|
And her appearance, a bit odd to say the least, wasn't much consolation either. She was dressed in a full-length gown. Black velvet clung to her body from her chin to her wrists on down. Her platinum hair rested on top her head in a bun wrap and her skin, pale as it was, appeared more fragile than fine china. I figured she probably belonged to the university drama club, or maybe even the local heritage group.
"That's just the approaching train, Ms. - if you're wondering. The disturbance will eventually pass," I said, thinking the fuss of the 705 was the cause of her awkward silence.
Sill, she did not speak.
As I stood upright, I noticed her expression had dramatically changed. She looked as though she was desperate to tell me something, but for whatever reason couldn't get the words to flow from her lips.
"Are you ok?" I asked. I was genuinely concerned and determined to provoke something from her.
But my timing couldn't have been worse; I had managed to express my concern just as the "705" tore by. I wouldn't have heard her response even if she had answered. The train thundered by, like some wild storm, upsetting the library with its wraith - the likes of which I'd never seen before.
And just as it did, a force exploded from the mysterious woman standing before me. Suddenly, I was struck down by a windstorm reeking of rot and decay. The gust of foulness knocked me off my feet and onto my backside all the while seizing books from surrounding shelves and sending them whirling through the air, some of them landing on me and hitting hard.
You can call it what you like, a phenomenon, an embrace from beyond the grave or even a delusion if it makes you happy. It makes no difference to me because no matter what conclusions you are able to draw it won't change what happened next.
On the other side of this whirlwind of madness, where a feeble young woman once stood, a horror now gazed furiously upon me. The woman had somehow changed, transforming into a ghastly specter right before my very eyes. Her soft skin and fragile features lost and no more replaced by a fleshless face of gray bone and eyeless sockets, her silky platinum hair now whipping strands of white fury.
|
|
