For Love & Death

Emma stood there shattered, broken in pieces as her son 8 year old son Eric Free is being lowered into the ground. Tears fall down her pale face as she looks around at all the blank stares on the faces of her closest friends and family. Emma just wants to go home and be alone, the pain of burying her only son is weighing in on her quickly. She makes an early exit, pushing off family members as they try to keep her from leaving the dark emotional scene. Everyone watches as she slowly walks away, crying hysterically, everyone feels sorry for Emma. Those people feel like they are losing her as well as her son. Emma continues her painful walk through the graveyard when she encounters strange woman in a dark cloak holding a flask while she lays atop a grave. Emma tries to offer her some help. The strange woman is unresponsive. She pleads for the lady to get up. Emma has been through enough pain and she doesn't want to see another mother drown in a deep sea of emotions. Emma reaches to grab the woman when suddenly the woman quickly grabs a tight hold on Emma's arm. Emma is pulling trying to free herself but she can't. The woman breaks out in laughter as she tugs on Emma's arm. The cloaked lady scratches Emma, drawing blood, and she dabs the blood on her tongue and licks Emma's palms. She finally releases Emma. Emma quickly flees the weird scene. The strange woman screams .. " Eric is waiting ... He's waiting for you Emma!". The mention of her sons name brings Emma to a halt. Emma turns around and runs back toward the grave where the lady was. The lady has vanished, Emma looks around and there's no one in sight.

Emma pulls up to her driveway, she takes out a picture of Eric and stares at the young boy's smiling face. The picture makes her smile as she remembers the joy Eric brought to her life. She steps out of the car and closes the door. On the way up to the front entrance, she hears a rumble in the nearby bushes. She slowly begins to walk over to check what's going on. She reaches to look through the bush when a black cat jumps out and startles her. Emma takes a deep breathe of relief. She collects herself and enters the house. It's dark, and even though the house is empty, she can feel her sons presence, as if he were still there. This feeling overwhelms her and she falls to the floor in tears. As she is crying, there's a knock at the door. She wipes her tears and gets to answer the door. No one is there. She steps outside to look around the yard to make sure someone isn't playing some sick joke on her. There's not a soul in sight. As Emma closes the door and turns around, the door to the backyard is now open. Emma slowly walks toward the door, scared for her life, confused about the whole situation. This is just enough to take her mind off of her son. She wonders who is messing around with her at a time like this. Who could be so hurtful, or is it just her imagination getting the best of her?

Emma walks to the back door and closes it after taking a look around the backyard to see if she notices anyone. Emma sits down with her back toward the door. She is trying to collect her thoughts, as they seem to be running wild after such a tragic day. She recalls the last moments she spent with her son Eric. They were at a playground having a very fun day. One of Eric's best-friends, Jason, had brought along a new ball that the two threw around most of the day. One of throws sent Eric chasing the ball as it rolled near the street. Emma was busy talking to Jason's mother, but she noticed her son going too far out. She yelled his name, Eric looked back in response to his mother's voice, but just before the ball rolled out into the street, a drunk driver ran up onto the curb, pinning Eric between the car and a tree. Eric and the driver both lost their lives that day. The driver was Jason's dad, coming to pick up his wife and son after watching a football game with a few friends over some beers. Eric had no father of his own, he left before Eric was born. Emma was a strong woman, she was more than capable of raising Eric on her own, even if it were a tough task. She was just that type of woman. She loved Eric unconditionally, and everyone who knew her, knew that she loved him more than anything in this entire world. Losing Eric made her incomplete. Emma was the best mother any child could possibly ask for, but she now had no child to be a mother to.

Emma sat there, back to the door, she looked at the cabinet to the right of her. She opened a drawer on the cabinet and pulled out a gun. She lifted the gun to her head. Killing herself felt like the only thing that would set things right. She had no reason to live, at least that's what Emma thought. Emma thought hard about pulling that trigger, her grasp on the gun got tighter and her pointer finger slowly slid across the trigger. She thought if she ended her life now, she'd be connected with her son on the other side. Suicide seemed easier than living with the pain of Eric's death. Suicide wasn't an option, it was a reality. Her pointer finger was twitching, she began to pull it slowly, just before she could end it all, she saw a figure near the front door. She slowly put down the gun and wiped her eyes to get a better look at what it was in front of her. It was the cloaked lady from the cemetery. Her dark figure stood there, Emma was too afraid to move. The cloaked lady raised her arm and pointed. Emma didn't know what this meant. As Emma slowly got to her feet, the woman began to walk off into the living room. Emma demanded the she stop. The lady ignored Emma's request. Emma rushed down the hallway in pursuit of the lady. As Emma entered the living room, the lady was making her way upstairs. Emma rushed up the stairs. The dark figure made her into Eric's room, closing the door behind her. Emma hesitated to enter. She began to cry, not knowing what was going on and why this lady was in her house. Emma begged the lady to come out, this attempt failed. The lady began to laugh just as she did in at the cemetery. Emma was angry, she grabbed a nearby bat of Eric's and entered the room. She rushed in, ready to swing the bat in defense, but she was taken by surprise. There was no dark hooded lady in the room, only her son Eric.

