Rise the duke of ashes - Darkforum.com - Dark Stories, Dark Art, Poetry, Photography, Debates and Discussions

dark_duqualle

i am not realy... are those elephants flying?

i look down and see the earth falling away from me, or am i flying away from it? all the people i once had uninteresting conversation with, they are just standing there. there just standing there and looking... "Help Me!" i see nothing but non-response. no concern, not a waving hand or a smile. no questions of why... "HELP ME!!" the tears rolling off my face. every grain of salt drying and falling away. i cannot breathe. I cant breathe?! oh my god, am i dying? is this real? what happened, why? i dont want to die, not with questions. "Give me peace!... you owe me that..." i pause, look around and see something in the distance. past the stars and the blackness of space. through the void i find a safeness. a security. its warming me, my every being.

"duke"

did i just hear that? "hello!" i cant see anyone. the warmth is taking control over me, i feel so at ease. i could just fall into it and stay. whats wrong with me? am i dead? is this it, am i going to heaven? i am falling faster. i cannot focus on the stars. i can see light fading away... "OH MY GOD!"

... i stopped... i open my eyes slowly to look around. there are strange lights. a florescent glow to everything. its dark, but everything looks alive. "hello," i murmer under my voice. where am i? the sky here has no sun. it has no moon, but i can see a swirling void. it is like oil. rich, black oil with blood in it. its swirl is enticing. i walk a little while and i see a well. i dont fel thirsty, but i think my entrigue is getting the best of me. i reach for the rope and it is slimy. its warm. wait, what am i doing? my arms start to raise the pail in the bottom. my mouth is watering, but i am not thirsty. i cant stop. the pail reaches the surface and i hold it to my face. i can smell iron. thick iron. my hands raise it and i look up. pouring the pail over my face and body, it is blood. "Ahhhh!" i scream, but i just continue to dump it all over me. its in my mouth, its layering over my eyes. it doesnt burn, its soothing in a way. wait, i feel like im burning. between the drips of blood from my fingers to the ground i hear a cracking sound. as if someone was walking through branches. why am i so warm? "hello?" no answer but its louder. my fingers are so hot, it hurts now. "hello?!" no answer again, and my fingers are blistering. "hello! Help me! HELLO!" oh my god, i am on fire. my flesh is searing. "OH, help me, please!" im squeeling. my skin starts to peel back and fall off. my hair is gone. my fingers are nothing more than sharred sticks from a camp fire. i am bones... "AAHHHH!"

The fire goes out and i am on my knees. my flesh, muscle... its all gone. i am free standing bones. charred remains.

"Duke, welcome home."

i turn my skull, my neck cracking with every angle. my eyes, voids.. there's a man, he has on some sort of old roman wardrobe. his arms opened to me. "help me please," i cry to him. he looks at me and from behind i see a light. a white light. it raises from behind him and starts to form in different directions. wait, they are wings. i see feathers. "are you... angel," stuttering my words nervously. that must be it, i am dead. this is salvation from an angel. i think he's going to speak. where did he go.

"i am the end... i am the void... i am luscifer..."

my black skull is in his hands. he is carressing my skull. i feel sarrow, but i am at ease. then i see maggots. hundreds of maggots falling over my body and around me on the ground. they have a deep orange and brown color. my jaw drops open, and as i start looking up i feel my skull pressing in. am i going to hell?

my skull fractures, and cracks. peices of bone flickering off onto the ground. my skull crushes in. my body, whats left falls to the base of the well and i just lye there and start to fall apart...

...BEEP..... BEEP... BEEP....

what is that?

"hi, ..u.....v.e....ched....du.......lea.....essage...."

"duke, wake up. its morning."

i open my eyes. touch my face, and look at my hands. it was just a dream...im alive... let out a sigh and then look out the window...
the rays of light are bouncing off the window. the glass is crying from the morning dew. its probably 20 or so degrees hotter inside than it is outside. the leaves from the tree's are almost all gone away now. i can see the car and the grass both have frost on them.

i do love the morning, at first... as soon as i open my eyes the world just fills me. all my thoughts race. my heart is pulsing, and my mind is trying to think its first few thoughts of the day. mostly random things like, "i need coffee and a ciggarette," or, "go back to bed." i dont realy enjoy being awake in the morning, just that first eye opening moment.

i slep right next to the window. its nice in this timne of year. i can feel the cold air on my back. it makes my hair stand up and i shiver. grab the blanket tightly with both hands and curl up in a ball. bury my face down in the pillows and then saunter back off to sleep. but this day i would get up. slightly rattled from the fragments of dream i can remember from the night, before i opened my eye's.

