I looked into the dark, ominous cave. Shadows curled and nothing could be seen past the cave’s mouth. Torches lit with large, bright flames hung on either side of the entrance. The lights were bright but nothing could break through that perpetual darkness. I gulped, and turned toward my father. His expression was stone cold and no emotions shone through his eyes. He glared down at me, angry that I was showing my fear with my expressions. He turned to the crowd behind us and raised his hand up in a gesture of authority. “My people,” his voice boomed over the now silent crowd, “We are here to test my daughter, Fausta, and see if she is strong enough to be welcomed into our family!” The crowd roared and hollered in response to their leader. They crowded around in the clearing near the cave’s entrance. Torches were lit and glowing eerily onto the cold faces of the others in our tribe. Their hollering and roars were interrupted by my father raising his hand again. “Today we perform the coming of age ritual! My daughter, Fausta, must go into the depths of the cave and fight her worst fear, as is the way of our ancestors!” He explained. The crowds murmured. I tried to control my breathing, grip my nerves into a small ball and choke it out with the courage of my people. As my father escorted me closer to the cave’s mouth, he leaned down and said lowly to me. “In the cave lives a shapeshifter, they can see into your mind and find out what you fear most. It will try to kill you, so show no mercy. What’s the family saying?” I took a deep, calming breath and clutched my hands into fists at my sides. “There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.” I replied. He patted my back and roughly pushed me into the darkness. It swallowed me up and the lights were completely gone. My eyes struggled to adjust in the thick darkness. Soft drops of water fell onto the hard ground beneath. I gulped and brought my trembling hand to the ornate dagger at my hip. I mumbles to myself trying to calm my bubbling nerves. Then a shadow dropped before me. A startled gasp escaped my lips and I took a small step back. Before me was a small, hairless creature with large glowing eyes. It was clothed with an oversized shirt that probably belonged to it’s last meal. It grinned with sharp yellow fangs, while it observed me. “It has been awhile since they sent me a human girl. Shall we get started then?” It spoke in an ancient, gravelly voice. Its eyes shone even brighter, almost like a flashlight in the darkness, and stared me in the eyes. It’s bones popped and cracked in different angles. The skin stretched and molded into a different shape. Hair grew where it hadn't been before, and it grew taller right before my eyes. The creature reopened its eyes to reveal a pair of dark green ones. The creature had shifted into a human. She has long, straight black hair with streaks of dark brown. Tan skin replaced the hairless one and was dressed in a ceremonial dress. Her dark green eyes showed mischief as she smirked with full, pink lips. I gasped and stepped back in fear, away from the girl in horror. “It’s me!”

They think they can stop me? Are they stupid or just very naive? I worked far to long and to hard for this day and they are not gonna ruin it for me! I planned it all out: the banquet, the meals, the poison, and the target. I will do whatever it takes to kill that horrible wench who stole my future! She stole it all from me! I will get my revenge! I smirked as I waltzed through the dinning hall. I will make her suffer the way I suffered! She stole my future, so I will steal hers! I gave that wench a glass of wine with a bright fake smile. She smiled thankfully and took a large drink from the cup. I grabbed it daintily and started to walk off. I laughed heartily and made my way out of the room. Just as I was about to exit the room, she collapsed to the floor. A scream echoed through the walls and people started to panic. They kept shouting and screaming for someone to get a medic, but I didn’t look back. I walked out with tantalizing grace and poise. The blonde bride has fallen to the ebony haired goddess; which was me. I’m so glad that the wench finally got what she deserved! I should’ve been the one to wear the angle white gown, but she took that from me! But not anymore! For she is dead!

The streets weren’t as lively as they used to be. Everyone having to stay within their homes, and staying six feet apart was difficult. I groaned with frustration and flopped onto my bed. The mattress squeaking in protest to my action, as it lowered to the ground. My room was shrouded in darkness as I was blinded by a bright light. The vibrating caused the phone to jump off the table and hit the floor.

I sighed and leaned over to pick it up. It continued to vibrate as I looked at the bright screen. A name was displayed at the top and the red and green answer buttons caught my eye. I let out a gasp and fumbled with my phone trying not to drop it. I hit the answer button unknowingly and sighed with relief. A small delicate voice talked on the other side of the call. I stuttered a hello and that is how the conversation started. She and I were talking til we couldn’t think of anything else to say.