Eric, sat on the bed silent. He was cold, covered in dirt, his wounds were still fresh, he was pale, and very quiet. Emma didn't hesitate to give him a huge hug followed by a kiss. Emma, crying, said "She said you'd be waiting, I heard her .... you're here ... Eric ... you're here, I love you Eric, I love you" Emma was excited to have her son back. She didn't think about why, or how he got there. She just embraced the fact that she felt complete again. All of the pain didn't matter now, her beloved son Eric was back. Emma knew deep down that something wasn't right, but this wasn't going to stop Emma from giving Eric the motherly love that she felt her son still deserved. Eric didn't speak, he just stared into a blank space, he was completely unresponsive. Emma didn't want to let go of Eric as she continued to hug him. She wanted him as close as possible. She wasn't afraid, she felt comfortable, she felt normal, everything was alright as far as Emma was concerned. Now with Eric back, Emma wanted to make him feel at home. She left Eric on the bed while she went to her room to grab a washcloth and towel so she could get Eric cleaned up. While in her room, Emma heard the laugh of the weird woman coming from Eric's room. Emma dropped everything and ran to see what was going on. She go to doorway and the dark cloaked lady sat there on the bed, holding Eric while he sat on her lap. The woman pulled her cloak back to reveal her, pale, scabbed, face. The woman was completely bald, with a piece of head missing. A dark goo flowed out of the crater on her head. Emma threw up, she couldn't stand to look at the woman's battered face. The woman began to laugh. Emma collected herself and asked the lady what she wanted. The lady told Emma that she didn't want anything, she was there to take her where she belonged, with Eric, for eternity.

Emma insisted that Eric is right where he needs to be, and that she doesn't need to go anywhere. The door slammed shut behind Emma, this startled her. Things in the room started to shake and fall. Emma demanded that the woman stop whatever it is she was doing to make this happen. The woman told Emma that it wasn't her, but Eric who was making this happen. She told Emma that Eric was telling her that he wanted his mom back, that she needed to come with him, back home. Emma again insisted that Eric was home, and he was safe. The entire house began to shake, Emma is knocked off balance and throw to ground where she bumps her head, which causes her to black-out. Emma is slowly regaining her consciousness. She doesn't know where she is. She looks around to see candles lit all around, that was the only light she had. She could hear something in the room, she asked who was there, she asked for Eric. Candle began to blow out seemingly by themselves when the woman and Eric slowly walked towards Emma. Emma tried to get up, she then realized that she is bound to a chair. She screamed, and begged for the dark woman to release her. The woman told her that this is where she needs to be. She tells Emma that she saved her life, but now she's going to have to lose that very life again. Emma yelled and pleaded, she didn't want to die. The woman told Emma that she does want to die, that she needs to die, for Eric. Eric slowly approaches his mother, he places his hand on her head calmly. Eric smiles, Emma smiles and asks for Eric to release her. Eric tells his mom in a very eerie voice, that he cannot let her go, he needs her .... to die. Eric's grip on his mother's head becomes stronger, the woman starts to laugh. Eric pulls out a large crucifix shaped blade covered in his own blood. Emma starts to cry, pleading for her life, Eric raises the blade and slides it across his mother's lips. Eric slowly opens his mother's mouth with the blade before he jams it down her throat, killing her in an instant. The woman begins to laugh. The woman grabs Eric's hand, she tells him that "she" is waiting. The two walk over to a doorway that leads into a dark room. They stop at the doorway, where the woman tells Eric that his mother is there ... he just has to reach for her. Eric extends his hand into the doorway, he says "its okay mommy". A cold, pale, hand reaches out and connects with Eric's hand. Eric also grabs the dark woman's hand as she leads them both out of the dark. Eric looks up and sees his mother, looking down at him, as blood drips from her life-ending wound. Emma smiles, and tells Eric that she loves him, she looks over to see that the dark woman is now gone. Emma and Eric fade into the darkness, together, and for eternity.