“Alluring Darkness”- A Short Story based on the Painting

“Alluring Darkness” Original Painting 2022

It was a crisp autumn night, the sun was setting and soon the sky would embody a blanket of midnight blue, not a cloud in sight. There was a chill in the air , but nothing that a light black lace cardigan couldn’t fix.

Allison loved sitting out on her porch on nights like this, watching the sun set while sipping on steaming hot jasmine tea. One of the great amenities of country living; no sirens or vehicles to be heard, just the occasional rustling and chirping of the wildlife.

The sitting and sipping has become a nightly routine of Allison’s; her days are kept busy with the hustle and grind of trying to make it as a writer, and her husband of 10 years works in the city, defending the innocent and fighting for truth as a well-respected, noble lawyer.

They have a young family, two children preschool age who are tucked in their beds for the night while Allison enjoys the rare solitude and silence that an autumn night can bring her.

This night in particular, Allison sits upon their antique porch swing, listening to the breeze and welcoming the warmth of tea and honey, while brainstorming her next story.

She has yet to find her niche….she knows that writing is her passion and calling, but the question of subject matter and genre is still at hand.

Allison has achieved some mild success with poetry and short stories regarding romance, joy……which are beautiful things, but they’ve never felt authentic to her soul.

She was craving something raw, and real. What’ s the point of writing, creating a picture with words, if there wasn’t anything brave behind it. Where does the risk lie in writing about a Hallmark Christmas Miracle, or a sweet southern woman finding her lost summer love from years past, and against all odds, falling in love.

Again, not saying these aren’t beautiful stories, but they weren’t her story.

Deep in her soul, she knew change was needed. Yet, her pages remained blank, as blank as the cloudless sky above her.

Taking a break from her seemingly worthless brainstorming session, Allison looks up at the horizon line. The forest lays a mere 50 ft from her property, this home and land is what made up her dreams as a little girl.

As a kid, she enjoyed walking the trails with her father and family dog, blessed to have lived in an area of the midwest where the forest was lush and there was much exploring to be done. Nature always felt like home.

Making an impact with writing was always her dream; leaving a lasting impression, writing something real is all she ever wanted. But how to do that? She keeps feeling this immense pressure…she has this opportunity to put her thoughts into print for the world to see….”why am I blowing this?” she thought to herself.

While gazing upon the forest line, she noticed something new. A mysterious shape, not like any woodland creature that she’s seen around here. Deer, opossum, badgers, squirrels, rabbits, those are all shapes and figures that are the norm to be seen around here, especially this time of night. This shape was a mystery….a mystery figure.

Allison immediately felt a spark in her heart….not fear, which one would think fear would be normal in this situation, right?

“A mysterious figure lurking by the woods at night, I feel like horror movies have started out this way before, fear would be expected, welcomed response.” Allison thought to herself.

Instead, the spark in her heart was intrigue, curiosity.

as quickly as the figure had appeared into view, without a conscious effort, Allison found herself walking down the creaking steps of her antique home porch, and making a walk across the yard towards the forest line. Ready to investigate the details of the mystery figure.

As she walked, her heart was filled with anticipation, excitement. However, not an ounce of fear was felt in her body. Almost as thought the mystery figure was calling to her.

“That’s a crazy thought, shake that crap out of your head , Allison.” She thought to herself.

Logically, she knew that whatever the figure or shadow was, it couldn’t be calling to her……….right?

She continued her walk across the yard, treading with caution over the dewey lawn, just watered from the rain earlier that day. At this point, the only natural light was from the bright full moon. Yet, Allison felt as if she’d never seen or known her direction so clearly.

Allison is halfway across the lawn and she’s beginning to make out some features; there’s an effervescent glow, or maybe smoke…it was hard to envision where the figure stood on the earth.

It was dark, with a hooded appearance…..but it had a softness to it as well. The face appeared to be a deep white with splashes of red….and when eye contact was made, Allison felt as if her heart stopped and dropped into her stomach.

The eyes….the eyes were what drew her in. The black, shining, alluring eyes, that proportionally was much larger compared to the facial features.

At a mere 10ft away, Allison felt a brisk, cold draft that caused boosebumps to be invoked all over her skin.

“Hello?” Allison spoke out meekly “Can….can I help you?”

The figure turned around with a grace and fluidity that was almost angelic and started heading towards the forest.

“Wait!” Allison called out “Where are you going? Do you live around here? Are you lost?” She was keeping up the outward facade that was a human being that she was beginning to follow into the midwest forest, but deep down she knew this was far from “normal”

She briefly thought to herself “Isn’t this how horror movies start”, however she continued to attempt to follow the hooded figure that she felt allured to. Rather than afraid of, which would’ve been the logical reaction here.