If we couldn’t think of anything to say we sat in a comfortable silence. It was like I was talking to my best friend and not my crush. Faye meant the world to me and this was the happiest day of my life. Faye was a nice girl and was super pretty. We barely spoke at school, but now that the pandemic hit no one talks to each other anymore. So, I asked her to meet me for a movie.

We headed to the movies but was forced to stop and grab the most wretched thing on this planet: masks. They were suffocating and fogged up my glasses. Faye looked just as uncomfortable as I did, which bothered us both. We struggled with the wretched things the entire time and couldn’t focus on the movie. It was horrible, and I refuse to wear the masks again. I don’t care if I get sick, because I technically already am. I’m sick of these rules!

I walked through the autum woods, and took in the colorful leaves starting to cover the forest floor. The woods were near silent as the crunch of leaves beneath my steps thundered out. I took in the steep slope of a hill and looked into the foggy colorful blurs beneath me. Then as I took a reluctant step forward, I felt something snag my foot. My heart skipped a beat as the world shifted around me. I stumbled forward and began rolling down the hill. Brambles, twigs, and rocks hit and tore at my skin. The pain was unbearable as I yelped for help. I fumbled and rolled for what seemed like a painful eternity, when my head slammed into something hard and rough. My world suddenly turned black.

As I came back into consciousness, my eyes had to adjust to the blinding light of the Sun. The fog was thick and made seeing incredibly difficult. I took in my surroundings and noticed what knocked me out. A large oak tree had hit me in the head, but it stopped me from rolling any further. I stood up and stretched my aching muscles. My leg shot a searing pain through my body. I walked around trying to figure out where I am. Then the fog became incredibly thick. I stumbled through the fog and then found a medium sized clearing in the woods. There in the middle was a silhouette of a lean figure.

A woman in a black dress stood as still as the dead and it didn’t look like she was breathing. On her head was a pure white veil, that humanized her appearance. Her entire face was covered and her head was tilted toward the sky. In her pale hand was a brown briefcase bag. I tried to back away slowly without getting her attention, but fate had other plans for me. I stepped on a twig and the snap was like a gun shot in my ears. The woman spun around like a tornado and sprinted toward me. I screamed and sprinted away from the clearing. Tree limbs and roots were making my escape painful and horrible.

The veil fell away from her face and under it was the most atrocious monster I have ever seen. Her eyes were solid black, her nose being nothing but slits in her pale tight skin. She grabbed my hair and yanked hard. I screamed and collapsed to the ground. The woman climbed on top of me and held me down with inhuman strength. She opened her pink lips to reveal sharp triangular teeth and a lime green tongue. Fear gripped my heart and my breathing became labored. Then with a bite of my neck, stars filled my vision. My breathing became lighter and lighter as the world faded to shadows and shapes. The world turned cold and darkness enveloped me for good.

Kathrine watched her boyfriend contently as he lounged in the recliner watching tv. John watched the game intently practically on the edge of his seat ready to jump and cheer. Kathrine grinned and headed toward the kitchen to start on dinner. She was excited to have a nice, calm meal with her boyfriend. As she was cutting the tomatoes she heard scrapping noises. She looked around trying to find the sound, and just as she was about to call it of she heard it again. Then a moan. Kathrine walked toward the kitchen closet door and peeped through the opening. It was blurred and hard to make out so she went to find something to open the door. Kathrine dug through the drawers and finally found a screwdriver long enough to pick the lock. After struggling for awhile she heard the click of the lock snap. She opened the door and flipped the switch to turn the lights on in the closet. There before her eyes was a beaten woman. She seemed tall and well built. Her dark red hair cascading over her pale face and shadowed her lapis eyes. The girl looked up at Kathrine with pain and silent begging in those gem like eyes. Kathrine knelt down and was about to take the bandana gag out of her mouth when a shadow fell behind her. She spun around and saw John. He glared down at Kathrine icily as he said, “All I wanted was a lazy Sunday, but now I have to kill you”. Kathrine looked at him with disbelief and started to rise of the ground. She stuttered as she spoke to the man that she had thought she knew. “H-how? H-how could you do t-this?” John smiled smugly and said, “My dear Kathrine, I have done this plenty of times before. You’ve seen the news. You told the police I had an alibi for every murder, so they marked me off the suspect list. I have you to thank for that, honey”. Kathrine gasped and shook her head in shock. She had done it. She never would have thought her boyfriend would beat and murder fifteen other girls, plus the closet girl. That is sixteen girl’s that was murdered and she was basically an accomplice. Kathrine shuddered as John grabbed her by the throat and said, “You will give me one more alibi. That is all I ask and in return I will stop and never hurt anyone else, but if you don’t I will kill you and the girl plus many many others”. Kathrine agreed solemly and sat in the living room while he killed the closet girl. The hid the body and she gave the police an alibi for them both. Then, when Kathrine thought it was all over, John grabbed a knife from his pocket and sliced her throat. Causing Kathrine’s world to turn black.

