Brooksville Monologue

CURSED When a series of murders haunt the city of Brooksville, Michael is the one who is affected the most. All his loved ones are the target. Will he be able to protect them from this curse? Chapter one “She is dead, Michael.”
She was the fourth. Millie Thompson was my friend. She is no more now.
She died an hour ago, they said. It was like the ones before. Even she died with a rose in her hand. Black rose, with thons and feathers intricately arranged with it like a bouquet. The deaths were disturbing now. Each died in a very different way but yet, everything was the same. The same rose, the same raven feathers and the same people. My people. My friends and family. I had once thought that this was just a coincidence but not after today.
“What happened?? Did u see anything, Ray?”
“She was just sitting there, mike. It feels like forever but, it was just yesterday that I thought about when I had last kissed her. Now, I cannot even feel her anymore.” He broke into sobs as I held on, hoping that one day, he might find himself and
move on. The deaths started a month ago.
I had returned from an archeology site after recovering a very rare artifact. We call it the Raven’s chest. On the lid, was embossed a rose, intricately placed between thorns and feathers of what I deduced was a raven. It was an offering to the gods. Pagans believed that the chest contained the heart of their deity, ifrnawie. Whoever was to open the chest would invite the maoa-vae, a soul, cursed to a hundred deaths for all eternity. I never was a superstitious guy, but since the deaths, this seems to be the only explanation. I open it one day, only to find a bright black rose, with feathers. It was just like the one on the lid. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? How could a rose survive for 30,000 years inside an airtight chest? An inscription at the bottom caught my eye. It read “ae maoa-vae, anis dui xhiorin, unei xide ifrnawie, Waianae sxihizae setae”. As I read it, a chill ran down my spine. Horrible screeching followed and I shut the box. Fearing my discovery, I buried the chest in the cemetery.
The next day, I met Dr.
Sullivan, a noted occult and mythology specialist. He then translated the inscription for me. The translation chilled my core. Heaviness sank to the pit of my stomach. I felt tied down. The translation was a summoning. ‘Come maoa-vae, for his heart must die. Summon his death, ifrnawie, for tears of blood he shall cry.’
That was the night my uncle, Mr.grundy, died of a mysterious heart attack. On the scene, nothing suspicious was found, except a black rose at the edge of the headboard, with intricate thorns and raven feathers. Mrs.grundy, his wife, had been broken. She would not speak to anyone except my mom and her sister. She went on talking about ghouls and ravens descending, about souls and death. And seeing that made me realize how foolish I had
been. Chapter two For a week, everything was normal. Mrs.grundy was recovering slowly and my mom was helping her. Then, the next one happened. Mrs. Grundy died in a car accident. The police suspected foul play but could never find any clues. The only thing that was found at the site of accident was a grocery bag. And in the bag, among the broken eggs and crushed vegetables, was another rose. Black, bathed red, with her blood. Feathers strewn among the wreckage. Raven feathers. Witnesses said that a flock of dark black “creatures” struck her windshield and before she could comprehend anything, a truck hit her and drove into the tree. She was said to have died on spot. Among the witnesses was Sean, my cousin. He was the best and always stayed at my place on weekends. Although he was alone, he was always cheerful. But the third week took that away from me. Sean was battered. He was found lying half-dead in an alley. Three days in the hospital and he was declared dead. The doctors found nothing abnormal with him. But the police found something rather disturbing. Sean was working for a gang. In his possession at home, they found a gun in addition to a hundred thousand dollars and of course the black rose. The mystery was now turning into a twisted game of fate.
Days went by, as tension surrounded my family in Brooksville.everyone was terribly scared. Who would be next? Who would endure the torture of a spirit that craves vengeance? No one knew, but me.
Millie was Sean’s girlfriend. She was a nerdy girl with bushy red hair. She was supposed to be with him when the murder took place. Millie was scared. She would not talk to anyone. For a week she shut herself from the world. Nothing happened. She was fine, until today. That morning, the town woke up to the horrible screeches of ravens. And among those screeches was a terrible, gut-retching scream that would haunt Brooksville for many nights to come. Millie’s home was ablaze. It was burning with a vengeance. Even with all engines dispatched, it took half an hour to get her out. it was horrible. The screeches of the ravens, the blazing horns and sirens, the panic of people made me nauseous. The fear that we felt was almost palatable. It settled around us like a dense fog that showed no signs of clearing. Millie had succumbed to the burns an hour ago. Now, it was Ray's turn. Chapter three Ray had escaped unhurt, but had witnessed the entire scenario.
He was a professional mythologist, specializing in the Aztec and roman mythology. On many occasions, I would seek his guidance for my expedition. Although he was a year elder to me, he was way ahead in terms of knowledge.
“I saw her, mike. She was there, placing the flowers in her hand before the fire broke out. She had this ethereal beauty about her. She is nothing like the texts write mike. She is real and she is not stopping, not until she finds her chest.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The maoa-vae. She is real, Michael. She wants her chest back. Its horrible and supernatural but that is the only thing I saw”
“I believe you Ray. But we have got to stop this. This is nothing the police can handle.”
“I’ll see what I can do”
But what worried me more is that Ray was an only witness in this. Wouldn’t that mean that Ray was next? There was only one way to stop this and that was to return her to where she came from. I had to return that chest.
3 days after Millie’s death, it was Ray that died. And I was the witness. After Millie died, Ray had taken it upon him to make me watch his every move until his death. And when she came, she was ravishing. I understood then that what we were dealing with was not some simple being. I now see what Mrs.grundy was talking about.
