Posted by Dgennero on January 14, 19100 at 07:14:43:
Dusk was hovering above the land.
It was the evening preceding the infamous Halloween night.
On that evening, a teenage girl was making for the forest just outside her village.
She wanted to prove to herself and her friends that she's no coward.
A girl on a night out - a Halloween night.
Of course she felt a bit uneasy - but frightened? Naah...
Whistling a tune, she trodded the narrow path until the first trees showed up like huge soldiers standing in line.
Suddenly, she noticed two figures in the autumn fog, approaching her on this very path.
One of them was very small, the other thin and tall.
When they were about to pass by, they stopped. So did the girl.
To her amazement, she noticed the small figure was a boy, about ten years old,
with short, dark hair and cute freckles on his cheeks and... WHITE WINGS attached to his shoulders.
The tall figure turned out to be a meager man wearing a skull mask and a wide, black trenchcoat.
Obviously, thought the girl, they were heading for a Halloween party.
"Hi Sis!" said the boy.
The girl swallowed hard.
"Whoever you are: My brother died a year ago. You look like him, but he's dead!
Whoever played that foul trick on me, may he rot in hell!"
"Or you!" the man answered with a muffled, spine-chilling voice.
The boy looked straight into the girl's eyes.
"Don't you remember?", he whispered.
"Last year, you and me were at the river bank down this path. You were upset about me,
just because I jumped in a puddle. You called me a burden. Like always. You never loved me, never!
Do you remember? YOU pushed me! YOU killed me!"
The girl just stood there, eyes and mouth wide open.
"Do you know", the boy went on, "that when an innocent child is killed, it goes straight to heaven
and is granted a wish of his choice?"
"I wished I had a mighty friend who is always there for me. So I chose... HIM!
He'll never neglect me like you did! He loves me!"
The girl, regaining her countenance, snapped:
"Hoax hoax hoax! You CAN'T fool me! My brother is gone for good! Don't think I'll fall for this! Idiots!!!"
She lumped forward and tugged at the skull mask of the tall man.
What she tugged at was solid and cold.
The man laughed.
"No mask, young lady!"
The boy grinned and flapped his wings.
"Mortimer!", he said softly, "can you please do your job now?"
The man hugged the boy. "Of course, dear..."
He brought forth an old-fashioned pocket watch from underneath his coat, took a short, eyeless glance.
"It's time for you."
He grabbed the girl's arm firmly. Resistance was futile.
"I'll show you where it happened. At the bank. Let's go..."
---
Her body was found afloat the next morning.
Nothing pointed to a crime.
The police had a few questions, then closed the case.
An accident.
The officer on duty just wondered a bit about the girl's mom's words:
"I still believe my son was KILLED last year. Now I also believe in justice."
There were tears in her eyes.
And the officer had a hunch they were not shed for the girl.