Spoken: Part I

It was too beautiful a day. The sky was a deep blue, and the softest clouds were painted on it. I sat outside on the soft Summer grass, a brilliant green that stretched far into the distance. I reclined, shut my eyes, and breathed in the air. It was humid yet sweet, and as I exhaled my entire body relaxed. I felt crystals of sweat creeping on my forehead, cool sweat. I felt a hand lightly brush mine. I opened my eyes and turned my head. I was met with the gaze of a familiar face. A devilishly handsome man, thick locks of blonde hair being gently blown back by the breeze. His eyes were a glacial blue that shocked my own. He had thick, black, waxy tears, permanently dripping down his face. He wore a black cloth short sleeve shirt and black shorts. He never wore shoes. He reclined with me and turned his head.

"Hello." He said quietly.

"Hi." I said.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked.

"Much the same, enjoying the Sun, you know?" I answered wearily, the heat made it fairly arduous to hold conversation.

"Hmm. I do know." He replied, looking up towards the sky, smiling.

"I had a weird dream last night." I said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Really strange."

"...Well? What? What was it?"

"I was on the Orient Express with my Mum. I was walking through all the cabins and searching the rooms trying to find her. I looked up and down the train for ages, nothing. Then I smelt something, turned my head, and there she was, on the floor."

"On the floor?"

"Yeah. She was on fire, too."

"On fire. Right, gotcha."

"What do you think it means?"

"Well," He said, leaning towards my ear. "I think it means you should stop having fucked up dreams about your Mum being on fire." He whispered.

I laughed and slapped him on the arm.

"I mean it's just an idea..." He continued.

"Shut it, you." I said, and returned to basking in the warm.

"Miss Fox, time to come in now!" I heard a voice coaxing me from behind. It was Nurse Norton. I turned around and saw her frantically beckoning me in. I slowly arose from my enjoyably relaxed position, and headed towards the house. The grass was cool on my toes.

"Who were you talking to my love? Was it him again?" She enquired.

"Yeah, it was. He's left now, though." I replied.

"Oh dear. Come on then, lets get you inside." Said Nurse Norton, with sad and concerned smile. Nurse Norton had big, bright, doe eyes, full of expression and often appearing as if they're brimming with tears. She ushered me back inside the Manor House, and I sat on one of the more comfortable sofas.

I was a resident at the Blue Doves Home for the Mentally Ill. I have been here for 5 years now, while the Doctors try and cure me with various treatments and pills. None of them have worked, and I don't want them to. I'm content with the way I am, what I do and what I see. Sometimes I think they try and 'cure' me because they're jealous that the can't see what I see, they don't have the conversations I have, with the people that I talk to.

There used to be more; Malphas, Raphael, Ariel, all have had their time with me. Guiding me, advising me, being my friends. Now there's only one to keep me company, and that's fine by me.

Lucifer first appeared to me last winter, shortly after the departure of Malphas. I was sat on my bed with my coat on, holding my knees to my chest, looking out of the window at the frosted trees. The ground outside was a sheet of white, the ice shimmering like diamonds underneath the feckless Sun.

"Freezing isn't it?" He said. I jumped out of my skin, accidentally hitting my head on the window frame.

"Jesus..." I said, rubbing my cranium.

"Not quite." He replied. He was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. The oily black tears that ran down his face were dripping on my floor.

"Watch out." I said, drawing his attention to the mess he was making.

"Don't worry, it won't be here for long." He said. Funnily, I knew that already.

"Where's Malphas?" I asked.

"He's around. I think he had some things to take care of. Why, am I not a suitable replacement?" He teased.

"I don't really know who you are, other than you're a man who cries black tears and turns up in my room unannounced." I said, turning my head to look out of the window again. He put his hand on my shoulder and I closed my eyes. I saw a him, falling through the sky, head first into a desert. He plunged into the sand and continued travelling through the earth at an incredible speed. His body connected with something hard and everything faded to black. He came to in a white room, a large space with unclear definitions. On one of the walls there was something scrawled in red. It said:

1000 tears
1000 years


He tried frantically to rub the writing off. He punched the wall, screamed at it, scratched it but nothing would remove the writing. He fell to his knees a bellowed. Viscous pitch black syrup fell from his eyes and stained the ground.

He removed his hand from my shoulder and I inhaled sharply.

"Do you see?" He asked.

I simply nodded and held my knees closer to my chest. I turned to look at him but he'd left. It didn't matter, I knew he'd be back soon.