The man sat on the wooden stool, leaning on a desk. In his left hand, he held a cup of whiskey, and in his right, he held the bottle from which the whiskey came. There was a meager, and dark demeanor on the man, as if he’d been in a deep state of depression for a long time. His, silvery gray hair had grown down to his shoulders, his moustache was connected to his beard, which grew to the end of his hair. He always wore dark clothing, especially on this dark, and rainy evening. He wore black robes. If gave the dark room, lit only by a dim candle light, a very eery feel to it. The man paid no heed to the mood of his this room though, neither did the rain hitting the roof, or the constant sound of thunder. Not even the slightest, unusual bumps in the night would make him budge. He just sat there. Staring at his desk, particularly at this little book, that lie open. Upon one page, there lie an entry, that had a gloomy feel to it, on the other, was nothing, just a blank page to end the story. The man, had all his focus on the entry. He read it over and over again. With each breath at the end of every sentence, a tear fell into his glass. Fly’s have recently become attracted to the cup, and particularly the man himself. It was probably foul stench that came off the man, for the man had not showered in days. He’s just been sitting there, staring at the page, and listening to the sound of the rain. Everything was normal for this man… almost. He was missing something, a certain emptiness that he couldn’t find in the world. As he read the entry, he thought about this. He thought about how he had lost something precious, a long, long time ago. As time came across the man’s mind, the clock, which he thought was broken, started to tick. Though it struck him as odd, he maintained his position, and gave it very little thought, as the sound was soothing to him. For him, everything was normal. But suddenly, the clock started going off. The great bells of the old grandfather clock began to chime, to mark the changing of the hour. The man jumped at the sudden sound, and looked back at the clock. It read midnight. The man turned back to the desk, chugged the last swallow of whiskey, then leaned forward, and placed the glass and bottle on the desk. He then stood up, and turned around. Looking around the room, he saw stacks of books which lay upon small tables and shelves, there were also numerous bottles of alcoholic beverages, there was the grandfather clock, which rested next to the door, directly behind the stool upon which the man had once sat, and then there’s the desk, with the book, numerous letters, the whiskey bottle, glass and the candle. The room was very small, and very cramped, and since it was so small, the man had to push the stool all the way to the grandfather clock, just to get out, which he did. His intentions was to go lay down upon his bed in the next room, and hope that death takes him this night, but once the stool hit the clock, something mysteriously flew across the room. The man stopped, a bit startled, but shook it off. He thought that maybe he was very tired, and was more than ready for a long night’s rest. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, then he started to take a step, when suddenly… another item flew across the room. A little curious, and a little frightened, the man turned around. Once he turned, his eyes widened with horror. There, hovering before him, was a ghostly, woman. Her skin was a dark shade of blue or violet, her hair was black, she had no teeth or tounge, and her eyes were sewn shut.
“N-no. H-how could th-this be?” the man stuttered with fear. Suddenly, the ghost woman violently waved her hand, and the man flew back onto the stool.
“You seem to remember me.” the ghost woman said. She seemed angry… very angry.
“Yes. How could I forget?” the man said, fear still sounding from his voice.
“Then you should remember how you lied to me, how you left me to die.” snapped the ghost woman.
“L-lied to you? How? When?” the man asked.
“Do you remember that night? When you made me that promise?” she asked in return.
“Of course.  How could I not?” the man said as he began to picture the evening in question.
“Twas the night of our school’s grand ball. We were having such a good time.”

