Down This Path Through Dark and Light: A Collection of Short Stories

The Facade of the Beast

The fire alarm rang again as the whole class evacuated quickly from the room that contained the now flaming burner. The beautiful girl who had been silently bullying her turned around at the doorway. 

"Freak." 

This occurrence wasn't abnormal for Lilja. Whenever she felt too much of an emotion, something in the room would catch fire. Everyone left the building safely and the teachers checked the students to make sure all of them were unscathed. Lilja was tired of putting others in danger because of this curse. She left the building silently heading off somewhere she had wanted to visit for years.

Within a few hours of walking, Lilja arrived at a quaint cottage. She took a deep breath and made her way down the cobblestone path. At a certain point she noticed she couldn't see the cottage, but in it's place stood an old run down hut. She realized that she had passed the facade that must have been put up by the oracle that resided there. Very few knew the true resident of the house. Few cared. She was glad she discovered this woman. Apparently this clairvoyant woman was very good at what she did. As she grew close to the run-down hut, she saw that the majority of the plants had been infected with blight. Most had already died adding to the dark atmosphere.

She softly knocked on the door which swung open on the second knock. She slowly crept in the creaking hut. She had barely stepped past the door when it loudly shut behind her making the single room dim. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a large shape make it's way across the room to what she suspected was a desk. The shape disappeared quickly behind the desk which was followed by a bright light. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. The light came from a small orb on the desk. In that light an ethereal creature appeared.

"I ask of you, tell me how to get rid of this stupid curse! Please!" She said desperately. 

The creature looked down at the suppliant with an emotionless face. 

"If I do, what will be my recompense?" the creature responded with an enchanting and melodic voice.

 "Anything! Anything! I just want this curse to be gone!" Lilja pleaded. 

"Ok, I'll take your word on that." the creature responded. 

The creature then materialized from the light, and the light continued to shine from behind it. It began the story. She listened intently as she stared at the grandeur of the being. When the being finished the story of the history, it paused and let the small girl fathom.

So a far away relative of hers was a queen who had found favor in a powerful witch. This witch blessed the queen with the ability to wield magic. But, the power got to the queen who turned against the witch. The witch grew angry and cursed the queen that every other generation would be cursed with destruction starting with her.

"So how do I fix it?" Lilja asked intrigued.

 "You said you would do anything, correct?" the creature inquired. 

"Yes, anything," the desperate girl said.

 "Come closer to me darling, and I will free you," the creature said beckoning her. 

Lilja hesitantly walked over to the creature. The creature's air had become ominous and was beginning to scare her. 

"Don't worry darling." the creature said assuringly. "Now turn around. You will be free soon." 

She obeyed and turned to face the dark wall. The creature grinned an evil smile and raised it's talons above it's head. 

The girl screamed. 

The sound was over in mere seconds as the body fell to the ground. The spirit of the girl was released from the body and followed the majestic creature through the blood red light to the dark world on the other side where she was to be reborn.