Without Honour

It was a dim and peaceful night at the Adams household. Mrs and Mr Adams were indulging in their hobbies of handcrafting. Their sixteen-year-old son, Ace, was in his room reading an audiobook about a detective skeleton and magic. His brother, older by seven years, Link was working on a project for his next single and their ten-year-old sister was playing with the family cats, Rika and Cheetah. The children’s rooms were upstairs, the brothers having the rooms right in front of the stairs next to each other, and Freya’s on the right side of Ace’s room; with the bathroom left on the left side of Link’s room. Downstairs was the Living Room which connected to the dining room and the kitchen. The kitchen was narrow and spacious at the same time. The door, however, was a sliding one that took quite some effort to open. Once opened, the front door can be seen facing the kitchen. The house has a driveway, and the light detects motion in front of it and turns on, so it was odd to have it happen at 11 pm on a Saturday. The family was not expecting any visitors, so they thought it might’ve been a fox. Recently Mrs Adams put out a unique vase of the most beautiful and most magnificent golden flowers. Ace and Link had sarcastic comments about them at first but Freya spoke out everyone’s thoughts when she expressed her awe in them.

There was knocking at the door. At first, no one heard it. It was too quiet. Too calm. Then came the second set of knocks. The parents being in the backyard dropped their work and waited to listen to make sure there was knocking. They both went into the kitchen from the backdoor as they noticed the driveway lights turned on and a shadow peering from the door window. They didn’t feel the need to hurry until the third set of knocking. It was loud, desperate and angry. Everyone in the house heard it, The kids went outside their rooms examining each other’s faces of puzzlement. They headed downstairs with Ace leading the line, Freya hiding behind him and Link keeping watch of the whole situation. As they descended, the parents cracked the door to see what’s happening. It was a man, about average height, no hair, weak stubble, wearing a coat, shirt and jeans, like a normal being. The children could hear mumbling as their parents started talking to the strange fellow. They heard the man plead.

“Please, listen to me! May I please have this vase?” although an odd demand, the parents tried to reason out this request and politely decline it.

“Sorry, no can do,” they said. However, the man panicked and then tried to force the door open as it was still only half-closed. He grabbed its side and tried to keep it open as Mr Adams tried to shut it.

“You don’t understand! I need this vase! It’s carvings, craftsmanship!” As he aggravated the situation. Ace burst the door open as the man almost fell. Ace kicked him down as he felt his blood rush through his body. He used one foot and pushed the man down to the ground as he grabbed his arm and immobilised him.

“What are you trying to do, mister?” Ace asked, “We’re not-”

Before Ace could finish his sentence, he gets interrupted.

“You don’t understand, you fool!” the man exclaimed, “That vase, those carvings! Its power is beyond what your human mind can imagine!” As he kept talking Ace noticed the man’s eyes glowing. “Hurry please, the entire vase! The flowers too! I need their power-”

“What the hell are you talking about, man?” Ace’s grip weakened as the man’s eyes opened wide and were brighter and brighter.

The man screamed from the top of his lungs, then recited gibberish that not one of the family could decipher. Freya hid behind Link for safety. At one point the lights flickered throughout the whole street. Every house appeared and disappeared. The clouds moved in a rush and the moon showed itself; it was right in the middle of the sky and looked bigger than usual. The Man stopped the gibberish, laughed hysterically and shouted.

“The cursed son has prophesied, and this is his coming!”

The entire street was lit up in a bright red, and the moon was bloodstained as I turned to the van in front of our drive. We heard footsteps from behind it. We gazed as a shadow snuck out from behind the van as we heard the noise of rocks falling and breaking. As the shadow emerged itself it was a child with his eyes glowing a bright white, as if it’d pierce anyone with a simple gaze as pieces of the road floated right behind him. He looked at us and started screaming. I looked to my sister and ran towards the child, as his entire body glowed with a flash of golden lightning. I rushed towards him with every fibre of my being bracing itself for an impact. I had no plan, no solution. Just the will to protect my sister. As the golden glow brightened more and more, my life flashed before my eyes as it was nearing an end. I prepared to protect my sister, but unprepared to leave her. Conflicted by my impulsive decision. Too late for second chances, I’m guessing. I have to laugh at myself. As I’m approaching the distance of one metre away from the glowing child, the entire world turns to white and gold.