The Night (Marcanne)

The Chalkboard Friend

I felt completely crushed, completely defeated as I sat on the floor. Sasha, Olivia and Yunan had been sent to the dungeon. King Andrias stood over me, his shadow and massive figure obstructing my view.

"Anne, I can see you are not filled with the fighting spirit as much as you were. But you have to know that this is for your own good, right? Your people are so... lost without me. I simply am the lighthouse to guide them. My army is preparing itself as we speak, the invasion is imminent. But now I need to see to important duties," he said, walking towards the door and opening it, "Don't worry, I'm not leaving you alone and all by yourself. Though, I'm sure that's hard to forget." He shut the door behind him.

Marcy's footsteps echoed across the floor and crept towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut, not daring to look at her.

"Look at you, Anne, it's pathetic. Stand up, I dare you," the dozens of voices that made up the creature cooed. Clenching my fists and eyes tighter, I refused to follow their orders. But like a worm on a hook, I listened. Marcy crept closer, so close I could feel their breath on my face. It was so cold that it left goose bumps across my skin. They laughed.

"Anne, Anne, Anne... if you won't fight me yourself I won't fight back. I'm a fair player." 

Then movement. Their icy breath left my skin and I heard them change positions. I slowly opened my eyes and saw them sitting cross-legged in front of me. It was amazing how something so evil could look so human.

"There we go! Hello, Anne."

I wouldn't talk though. That thing wasn't Marcy, I wasn't going to talk to it like it was her.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

I looked down.

"Thought not. You wouldn't tell a soul why you came here for Marcy. You wouldn't even tell her." They paused, and their eyes shifted to look at the wall I had damaged with my calamity powers.

"Wow, all that for a friend? Would you do that for Sasha?" The creature searched for a response again in my face, but I remained calm and expressionless despite my heart hammering in my chest.

"Once again, I thought not. How about I stop asking questions. You clearly aren't going to verbally respond. How about we just have a little chat?"

"You know, you can tell me anything. I'm like a chalkboard. Is that what you kids use nowadays? I have some pretty old memories in my head. Anyways, I'm like a chalkboard. Write down whatever you want and I'll wipe it down for you. Out of existence. In our case, talk about whatever you want and I'll forget it. Maybe I'll remember it, but that doesn't matter anyways. I'm not going to spread personal things around your school, am I?"

It was so strange how their words were chosen so carefully, like they were talking to a very young child about a serious topic and trying to tread lightly. And it was so strange, how despite the fact that I was trapped in a castle in another world, talking to a distorted and corrupted version of my best friend, I felt myself feeling the calmest I had felt for a very long time. But I'm not always an idiot, obviously this was all masking Andrias' true intentions behind a wall of comfort and familiarity.

"Still no, huh? It's alright, Anne, I'm not hurting Marcy. I promise she is okay."

Then something switched in me. They don't get to talk about Marcy like she is somewhere and someone else. They are Marcy.

I stood up and slammed them backwards into a wall, their head colliding with it, creating a sickening cracking sound.

"Woah, woah, woah. I thought we weren't going to fight!" They held their hands up in surrender and narrowed their dozens of eyes. I held my forearm up against their throat, overwhelmed with rage.