In honor of Hallowen

[Lachlann Murray]

Just something that welled out of me. Nothing about this is true, rather, my own imagination at work.


I enjoy the night. Having said that, I must quantify why. 20 years ago I was struck by lightning, and that opened my senses to things beyond what most mortals are aware of. There are others like me, always having to wear sunglasses when the sun is up because our eyes are so sensitive, aware of the energy left behind by people when they leave this particular place in reality. And most aware of the bodies of those that roam the earth, soulless, seemingly unable to feel things such as human emotion, and having to feed on blood to sustain themselves.

Those who are like me tend to do what I do, in that we track down these soulless beings, and send them on. Most aren’t aware when they are drawn into this state, the soul, or the human energy that used to inhabit that body is trapped in a netherworld, unable to move up or down or able to be reborn into society. That forms the crux of why we hunt them. We’re perfect for the job. We see things in spectrum's regular people can’t, and most of us have developed the chi within us that protects us along with the knowledge of how to use our own emotions to entrap and subdue beings that are easily more powerful than us physically.

I’ve been doing this for quite some time now. Haunting the shadows and alleys of the cities of the world, always on the lookout for the other beings. That is, until last night. Last night I discovered what it really means to me, and why I must stop.

She was following me. Unaware that not only could I sense her, but I could also see the frequency she was hiding in. It’s easy to trap these things like that, because they tend to lose themselves when they get close to food, warm sticky food just a skin’s depth away. I let her tag me to my penthouse apartment, and set my trap. When she floated in, I set the meters off and bound her with my chi. And stopped short. I had known this body. I had loved the human it was a long time ago. She and I had dated, long ago. I never took her offer to sample her flesh, for some reason. Not that I loved her, mind you. I just liked being with her, because she was so full of life back then. Laughter, kisses, hugs…. She gave those out as if unaware how they felt to others. I was a geek back then, but she never seemed to mind that.

Now, I look at her, feeling within my own self pity, my own mortal body well aware of how I am as a human, full of emotions, chemicals, love, hate, those emotions…. I know how they feel. How they cloud the common sense in us sometimes, blind us to reality. I’m well aware of that. And I look at her shell, who she was, and only note the emptiness there. It’s as if when mortals are drawn into that shadow, they take on another thing to replace the soul that used to inhabit their body. Something alien in a sense, not human in nature or thought. I always have wondered about that.


And I look at her, that desperation in her eyes, and recall when she was warm and how she looked at me sometimes. I hate myself now. I knew her, lusted after her, and now I see only the shell of what she was.


Yes, I need to leave this. Leave how I look at things, become unaware of other realms they move in. Safe, because without my ability to see into their world. That is not possible. But I do need to stop. I cannot understand what really happens here, nor do I want to. But it’s hard to, when I look into her eyes, once so full of life and love, and know only filled they are filled with the lust for blood, warm, rich……….

But I know I must. I know who she once was in there, probably with me, looking on. Wanting me to end this. She would want to end this body, this shell and move on.
I hesitate. My own human side has its own hunger, I know this. Hunger for something we cannot name, something that is fleeting in its culmination. Yet still a hunger that gnaws at me, as I suspect it gnaws at most humans.

I can do nothing now, but wait for dawn. Dawn, when I open the curtains, and give the shell before me the sunlight. That blessed sunlight that will move them on, but which even I cannot face without shades.

And so I wait. Knowing I’m doing the best thing I can, but hating myself. In her present form she is happy, I know. Just mindlessly following the urges of her own hunger. Who I am I really to judge her? I have my own hungers, my own desires.

And I draw the curtains back as the sun breaks over the horizon, knowing I’ll have to sweep the ashes afterwards. But I hate myself now. Hate that I have to do this.

As her body smokes, I know this. It is time to move on. I cannot protect society all by myself. I can only take care of myself, and realize within me what is really important. I can love, I know that. What I have is mine alone.

And so I let a tear drip down my face. Sad because evil still lurks in the world, sad because I know I’m caught in it, and sad because I have to let it go.

Hope everyone had a happy Samhain.

[Lachlann Murray]

I have a muse I'd like to spank.... Hard. It's been silent lately. I have been writing, but things I must keep to myself at this point.

[Starlene Breiter]

I enjoy reading your fiction... I remember you used to write a lot on 360 way back when... Do you still?

Thank you for sharing... Samhain was a calm and peaceful day for me :)