Frozen Solitude

'Goodnight.'

My heart was hammering in my chest, skipping a beat every so often. There were four bodies, all hanging from a tree in the distance. The bodies were already lifeless; no struggle, no movement, they had to be dead. As I began to look closer, there appeared to be one adult and three chil....'three children?' . I stood still for a second, frozen solid by what I had seen. 'Could it be?' I wondered. My mind was racing with negative thoughts and I started to breathe heavily. I started in a walk, which quickly became rather brisk before breaking into a full on sprint.

"Amelia! Amelia!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice laced with fright and disgust. 

'What sick, twisted ANIMAL would have done this to my Amelia and our children?' I thought to myself.

My steps came to a abrupt halt. The figure, it was there. It strolled up to the bodies, looking around them as it did so. It looked back at me briefly, before walking towards Amelia. 

"What are you doing?" I called suspiciously. "You get away from them!"

The figure let out another piercing laugh as it floated up beside Amelia. It stroked her face softly and I felt extremely disturbed by what I was witnessing. The figure slid it's tongue out of it's mouth and licked up the side of her face, before grinning with an ever so devilish grin. I broke into a sprint and pelted towards my family, having broken the shock that had befallen upon me. 

"Get away from her! I beg of you!" I shouted pleadingly.

I lost my footing in the snow and landed face first into a icy cushion. It engulfed my face and filled my mouth with the freezing cold snow and ice, I started to choke. Coughs and splutters launched shards of ice out of my mouth as if I was a dragon of frost. I slammed fists into the ice and snow, trying to dislodge my face by destroying it's captivator. One, two, three! I managed to pull my face away from the icy trap and looked up to see that the figure had gone. All was still in the darkness.

"Amelia? Children?" I managed to choke the words out as I got a proper view. It was them.

My beloved wife, my dear children, my whole life. Gone. Taken from me and hung from a tree to show the world that this man had lost everything, like four trophies of the Figure's success in destroying me. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move, I couldn't even cry. Their lifeless bodies were hanging in front of me and I couldn't even cry.

"No. No. No," I whimpered. "Why?"

I got on my knees and prayed, prayed this was all just a sick dream.  The tears had dislodged from my eyes and were now slowly streaming down my face. The horrible thing was, I couldn't even think of a reason why they had died, what had it been for? Was it the Figure claiming revenge on me for all those years ago? I tried to think of why it would take it out on them. I look into Amelia's lifeless, peaceful eyes and remember her sweet smile and her lovely laugh. 'Remember her at the happy times Edwin' I think to myself. My head turns to the children, our beautiful little children.

I stand up and walk along to our Eldest, Charles. He was only twelve, he would have been thirteen in two days. His skin had become pale and his clothes were torn, his resemblance to me was remarkable yet frightening. His short brown hair, his bright blue eyes; so full of life and prospect. He could have achieved anything he was such an intelligent boy, you could never get anything past him, even as a toddler. I move towards him and placed my hands on both sides of his head.

"Goodnight Charles, I will never forget you son. Look after your mother for me, your the man of the house now. I love you." I choke as I kiss him on the forehead lightly. 

I shuffle along to our middle child, William. Eight. Eight years old and hanging lifeless in the middle of a forest. He got his looks from his grandfather on Amelia's side. Those dashing looks that won over the heart of Maria. What a beautiful couple they made. William could have had the same, if he had of lived out his life. His long blonde hair and distinct features, he could have won the hearts of a nation with that face. I move my hands onto either side of his face, as I did with Charles.

"Goodnight William, I will never forget you son. What an excellent prime minister you would have made. I love you." I whispered before kissing him also.

I walk up to the final body blowing in the wind. I can't contain it anymore. I collapse to my knees and breakdown completely. My five year old daughter was dead, and she wasn't coming back. All this because of one little incident when I was younger. I was scared, I didn't know what to do. How was a child supposed to help a dying man? I thought he was a ghost, I was a damn child! What could I have done?

"You bastard!." I screamed in a despising and vicious tone  "You bastard! You disgusting, horrid little bastard!"

Tears flooded down my face and I spluttered and coughed. I look up at Florence, the same name as my first love. She looked so perfect in the moonlight. Her curly brown locks flowing from her head, her bright blue eyes filled with love and joy that she wanted to spread to the world. She was so innocent and young. It made me feel physically sick, the thought of a child being murdered in cold blood. 

"Goodnight Florence, my little princess. Be a good girl for mummy won't you now? I love you." I barely managed to squeeze the words out.

Well, that's it. My life has collapsed. My heart is shattered into a million little pieces. Here I stand, in the freezing cold, looking at my crushed spirit hanging before me. You may be wondering how I'm going to recover from this, I am afraid to inform you that I'm not going to. I don't want to. So here I shall sit, against this rock, waiting for the angels to come down and escort me back to my family. It's where I belong.