So, you wish to make amends….?

The man, of crow-clawed cheeks and smoking ash whiskers, asked.

A monster of black ebony feathers and dark, crowned hair, crept from the light, stumbling from the burning church entrance stood, straightened, only to fall as his torn arms cringed from the weight of the body. With starving eyes, he looked up at the dark man whom stood steps away from him, wishing to see past the blur of the petit, coated gentleman.

There was no sight, but, turning his head slowing top eye past the metal cross and silver chains that clutched to his back, his eyes widened.

The fires licked the floors, eating the walls and consuming the flesh-stained glass. Embers, devouring, pulled the steeple down, letting stone columns collapse to the ground as if the only remains of the church was its ghost. The chemical stench bit at the air, giving the ash and dirt a white purity as it floated and feathered like that of new-fallen snow.

It was one of the only sights that kept his eyes horrorstruck, and yet the stinging heat screamed through the deaf air, whipping his eyes shut and winding him to the point of looking away into a blackened night darker than this.

When he awakened, the only sight he could imagine was what he held in his arms. And whatever built up in his throat, choked him, as he held up her head to his battered, stained cheek. It was his instinct to let both of what warmth they had pass through each other, most, of what given to his shock, was his own. She made no notion of his love, only twisted her neck to the side as she slept with pale-mooned skin, her open eyes listless, empty like the cold winter days that hung through town.

As footsteps approached closer, the monster haled his breath, panting.

Is there…any way to save her….?

The old, grim man, shadowed and gray, lifted a bony leather finger under the chin of the creature.

No, my son….

He smiled, parting his lips, as watched the monster’s eyes dim.

She’s dead….

Want to comment on this Short Stories? Sign up to Edit Red and you will be able to comment on Short Stories and get access to: Upload your own stories and poems, get readers and their feedback, promote your work...