Life at the End of the Road

by Rey S Morfin

  ‘My pleasure,’ I replied.

  The detective did one last lap around the main room of the flat, once again surveying it, before coming to the door.

  ‘Shall I see you to the front?’ I offered.

  ‘That’s ok, I think I can manage. Have a think about those few days you spent in Redbury, Mr Morfin. Have a think if there’s anything you’re forgetting. I’ll be back soon for a follow-up - just procedure, nothing to worry about - and you can let me know when if anything else comes to mind.’

  ‘I’ll do that,’ I replied, and closed the door behind him.

  Alone again at last, I went back to my usual routine. I finished yet another season of television, ate a large pizza on the sofa, and eventually retired to bed. Sleep didn’t come easy. Visions of those days in Redbury invaded my mind, ripping me from sleep as I was just beginning to drift off. I laid, still, for hours, wrestling with the insomnia that I’d struggled with for these last couple of weeks - until eventually, without ever really realising it, I slipped from consciousness.

  I dreamt, as I always do, of Laura. In my sleep I could see our life together, the life that the Root had shown me, and it almost felt like it had been real.

  During my sleep, I was happy.

  This life was ordinary - and that wasn’t just enough for Laura and I - it was perfect.

  Tonight, however, a figure entered my dreams. It lurked in the darkness, urging me to come closer.

  It spoke, but I couldn’t hear its voice.

  Its eyes began to glow, and I woke up in sweats, clutching the dripping sheets to ground myself once again in reality. A presence lingered at the foot of the bed.

  I turned slowly to look up, feeling in my bones that I knew exactly what I would see. Standing over me, a man composed of billowing smoke glared at me with brilliantly-bright blood red eyes. He grinned, and raised his burning hands.

  The flames jumped to the walls. Before long, the room was completely alight.

  Behind the glowing eyes, the almost incorporeal form, and the menacing smile, there was a single truth that I couldn’t avoid: the creature lurking at the threshold of the room was the darkness that had grown inside me - and he was free.

  It spoke, with the very same voice that I’d been yearning for, desperate for it to give me purpose.

  ‘She lives on,’ it said.

  ‘Smoke Without Fire’ Continues

  Rey Morfin and Anna Tyndall will return in ALONE WITH MONSTERS.

  * * *

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