Megan McDuffee

I am guided by the moon through a labyrinth of paths that snake between the gravestones, but the light of the moon, which seems brighter than I have ever known it before, bears me no shadow.

It would be a short walk from the churchyard down into the village I had once called home,

I do not know the hour, but there is no one around and it feels like the very dead of night.

As I walk, I close my eyes for a brief moment and the despicable demon's face flashes before me, its teeth dripping with blood.

Blood.

Each time my eyes close, I see the same image and it begins to speak to me, an unwelcome sound inside my mind calling, teaching.

Blood is sustenance.

Blood is life.

You must feed before the night ends.

I keep moving onwards.

I was aimless at first, but now I have purpose.

Now I have clarity, and I know where I am headed.

where I have always been headed.

As I pass the shop fronts that line our village's main street, I look at each one but see no reflection.

I am a mere shadow, and I will soon be home.

I hope that my family still miss me, as I have missed them.

The images of my wife's loving smile and the sweet, innocent face of my daughter draw me forward step by step

And as I reach the front door to our cottage, I know we will finally be together again.

Forever.