The Slay Spree - Short Stories

The Curse

One of my closest friends shared the concept of the story so credits goes to her as well, I guess.

***

I could see the sun shine brightly, the light passing through the palace's glass walls. The palace stood near the seashore in all its glory and everything inside it was transparent as glass. Although, the light traversed everything inside it, I still felt cold. It felt like glass wouldn't let the warmth enter the palace, just the light.

My feet were cold, my body was shivering and I constantly breathed out cold air. I held my arms across my chest and walked aimlessly through the corridors. I could see every room but I still didn't know where to go. As I approached the hall, I saw a wide staircase that led upstairs. I trod lightly on the steps and with each step I could think of not shattering it with my weight. I kept assuring myself that I'll make it but the fear of falling from a height, on shattered glass, made my skin crawl.

As I reached upstairs, one thing stood out to me. It was something completely different than everything inside the palace. It had colors, a solid entity unlike everything else. It wasn't transparent and I could clearly make out its shape from the distance. It was a human, someone I didn't recognize. He was lying on a stretcher, I could also see all sorts of medical equipment on a table beside it.

I walked inside the room to get a closer look. It wasn't a human, it was an abomination. It had no skin and I could see the complex muscle structure that covered its body. It looked like someone pulled the skin out of the body and left it to rot in the middle of nowhere. Everything felt different, the palace that once felt beautiful started haunting me, the glass walls did not move but I could feel them closing in on me. I drew closer to the body and, to my horror, it held my hand.

"Run! Run away! She.. She's coming" – it spoke to me, its voice was raspy.
"Who's coming?" – I couldn't breath, sudden horror took over my body as I desperately tried to set myself free.
"The Medusa. She's coming!" – it replied.

I couldn't understand the warning but it was a clear red flag. It died instantaneously and I jumped backwards. As I turned back to run, I saw a mirror. It was a rather peculiar one, something found in magical worlds. It wasn't there when I first entered the room, I was sure of it. The more I indulged in the mystery of this palace, the more it played with my mind. I strode towards the mirror, I was careful but something about the mirror was different. It called me, a soft whisper that told me to walk towards it.

I stood in front of the mirror, I could see myself. I didn't realize I was in a bad condition, my hairs messed up and my clothes dirty. I was too focused on everything around me, I barely realized how did I look. All of a sudden I saw a movement behind me, it pulled me out of my thoughts. I saw venomous snakes all around me, they slowly wrapped around my arms and legs. Moments later, a face emerged from behind. It was a woman's face, she was beautiful and dreadful. Her eyes were glinting, her skin clear.

I couldn't feel my arms and legs, a numb feeling slowly made its way up to my chest. I could see my body turn grey and rough, my body was turning into a stone. It looked like a poorly sculpted model made of stone.

As my face started to harden and I slowly lost vision, I could hear a hiss. It was the same whisper. It was the last thing I could hear.

"You shall serve me, you are my slave."