Chapter One- The Raven It keeps happening. Every night I wake up to the sound of something at my window, calling my name. I'll get out of bed to go and see, and when I open the curtains, there's a raven sitting there, staring into my eyes. I become entranced by it, going outside to see it, but being unable to find it. I look up to see it flying away and follow I follow it. Every night, the same destination. We walk through a fog, the full moon lighting our path. I walk on until we reach a hill, where there grows a tree, one that I do not remember. On it hangs something, something that sends shivers through my entire being. It starts raining as I walk towards it, despite my not wanting to. As I draw closer, the image becomes clearer: a person, hung there by a noose. But it wasn't just any person. It was my friend before he died. Upon seeing this, something wraps itself around my neck and when I look down, it is a noose of my own. I try to pull it off, but it only gets tighter. I get dragged to the tree before seeing the man who put the noose around my neck. He is a man dressed in all black, wearing a trench coat, boots, and a gravedigger's hat, face unseen because of the shadow his hat cast over it. He flings the end of the rope over a branch and holds that end, facing me. He begins talking, his voice low and husky. "Your judgement..." He takes a couple second pause before looking up, his face now seen. "Guilty!" The last things known to me are the sound of the snap of my neck under the rope from being yanked up with enormous strength, and the image of the man's skeletal face, the exact image of the grim reaper. I wake with a start, breathing heavily, sweat drenching my sheets. The dream has been with me for months now, sometimes taking a break for a couple days before coming back as strong as ever. I have gone to see specialists about it, but they said recurring dreams are common, and it's just my brain reminding me of things I would rather forget. I agreed with them of course, but only when in front of them. I never forgot the death of my friend, never even really got over it. He committed suicide about a year ago now, hanging himself off of a ceiling fan. No one knew why he did it, as he wasn't depressed. He never showed any sadness in anything he did, even when three sheets to the wind. Only I knew what no one else wished to believe: he was murdered. I couldn't see any other possibility. So this dream was showing me his death... And in my mind, I dreamt that I was next. I didn't believe this, dismissed it as impossible, as it seemed ridiculous. But how quickly things could turn around in one day. I threw my sheets off and got up, my shirt sticking to my back because of the sweat. I stripped my bed as well as myself and put my clothes and sheets into the wash before doing so myself, having a cold shower. I always preferred cold showers, as they always make you feel much more awake compared to a warm one. As I washed my hair, however, I heard a strange sound, as though someone was talking. "I must have left the tv on again last night," I said to myself. It turned the knobs, turning off the water. I opened the shower curtain and went to grab the towel when I felt a warm breeze. The window was open, screen and all, something I do not remember doing at all. I dismiss it as something I did when I was half asleep and continue to grab the towel and dry myself off. I put on some jeans and an MMA shirt before heading downstairs into the kitchen. I live alone, so I head from there into the living room where the tv is, as that's the only thing that should be making noise similar to a voice. "Gotta stop doing that. Going to waste the electricity doing tha-" I stop mid-sentence. The tv was off, and on the coffee table there sat a lone raven, staring at me.
Sorry. I sometimes do that, and it doesn't help that I wrote it while half asleep at two in the morning lol.