…

In a large room, with lights galore and beautiful music playing, a group of young adults, wearing fancy suits and dresses, danced to the merry tunes. Away from the group, a young couple sat upon a bench, conversing together, and enjoying each other’s company.
“So how is the party?” the young man asked.
“Oh it’s wonderful.” said the young woman. “You did a marvelous job planning this Dartanion. I’m glad they chose you to be head of the ball committee.”
“Indeed, I’d be afraid of what might come of this occasion should anyone else take this post.” Dartanion replied, jokingly.
“Oh shut it.” the young woman laughed and she pat Dartanion’s chest. “I’m sure anyone could do just as good a job as you.”
“Of course my dear. But unlike me, they wouldn’t have done any of this for you.” Dartanion said.
“Aww. That’s really sweet. Thank you love.” she told him, as he smiled contently. “Just for that, I’m going to get us a couple glasses of wine.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Dartanion claimed as she walked off. He smiled, and watched her walk away. Once he was sure she was gone, he put his hand into his coat pocket, and pulled out a golden ring.
“Tonight’s the night.” he told himself as he turned the ring around in his fingers. Suddenly, there was a scream of terror, as a young man in the crowd shouted “SAVAGES!”. Dartanion quickly put the ring back into his coat pocket and walked up to the front of the crowd. He had to push his way through all the people, who were surprisingly just standing there. He found this odd, but then again, there was only one way in and out of the ball room. Dartanion eventually reached the front of the crowd, and he came to a horrid sight. An Indian was holding the young woman, his beloved, by the throat, ready to scalp her. Behind him, was a band of other Indians, one of which had a bow and arrow, armed and prepared to fire. Dartanion felt helpless. What could he possibly do to a group of armed savages? He was about to just stand by and watch, but fear for the life of his love fed his courage. He charged the savage that threatened his love. As he began to move, the Indian with the bow and arrow, raised his weapon, and fired at Dartanion. The arrow flew, whistling through the air. Dartanion felt a sharp pain in his chest, but he kept running. As he did, time seemed to be moving slowly. Eventually, he reached his target. He grabbed the savage by his arm and punched him in his side. This caused the Indian to release the young woman, who then fled to the group. Dartanion then swung the man around, and tossed him towards his comrades. The savage landed right into one of his fellow Indian’s arms, and their knife. The attackers, shocked at the sudden wounding of one of their party members, fled. One they were far out of sight, Dartanion looked down to see what caused the pain in his chest, and right there… was the arrow… He suddenly felt faint, and collapsed to the ground.
“Dartanion!” cried the young woman as she ran to him. The crowd followed.
“Someone call a doctor!” shouted a member of the crowd.
“Kelly.” Dartanion said, as the love of his life came and kneeled by him, and watched the blood flow from his body all over the surrounding floor.
“Why would you do that?” she asked as she grabbed one of his hand. With his other hand, Dartanion reached into his pocket, and, shaking, pulled out the ring. He held it up in his shaking hand, and presented it to Kelly, in the best way any wounded man could.
“Because I’ll always be there to protect you.” he replied.
“Oh yes.” she replied, as she grabbed his other hand, tears rolling down her face. She then lifted both hands up and rested her head on them and Dartanion laid back and relaxed.

***

“That was the best night of my life.” the old man said.
“I agree. I still recollect of that evening. But do you remember how you broke your promise to me?” the ghost woman demanded.
“No… I don’t even know that I broke a promise” he answered honestly.
“Typical.” she said. “The night the British attacked the town, you left me to die.”
“What?” the man asked.
“YOU LEFT ME TO DIE” she screamed. “YOU DIDN’T EVEN GIVE ANY THOUGHT TO ME.”
“No…” he mumbled.
“WHAT?!” the ghost woman screamed.
“I didn’t leave you.” he responded.
“Yes you did Dartanion! It’s because of you that I’m like this.” she said angrily.
“No. It’s not true. I came back for you Kelly.” Dartanion said, sadly.
“Y-you did?” she asked.
“Yes…” Dartanion said sadly. “I tried so hard to reach you… but I was too late.”

