Soul Attraction

                                              Soul Attraction: (672 words)

The candles burned in rows, on the table to the left. The flames flickering, casting shadows on the walls.

I had walked into the old church, just moments before. The large, tall doors were wide open. The wind blew leaves down the aisle, swirling around my feet.

I kept walking forward, past the rows of pews with songbooks strewn and laid open, the paper turning as if someone unseen thumbed through the pages.

I stepped further towards the front, looking up at the alter, with it’s crucifix carved into the wood, unmovable and permanent.

I looked up at the huge multicolored stained glass window depicting angels and Jesus rising up through the clouds.

A statue of Mary stood to the right, head bowed eyes seeming to follow me sadly.

My attention came back to the table with the candles. I wondered who could have lit them in the abandoned, unkept church. Was someone in here, right before me, or maybe still in here with me?

I glanced over my shoulder nervously, looking into darkened corners.

All I could hear was the wind and the sound of the leaves under my feet. A bird flew from the ceiling rafters. It’s wings beating as fast as my heart.

I gasped as a tall shape stepped out of the shadows.

A low voice said, “Did you think by coming here, that you would be safe from me?”

The candles flared up as he walked by, casting light on his handsome face only to die down, leaving him in shadows once more.

He walked up to me standing too close. I stepped back but he put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me back up to him. I knew that struggling would be useless as his strength was far superior to mine.

He turned me and put his arm across my shoulders, his cape long and flowing, enveloping me, like the wing of an angel, a dark angel. He walked me back down the aisle and out into the moonlight. I followed as if in a trance.

Once outside he turned and looked deep into my eyes, mesmerizing me so I could not look away. He leaned down and touched his lips to mine as if drinking me in. I kissed him back not because I wanted to but because my body responded with a mind of it’s own. His hands reached down and rubbed my breasts. They were all over me, rubbing and caressing. I felt as if I were drowning. Then he broke it off and left me standing there craving more.

“Not yet my darling, I want to wait until you become my bride. Now that I have found you, I will never let you go. You belong to me. I have waited centuries for you.”

“I am frightened,” I said.

“You have no need to be frightened of me. I will protect you forever.”

“Did you light the candles in the church?”

“Yes, does that surprise you? I have lost loved ones too, just like anyone else. In fact I have lost more than anyone else as I have existed for many years.”

He kissed me again and hugged me to him. I wondered how he could make me feel so alive when death had claimed him so long ago.

“I will come for you. My minions will help you prepare for our wedding. You shall have the most beautiful wedding gown ever made."

“I’m not sure I want to join you in the after life. I still want to live.”

“I will not force you to do anything unless you ask me to, and until you are ready.”

“I must go now. I will see you my darling, when night falls again.”

Then he was gone as if in a blink of an eye, leaving me standing there trembling as if part of me had gone with him. Did I love him or was I just in a spell of his making? Time would only tell.