Morrigan

 

     It is approaching autumn, one of my favorite times of the year. I love Halloween and scary/horror stories. I am posting horror next at the suggestion of a friend, whose current favorite short on here is the romance, so go figure! I will likely post many horror stories for the season over the next month.

     James, Michael, Sean, and I finally arrive at Croagh Patrick. This is the mountain where St. Patrick fasted for forty days.  We all grew up in Irish Catholic families and we planned to visit Ireland one day. We all agreed that we wanted to visit Croagh Patrick as part of our itinerary. We grew up in Chicago, but now we live all over the country.  I live in Denver, James in California, Michael in Atlanta, and Sean remains in Chicago. We try to get together once a year to reconnect.

     We want to wait until morning to climb the mountain. We are hoping we can get better pictures that way. Compared with the mountains we have in Colorado, this should be an easy hike. In the middle of the night I have to get up due to too much Guinness. When I step outside to go, the night is so black that I can't see anything. It is also eerily quiet. I flip on my flashlight, but there is a thick fog surrounding our tents which obscures all that surrounds me. I reach my hand out and it disappears into the fog. I stumble and trip on something and I fall into the darkness.

     I feel a flutter behind me. I look, but I do not see anything. I hear a voice whisper "Aidan". I turn to my left and right and can't see anything. I must be hearing things. I decide to try to find the tent and go back to sleep. As I crawl forward there is a figure standing before me. A ghost? No this is a real person. A woman? Yes. I know her black eyes looking at me. I see only death in her. "I know you" I say. She smiles at me revealing sharp teeth. " I claim you Aidan McNeil". I want to say something, but she comes toward me and brushes my face, leaving it scratched. She transforms into a crow before my eyes. I feel around until I touch fabric, the tent. I crawl inside with some difficulty.

     I smell bacon and coffee. I open my eyes and see the interior of my tent. I unzip the flap and open it to reveal breakfast in progress. "Looking a little rough Aidan" Michael laughs. I feel a little rough. That was a crazy dream. I join the guys and we prepare for our climb. Apparently, they all slept fine. We pack up our gear and I tell them about my creepy dream.

     "Yeah, Ireland will do that to you" says James. Sean is limping a little from his torn ACL that is still healing, but this should be an easy hike.

     "What the hell did you do to your face?" asks Sean. I must have scratched it when I fell.  

     The path is slippery and rocky. It is foggy and I am starting to think that we will not get those great photos after all. We have been climbing for a bit and I hear a shuffle and a scream. Sean has slipped and his leg is hanging over the edge of the cliff. We rush to help him, but we also slip as we approach him. I see a pale arm grab his leg and before we know it he has been pulled off the cliff. It happens so fast that it doesn't seem real. His echoing scream etches into my mind. We are all stunned. How can he be gone? Were we seeing things?  

     We each start tearing up as we look over the cliff where we lost Sean so quickly. Michael bends down and grabs his knees as he collapses.

     I reach down to touch his shoulder. I don't really know what to do. "Mike, we have to go. We have to get in touch with Sean's family."

     He barely nods, but rises. James is staring off in the distance, his face unreadable. He says nothing as we head down as quickly as we can so that we can call Sean's family. There is no cell reception up here.

     Accidents like this happen all the time, but we never dreamed we were ion any danger. This was much safer than some places we had climbed.      

    We are all so stricken with grief that we don't notice the approaching storm. The rain starts pouring down. The path is getting even more slippery. We follow the river down so that we don't lose our way in the poor visibility. A rush of water appears from the river and before I know it Michael and James slip and are pulled into the river getting caught up in the current. I call to them and I reach for them and I fall into the water.

     Under the water I try to surface, but I can't. I feel bony arms reach around me and she is lifting me out of the water. Her claws surround me and when I try to loosen her grip she cuts my skin. Her black eyes gleam triumphantly. I think it is my turn to die, but I am mistaken. She has taken me into a place where darkness is all around us. I don't know if I am alive or dead. "A lifetime ago these three once dishonored me. Now they serve me" she hissed. She points her cold eyes towards me, her skin is as white as snow and she is wearing a cape of black feathers. "You are mine forever" she says. She hovers over me with her claws outstretched. I wish for death, but I shall have life that is drained away each moment with the Morrigan by my side.