The Shadow’s Heart

One
We move through the darkness
Like spirits of the night
Shadows creep and slither down
The pitch black alleys
Your most terrifying nightmare
The darkest secrets and fears in your heart
Each breath tinged with dread
When you see us coming
But not with your eyes
They’ve already sealed
We steal the last scream
Bubbling in your throat
That threatens to break loose
But it’s already gone
Wrapped around a single ghostly finger
The battlefield is our playground
Long black tongues lapping up the blood
Of the fallen
And pilfering the cries of the dying
Now dead
We stalk the sickrooms of Earth
The youngest hearts are especially enticing
Uncorrupted
Delicious
Pumping with life and terror
They can’t see us
But they feel it
The change in the air
The ominous static before a storm
The world seems heavier
Their oxygen turned solid
They can’t breath
They know we’re there
We hide in the shadows
And their fright makes us strong
The darkness in their souls
The fear in their hearts that gives us power
That lets us in
When the moment finally comes
They feel no pain
Even as their very essence is ripped
From their body
But after all
Mere shells cannot feel pain
Some of them cry before
Which makes them hard to plunder
The body cannot hold onto sadness
When it is slick with tears
But we get them all in the end
It only takes longer with some
I have never seen myself
What I am
But I know what the others look like
My brothers and sisters
Slender and elongated
Compared to our prey
But vaguely humanoid
Some have a theory that our race was
Human once as well
But that was a long time ago
Long ago
Then they laugh
Cruel short barks
The idea of being human
Farcical
Our hands extend far beneath our knees
Fingers long and pointed
We are not excessively large
Though we could cover the sky
Should the idea ever seize us
We reek of blood
And stink of death
And carry the terrible smell wherever we go
I am
As are we all
Swathed in black from head to toe
Even our teeth
Long and razor sharp
Are black as the darkest of nights
We have hearts
Buried deep inside
But they do not beat
Beat
Beat

Two
We are forbidden from the light
The Father made it so
So the others shy from the sun and its children
They believe it will burn them
They are wrong
I was once among them
Until that fateful child glimpsed me
I heard his racking coughs
Across the globe
And when I neared I smelled his illness
And I smiled
But I could not take this child’s soul
There were no cracks or faults in his heart
I could not sneak in
And then this child
Struck a match
Bringing the brilliant flame to life
I did not look away
Like I was taught my entire being
I stared into the pinprick of fire
For an eternity
But the child screamed
Plunging the room into darkness
Once more
Yet the image was burned
Onto my memory
Forever more
No matter how hard I squeezed my eyes
Closed
It was always there
Dancing behind my vision
None of the others knew
Else they would have killed me
For disobeying The Father
But I desired the light
More than anything else
The desire tore my mind in half
A torture so painful
I fought for a long time
But it beckoned me like the moon beckons the sea
And I gave up
I failed
It seems strange then
That my failure would bring me the
Greatest joy

Three
Now I could succumb to my temptations
And I stole away
Every so often
While the others pilfered souls
I abstained
And reveled in beauty
The light was precious
Something to be treasured
Protected
My brothers and sisters would
Never understand
They think it can destroy them
Burn through our pitch black bodies
While we writhe in pain
Leaving nothing more than
Ash
Ash and dust
They have never seen sunlight
Or felt its warmth
Their world is cold and dank
It feels traitorous still
To say I and they
As if they are the enemy
Instead of misguided
My brothers and sisters are vicious
Yes
But they should not be my enemy
I wish it could
Be different
I want them to realize
And they never will
So I hold the sun secret
And they cannot keep me away
Though I shudder
Even so
Just to think of what they would do
Should they ever find out
After all
We are not above
Killing our own kind
I doubt they know
I pray they never do
Four
Our hearts lie shriveled and black
Deep within
Hidden so that we may
Never find them
I do not know if they
Ever carried a pulse
To most of them
It matters even less than whether
The souls they steal are
Evil or Good
Or a mix of both
Chiaroscuro
Where there is light
There is also darkness
But can there be light
Where only darkness has reigned?
If there can be beauty behind
A world of ugliness
I feel the light
When I step into the sun
When I move into the light
I feel my heart
Swell
And beat
Beat
Beat
I slink from the shadows
A street lamp’s
Flickering flame
Pooling over my silky skin
Barely substantial
It sounds a rhythm
A bass drum
A timpani
Booming its triumph
Over the darkness
It roars like a lion
Crashes like a wave on the shore
One thousand marching soldiers
Fighting for freedom
And liberty
Beating back the night
When the dawn crests the horizon
And beat
Beat
Beat

Five
I will never know
How they found out
Perhaps
They knew all along
Knew of my noontime excursions
And nighttime wanderings
And kept it hidden
Cleverly disguised
As I thought I had
Just waiting for the moment
When there was
No escape
No second chances
No redemption
But somehow they knew
Dragged me to The Father
My brothers and sisters
I felt the grip
Of claws around my limbs
And I
The picture of nightmares
Became afraid
They hissed at me
Baring black daggers
They cried out
Renounce!
Repent!
Forgo the sun and all her children
Their screams rebounded
Around the earth
Shrieking wails of pure rage
Others did not yet believe
They would not believe
They wept for my humility
They could not believe
As the others
Traitor!
Boomed The Father
You have betrayed your kind
And forgotten your ways
Listen to his beating heart
The crying and yelling ceased
Fervent for the sound
And then
Beat
Beat
Beat
It filled the chamber
One perfect note
More powerful and sure
Than the blast of a cannon
They screeched
And clutched their heads
Even The Father
They shook with each pulse
The absolute darkness
Attacked by the light
The shadows fought back
A chorus swelling
Banished!
He will die for his treachery!
We will kill him ourselves!
Kill him
Tear me limb from limb
Skeletal hands pulling and tearing
Leave nothing behind
Destroy my heart
And wait
It shines with the light
Calling for her
Drop it
Run away
Lest they be burned
Fleeing from her presence
Let her pick it off the ground
Beautiful
My child
She murmurs
My child

Six
I am the flame
That dances in the dark
Sputtering to life
Lighting the way
One lonesome candle
Curtailing the darkness
Born from the strike of a match
So like that which
Burned beauty onto my soul
A single swift movement
Sends sparks into the air
Eruption of fire
I am the smallest piece of sunlight
A child of the sun
Emancipated from shadows
I guard the world
When she is forced away
Replaced by night
I shelter her people
When the moon
And the stars are
Extinguished
And still I long for her
To be in her warm embrace
And soar
With my new
Brothers and sisters
Basking in her glory
So I stretch to the sky
Though bound to
Earth
But I will prove myself
And flicker on
Lighting the way
Close your eyes
Take a breath
Listen to the sound
Only if you’re silent
Will you hear it?
Does it fill your ears?
Can you feel your own
Heart
Marching to the rhythm?
Joining both our souls
Beating back the darkness
Uncovering the light
It was always there beside you
Just hidden in the shadows
Waiting to be found
Listen
You can hear it
Growing louder now
And the beat
Beat
Beat