Sorry for not posting much lately, been busy. Hopefully I'll be able to write more soon. Hope you enjoy the update. Chapter Two- The Fog "Aww come on Vlad, don't go turning into a wuss on me now." I stand in front of my friend, uneasy. "I can't do it, Dave. I refuse to." He shakes his head, his arms crossed. "How many times do I have to tell you, Vlad? It's quick and easy. No one will even suspect anything." I clench my teeth slightly, growing more uneasy by the second. "But what if they do!? We'll both go to jail, you know that." He smirks at me, showing a few teeth at the corner of his mouth. "That is just a risk we have to take." In the next second, he is swarmed by ravens, enveloping him until nothing remained but dark plumage. I find myself laying down on the floor of my living room, now conscious. I slowly sit up, grunting, as I hold my head, pain all across the back of my skull. I look to the side of me to see my lamp knocked over, it's bulb now shattered upon hitting the floor. I look down to find the cord pulled out of the wall, still hooked on the heel of my left foot. "Some weird dream that fall gave me..." I think to myself as I slowly get up off the ground, my vision blurring as I do so. I place a hand against the wall to steady myself before using it to get to the phone. I pick up the phone and before I go to make a call, I realize what time it is. "Crap... I'm already late for work." I quickly dial the number, and there's no answer for 7 rings. Right before I'm about to give up, someone answers. "Hello." It's not a voice that I recognize. It's possible to be someone new, but I wasn't informed of a new employee starting today. "Hi, I was wondering if you could give a message to Mr. Busch for me." The person on the other end didn't respond for about fifteen seconds, when their tone changes slightly. "I'm sorry, but I'm the only one you'll be hearing from today." And that's when it hits me. The voice is the same one I hear in my dream. I hang up the phone and drop it onto my table, my hand shaking slightly. My thoughts start racing through possibilities, options, outcomes, life/death, omens, anything and everything, but only one thing makes it through clearly: I have to get away. I run towards the door, quickly getting my shoes on. It is a mild spring day, so I don't grab anything else other than my wallet and car keys. After that, I open the door and take a step outside... To find a thick fog has rolled in, making my vision go to nearly zero. I squint, trying to make out anything that I recognize. Nothing comprehensible at all, other than a few shapes I assume to be the houses across the street. I start walking forward a bit, until I'm at what I think is the end of the driveway. I continue looking around a bit until I see the silhouette of a person a bit down the street. I don't know why, but by compulsion, I begin walking towards the person. As I draw closer, they begin to look clearer until I can recognize them. It's a figment of my imagination... It has to be, I think to myself. I start walking backwards away from the person and turn around, just in time to see a car come out of the fog and hit me. I tumble over the top of the hood and land on the pavement as it disappears into the fog again. The silhouette of the person walks over and looks down at me. "You should be more careful, Vlad." My best friend gives me his signature smirk as I pass out for the second time today.
Chapter Three- The Hill "You should be more careful, Vlad." Dave stands above me, offering his hand. I take it, letting help me off the ground. "I'm just not good at this like you are, Dave." We are standing in an alley, somewhere near the outskirts of town. Dave chose this spot because of all the obstacles and platforms to use here, as well as the lack of law enforcement. "Want my advice, Vlad?" I shrug my shoulders a little bit, causing a little shot of pain to the one I landed on. "My advice," Dave says, "don't fall." This is easy said for someone like Dave. He is lean yet muscular, and looked like he could be an acrobat at the big top, which is exactly what he wanted to look like. "I don't have the capability to do this like you do, Dave. I'm not built the same way." Dave sighs, looking at me with a concerned face. "How are we going to pull this off if you don't keep training?" I turn away from him. "I keep telling you... I'm not doing this..." "You should be more careful, Dave." I'm in my next door neighbor's house. I recognize it from the antique china dolls that litter every shelf in the place. Every time I'm here, you feel like they're staring at you. Or maybe that's just me. I hate the creepy things. "You shouldn't have been in the middle of the road like that." The house belongs to Ms. Pilfner and has for the past thirty-five years. Ms. Pilfner is in her mid sixty's, never becoming a Misses due to her fiancé being killed in action on a peace-keeping mission. Since then, she hasn't seen anyone out of respect and love for her would-be husband. Her obsession with these dolls came after this, something to take her mind off of what she lost. "I know Ms. Pilfner, but I couldn't see because of the fog." Ms. Pilfer looks at me, confusion on her face. "Fog? There hasn't been fog all day." She comes over to me and begins feeling the top of my head. "Did that car hit you too hard? Do you want me to take you to a hospital?" Hospitals. The one thing I have always hated more Ms. Pilfner's dolls. "No, it's fine Ms. Pilfner. But might I ask, how did you carry me in here?" Ms. Pilfner laughs a little bit before answering, "I didn't carry you in, Vlad, it was this nice gentleman wearing a trench coat and some sort of hat." My blood freezes in my veins. My mind thinks back to the end of my dream with the skeletal-faced man. The one who claims me to be guilty of what I've done. I quickly stand up and begin to the door. "Vlad, are you alright? You're deathly pale." It turn to Ms. Pilfner on my way out, "I'm fine. I just need a bit of air and I'll be fine." I close the door behind me and run. I get to the sidewalk and hang a right, away from town. If I leave town, he won't be able to find me, I think to myself. I pass by a couple convenience stores, many houses and apartment building, as well as a drug store before I make it to the "now leaving" sign. I stop to catch my breath a bit before I look up and start walking forward, still not feeling safe. Just a little bit further... I keep walking and eventually hang another right, away from the road. Too easy to find me along the road... Need somewhere else to go... I keep wandering until I find a hill. In my exhaustion, I come to a rest at the base of it, leaning against it. Within seconds, I doze off.
