Heart of Shadows

Deep in the abyss of darkness lies the ashen remains of an evil that once struck fear into the bravest of men; and caused suffering to whomever lay in its path. An evil that bore fear unto death itself. As death creeps upon its prey, slowly decaying a life until it ceases to exist. With the sands of time counting down until the end, the lugubrious cycle of life. But without adventure life becomes insipid. But with all adventure comes risk. What greater adventure then ascending to the top of the world?

Six friends had travelled to Nepal for the journey of a lifetime. To reach the top of the world with such intrepid mannerism; they had begun their ascent unto the heavens. This kind of friendship they shared was the friendship of a lifetime. They had all known each other since they were just kids. Now as vibrant young adults they shared a bond that has survived through thick and thin. As the group reached the base camp they were excited. They sat around a fire and talked with anticipation. They could not wait to begin the ascent.

The next day they were all well rested. Brandon was the first to be ready; everyone knew he did it to make up for him being the youngest. Britney helped pack up the rest of the supplies and they were off to new heights. James noticed a part in the rocks and snow that made somewhat of a path and they head up it. As they made haste up the mountain it began to grow dark. Stacey stepped off the path and hit a chunk of ice. It collapsed and she jumped back on the path. The group notices a large crevice had been exposed. They walk over towards the edge and look down. They could not see the bottom of it. “How far do ya’ think it goes?” Josh asked. Everyone looked down, even though the sunlight was shining into the crevice from its position at sunset. Strangely enough the sunlight did not illuminate the bottom of the crevice. The group looks down again and feels a spine tingling chill throughout their bodies. They moved away from the crevice.

After hours of hiking the group had only made it so far up the mountain. The snow and winds greatly reduced the distance they were able to cover. Had it not been for the groups determination they would have given up their daring journey right then and there. The group found sturdy ground, with a magnificent view of the rest of the Himalayas; patches of green towards parts of the bottom, with snowcapped mountains that reached high up past the clouds. Without the lights of the city, and the high altitude, the stars had started becoming visible on the opposite side of the sky as the sunset. This beautiful sight amazed the group and petrified them as they were struck with awe. After the group had finished admiring the world around them they began to set up their camp. For even the sight of beauty wasn’t enough to mask the harsh mountain climate.

The next day the group had climbed for around three hours when they noticed something strange. They looked over and saw what appeared to be a man, wearing only a black cloak that moved across the snow as if he wasn’t even on the ground. As the being moved away from the group they lost sight of it in the fog, but not before a gust of wind blew by; the air was thick and heavy, unusual for the high altitude.

Sleep had been hard for the group; each member was too scared to sleep. The group was finally able to move on the next day, however everyone was extremely tired. They had made fine progress the previous day, but even so, must continue to head up the mountain as fast as they can; for the journey is treacherous and the rations can wither away fast. But with this danger comes an exciting thrill that slows the world around. Time is as if a rushing waterfall that feeds into a lake freezing over; it has become stagnant. As the group continues they are halted by an unearthly shadow passing over them. They look to find the source, but nothing is found. Then they feel a cold passing through them, though the air was stagnant. “What had happened?” Britney asked. “I don’t know.” Josh replied.

The group just wanted to finish their journey; to be rid of the things that bring them such fear. They continued to climb, until they saw a small ravine in the ground. They look down; they see the being they saw earlier. What they had noticed is that the cloak was not made out of any solid material; it was a black fog that enclosed around the beings body! Seeing this disturbed them, and they quickly moved on. They go around a part of the mountain blocking their path, it sort of was like a boulder, but also as if a separate mountain on its own; it blocked the path going up, so they had to detour around. When the group made it around they noticed the being walking towards them, they stopped and stumbled, two of them fell. They were paralyzed with fear. The being grabbed James before he got up. Josh got up and ran; the group followed with him.

When they found another back road to climb the mountain they directed up it. The group set up their camp, hoping that the being would not find them. When they woke up the next day they smelt something awful. But what was it? They get out of their tents and see James’s body naked; lying in the ground with his arms to his sides. The blood had been removed from his body and formed a hollow ring around him. It was a perfect circle and none of it touched his body; they looked closer and see his eyes have been gouged out. They began to freak out. They packed up camp in a hurry forgetting one of their tents.

