The police told Darren that nobody had been found in his mothers house, no remains of anybody. The house had been burnt to a cinder. The fire just wouldn't go out no matter what the fire brigade did. It had eventually gone out when there was literally nothing else to burn.
It had been three weeks since the fire. Darren stood looking at the empty plot of land that now remained. Looking for clues, anything that would make sense. And his mum, his poor mum was dead. How had she died? Was it quick? Did it hurt her? Now Darren was angry.
He headed back to his flat in hope he could again find some answers. A cold shiver hit him as he started walking. Darren had the feeling he was being watched. He turned and looked all around him.
From the middle of what used to be his mums house, stood a figure. He couldn't quite make it out but the silhouette was a man, a tall man. Darren's heart started to pump faster as he headed back towards the figure.
Stuart Tomkins or what used to be Tomkins, stood perfectly still as Darren approached. "what the fuck are you?" Darren demanded in a somewhat shaky voice. "Where's my Mum?" he added quickly.
The figure was the same as he had seen in the hospital, Darren was certain of it. But why?
It stared directly into Darren's eyes without any indication of life. Then, without warning, it raised its arms high in the air and looked towards the heavens. The sky immediately went dark but lightning flashes in what appeared to be hundreds, struck the figures fingertips as a wall of darkness surrounded Darren and trapped him inside.
Darren was terrified but he was determined to overcome his fear and find out the answers to his nightmare. He looked at the figure and noted that it was now just a mass of twirling black smoke. He watched as the twister started to slow down and again take shape.
It was different though. This new materialisation wasn't Tomkins. This was, "oh my god" he thought, this was his mother. "MUM? Mum, can you hear me" Darren asked as he walked closer.
It wasn't his mothers voice that responded "STAY!" it said in the same gurgling pitch as Darren had heard twice before. Darren stopped in his tracks at the sound. "Where's my mum you fuck?" Darren screamed. "what have you done with her?"
"DEATH" came the reply. Darren reacted instinctively, "Nooooooo" he screamed as he ran for the visualisation of his mothers body. He reached out and tried to grab it by the neck but Darren's hands simply passed straight through. It was like a hologram but it grabbed Darren by the arm and it was a solid and hurtful grip.
"PRINCE, FORTUNE" it said as it stared into Darren's eyes. Darren again tried to grab his mothers image without success. He reached for the hands that gripped onto him so tightly but again he passed straight though them.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?" Darren screamed. The grip loosened, the smoky figure twirled in a clockwise direction and began to rise and disperse. Within seconds it was gone.
Just then, Darren remembered something his mother had said on the day of the fire. She had told him of a woman, a woman whom had been his mothers best friend in the early years following his fathers death. Darren decided that the only option was to find her.
He looked around at his surroundings. He was still stood in the middle of what used to be his mothers house. He ran faster and faster towards his flat. The fresh air cleared his head and he began clearly recalling his mothers conversation and the name of her friend, Karen Tomkins. The name was familiar but he could think where from.
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