Chapter VI - Transylvanian Threnody

                                    

                                          
I shall ne'er forget 
                          
The things I've seen… 
                The deaths he died 
                         The tears he cried;
                          
I shall ne'er forget 
                          
                  The lines he wrote;
Words unspoken, stories untold - 
                          
The hands of deliverance around his throat. 
                          
I shall ne’er forget 
            the day of darkest Red
as his blood was mirrored high 
                          

  So high up in the virgin sky...
                          

———————————————————————
                          
And once again, there was naught but silence. Such a deepening silence, you had never known… 
                          
Senses numb, eyes glassy & vacant; something inside you, invisible, noticeably transmogrifying your curiosity into fear, expectation into doubt. 
                          
Why did he not turn around? 
                          
“ Pelle..? It's me… I'm— ”
                          
Pelle is not here anymore. 
                     Pelle is dead… 
                          
Words that stung like needles, ferociously tearing at your aching yet still so hopeful heart like the claws of a rabid beast. His voice, however soothing & gentle, sorrowful as death itself; only a faint gasp overflowing with all of his neglected despair. 
                          
A low rumble in the far distance had you flinching right where you stood, causing you to raise both your arms in order to wrap them around your own torso before your entire frame began to tremble.
                          
How you hated the sound of thunder; the howling of the midsummer storms. You had always feared the untamed, vengeful voices of mother nature at her worst & darkest … 
                          
“ You are Pelle… Nothing & no one can ever change that. 
        Neither in life, nor in death… ”
                          
Svelte feminine digits, quivering with fright, reaching out for the mournful soul before you like so many times before, each time with the same hopeless intention: 
to hold him forever. 
                          
But this time your fingers came to a sudden halt when merely a few insignificant inches prevented you from touching his arm & you, rather than waiting for him to finally turn around by himself, took a few steps forward instead until you were close enough to feel the unexpected but welcoming warmth his body was still radiating with. 
                          
However surreal, however impossible… Here, in a place that you could neither name nor explain, he truly was still alive. 
                          
Without you realizing it a feeble yet honest smile of relief had crawled its way upon your lips, your previous hesitation soon turned into what appeared to be unshakable confidence & you took but one more step forward, the very last one required to bring you where you desired to be, with your forehead now calmly resting against Pelle's back. 
                          
And it was in that one moment that you understood the true definition of peace, for neither the rumble that followed as though being harbinger of a slowly approaching thunderstorm nor the sudden pitter-patter of rain on the wooden roof managed to unsettle you . Not even the powerful scent of decay whose source you still couldn't seem to determine was of any mentionable account. 
                          
The incessant presence of death sure was hard to ignore & - in spite of two young hearts beating with fierce determination - silently creeping in the shadows after all, yet here you were, facing this unbearable fear like meeting an old friend.