***

It’s a stormy night, and the man was standing next to a lamp post, looking out into the distance. He was wearing a heavy coat to keep his uniform dry, and a triangular hat, that was common amongst the men of this era. He was looking through a spyglass, hoping to see through the dense fog. He’d been trying for hours, but to no avail. He wanted to give up and move on, but he had a very important assignment, given to him from George Washington himself, and he wasn’t about to disobey the greatest man that had ever been born. Much like George, he was honorable, and feared betraying his soon to be new country for some selfish desires. But, little did he know, fate had other plans for this evening….
The man put away the spyglass, as he heard some footsteps approaching him, quickly too. He pocket the spyglass, and turned around. He spotted a man, wearing a similar uniform to his, run up to him. Unlike the man, this new man looked much younger. He lacked a beard, and scars left behind from life experiences.
“Sir. The British are attacking the town.” the young man said.
“What?!” asked the man.
“The British have begun bombarding and raiding the town sir.” the young man said. A look of worry and fear grew upon the face of the older man.
“Quickly. Send word to General Washington. We’ll need as much help as we can get.” he commanded the younger man.
“Yes sir. Right away, sir.” the young man said. They then both turned different directions. The young man running down the muddy road to the North, and the older man hopping on his horse and heading South, towards the town. He had to hurry. The woman he loved was there, and he made a promise to protect her. Rushing through the cold, winter rain, he charged his horse as fast as it could go. He soon reached the border of the town, and looked in horror as he saw it burning. The man snapped the reins, trying to get his horse to move faster. He had to get to the other end of the town.  Upon entering the town, he was ambushed by British troops. He stopped and looked at them. Fortunately, they had yet to prepare to fire, giving him enough time to get away. He snapped the reins, and him and his horse got to cover before the sound of muskets firing rang through the air. He knew that there would be more to come, so he drew his sword. His horse, quickly carried the man through the town. The man only had to use his sword a few times on his way. Eventually, he reached his destination. He would’ve looked in disgust, but the smell of burning wood and corpses had already worn on him. He stopped his horse in front of his destination, which was a small house that was surprisingly intact. After his horse stopped, he noticed a man in a red coat standing in the doorway. Luckily, the man didn’t hear the horse over the sound of the nearby cannon fire. The experienced man, used the cover of the noise, to hop off his horse, and sneak over to the British soldier. Once the man reached the Red Coat, he grabbed his chest, and stabbed him. As the soldier fell, the man pulled his sword out of his gut, and cleaned on a nearby cloth. He made sure to sheath it before he entered the house. When he did enter the house, he came to a site of pure, gory horror. Lying upon the floor, in the center of the family room, was a mangled, naked body of a woman. Tears began to form in the man’s eyes as he walked over to the woman.  He kneeled down, and took in this violent site. The woman’s eyes were sewn shut, she had multiple stab wounds in her upper body, and she was as pale and cold as snow. The man grabbed her body.
“No.” he said as he began to cry. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” He raised the violated body and hugged it, sobbing in his dead wife’s breasts.

***

“I’m sorry.” the old man said, starting to cry. “I tried so hard. I… just wasn’t fast enough.”
“I… I’m sorry.” the ghost woman said. Her skin started to lighten, turning more into a sad color than a dark eery color.  “I didn’t know.”
“ Well now you do…” Dartanion said. They both looked down at the floor and fell into an awkward silence.  After a few minutes have passed, the ghost woman spoke.
“I’ve been watching you… You’re spent a lot of time reading my journal.”
“Yes… It’s the only piece of you I have left. I’ve spent many a night and day, just sitting there, at this desk, reading, and rereading. Everyday, I’d wish you’d write another entry… but I know that you can’t. But no more… I will not sit here in this petty squabble. From now on, I will take care of you, and I’ll always be there for you.”
“You mean it?” the ghost asked.
“Yes.” the man said smiling. The ghost woman smiled, and her skin became a normal color. She was finally happy.
“Now go to bed my love, I’ll join you in a minute.” declared the man.
“Alright.” said the ghost. “And Dartanion.”
“Yes?” he asked.
“I really do miss your brown hair. It was gorgeous.” she replied.
“And I miss your blond hair Kelly.” he responded. Kelly’s ghost flowed off and the man walked over to the desk. He quickly found a quill and some ink, and began to write in the little book. He wrote one last entry, and after that he left a little note that said:
‘Always cherish the ones you love, because they’re your everything.’
The man then set the quill down next to the book, and left the room. In the next room, he climbed into bed. Shortly after that, he fell into a deep sleep, and passed from this world. The man’s spirit rose from his body, and saw the woman’s spirit waiting for him.
“It’s about time you show up.” claimed the woman, as she cast out her hand, reaching for him. The man smiled and took her hand. Suddenly, a stairway of light appeared, and they climbed it together, into the realm of light, where they both lived happily together for eternity.