(Just noticed some things sort of off like a missing word, so please excuse that. Pulled an all-nighter before writing this lol)
So I finally got to writing another chapter. As well, without further ado... Welcome to the second half of the story! In this half, I will start revealing a lot more of the backstory. And by start, I mean throwing it all at you like an endless buffet. I will also be introducing the other character, mostly in the upcoming chapter. Now, as always, hope you enjoy. Chapter Four- The Tree "Why are we here, Dave?" We are stood in a park approximately in the middle of town. It is usually a quiet place, but not today. Above the chirping of the birds and the wind rustling the leaves, a man speaks to a crowd of onlookers, a few speakers set around to amplify his voice. "On this day," he says, "we celebrate the lives of those we have lost. We celebrate, for they were filled with promise for the world, but were taken from us at too early a time." The man refers to the shooting at the local college two years ago. Twenty-three injured, sixty-one killed. The man got away with his crime for five months before being found in a neighboring state. After being found, he claimed he was guilty, never telling anyone why he did the deed. Dave's brother was among those killed, while my sister was one the lucky ones who only had minor injuries. Dave smirks at me, as though I should know this and connect it to why we are here. "Why are we here, Dave?" I ask in a more pressing tone. I already have an idea, but I'd rather hear him say it. My question continues to go unanswered however, as the man at the podium continues to speak. "...and these students, who were taken from their family and friends, left a hole in the hearts of those who knew them, but in the hearts of the whole state, if not the country." At this, Dave quickly slipped masks over both our faces. "What are you-" Dave cut me off as he spoke loud enough for the man at the podium to hear. "Every heart except yours of course, right, Mr. Miller?" The man at the podium gives Dave a bewildered look. "What do you mean? Who are you?" Dave stares down the man through the holes in the mask. "I know that is was you who killed them, Mr. Miller. Not the man they arrested." Dave pulled out a pistol, aiming it at the man. "Now it's time for you to have a real hole in your heart." I wake up from the dream again, sitting upright against the hill, breathing heavily. I forgot where I was, and it takes my eyes a while to adjust to realize night had fallen. It takes even longer to notice the weight on my right leg. I yell out, the raven from earlier cawing at me before flying off behind me. How do I know it was the one from earlier? Its eyes. Those unnaturally dark, evil eyes. They stare into your soul. In fact, I continue to feel them looking at me. I look up the hill, towards where I feel the eyes burning into me. I slowly get up and make my way up the uneven slope for reasons I am unsure of. As I continue, an odd shape come into sight. Meandering lines criss-crossing in front of the moon, etching it out almost entirely. What I make out of it horrifies me. It's a tree. Not just any tree though, but the tree. The one I see every night. Yet I press on. I keep pressing on until I am right under it, breathing heavily from fright. There sits the raven, ever staring at me with its malevolent eyes. "About time, Vlad." The voice comes from behind me. In an instant, I know the voice and what comes next, for it has happened many times before.
Once again, I'm sorry about the delay, but I finally got to writing the second-last chapter. As always, I wrote this at two in the morning (it seems to be when I get my ideas), so please excuse any errors in my writing as I am dead tired lol. Thanks for reading. Chapter Five- The Rope The dark figure remains behind me as I feel coarse noose wrap around my throat. In an instant, I am being dragged across the autumn grass and leaves towards the lowest branch of the tree. My hangman keeps his face turned away from me, but he needs not show me it as I know all too well what lies in the shadow of his hat. As we draw closer to my gallows, the hangman begins talking and cackling to himself in his deep and rough voice. "Retribution... Or was it self-pity? Maybe it was vengeance... Or perhaps revenge?" He continues on in this non-sensible manner for a few seconds before I catch something of familiarity. "No matter. An accomplice to murder is still just an accomplice. Judgment must be passed." Is that why this is happening? The events of that day? I look up at the skeletal man and shivers run through the course of my being. His head his turned slightly to the side and, though his face is just a skull, I can tell he is grinning- as though he knows what I was just thinking about. He turns his head back forward as we come to a stop under my destined branch. He throws the rope up and over, catching it as it falls onto the other side. With the rope now draped over the branch and in place, he pulls on the rope until I am face to skull with him, my toes just barely touching the ground enough for me to breath. "Breathe comes so dearly to us, doesn't it? Yet it is also so highly taken for granted... We forget what we should be doing with it and why we fight for it, losing ourselves in the process. We no longer breath for ourselves, or in the very least the same version of ourselves. In this unsure state of mind, we tend to make mistakes, don't we? We do some things that we would never have done before... Sometimes these things are completely life-changing- sometimes for better or for worse. You, my friend, are a victim of such a person that this has happened to... Now you must be judged on whether you share the same fate." I stare helplessly into his eye sockets, lost as to what he means. "I don't know what you are talking about. If anything, I am only a victim of this sick game you are playing on me." He once again cackles, before returning a stare into my very soul. "You, you poor lost lamb, are a victim of the one you once called 'best friend'. He pulled you into all of this, did he not? Now you shall deal with the undying, unforgiving acts that he committed on that day." And with that, I felt the tug against my throat before everything went black.
