The Pale One
Thomas Turner

You go to bed to sleep
to rejuvenate, to regenerate –
to rest your body and your mind.
It’s one thing to rest your body,
But how do you rest your mind
when you have a mind like mine?
When you see the things I’ve seen?
When you go to the places I’ve been?

Peaceful sleep is what I’m denied
whenever I try to close my eyes.
For; in the darkness of the night,
I have to face fright after fright.
I know the demon that knows no light.
I battle her with all of my might,
to keep her from plain and clear sight.
That’s why I’m locked in this room of white.

To share with you why I’m here,
we must journey both far and near –
first, to my home which I hold so dear,
second, to a place filled with chaos and fear.
After some food that I had been fed,
I felt a slight pain in my head.
Up the stairs I was carefully led,
to the warmth of my comfortable bed.

There, I began to sleep –
a sleep that was so very deep.
That was when I first saw her
magically hovering over me –
a vision of loveliness – one so sweet
that I almost began to weep,
but I dared not to make a peep
as closer, she began to creep.

As I gazed upon her angelic face,
my heart skipped a certain pace.
There she stood in satins and lace.
My blood began to race and race.
I absorbed her beauty in delight
as I lay still in the night.
Soon that image began to fade
and I suddenly became very afraid.

Into the darkness my opened eyes did beam
as I awakened from what I thought was a dream.
But, there she still stood as solid as I –
pure beauty, such grace, I could not deny.
Suddenly, that vision of loveliness became a lie
and I could only lay frozen and wonder why
there was a pair of long, white teeth
protruding from a mouth that looked so sweet.

I could not call for my mother.
There was not a word that I could utter
as what I once thought was a lovely nightingale
began to take me on a trip straight to Hell.
Her shiny white fangs drifted closer and closer.
I could only gaze in fear and horror at her.
There was not a move that I could make;
for my life she was about to take.

Finally, I released my once subdued scream,
because this was certainly no longer a dream.
I threw off my quilt and I swiftly fled
from that once warm and comfortable bed.
I landed in the corner of the room
as I tried to flee from certain doom.
On the floor I sat and I cried and cried,
for there was no place that I could hide.

The ghastly figure leaped over my bed
and faced me head to head.
That moment, I knew I was dead.
Her hunger was about to be fed.
With her fangs inches from my neck,
my body was a quivering and shivering wreck.
My blood was about to quench her thirst
when suddenly from the door, came a loud burst.

The haunting spirit disappeared without a trace
as my father entered and stepped in its place.
He lifted me to my feet with his strong arms.
I was finally protected from the vampire’s harm.
The woman with the pale face was gone,
but my horrible memory of her lived on.
She lived in my dreams night after night,
haunting my mind completely out of spite.

When she entered, so beautiful she would be,
so enchanting that no one would believe me.
She drove me to the point of insanity,
simply because she could not have me.
That’s why one night while my parents slept,
through the dark hallway, I silently crept.
Down the spiral staircase I slowly stepped
to find the drawer where the knives were kept.

There was only one answer for me to see.
My tormented soul had to be set free.
I could see the pale one behind me.
She drifted into the room like a bee.
She smiled as I sliced at my wrists.
I even gave the knife a slight, demented twist.
There, I slid slowly to the floor
and was fed upon by that blood-sucking whore.

As the kitchen floor became covered in red,
I knew that I would soon be dead.
As I closed my eyes to finally rest,
I knew that I was free from that bewitching pest.
Yet, before I could die, I was found.
My wrists were taped and I was bound.
I was brought to this room of white,
Where I now gaze into this bright light.

This Hell is much worst than the last.
This room locks me further into the past.
I will forever be with the witch in white.
She still comes to me every single night.
I cannot raise my arms to put up a fight,
for my body is bound in this cloth of white.
I cannot understand why no one but I can see
this lovely, evil demon that keeps haunting me.

Every night I cry and I scream and scream
for my life is no longer a young boy’s dream.
My life is now a forever ongoing nightmare.
So for you, the innocent, you best beware.
When you hear the tone of that death bell,
pray that you do not venture near this Hell.
Because that’s where the one who is so pale
will take you as you can only scream and yell.

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