The shrieks and giggles of playing children were overwhelming. Parents let them run and play to their hearts content as if nothing were wrong. It’s only been a year since that day. Only one year since she was stolen from me, and left me alone. Why? Why did she have to die alone? I was about to propose and we were so happy. I was happy. That day plagues me still. The moment I realized she wasn’t coming home; the day the police came to ask me questions about her habits and hobbies. I was in shock then, but now it all feels like I’m carrying two large holders with my heart alone. I sat on the park bench, tears streaming down my reddening cheeks, as I continued to recall the day. When I took the dog for a walk in this very park, our park, the day after she was reported missing. The dog’s rabid barking as he tried to jerk off his leash and run onto the forest hiking trail. He ran for what felt like hours before I came into the clearing he sprinted to. Then, before my very eyes, was my girlfriend Jessica laying face up in the grass. I dropped the torn leash and ran to her, crying all the while. I begged her to look at me, to talk to me. It never happened, because she was dead. I wanted to stay with her til the end, but somehow the police just appeared and dragged me away from her. Why do they keep calling her a victim? Why is everyone from the trail just standing and watching like it’s some kind of show? Why did I just see someone take a picture? That was the last straw. I ran at the officer that was in front of me and took his gun. I held it up toward the man who took the picture and fired. Everything after that was a blur. The judge said I was mentally ill and was provoked, so they only gave me a year. That is where I am now. A year later and still longing for this park to stop being a graveyard in my eyes.

The world was as dark as the endless inky sky, filled with ash leadened smoke. No light broke through the darkness, as I fumbled and tripped through the city. My ears trying to catch even the faintest sound of my enemies that follow somewhere close behind. The screams and cries of the citizens hit me first as I tried to take in my surroundings. I don’t know where my family is. The enemy troops were seizing our village, our home. I fought along the brave soldiers to protect our lands. After a strong blow to the head my sight was impaired and my senses were jumbled. The air burned my nose with the smell of burning wood and corpses. It had quieted down since I lost my sight, the height of the war already being over with. I stumbled through the maze of the deceased trying to figure my way around. My hands hit the hard, dry dirt as I tried to feel my way from the bodies. The only thing that keeps me going is the thought of seeing my family again. I placed my outstretched hand down to feel the ground again, but was instead met with a searing pain. The flames chewed at my flesh and my scream could have raised the dead. I flung my hand toward my chest trying to preserve as much of it as I could. The smell of burning flesh burning my nostrils and infecting my brain. I stiffened and tried to listen to see if anyone heard my scream of agony. Heavy footsteps sounded from my right, and foreign voices filled the massive grave site. All hope was lost, my will to continue shattered like broken glass. The steps got louder and the ground trembled from beneath me. The sound of metal moving came first, then the command to rise. I couldn’t get up properly, and two brutes grabbed my arms and forced me to stand. The questions he asked were beyond my comprehension, their accent being thick and unrecognizable. I tried to speak but my tongue refused to create words. The cool tip of a metal blade met my throat, and a small trickle of blood slid down from the new wound. After a few more questions then men gave up. The blade finished cutting the front of my neck. I collapsed to the ground and my breathing became labored. Shoots of pain filled my body and strangled, bubbled cries left my mouth. Then, when I thought my world was black before, it was nothing like how it darkened at that moment.