Silent Comfort Chilling Short Story

  Behind her the steps came closer and closer.
She didn’t really hear them. It was more of a feeling … she felt it in her soul. The window was wide open, and the icy cold that rushed in bruised her tender face without any intention of showing mercy or compassion. She lowered her hand in which she was holding a white rose and dropped it to the ground, where the soft petals fell apart and snuggled around her bare feet.

     “The love of my life has abandoned me! You hear me? He’s not coming back – you know, don’t you?” She felt approaching footsteps through the castle halls. She knew it was him, but neither did he stroll nor was he in a hurry. “My soul mate has left me!”

    She knew that he heard her words, though she didn’t expect him to answer. “My one and only love has left me, just like that!”

    The steps kept coming closer, and the familiar feeling, that pounding running through her veins, spread like sunrays to her broken heart, though lacking all warmth. True, the man she deeply loved had abandoned her, and she wouldn’t be able to talk to him, see his face or hear his voice anymore. But there was someone else who had come – someone very different, someone she didn’t necessarily love, but didn’t hate either – at least not anymore. When she had begged him to come, he had answered her call.

    This one’s heart was filled with more mercy than the hearts of all those who claimed to be there for her and of whom none, not one of them, had shown up to help her get through her endless misery.

    “You’ve come!” Her voice was soft and she said it without turning around. “You wouldn’t do that to me, right? You wouldn’t just leave me like that and abandon me, would you?”

    He gave no answer.

    “You’ve made me wait such a long time, too long now – but you’ve finally come!” She kept the knife hidden inside the folds of her cape while she wondered how long she had been standing there. At first she had felt the terrible cold. But no more, although her body went colder with every single breath she took. Suddenly, a thought crept into the depths of her numb consciousness. A perception that had found its way into her mind – piercing, intrusive. Yet she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

    Her lips turned blue and her breath became heavier. Every single move took its toll and fed on the precious warmth of her delicate body. The chilling wind had started blowing snowflakes into her pale, tender face.

    Her voice sounded like broken glass. “You know what? It took me quite some time, but now, at last, I understand. Without you everything is meaningless. Without you everything around me is nothing but emptiness. Without you I feel nothing but the void.” Her words sank down to a whisper. “You must stay with me, now that he, whom I loved more than life itself, has left me. I never thought that I’d ever say this, but the rest of my life only has meaning when you’re around, now that my love is forever gone.”

    Behind her the silence was deafening. She summoned up all her strength to raise her eyes, which felt heavy and tired as she looked upon a certain spot somewhere in the distance that would only be visible to her eyes. A strand of her dark hair was blown into her face.

    “You know, I did try to live – I really did! But it’s so hard; so terribly hard!” A tear rolled down her cheek. “Every single day since my love abandoned me I needed nothing more than your comforting company. Every single day!” Her voice suddenly gained strength, increased, became intense – even angry. “Where have you been all this time?”

    The footsteps behind her stopped and she felt him put his arms around her shoulders. Still he kept silent. Not a word, not even a whisper. When nobody else did, he had come for her; leaving everything behind only to answer her call.

    She closed her eyes. “Why did I have to wait all this time? Don’t you know that my heart was close to breaking, as I thought you wouldn’t keep me company?” She sobbed. “You know, my sweetheart didn’t even bid me farewell before he left. After all the time we spent together, after all the life we shared, he couldn’t even look me in the eye! I deserve better than that, don’t I?” Another tear rolled down her cheek.

    Standing behind her, he said nothing. Instead, he touched the tender wet on her cheek which at once turned into a crystal pearl.

    “He left without an apology, without an explanation – just like that!” A fine wrinkle appeared on her forehead. “He still owes me an explanation.”

    His hands caressed her cold shoulders, trying to comfort her. She snuggled up to him. How warm she suddenly felt. Her eyes wandered off searching for something in the distance; to a place far beyond the glistening, snow-covered plain that stretched endlessly before her.

   “But that’s over now, he won’t come back. And now that he’s gone, I’m going to ask you … would you come with me to that place over there, where the lonely castle is standing?” She paused.

    She frowned as she was trying to remember something. “How long has it been standing there? That’s odd … I’ve never really thought about how old it must be. Seems to me as if it belongs in another time – perhaps another place!” But then her eyes sparkled, as if with the light of a thousand stars. “Oh, I know now! Yes, I remember! The castle is waiting for me, I’ve always had the feeling it did, but now I’m certain. It’s expecting me. I never dared to go there by myself, but now that you’re with me, I feel I’m ready at last.”

    She felt him standing behind her and it calmed her senses and warmed her heart. “Look how beautiful it is!”

    He hugged her.

    “Oh, I would very much love to see it from the inside and, with you coming along, I’m no longer afraid.” She smiled. But then – like clouds unexpectedly appearing in a clear sky – a sudden thought struck her. “You are coming with me, aren’t you?”

    His grip became stronger and, strangely, she found it much easier now to breathe. Come to think of it, she even felt relieved. Slowly she pulled her hand out of the fold of her cape. Her fingers held the knife so tightly that her knuckles turned white. But something didn’t feel right; she became irritated. She had to fight something that made it difficult for her to raise her hand – there was something she had to struggle against. He stood behind her; his grip as strong as an iron fist.

    “Why are you doing this?” She became angry.

    Gently, but firmly, he pressed down her hand … pushed down her whole arm.

    “Why are you doing this? It’s not for you to decide what I do with my life – it’s mine to keep or take, not yours!” She felt him hugging her gently, taking her in his arms and whispering into her ears words of comfort. Strangely enough, of all those who could and should have given her solace, not a single name came to her mind. But it didn’t matter anymore.

    For he was there now. She knew that nothing could hurt her anymore; no more cares, no more fears and no more pain. She had been patiently waiting for an eternity and, at some point, she had almost given up on calling him. Well, that was in the past. Now that he had heard her, he had come for her.

    She didn’t have to turn around, didn’t have to look him in the eye – she knew he was there, right behind her. She heard her own heart beating calmly and quietly until it gradually stopped. It felt no more pain and no more sadness – her heart was beating peacefully, almost happily.

    She dropped the knife – she wouldn’t need it anymore. Now, finally, she felt free. She could let herself fall because she knew that he would catch her … he would never abandon her.

    As she let herself slowly fall into his arms, it came back to her. That thought … that perception that earlier on had found its way into her mind without her being able to put her finger on it.

    He had come. Silently he stood behind her, locking her in his firm embrace. She had felt him coming, but she couldn’t remember hearing the sound of his footsteps reverberating through the castle halls.