"Coming," said the man as he wound through the halls of his little home to approach the front door at the sound of the bell ringing. It rang again. "I said I'm coming!" exasperated, he reached down to twist the deadbolt and unlock the door, his hand curling around the knob to turn and pull to let in the cool breeze of the nighttime air as it flowed across his meticulous lawn. The door slammed open with considerable force and crashed against the adjacent wall, a shadowy figure of swirling limbs and grasping tendrils swept in with long and pale fingers extended from his wraith-like robe to curl around the man's throat.
Wide eyed and terrified, the man with his dark hair and tanned skin tried to wrench those lithe hands away, but his assailants fragile arms were tougher than they appeared and there was more strength in those digits than he could have anticipated. He felt his lungs begin to burn with the need for air and tried desperately to gulp down another breath as he stared into the mismatched eyes of the pale figure swathed in shadow that crushed the life from his body.
"Sleep," his voice was a whisper that seemed to echo across a vast distance, full of dread and cold that made the very air seem to chill. The tears that were beginning to stream down the dying man's face crystalized and froze against his cheeks. The lights guttered out and his eyes faded into the blank, glossy stare of death. His resistance ceased, his arms fell to his sides and his body thudded against the floor. The specter glided over the fallen man in a swirl of black smoke to invade those lifeless lungs and fill them with the breath of life again ? or undeath, as fate would have it.
The body rose from the floor and reached out to swing the door shut. The lock slid into place as he turned and went up the nearby stairs to his waiting wife and children.
Wide eyed and terrified, the man with his dark hair and tanned skin tried to wrench those lithe hands away, but his assailants fragile arms were tougher than they appeared and there was more strength in those digits than he could have anticipated. He felt his lungs begin to burn with the need for air and tried desperately to gulp down another breath as he stared into the mismatched eyes of the pale figure swathed in shadow that crushed the life from his body.
"Sleep," his voice was a whisper that seemed to echo across a vast distance, full of dread and cold that made the very air seem to chill. The tears that were beginning to stream down the dying man's face crystalized and froze against his cheeks. The lights guttered out and his eyes faded into the blank, glossy stare of death. His resistance ceased, his arms fell to his sides and his body thudded against the floor. The specter glided over the fallen man in a swirl of black smoke to invade those lifeless lungs and fill them with the breath of life again ? or undeath, as fate would have it.
The body rose from the floor and reached out to swing the door shut. The lock slid into place as he turned and went up the nearby stairs to his waiting wife and children.