The sounds of twigs snapping and squirrels scurrying up the trees filled the otherwise quiet air as she entered the forest. Knowing these woods quite well, she knew that within another 50 ft or so was a creek that eventually would take one to the local river. She thought maybe the figure would drawn to the peaceful sounds of the babbling brook.

Allison could feel the anticipation building with every step; a rush of excitement that she hadn’t felt in a while. But, what is she expecting to find here? What is she looking for?

And then it happened; Allison had arrived at the creek, she was facing the back of the hooded figure at a person’s length away. The bottom of the long, black cloak swayed back and forth. Yet, no legs were to be seen. Only an independent fog that clothed the figure, similar to an aura.

“Who…who are you? And why do I feel the need to find you?” Allison asked aloud, not expecting a reply at this point.

The figure slowly and eerily turned around to face Allison. Along with a black flowing cloak, the face appeared as if it was moving as well, similar to the water in the creek. Under the cloak, the only thing that could be seen was their face; a milky, glowing white, with splashes of deep reds thrown in there. And then the eyes….the eyes were the main attraction. A rich, pigmented black, as dark as the dead of night with lashes that reminded Allison of the legs of spiders. The figure was beautiful…a beauty that stuck Allison deep to her bones. The figure emanated an alluring beauty, and she immediately felt drawn to it.

At this point, it was apparent that this was a paranormal experience. Allison felt no fear. Instead, the anticipation settled into an unknown clarity. As if she knew this was fate; this was supposed to happen.

“Were….were you calling to me?” Allison asked of the figure.

As if in slow motion, the figure replied to Allison with a nod and slight bow, indicating “yes.”

“Okay…..what for? Do you know me?” she replied.

The figure knelt down facing the creek and motioned for Allison to do the same. When Allison followed instruction, she was a mere arms distance away from the figure. This time, instead of a cold, goose bump inducing draft, she felt a warmth. A welcoming presence, and she felt as if she was home.

Both the figure and Allison are staring at the creek, the water flowed smoothly with the occasional cluster of rocks peaking over the running water, making their presence known.

The figure motioned for Allison to take a look at her reflection.

Nothing could’ve prepared her for the shimmering reflection peering back at her. Not only did she notice the beaut;y of the effervescent, mysterious hooded figure, but next to it where she expected a mirror image of herself, lay something entirely different.

Where she expected a mirrored image of herself, it was replaced with an exact replica image of the hooded figure that called her in. To test her theory, Allison tucked some whisps of loose hair behind her ear, and low and behold, the hooded figure reflection in her place followed suit.

How could this be? Why is her reflection of a hooded figure?

“How is this possible” Allison asked the mysterious being.

In response, the being slowly lifted up its arm, all covered by the oversized, flowing black sleeve of the hooded cloak. All the peered out was a semi transparent, charcoal colored, flowing finger.

Slowly, the finger pointed right at Allison’s heart, motioning to the fact that the reflection did belong to her.

“But…..” Allison began to stammer “But what does this mean?!”

And with the blink of an eye, just as quickly as the hooded figure appeared on her forest line, with a cold breeze and an alluring wave goodbye, the magnificent being was gone.

Allison spun around in place, trying to make sense of what had just happened, and looking for the figure that drew her out here in the first place.

When she realized that she was in fact alone, she found comfort in an old log laying next to the creek, and decided to sit and collect her racing, irrational thoughts for a hot minute.

Why did the being call to her? Why was she so compelled and drawn to it….and what does all this mean. Why was her reflection the same as the hooded being. What story is trying to be told here.

She found herself kneeling, gazing upon the rock filled, water flowing creek, looking for answer deep in a reflection that now reflected what she was used to seeing in the mirror.

Her thoughts then began to tie together….the dots began to connect. Allison has had a darkness within herself for as long as she can remember. Often, she was drawn to the unusual, the morbid, horror, things of the macabre world, but her family and society forced her to repress it. “It’s not normal for a young lady to be drawn to these things”, she was often told…..and she realized this was also reflected in her writing.

Her writings have not been authentic to herself….to her soul. There’s an allurement in the darkness….and it’s time for Allison to finally embrace this and set it free.

She’s ready to write the alluring horror that she was made to create. It’s time for her story to unfold.

With a sense of renewed clarity, and the fire of passion in her soul, Allison began to make her trek home. It seemed as if her time in the forest with her magnificent friend had gone on for hours, but when she looked down at her gray, leather banded watch, no time had passed.

Impossible…but as she made her way up the creaky steps of her antique porch, it was decided that there’s no need to worry about things as complex as time.

She felt alive, and it was time to show the work just how “Alluring Darkness” can be.