Megan McDuffee

And finally, I could only listen as the priest conducted my funeral before I was placed down into my final resting place.

Here lieth Sebastian Doyle, devoted husband and father, born 30th January 1835, died 1st May 1862.

And now I lay still, victim to an eternity of nothingness.

It dawns on me that one finally discovers what happens in death.

The body might decay, but it would appear the soul and the mind is not.

and I fear I will be left to contemplate my existence, as well as the existence of life itself, forevermore.

I would have shaken my head in disbelief if I could have moved a muscle.

I have now lost all sense of time as my thoughts drift dreamlike, always soon returning to the faces of my wife and daughter.

I am petrified that if I go too long without gazing upon them in my mind's eye, that I may forget my loving family.

I will do everything that I am still able to never let that happen.

I yearn to hear from my God, but I fear I am desperately alone.

Why hath thou forsaken me, Father?

Suddenly, and without warning, there's a flash of light, and my head begins to throb.

Colors engulf my every thought, a twisting kaleidoscope within my mind.

I see a face, the face of a demon, and I am scared.

Our eyes lock together, its horrific yet hypnotic gaze drawing me deep within.

The demon smiles, and as it does so, blood drips from its mouth.

As I look deeper into the yellow eyes of this despicable vision, I see a reflection of my own face staring back from within its pupils.

The reflection of my mouth is also dripping with blood, and I can barely recognize the demented expression upon my face.

Then the damnedest thing happens.