That night, even the winds fell silent. The crickets stopped chirping. Everything was as though someone had hit the mute button. And then, a faint rustle of feathers. Form here, and from there. A raven peeked from the corner of Ray’s porch and pecked at his window. And then there were two. And then four. And the number increased until I could no longer see his door. Before I could move to shoo them, I heard a shrill chime. And from the heavens, from among the stars, she walked the earth. The surreal beauty of it. I could swear it was out of the movies, if I could not smell the horrid stench of rotting carcasses that came from her.
Looking at her had rendered me useless. A creeping cold moved up my spine. She turned toward me, her eyes white and pearly. Was she blind?? My doubts were replaced by fear as I heard a rustle at my side .I turned, only to find her by my side, looking at the ground and smiling faintly. She muttered something and at that moment, Ray opened his door.
He stared dreamily at the sky as he fell to his knees. And just like that, she was gone. I ran to Ray, praying that he was fine. He was still, he wouldn’t move. I went closer and sat next to him. He said nothing at first but then, his head fell into my lap. He had been decapitated, ruthlessly. A chill ran through my spine as I dropped the head. It fell with a wet sound which disgusted me to no extent. Then, I heard her voice, melodiously calm but maliciously hungry.
‘For your guilt, I shall kill you.’
I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Was she speaking to me? I couldn’t even see properly. I later woke up in the hospital surrounded by many guards. When I asked?? They told me I had been unconscious for 2 days. A girl had bought me here and called my mom. They were waiting outside.
“Mike??”
“Hey, dean. What are you doing here?”
“I was there, mike. I saw him die.” Chapter four What?? How can that be? I made sure no one could see us. We were at ray’s hideout. Unless…
“when, dean?”
“When his… his… when he died”
“How?” I asked him, my voice full of concern for a guy I barely knew. Dean was Sean’s friend and ray Thompson’s cousin. He was close to Sean but I and he rarely talked. And now, he had made a death wish by seeing ray die. Just great.
“How, dean??” I asked again.
“I was with Natalie. The girl that brought you here? Yea… she is a transfer student from Dawson creek. I was out with her, showing her around when we heard the birds. She ran to get the cops and I rushed over to help. And that’s when I saw you. You were like frozen, dude. It was crazy. You were pale and then you ran over. But I could see that it was over. His head fell, right? Yea, I saw that too
What I don’t get is you trying to mark him”
“mark him?? how??”
“you mean you don’t remember?”
“No I don’t now tell me, dean.”
“Ok, you sort of made a mark in his blood before you passed out. It looked like an occult symbol of sorts and we thought…. You know... you might be the one behind these murders.”
“You got to be shitting me.” That is wrong I mean it makes no sense right? It is not correct. My friends died and I am a suspect now?
“Its ok mike. We checked everything. You are still clean. Not a suspect. Not after Natalie vouched for you.”
“alright. I believe you. And what of this occult symbol, dean? How did it look?”
Dean was concerned. I held his hand and comforted him. “you can tell me...ok?”
“yea I know. It’s just that the symbol is something you will have to see for yourself, mike”
“ok. First, let’s get me out of here”
The ride home was silent. No one knew I was back. Or that Natalie had saved me. They knew I had been unconscious. Once home I was greeted by my mom first. Then the horrid relapse of what happened started. I could say the part till the ravens correctly… then I sort of hiccupped between sobs as others silently consoled me.
I was bed ridden for another day after which I was deemed fit enough to roam about the house. The inspector had visited twice. Checking for the paperwork I guessed. Then after a day of suspense, dean and I went on to visit ray’s hideout. The house stood vacant and lifeless. The birch had died and now seemed like a soul who would guard this sanctuary. We walked along the driveway and reached the steps. Ray had been cremated. But the blood on the floor still seemed fresh. Calling to me. Singing of deaths yet to come. I bent and picked what looked like a torn cloth. It was silk. Finest silk of black color. And under it, was a rose. ‘Bright as light and black as night, it rises when you fall.’ she spoke again ‘soon, you will pay’ I started trembling. It was as though she could see me.
“mike, here...” dean called, his face paler than a zombie. “what is it??” I was now worried it might just be another murder
But it was the symbol. Carved in wood and drawn in blood all over the walls of the front porch. it was mesmerizing and yet instilled a fear of unknown proportions in the hearts of the onlookers.
“what is it??” I asked as I touched one. And that was my biggest mistake. A shrill scream sounded far away and time stopped. I mean literally. It stopped. Dean and I were the only ones who could move. Everything turned bleak and gray. The symbols, glowing with a surreal red and the one I was touching crawled onto my hand. I panicked. I rubbed it, tried to shake it off, but to no avail. The symbol now firmly sat on the inside of my forearm, glowing maliciously. And then the ravens came. And with them came she.
“mike…wake up!” he called as he shook me vigorously. “what happened buddy? You passed out again. Are you alright??” it was dean, looking at me like I was an alien creature and he was the mad scientist who found me.
“did you see that?” I asked him
“see what, mike?” I saw you pass out when you touched the symbol. This is bad, mike. Let’s leave”
Yea…ok I said… or I might have not as my head was still thinking about what had happened. had dean not seen it? Had it never happened? I pulled my sleeve up. No I was truly horrified. On my forearm, sat the symbol. Glowing. Watching. calling me. What? but how can it be??.... ‘you are my vessel now, mike. Each kill will earn you a symbol. Each life you save will erase one. Let’s play’. she was cold. And she was playing against me on this game f fate. I had to save dean now. That was my only mission.