i pull the blankets away and step my feet onto the cold floor. hardwood. maple i think. the smell it lets off when the heat is kicking is just great. its so seasonal.

i walk into the kitchen. my room-mate and lover is making a fresh cup of coffee, getting ready for her day. her hair is wet from her shower and she is wearing her white nighty. its very provocative, especialy for my morning mind. i stare for a while but am caught doing so. i just smile and then reach for my ciggarette's. 27. its the blend i choose for my daily dose of death. every hit is just as mellow as the last, and the first. its not a good vice, but at least its a tasty one. i flick my lighter and take that that firts morning drag. the cherry forms at the tip of the ciggarette and i enjoy the smoke in my lungs for a few seconds and then exhale slowly. the silver bullet i once heard it refered as.

the coffee machine churns out some perfectly disgusting, cheap brew. i baught like 3 cases of this crap when we moved in. she rather enjoy's it. i would rather throw it in the yard but, i dont want to kill the grass, and in the morning i dont care much about the taste, just as long as it does it's job of waking me up. she pours me a cup and then sits at the table with me. not realy speaking much. we have had some great conversations in the morning but, this just isnt one of those mornings. i just smoke my ciggarette and sip my attrocious coffee till the cup is empty.

" i am going to visit my brother today, ill be home around 5," she says.

i nod my head. "alright babe, ill probably be fiddling with the guitaror something in the basement."

i took out a snall lone from the bank so that i could convert my basement into a lounge and recording area for me and the band. plus everyonce in a while its nice to make some easy money by renting out some studio time. thats what i do. i produce and write. im not great at it but, for the price it cant be beat. a couple of hours here and there add up over a few months. i could spend 6 months mastering a final copy for someone, or i could spend 1 week banging out all the inperfections and give them a great demo so they can get shows and probably have something solid to send to a label for listening. only a few bands from my little at home studio have been signed to smaller labels. just enough to pay off the loan and give me some le-way with my cash and free-time.

where are my manners? im sorry... i forgot to introduce her. my room-mate and lover are the same person. my beautifull and adorable allison. its been almost 5 years since we met. our anniversary is comming up soon. i should get her something. oh yeah, my name is fran. You will hear me called the duke for the duration.

allison dissapears into the bedroom to get dresed and pampered to hang out with her brother. my best friend. we all usualy just crash around the house for hours watching mind numbing horror movies, or sometimes we like to smoke a little herb and watcha comedy. its envigerating for the mind. the balance of it all is incredible. i dont know if you have ever been stoned but, i love that feeling of lazyness sometimes.

she makes her way out the door with a wave and blows me a kiss from behind the door. i can hear her puckering her lips and then releasing. that sound, its kind-of annoying but, i deal with it. its nice to hear in the mornings though. any other time of the day i would just shrug it off and say, "love you."

i sit for a while. probably an hour. drinking cup after cup of coffee. smoking ciggarette after ciggarette. just trying to get motivated. i dont realy have anything to do, i just like to get moving when im up this early. sometimes i take that dreadfull morning run... jog... fast walk. yeah, fast walking, thats what i do.

as i am sitting at the table i start to feel a little uneasy. at first i think its the coffee getting to my stomach. i look at the table to put my ciggarette out in the ash tray and notice my hand is in the sunlight. there's a glare comming in from the kitchen window. its that morning sun. bright and vibrant. ready to ruin any nightowls sleep. its just grazing its spectrum across my hand. i feel tense. almost afrraid. i try to pull my hand away but it doesnt budje at first. i stand up from my seat and let go of my cup. i grab my arm and pull my hand to my chest. it doesnt hurt and the feeling pasess. strange, thats never happened before. i brush it off and move about with my day.

i dont ussualy change into other clothes. not like im going anywhere. i work at home, live at home, eat at home, fuck at home. what do i need to dress to impress for?

once again walking across the hard-wood floor of my home, i make my way to the basement door. a hospitol security door i put on. no real need i just always thought it would be cool to have one in the house and, it is. i walk down the stairs. a little pep here and there from the old wood. warping and setting over the years. it adds flavour to the homestead. i personaly think all houses should have that creeky step problem. lets you know its old and cozy.

