Free The Wisdom of Evil by Scarlet Black

meant she probably wouldn’t sleep at all.
    The coldness was not just in the air, but in the very bed itself, a bone-chilling, icy cold. She shivered. Michael didn’t answer her.
    “ Michael?” A cool stream of breath came from her lips, as if she were standing outside in the very dead of winter.
    “Not quite,” a raspy voice answered.
    Turning quickly, but seemingly in slow motion, her eyes adjusting to the darkness, she came face to face with the source of the dreadful voice.
    Two eyes glittered in what little light the moon brought to the room. They were green and glowing and malevolent. The teeth, white; the nose, incomplete, just a…skull!
    “No! You aren’t real !” Glory closed her eyes and shook her head to clear the image out of her head. When she opened them, the thing’s face was no more than a few inches from her own!
    “Do you know what it means to have Death desire you? To love you?” Its breath was foul with the smell of things long dead, putrid and sickening.
    Glory ripped the covers off, went to jump out of bed . She had to get away from this monstrosity. A bony hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed hold of her wrist. She looked at it, shocked. The skeletal hand held hers tight, very tight, with little effort. The hard bone dug into her flesh now, hurting her! She couldn’t move, dared not even breathe. This wasn’t a dream, nor was it a hallucination. This was happening. She’d been running from death her whole life, but death simply wouldn’t leave her alone!
    She struggled out of the remaining bed covers, tripped , and fell to the hardwood floor; still, the bony hand had its grip upon her. She pulled so hard she thought she’d surely dislocate her shoulder, but she didn’t care.
    “What…are you ? Who are you?” Glory’s voice trembled as she actually tried to find rationality in the irrational.
    “You know who I am . You’ve always known, Glor-eeeeee.” The awful thing whispered mockingly.
    “ Michael! Help me…help me! Please !” She shrieked, watching as her hand and forearm were now turning blue from the cold embrace of the creature. It was…consuming her. The horror of it—her arm was decaying right before her eyes!
    “ Mom !” Mickey came rushing into the room, his mouth open in shock at the sight in front of him. His mother was writhing on the floor, struggling with the comforter, pulling at her forearm with her other hand. Something was under there; something was pulling her arm. He couldn’t see what it was. He ran to her and pulled her up by the waist. The comforter fell to the floor. There was nothing inside. But, he was sure he’d seen... No, he wasn’t sure he’d actually seen anything. So, what had been pulling her arm down?
    “Is it gone, Mickey? Did you see that… thing ?”
    “No, Mom . I mean, I don’t know what I saw. Are you all right?”
    She nodded . “Thanks, Mickey.” Her voice was hoarse from screaming. She was barely able to talk.
    “Jesus, Mom , it’s freezin’ in here.” He wrapped her up in the comforter and she shakily sat on the bed.
    “Yeah, it is.”
    “No wonder. The windows are wide open!” Mickey closed them all.
    She was still shaking, unable to stop. Her teeth chattered and she had goose bumps all over.
    “Do you want me t o call Dad?”
    “No. I’ll be okay. He has enough to worry about right now.”
    “How ‘bout a cup of hot tea?”
    “Yeah, that would be n-nice .”
    She heard him in the kitchen. The ordinary sounds of a cupboard opening, a spoon hitting the tea cup, the whistle of the kettle; familiarly calming. She looked all about the room. Mickey had turned the light on when he’d come in. There were no shadows. That monster had been here! That was the truth! Like a pawn on a chessboard, she wondered which of them would make the next move, her or it.
    Mickey’s eyes were intent on her face, watching her drink the soothing tea , as she sat in the very rocking chair she’d once nursed him.
    “ I’ll stay