Oct 23, 2011

5. The Abandoned City

The city was empty of all living things. Tumbleweed rolled through the streets and shutters of the shops flapped in wind like hands waving goodbye. The structures of the city were getting eaten slowly by rot and there was moss growing on some of the structures. The salty sea winds made everything stink of the sea and the silence was disturbed only by occasional slapping of doors or windows by the wind.



The horseman entered the city from the one of the broken roads in the north. His horse neighed and bucked with every step and the horseman tried hard to control the horse. He got to flat part of the road and got down from the horse.



"Now now, where are you hiding big man..." he said to no one at all.



The watch in his pocket pulsed once and he took it out. There was a small light blinking at 11 on his watch. He took a step in that direction and the light blinked harder. He tied his horse to a building's door and started walking in the direction where his watch was pointing him.



He came up to another broken down structure and kicked the door in. The smell inside the building assaulted him like something physical and he was forced to take a step back. He blinked tears out of his eyes and shielded his nose against the stench.



"Always the shitty jobs for me." he grumbled.



There were other doors inside the building and he went through them, descending into the gloom of the building, guided only by his watch's light that grew stronger with every step. There was an equal green glow coming from somewhere further in the darkness and he headed towards it.



The source of the glow was a big box that was placed on an altar. There was a small circular indention in the box which looked the perfect size of his watch.



"Oh well, here goes nothing."



He looped off the chain of the watch from his left arm and placed the watch in the recess.



Nothing happened for a while.



The man tapped his foot, waiting for something to happen.



Then the watch slowly started to turn clockwise. It turned a full revolution and stopped. The lid of the big box shifted slightly and more green light spilled out.  A hand, scarred and old, with broken nails and chewed off fingers, curled out of the green-lit coffin.



"The heart beats."



The voice that came from the coffin was as ancient as the first of the voices, aged by it's time alone in 
the box with nothing but the sound of breathing for company. It was the voice of someone who had almost forgotten how to speak.



The man with the watch wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. The hair on his neck stood up with the static electricity in the air.



The hand on the edge of the box strained itself and as the face rose up from the box, the watch man fainted. The last sliver of his consciousness didn't want him to ever wake up again.



The figure in the box fell out with a wet slap on the floor and broke the neck of the prone watch man on the floor. It stuck its fingers inside the bloodied neck and began to feed. It needed energy, for the way to get back his heart was going to take some time.

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Part 6, when inspiration strikes. Which will be soon. What is Nife up to, i wonder...

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