I suddenly jolt awake in the darkness of the night. My body drenched in the sweat, and the smell of urine in my bed. I am still jumpy about the events after I left the pub last week. Haunted not by the Dead Man, but I am haunted by the unmistakable cry of my wife that I heard while laying down. I decide to get up and I judge the time to be in the early hours of the morning...exactly 7 days after the events after I left the pub last week. I decide I must venture out into the night and find my wife, her body may be rotted but I must know that she is still deceased and her in coffin. I decide to take off my night shirt, light a candle, and head downstairs to wait for the daylight to come. As I sit in my chair I began to drift off then I fully fall into the nightmare of sleep. I awake quite peacefully and I check my pocketwatch that sits on the table and the time is 5:50.
I silently curse under my breath and put on my clothes and overcoat, then I walk out to the shed to gather the tools I shall need. On my way to the graveyard I decide I shall stop at the pub and see if I can gather my oldest friend Michael to come with me when I go to the graveyard. I finally enter the pub and as soon as I do I hear a familiar voice call me "Hello John, here for a drink?" I respond with "That I am Michael, but I'll need your help with something after we're done." A smile spreads across his face as I walk over to him. I reach out and he grabs my hand. The warmth of a friends hand is what I need right now. I order the same drink as always, a glass of scotch and Michael gets his traditional whiskey.
"What do you need help with John?" Michael asks I reply "It's a long story but I suppose we should take a seat first." So we sit down and I explain to Michael the story of what happened last Saturday and once I finish he calmly looks at me and says "Well, John it's time we head to the graveyard." I nod, then we exit the pub and began the walk to the graveyard. It was 9 o'clock when we left the pub and took the twenty minute walk to the pub.
We finally reach the grave and I take the shovel and began to dig while Michael idly watches me. I quickly run out of energy because of the lack of sleep I've recieved this week, so Michael quietly takes over. When he strikes the coffin I jump into the hole with him, he pats me on the shoulder and says "Are you sure you want to do this, John?" I solemly nod and open the coffin.
My cries of rage, fear, and sadness fill the air as the coffin sits empty. I climb out of the hole and sit down and bawl. I bawl for hours on end while Michael comforts me. I wonder to myself what I am going to do with all my plans gone awry. Finally, I stand up and start the short walk back to my house. Michael gets up and follows me, once I burst through the door I grab my musket. Michael tries to stop me, but I shrug him away "You can not do this John! It's not right. Your wife isn't alive, John. Graverobbers maybe, but she can't be walking around." I simply turn to Michael and look him in the eyes "I saw what I saw and I heard what I heard. This needs to be done, just wait here or go home Michael I shall end this."
I venture out into the night with musket in hand. I walk back through the woods to the spot I judge to be where I saw the dead man. I find the stump he sat on and I wait. The fog rolls in and the moon is somehow full when it should be gone. I hear footsteps and my muscles tense. I cock back the hammer on my musket and place my finger on the trigger. The noise is slightly behind me and to my right, I slowly turn my head and see a shadow approaching. THUD! I fling the butt of my musket around and knock the creature to the ground, I place my foot on it's chest and the barrel of my musket to it's head. I began to scream furiously at this dead thing with it's black eyes and decaying skin. The maggots began to move much faster, almost as if they are one with it. "What are you? Where is my wife? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER YOU DEAD BASTARD?!" The creature obviously stunned looks up at me and much to my suprise speaks " I know not where you wife is, but I am a damned soul scorned and cursed to walk upon this forsaken land forever." For some reason I lean my musket against the stump, remove my foot from his chest, and then offer him my hand up. His flesh is warm and very much alive which contradicts his outward appearance.
"I have not had the pleasure to talk to a human in the longest of times" he says. I nod to him and then ask "How were you put into this state?" He gestures for me to sit on the stump and tells me his story. When he is finished I simply nod and agree to meet him next saturday to further discuss this issue. He told me his name was Daniel and that I might be able to help him, so I agreed to meet him next Saturday to see if I could. I walk out to the road and start walking down it. As I walk a glimpse of what looks to be a white shirt disappearing from the road. I run after it shouting for it to come back to me. I finally catch up with the figure and turns what I realise is now a woman around. Stunned, I fall backwards and look up at the rotting figure of my wife. Her skin falling off in pieces, a roach eating her tongue, and a maggot bursts through her and and crawls into one nostril. I stand up and lean into hold my dear beloved, and deceased wife. She leans into kiss me and then it all goes black. I awake in the daylight and look around. The only footprints are my own, the flesh that had fallen off her face is gone. I wander back to my house. I try my hardest to pay no mind to the images flashing through my head and the things flying across my vision. I tell myself they aren't real but I can not let them go unnoticed. After what feels like eternity I reach my house. Michael is asleep in a chair so I venture upstairs and lay down in my bed. Then I fall deep into the torment of sleep and wait for another hellish week to begin.
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