the walls of the basement are a deep red. i have black curtains on the walls. draipes as well, even though there are no actual windows. its just a nice illusion. the lights are low wattage. no higher than a candle. gold ornamental candle sticks with wires in them. its nice in the evening with me and my guitar. it sets a mood that i just love to work in. the dark baje leather of the sofa and recliner scent the room. a black carpet lines the floor everywhere except in the recording booth. this big glass case i had built for better sound clarity and to keep the neighbors from calling to cops in the late hours of the night when i have had a few too many to drink and decide to come downstairs to make a bunch of noise. not that i have had this happen but, i would rather not have it happen so i take measures.

the day goes on. i sort through songs. mix tapes. edit tracks. master a few segments of music here and there. i love this. i do what i want. ive always wanted to do it and, now i do.

around 4 hours or so have gone by and i am feeling kind of sleepy again. its strange becuase i have only been up for a few hours. i turn off the equipment and head for the sofa. i keep a blanket that my ex knitted for me under the cushion. its warm and soft, why should i throw it away? i yank it out and lay back on the couch. before i know it im asleep and the day has now even realy begun.

the door slams violently at the top of the stairs.

"hello," i utter. a little grogy. i actualy feel kind of drained, not realy awake. "all, is that you?"

there was no answer. i put my legs over the edge of the couch. i put my feet down on the floor and i stand up. i look forward and on the other side of the room, behind the black curtains i see a shape. a figure. someone is in my house. it startles me. withought a second thought i race to the stairwell but, i am stopped. the figure moved from the curtains infront of me to the stairwell in the blink of an eye. he is pale. his eyes are worn, old. he is holding my throat in his hands. i look down and i am lifted off the ground by a foot. i kick my feet around and try to wiggle loose but, it seems to do no good. he isnt even breathing! "who...are...." but, before i can finish asking him he tilts his head to mine and whispers, "i am what nightmares feed thier inspirations from," and then i feel a rush of warmth over my shoulder. like warm liquid is being dumped on me. i see something squirt past my face onto his coat. an old coat. oh my god, it blood. i know its blood. it has the same look, i can smel it thinkly. its my blood. he's bitting me....

i can feel myself loosing conscienceness. he lets me go and i fall to the ground.

only enough breathe to groan out, "allison."

dark_duqualle · 10-31-07

........................................

the night has come. it is dark all around. i think the mon has died. i see not one light in the sky. it feels heavy. i cant even move. i feel cold, real cold and my stomach hurts. its rumbling. the graons are intense, and i have an emptyness. its more than my stomach, i feel robbed of something. i feel alone, and this sky, this earth they feel heavy, and warm. there's something landing on my face. is it rain? my face motioning around to get it near my mouth. its not rain. its gritty and dry. its dirt... dirt! im not outside in some strange place, im under the ground. i try rustling free and it starts to budge. i feel intense with energy but the more i struggle, the more hungry i feel. my heart rate is barely even noticeable. i should be racing with fear and panic. why am i so calm, why am i under the dirt? what happened? the last thing i remember is looking up the stairs and then...... then.... Oh forget about it, get out of this whole. im almost free, i can feel the ground above me giving way. im pushing up so hard and straining that i didnt even notice i bit my lip. my bottom lip i stuck 2 of my teeth or so right through it. i push and push and push. finaly the earth above me gives.

it smells strong of fire and smoke. and earth is damp and its night time. as im looking around i can see a few houses. they look like my neighbors. i can see my fence. my walkway and my mailbox. where is my house? where is allison?

it all starts pouring back into me again. i can remember staring at a figure in the basement. i can rmember a door closing and then i can remember being pushed down. what happened to me? Oh, im so hungry. i feel like i can eat a deli case.

Allison! Allison! where are you?

i pull my legs up out of the dirt and i start to walk over to the end of my yard. the broken and torched peices of ember that at one point was my home are all just lying on the grass. there is alot of water in the yard and in the street. my house must have caught fire earlier the last day. but wait, why was i burried under the house? how am i alive, and where is allison.

my stomach starts to turn over and i feel sick. i keep my pace towards the nieghbors doorway. i can hear the dogs in the area all growling. i mean, i hear almost everydog. its like a buzzing in my ear. i can hear cats hissing and meowing feircely. my stomach is basicaly screaming to put something in it.

the doorway is only feet away when it opens up. its my neighbor ralph. he is in his pj's. his wife is behind him. she is seemingly very tired. i speak up to him, "ralph! what happened to my house?"

ralph looks up at me and wipes his eye's. his clothing reaks of smoke. his eye's are very wide and his wife looks over his shoulder to see who i was. her eye's grow almost as large as her head. she is terified. ralph says to me, as he grabs his doorknob, "oh my god, your dead!"

