The Harbingers: Part II

Matthew discovers his cursed gift

For as long as he could remember, Matthew had been weird and unusual. He had heard those two words so often that he had grown to loathe them. Loathe them almost as much as he loathed himself. Yet, as he stood in front of the mirror looking at himself, he could not help but feel that the two words were quite an accurate description of him. Matthew’s face was expressionless as his absorbed his scrawny figure. He was tall, lanky and seemed not to have an ounce of muscle or fat in his body. Some people looked at him as if he was sick. At his last medical checkup, his doctor had shown genuine concern as he suggested a cocktail of drugs and supplements that was supposed to help Matthew gain some much needed weight. None of that concerned him. Had he been a happier person, then perhaps his appearance and health would have mattered to him. The brown deep set eyes and high cheek bones suited him well. They matched his square face and curly afro but he never smiled and so the handsome features were lost on him. Most of his family tried to make him smile " Matthew had no friends. Many of the occasional jokes, well-timed pranks and funny anecdotes were supposed to help Matthew crack a smile. Sometimes he did, but only because he appreciated their sentiments and how much effort they put into it. Regardless, the fact remained that nobody had Matthew figured out. His doctor had never told why he could not gain weight. His mother never understood why his charming and playful son suddenly became thoughtful and melancholic at the age of six. Matthew’s father never quite comprehended why his son loved those books so much. When the other boys in the neighborhood were busy playing hockey in the street, his son was busy reading dark and depressing books in his room. It never made sense to anybody because nobody knew what Matthew did. Nobody knew about the harbingers; the butterflies, cats, hounds, wolves and crows that stalked people who neared their ends. Nobody knew that Matthew had to go through the horror of seeing the unsightly entities every other day without being able to do anything about it.

Before he started seeing the harbingers, Matthew had been a normal boy in every sense of the word. He loved comic books, action figures, wrestling and soccer. His interests preoccupied him in a healthy way. He was never bored or idle. When he was not at school, he found something to do. Sometimes he played with other kids outside. Mostly they played hockey because none of the other kids liked soccer as much as Matthew did. Sometimes, when the girls played with them, they all played hide and seek. Matthew never really stuck out. One of his neighbors was quite good at hockey. He played in goal and whichever team he was playing for would always win. Matthew’s older brother was eight and the best skater in the estate. Nobody could catch him when he got going. However, Matthew was not like them. Nothing about him stood out or was worth noting. He envied the others, the ones who were special. He wished that he was like them, with a skill or ability that few others had. He hoped and prayed that one day something about him would be special and then one day, his wish came true.

Matthew was six when he started seeing the harbingers. His grandmother had just died. A seventy-six year old woman who had lived a long and fruitful life. She had died in one of the most peaceful ways possible, in her sleep lying next the man she had been married to for more than forty years. The next day, her husband woke up and left his wife in bed. He normally woke up an hour before her and he had grown accustomed to going through his morning rituals without disturbing her sleep. This morning, he got out of bed, dressed up and took a quick shower, all while his beloved lay in bed. He left the bedroom and went downstairs, where he had a quick breakfast before going out to soak up the morning sun. An hour and a half later, he walked back into the kitchen to find the breakfast he had laid out for his wife cold and undisturbed. An alarm went off in his head and he rushed upstairs " as much as an octogenarian could- to find his wife still in bed. She lay there peacefully with her lips parted slightly in what looked like a smile. He did not have to touch her to know what was wrong. Instinctively, he leaned in and kissed his dead wife gently on her lips. They were cold. For the first time in sixteen years, Paul wept.

Matthew’s grandmother was buried on a hot, sunny Saturday. Even though he was a child, Matthew understood what was happening. Granny had died and so everybody had to pay their last respects. Still, he was a child and ceremonies of all kinds bored him beyond words. The hot weather did not make things any easier for Matthew. He hated the suit he was wearing. The sweat made it itch, causing him an incredible amount of discomfort. The importance of the ritual he was attending, however, was not lost on him. Therefore, he remained quiet and tried to ease the discomfort without disturbing his mother. He had seen his grandfather only once since they arrived at the chapel. He was in a somber mood " as expected " and quiet in a way that Matthew had never seen him before. After two hours of boredom, they all left the church to go bury granny’s body. It would not be soon before they left. Matthew could not wait to take off the suit he was wearing. The people inside the church filed out in two columns. His grandfather was already outside, standing by the grave where his wife would be laid to rest. When Matthew first saw it, he was confused. They had just gone round the church to where the cemetery was. Matthew was walking absent mindedly, still preoccupied on his state of discomfort, when the grave first came into sight, a pile of earth next to a deep hole. Standing next to the grave was his grandfather, gazing at the coffin in front of him with a thousand-yard stare. But the thing that really grabbed Matthew’s attention was circling his grandfather. A massive black Rottweiler was lurking around the grave, repeatedly going round his grandfather. The old man did not seem to notice it; the coffin had his undivided attention. What really surprised Matthew was the manner in which the rest of the crowd reacted to the scene. Nobody seemed to care. Without taking notice of the dog, they all walked up to the grave and took up various positions behind the old man. The dog continued to lurk around the grave. Even more confusing was the thick, black cloud of smoke that the hound seemed to leave behind. It was unlike anything Matthew had ever seen. It did not touch anybody or anything and for as long as Matthew was there, the massive hound remained quiet. It did not seem to care for anybody or anything else, only his grandfather. Occasionally, it would stop moving and stay there, panting heavily with its gaze fixated on the old man. Every bone in Matthew’s body told him to say something about the dog. He wanted to ask his father why the dog was there but for some reason, he feared the answer. Eventually, the priest stopped talking. Matthew’s father and a few of his relatives stepped forward to lower the coffin into the grave. Most of the crowd was singing a sorrowful hymn. Matthew’s focus was still on the dog, which now seemed to be some sort of apparition. Whenever it encountered an obstacle - a person or an object " in its way, it did not move aside or circle around. Instead, it passed through whatever thing was in its way. This worried Matthew but what happened next was going to shock and scar him for life. As the men were lowering the coffin, the dog stopped moving and stood a foot and a half behind his grandfather. Something was different about its demeanor. It seemed more sinister and focused. Slowly, it lowered its front legs ready to pounce. Then, without warning, the black hound sprang up and burst right through Matthew’s grandfather. It burst through his back in one sudden and fluid movement. As it came out through his chest, it drew a silky, silvery substance. The dog turned into a cloud of smoke as soon as it hit the ground and slowly dissipated into the air. Matthew’s grandfather reacted immediately. His body went stiff and his right arm shot up to his chest. He gripped his shirt tightly as his face went pale. His jaw was clenched tight as he keeled over and fell head first into the same hole where his wife now lay. Matthew heard several gasps and a yelp from the crowd. The men rushed towards the grave and circled around it. One of them started to make his way down. Matthew already knew what was wrong. He did not have to be a genius to put all the pieces together. As soon as his grandfather fell into the grave, Matthew understood everything. He now knew why nobody took notice of the dog, why the hound was able to pass through solid objects and most importantly, why the dog had leaped through his grandfather’s chest. The old man was dead and Matthew had seen it coming.