They climbed, higher, the higher they climbed they began to question the being. “What if it’s the spirit of someone who died climbing up to the top and he must follow us to the top to be set free?” Britney said. She had been one to research a lot of ghost stories often. “That’s absurd!” Brandon said. Josh replied: “What if it is really a spirit or something?” and then Bruce replied “Then we find a way to kill it.” But the group knew deep inside them that evil cannot be killed; only suppressed and locked away.

They climb higher, towards the end of the day; they have ascended to a point where the top is visible. They decide to push on through the night. Nothing seemed to be happening, and this is what worried them. They make it to the top where they feel protected. They rest there and the next day they begin the decent back down.

As they descended faster than they climbed up; they had already made pleasing progress. They had begun to set up their camp when a chill ran down their bodies, almost as if ice being rubbed down their spines. They looked around seeing nothing… just the desolate freezing terrain they were surrounded by. The next day they continued their journey; the decent back home. The group had made a significant amount of progress on their decent; they went to sleep without seeing anything out of the ordinary. They woke up the next day, or at least most of them woke up the next day. They saw Bruce and Stacey frozen together hugging outside, their bodies’ upright and pale, covered in a thin layer of ice giving their bodies a reflective shine without disturbing the ability to see their faces. They were looking into each other’s eyes, whilst a formed gasping expression was noticeable. Their bodies’ seemed thinner; then the group looked down. A ring of blood was perfectly formed around their bodies.

The group began to run, but the snow made this difficult, they hit a patch of ice and go sliding down the mountain side. They grab their ice picks and use it to get a grip and stop sliding; they look up and see the being standing over them; as the being stood over them the black smoke was blowing to the side looking as if it waves flowing out from around the beings body. The being had a necklace around his thin pale lifeless body; connected to the necklace was a dangling heart blacker then the night itself. The heart was still beating, though connected to nothing but the necklace. The way the skin wrapped around his body, as if leather wrapped tightly around a chair, made a majority of the beings skeleton visible; except for the part over its stomach which seemed to have no muscle under it and no belly button on the center of it. The being reached through Josh’s chest and pulled out his heart; he stood there for a few seconds looking at what had happened, there was no puncture wound. He collapsed and his body begun to slide down the ice and the blood began to flow out of his eyes. It then blew away in the air, the same way the black smoke blew from the beings body, a crimson stream flowing through the air.

Brandon and Britney were all that was left; the being moved away as they released their ice picks and continued to slide; they later got to a point where they could get off the ice and continue their journey back on the snow; they begin to get off but Brandon falls into a hole in the ice that is made when he pulls his ice pick out. He falls into the ground, and lands on his icepick. At that moment Britney could see the being down in the hole looking down at his body. Britney began to run down, tripping every few steps; she slowed to a walk when she realized she’d travel faster if she didn’t trip. But even still she was worried, when she realized that she was near the crevice that Stacey accidentally opened, she knew this was how that being had been released. She yelled for the being, nothing happened. She waited and waited; yet still nothing happened. She set up her camp and slept in her tent. She woke up every few hours out of fear; and then at around midnight it happened. She opened her eyes and the being was right over her, its face was extremely close to hers, it screamed despite the fact it did not have a mouth; and she grabbed the heart necklace, the being pulled back at her. She grabbed the ice pick and the being pulled her towards the crevice. She takes the ice pick and swings it at the beings head and it doesn’t do anything, she pulls it out and there’s no wound. She realizes the black heart started beating faster, she rips off the necklace and the being is hurt. The being is crawling towards her as she is about to swing down on the heart with her ice pick. The being jumps on her just as she hits it and they both fall deep into the crevice. As they reach the bottom both their bodies are rendered lifeless and the being has been vanquished. The smoke ceases to flow from the beings body. But at that moment the heart laying knocked away from either of their bodies begins to beat.

By: Kylan Walker