"what?" i dont understand. how could i be dead. im standing right here. im talking to you.

"duke, your dead. you've been dead for days!" ralph screams to me as he slams his door behind him. i can hear the bolt on the inside locking.

"ralph, talk to me. where is allison? what happened to my house?"

ralph never answered back. i saw in the window him and his wife went upstairs like they never even talked to me. they just scampered up the stairs and into thier rooms. what the fuck!

"ralph, ralph!" pounding on the door a few times. its no use, its not like he's comming back down. i cant feel my heart beating. i cant be dead and standing. i stick my fingers to my neck and hold my breathe. i cant find a pulse anywhere. i start panicing and looking for a vien to find a pulse. i must have searched everycolored line on my body and i couldnt feel or hear a pulse. a heart beat, a thump, nothing. and come to think of it, i held my breathe the whole time and i cant remember if i acctualy let any air go or even started to feel dizzy. i try not holding my breathe for a while. just sitting in silence and not breathing. i cant be dead.

i counted the time as it went by. i eve started to walk out of boredom. i am not breathing. i dont think i need to. it doesnt matter. i have no heart beat and i am not breathing. my skin is cold and i am walking around. am i a zombie?

i can feel a tear form in the corner of my eye. its not blurry, but it has a tint to it. i put my finger tip to my eyelid to wipe it away and when i pull my finger back away form my face i see red. its blood on my finger tip. suddenly i feel hungry again. i am starved. i start by walking down the street after that to a store. my neighbors all aparently seem scared of me right now and i think i should see a doctor. i cant be dead, i must be hollussinating this whole thing. im passed out on the floor of my house during the fire, and this is just a dreamworld im in. "wake up!" i tried screaming things into the night. slapping myself. pinching the skin. i pinched so har di broke it. i almost tore a peice of my arm off. i can smell seomthing in the distance. its sweet and i have never smelled it before. i am at near running pace. i am heading towards this smell. i can almost taste it. its drawing me closer and closer. i think my tongue is bassicaly hanging out of my mouth right now. its watering and the hunger in me is at near animal. my eyes are focused in very keanly. i can see very well in the dark corners and alleys i pass on the road. the lights from the store are up ahead. i can smell gasoline and candy. coffee and sweat. this spot is often a truck stop in the night. a little scary but, im so hungry. i walk past a wall and out into the parking lot. i slow down and look into the window of the store. i can see a young girl and a group of young men. there car is still running and it looks like 3 more people in it. a van of some make and model. i dont know cars were never realy my thing, and even if they were, i cant seem to thin much right now im so hungry. i get closer to the store and i see a motorcycle parker in the back, and the toilet key is hanging from the knob. i walk up to the door and throw my hair back behind my face, open the door and enter. i walk into the back isle and start to sniff around at all the good on the shelves. i cant seem to find it. i look around quikly for a oven of some kind. something must be cooking, thats what i smell. its like sugar cookies.

i pace the isle's sniffing goods and picking things up off the shelves and throwing them down. i can hear the clerk start to call over to me.

"hey asswhole, are you gonna bye that shit or what?"

i just ignored him at first but then i got close to the girl. i looked up at her and noticed she was staring somethinga little feirce. her mouth laid open slightly and one eye brow raised at me. its her. this girl is what smells so devine. withought second thought i grabbed her coat and tried to pull her close. she stepped back and then walked quikly to the register. she put her stuff down and then headed for the door. they all piled into the van and pulled away. the clerk was raising his voice to me but i just walked outside and watched the car drive away. i could smell pot burning. i remember the motorcycle in the back so i turned and started walking there. i was so drawn to this girl for some reason i didnt even notice at first that i had began to open the bathroom door and was looking at a large man pulling his pants back up on the other side of the stall. a flush followed shortly afterand then the door opened completely. he was buckling his belt and then zipping his pants up as he exited the urinal. he looked at me and the looked into the mirror behind him. when he tried to look at me and i saw his face i realized that i was right behind him and i could not see myself in the mirror. he turned around and then looked back and went to walk past me. he pushed him arms up in my chest and grabbed the door knob. i grabbed his belt and pushed him into the door. his head slammed off the iron door of this pisspoor bathroom and limped over on the floor with his hands dangled across his face. i grabbed his keys and walked outside. jumped on his bike and started it up.

