A Dimension of Husks

Word count: 520

Foxtober Prompt: Spooky

 

"I think I understand now."

 

Clarine's eye's shot open, her blackened eyes glaring around- ruby pupils glowing brightly. She was quickly met with a heavy spotlight directly upon her- narrowing her eyes and adverting them in response. Though- as she got used to it, and the light turned away, she widened them and looked around.

A quiet, excited crowd sat all around her- all in chairs, some beheld popcorn and some beheld a drink. She stood atop a pedestal, which was round in shape. It was decorated with red and white triangles. 

 

Her uniform was tight upon her body- suffocating her, reminding her of the prison she once stood in her own dimension between worlds. Then it hit her- she wore a tight suit, slowly turning towards her right hand and seeing the tall cane. 

 

"I get it." She muttered, tossing the cane into the air and grabbing it. "I'm a reaper of husks."

 

She slammed the cane down onto the pedestal- immediately causing the lights to all flicker on at once. Clarine watched as acts were performed all around her, dead creatures jumping through flames- husks of creatures who once had souls all around her. Even though she thought she had escaped this prison, that was far from the truth.

Clarine was soulless. She was the first soulless, stolen from her violently, leading a dimension between death and life- one for the soulless. One for the ones whose souls were stolen or signed away in a contract. 

 

She was a ringmaster of a soulless circus, full of husks of people. She peered along the crowd as the circus roared on- spotting nothing but humans. She noticed that the soulless humans were forever in the crowds. Some humans abruptly collapsed, some expressed extreme malnutrition, some were fresh as ever. Were they left to starve to death, though only to reset every time? Was this their punishment for selling their souls?

The ones atop the stage were the abnormals. Ghouls, rotting corpses, skeletons, zombies, dead animals... the whole lot. Clarine was the only Scarfox in the dimension. 

 

Clarine didn't have a soul, at least- not one that belonged to her. She had the man, Kevin's, soul inside her. He gave it to her to let her body gain mortality in the human realm, but that was a husk holding a soul that didn't belong to her. Part of her was still part of the realm.

 

She glanced down at a familiar man- his skin and hair immediately jumping out to her. 

 

Kevin.

 

He wasn't cheering or wearing a look of shock like the others. He sat there with a gentle smile, his face decrepit and slim- his body expressing extreme malnutrition. No one sat on either side of him, and directly behind him was a corpse- who had died from hunger.

Kevin lifted a hand and waved at Clarine, who stared in horror. The circus went on like there weren't corpses in the crowd. She could only stand there and stare- her entire body frozen. Clarine slowly glanced away.

 

 

"This is a prison for everyone inside."