I'm currently working on the final chapter, as well as have an idea for the next story I'll be writing.
Thanks, everyone, for waiting. This will be the last chapter of The Hangman story. Hope you enjoy. Chapter Six- The Hangman Our feet pounded against the pavement as shouts, whistles, and sirens went off around us, mass hysteria and confusion everywhere. I followed Dave, pushing through person upon person in the crowd that joined us in the park. Our masks were still on, so there was the odd person who tried to be heroic and grab a hold of one of us before getting the butt of Dave's gun to the back of his head. Upon breaking away from the crowd, we crossed the street to an alley, cops now in pursuit. It wasn't until this moment that I realized why Dave wanted me to practice so much with him. In the alley, there was trash bags, broken tables, ladders; almost nowhere was clear. Dave led the way, vaulting over furniture and pushing himself off the brick walls beside us. The police were not able to keep up with us, so they began firing shots at us. Splinters of wood sprang up and klangs and clunks from bullets hitting metal and brick were heard around us as we continued onward. Halfway along, we knew they were going to cut us off at the other end, so we began climbing. We scaled up the building to our left, grabbing hold of anything we could to help our ascension. We left the officers bewildered below us and jumped from building to building, following our path home. "What the hell, Dave!?" It was an hour later, back at Dave's apartment. He lived alone, due to his brother's death. Their parents abandoned them when Dave's brother was one year old, so Dave had taken care of him. His brother had a hard time dealing with no parents, as Dave was always busy at work when he needed Dave's help with something. The two of them both grew independent, however detached as well. Dave never had time to take care of his brother, solely focused on making money to pay rent and buy groceries. After his brother's death, Dave quit his job and began living off unemployment money from the government. "What? Sure, the place is messier than last time you saw it, but I wi-" "That's not what I meant!" I sat down on an empty chair, closing my eyes and rubbing them. "What are you so upset about then, Vlad?" I reopened my eyes, a hint of annoyance now in my voice. "Oh, I don't know... Maybe how you involved me in an assassination attempt!?" "It's not an attempt if it worked, Vlad." I don't remember it happening too well, but next thing I knew I had punched Dave and was walking out the door. A few months later, Dave was found with the noose around his neck. We hadn't talked much after what had happened, so it came as a surprise when I was told. The next few days were a blur to me, until Dave's funeral. Dave didn't keep in contact with many people after the shooting of his brother, so only his closest family members and a few friends whose names I do not remember showed up. It proceeded as most funerals would, until a significant event I had overlooked until I feared for my own life; there was a man I did not recognize make a speech, his skin seeming almost too tight for his face, a low, husky voice that seemed as old as time, and eyeballs that seemed too deep into their sockets, making the illusion of looking into the man's soul- if he has one, I am not sure. All seemed normal, despite this appearance, but his gaze soon fell upon me, locking me dead in the eyes. "His death shall not be our first or our last, for in time, we all shall succumb to the same fate, hanging by the thread of judgment." His words rang in my ears constantly after that, before I woke up, raven leading me to my end. THE END Thanks to everyone who has read the story and sorry for how long the updates took. Inspiration for this story came from the song The Hangman's Body Count by Volbeat. Also, the ending is not how I first intentioned it to be, but I feel like it suits the story much better. Once again, thanks for reading. I hope to begin my next story shortly, updating a lot more as well as making it a longer story.
So... I may be trying to think of a way to make a sequel to this, or at least incorporate the hangman into another story...
Hello everyone. As this forum shows, I have not been posting that much. However, that is soon to change. I’ve been having severe writer’s block, due to not knowing where I want this series to go anymore. To fix this, I shall be writing a hard reboot to help me get it back up and running as well as fix some things that I feel were not strongly written. I should have the first part of it out later today. Thank you.