its sound was so repulsive i loved it. it filled my body with a tingling sensation. it was loud and powerfull. i kicked the bike in gear and started off down the road sniffing the air like a dog for the girl. i was weaving in and out of traffic on the highway onramp. i was taking no time to catch up to them. i must have been doing 95. cruising along. i was realy enjoying myself. i could feel the wind in my hair. i was rivited. i was hooting and hollering away. i even picked my arms up and was pretending to soar through the air. i closed my eye's and i never felt so free. i was so full of energy and awe, how could i possibly be dead? but why am i acting this way? why did i just attack that man, and take his bike. thats not me, i dont act on that much impule energy. why does my stomach hurt so much?

i opened my eyes and went to turn into the left lane. i didnt look first. the back tire caught the bumper of another car and sent me out of controll. the bike landed on its side and skid a good ways down the highway. i let it go and started to roll. i rolled clear into the other lane and off to the side of the road. the smell was near there. more like it wasnt even there yet. i stood up and as i turned around i heard a crash, and the squeele of tires. i turned my head and saw a car slamming into the bike and swirving then anothr car slammed into her side pushing her car over on its side. it went flying by me. i watched it just skid by on its doors, and then i felt something pushing me from behind. i was turning my head when i noticed everything racing by. i slammed into something kinda rough. i heard the sound of wood splitting and i felt a warmness on my chest. there were headlights looking at me from a few feet away. i cuold hear screaming and crying all around. when i looked down at my chest i was surreal. i was being susended from a branch in my chest in this tree. my feet were off the ground and i was just pinned on this tree. i couldnt even feel any pain. my blood was running out of me. my stomach was squeezing my insides. i reached my hands out and cried out for help. the passengers of the car that hit me got out. it was her. it was the girl. her scent. her taste, it was esquisite. my mouth was wattering. they were walking toward me when i leaned forward and pushed my feet against the tree trunk and lifted myself off the branch. i could feel it tearing through my rib cage. i landed on my face in the dirt and gravel. they approached me slowly, asking me questions. "man, are you alright?" seemed to be the favorite of the few. thier affriad i might be dead, and here i am concerning myself and wracking my brain trying to accept the fact that i might be the walking dead. it made me chuckle a little bit then.

i could feel the moon at my back and the breeze was cold. it was pretty chilly bu this was different kind of cold. a new cold. my concerns wiped away. i could here nothing but her breathing. her heart beat was entrancing. i raised up off the ground to my feet. i put my hand out and looked at her eye's. i wanted her to come to me and she just starting walking toward me. her friends tried to stop her but she was just looking into my eye's and walking. her hand grassped mine and she fell forward into my arms. i embraced her and smelled her hair. i ran my fingers through it and looked at her face. she looked blank. she had no thoughts in her mind. she was doing whatever i asked of her in my mind. i smiled and grabbed her hair with one hand and jerked her head to the side. put my mouth to her neck and could feel her pulse in my lips. i pushed my teeth down to the viens in her neck and bit down. i bit down hard. i could feel the warm blood and skin in my mouth. she squirmed very little. she was acctualy making sounds like i was making love to her. i kept on letting the blood drain into my mouth till she stopped making noise. her heart was not realy beating anymore and her blood was going cold. i dropped her to the ground and just immersed myself in this animal behavior.

the lights of the cars on me. my face and mouth dripping with warm blood form this young girl. the screams of her friends and nearbye passengers and drivers. the taunting honk of horns in the distance. the highway was backed up for miles.

i raised my hands in the air and just yelled. loudly and angrily.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

i threw my hands at my sides and took off running into the woods nearbye. what did i do? i just killed someone. i just drank human blood. i was so hungry and now i feel at ease. i am calm and collected. my muscles are steady and my skin in warm and pigmented. my hair is full of color and my clothing is clean. no blood on them, or me. i didnt clean myself off, it just dissapeared and i feel amazing. my eye's focus a little better and i can only hear the sounds of wilderness.

after walking into the woods for a while i come across a downed tree. i take a seat on the tree and just gather myself. the sounds of crickets in the surrounding area. the noises of animals digging and walking in the brush. wind racing through the barren trees, most of the leaves laying on the bed of earth all around me.

"So, do you understand yet," says a voice from above me. i look up but see no one. i see the tree's and the stars. "who's there?"

"you dont get it do you?"

i answered, "what am i supposed to get?"

i waited a little while or a response. i kept looking up and around the tops o the tree's but i saw no one. i went to take a step forward and walked into something hard. i focused in on it and it was a man.

"you are vampire now duke. you are the eternaly dambed..."