Soulless

Danse Macabre by Michael Wolgemut (picture credit: wikipedia)

From the Chronicles of Father Thomas de Bedford…

Life didn’t end with death, I quickly realised.  Or rather, the death I had come to expect that would, at the very least, lead me to purgatory.  Or, if the angels, saints and God himself thought me worthy, thought what I had dedicated my life to worthy, then perhaps sooner rather than later, I would get to heaven.

But even then, at the end of it all, I should have been more aware, more cautious…My eyes should not have been looking heavenward…I should have been paying attention.  Then maybe things would have been different…

The world about me was dark but I could distinctly remember the sword thrust I failed to dodge which caught me in the side.  After that, I lost the ability to fight back.  It was a fatal wound, rendering me unable to defend myself.  Falling on to the stone floor of the small chapel, I knew the monster was close and creeping ever closer as my blood pooled beneath me.

I must have lost consciousness, for the next thing I knew, there was sharp pain in my neck and I was screaming.  Something within me was ripped out with sudden force from my chest.  I thought the thing had pulled out my heart.  I hoped, I prayed, he had pulled out my heart.

Only he hadn’t.  He had done something far worse.  He had made me like him.

A mocking laughter echoed around the room.  I had lost my soul.  I was never going to heaven.

And the nightmare was only just beginning…

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This was written for Day 24 of “A Month of Mini Writing Challenges“.  See this page here for more details and a list of prompts.