The Blackness

The Blackness surrounded the woman. I thought it first to be the distorted shadow slanted upon the wall from the windows opposite her, but when she stood to leave, it stayed rooted in place.

“Thank you so much for coming in, Ms. Slasher. Suzie really is a good student. She just has some adjustments to make still,” I chirped, anxious to get her out of my classroom.

Instead of answering, Ms. Slasher sharply furrowed her brows in concentration, turning her face from me.

“Shh,” she hissed over her shoulder to the amorphous shadow behind her. “Eski, hush, now. She’s harmless.”

I gulped, shifting my gaze between her and the Blackness and wondered how to politely remove her from the room.

“Of course, Miss Blanchard. I must get Suzie now; she’s spent much of the day with the butcher and I fear for her sanity.” She chuckled sardonically. “If you have any more concerns, I can give you my private phone number; you can call me any time.”

“Oh, um,” I stuttered. “That would be lovely.” I reached for a scrap sheet of paper and handed her a pen, already resolving to discard it once she left.

“Have a wonderful day, Miss Blanchard.” Before Ms. Slasher could make her departure, however, the Blackness stirred behind her. “Eski, my sweet, settle down.”

A sudden whispering floated about the room, lilting about in its deathly demeanor. Mortem vicinam, it repeated. Mortem vicinam; mortem vicinam; mortem vicinam. “Death is nigh.” I shivered.

With a wary glance, I cast my eyes back to Ms. Slasher. Her previously stormy gray eyes had turned obsidian, each socket consumed by the Blackness. Her hair, before pulled back in a sleek knot, was a storm of flyaway fringe surrounding her head, a halo summoned by the Devil himself. Her flesh morphed into a veiny, leathery gray that spoke of Death itself.

“Mortem vicinam,” she chanted, her voice no longer a honey sweet tone but rather a raspy, hoarse resonance that sent shivers along my neck. Eski surrounded her, lifting her off the ground, her arms outstretched. The solid expanse of her eyes bore into me. She smirked. With that same raspy sound, she thundered, “You’re mine, Maggie Blanchard. All mine.”

In a final attempt to flee from this beast, I cowered behind the nearest desk. A violent wind with the force of a twister hurled through the room, knocking me off balance more than once as an air-splitting scream filled my lungs. The edges of my vision grew dark as Eski drew nearer, enveloping me in her endless Blackness. My heart pounded relentlessly. I fought the urge to vomit. A second deafening scream escaped my lips before the Blackness consumed me.