiled and leaned in to kiss me gently, over the counter.

“I thought I was here to investigate more on that mysterious orb that I was telling you about.”

Autumn nodded. “A man here has been quite troubled. He owns one of those orbs, and he had just heard the story about the man who got killed last week.”

I sighed, thinking of the man I had seen. It was just like everyone else who had an orb: his stomach was ripped wide open from beast-like claws and his innards lay next to him, torn, bloodied.

“Nick?” She arched her head to meet with my own eyes. “Do you need a place to stay tonight?” Her grin widened devilishly and I could easily see where this was leading to. She tugged on my jacket, nearly pulling my over the counter and kissed me before I had the chance to say that I would love a place to stay.

I woke with a start, after dreaming of that terrible picture of the orbs' victims. Autumn still slept soundly next to me, so I quietly rose and took a peek out the window after pulling on my pants. By the height of the sun, it looked to be around ten in the morning. I was scheduled to meet with the man at twelve, noon, in the bar of the inn.

I sat back down on the bed and stroked Autumn's straight, auburn hair. She sweetly smiled at my touch, her face gleaming brightly like the most beautiful of porcelain dolls.

“Are you ready for today?” she asked, eyes still closed.

“Ready as I'll ever be,” I replied, rising up to fill the bath tub in the other room with hot water.

“Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to raise arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them?” recited the man on stage. I had to conduct my meeting while auditions for a play were going on.

“Hello, Mr. Edwards,” I said as I held out my hand for him to shake. The man looked surprisingly calm, yet seemed to have not shaved in a few days. “I'm Nicholas Penrose, the investigator of this case. Did you bring the orb with you?”

“Yes,” he said, as he nodded. He reached in a jacket pocket and pulled out an orb that shined as if from the inside.

I jumped of surprise and covered up the orb with my hands, then whispered, “I didn't realize how much attention that might have drawn. Can you come back later, after hours?” The smooth orb's warth disappeared as it left my palms.

“I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I suppose I can come later, yes.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied, standing. “See you soon.”

One chandelier swung in the light of another, as only one was lit in the large room. Wind creaked the wood beams holding the building together, and this night was especially eerie, which seemed to leave the man on edge.

“This is my assistant, the one who brought me to you,” I said, gesturing towards Autumn. “I'm sure you know each other.”

“Yes we do,” he replied, nodding a greeting towards her.

“May we see the orb, yet again?”

He pulled out the orb which sparkled every color imaginable and yet unimaginable. “I hate this evil thing. It's brought me under a curse.”

I silently thought of the irony. The orb was a very sacred item, one extremely holy, yet had a very unholy guardian. However, I decided not to bring up the point and instead asked, “Can you tell me about this curse?”

He started, staring down at the floor as he recalled the terrible events, “Well, I am an architect and I took a trip to the castle nearby for some study on the towers and such there, as I have a medieval project planned soon. Within that castle, I discovered this orb. Walking through initially was very calming, but when I left with the orb, the castle acted up, as if it were suddenly haunted.

“I felt like I was forever followed by a sort of demon, which I only caught a glimpse of it once. I consider myself lucky to be alive, it not entirely sane.

“It looked like a man wrapped around in a white fabric somewhat loosely. There were stitches running through it and a long rope tied around, as if to hold it together. One hand looked finely wrapped up, but the other was bloody and torn through, yielding four, long, sharp claws that could pierce even the toughest metals. It's pupils were like that of a venomous snake's and they were standing out slightly from it's sockets. And then there was it's mouth. It was as if we were to hang a man's mouth open, tug out the molars, rip off the tongue, and melt the gums and lips, so it would always hand down to at least their chest. That had to have been the creepiest part.

“I then blocked the door and hid in the darkness, making no sound. It broke the door down with superhuman strength and I caught my breath. It stumbled in and out of the room and after a short while, then I never caught a glimpse of him again.”

I nodded, as I had heard reports about this monster, but no one else had come to see him before they died. “Is there another time where you've felt his danger?”

“Its,” he quickly corrected me before he nodded very slowly, tensing up.

The chandelier light blew out and we all sat very still in the darkness. Fear rose up into my throat and I heard the man whisper behind me, “Right now.”

I fumbled for my lamp and lit it. There was no one else in the room, however, we heard a slow, methodical pair of footsteps coming from the second floor hallway. I rose, trembling, and peaked my head around the corner of the stairway to see one dangerous looking venomous eye and a figure attached to it. I swiftly pulled back and turned off the lamp, though it was too late. It had already seen me.

The darkness hid me as I crouched behind a table while the beast reached the foot of the stairs. The most we could see of it was its shadow, which looked very haunted indeed. It faced Mr. Edwards, threatening to attack, but teasing him somehow, as if it was trying to scare him out of hiding. And for what seemed like eternity, things went on this way.

Though, after the long wait, Mr. Edwards freaked out and lunged at the monster with a wooden chair, before he realized he missed and threw the chair at it. However, it seemed to appear unhurt, which surprised me very little.

The monster then slashed at him and we suffered hearing a blood-curdling scream. Autumn and I were too petrified to make a move to help, and once the beast was sure that Mr. Edwards was dead, it vanished through the front door.

I lit the lantern again and crawled over to Autumn, hugging her tightly as she cried in my arms. “Shh,” I reassured her, “My love, it's over, we're safe now. Everything is okay.” I said, rocking her back and forth. “It shouldn't come after us,” I lied. From all accounts I could remember, it very well would be after us next, since we witnessed it killing. I could only hope and pray for the good gods to save our souls.

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[Truth]

"Dedicated to someone very special to me."

Anywho, love it :)