Short Stories & Poems

Queen of Death

Nothing but a glow from my own presence allows me to see where I'm at. The feeling of danger surrounds the air, as if my body knows something dangerous is near. The natural primal instinct makes every nerve in my body stand on edge. Yet I'm not scared.

From somewhere along the walls of darkness a thunderous voice booms.

"It seems as if you've finally made it," it remarks.

I turn as I look for the thing that calls out for me, though, all I find is darkness that surrounds me. The voices' echo continues to ring off the walls and into my ears.

All anew, another feeling washes over me, its voice seeks to lure me closer into the darkness.

"Where am I?" I ask, hoping it answers me, this thing, that toys with me like a lion with its prey.

"No need to worry, my child. You are where you belong. All is as it should be. This place, it's your new home. The place where you'll spend the rest of eternity in," it responds, feeling as it's presence draws closer.

"This place? What is this place? There's nothing but darkness," I say more to myself than to it.

"No need to worry my dear. Sooner or later, this place will no longer be darkness. You'll learn, to open your eyes and see clearly what you were meant to do. No, what you were meant to be," it declares, with such confidence, it's reassuring yet dangerous.

Suddenly, I begin to get what seems like flashbacks of a life I've left behind. I watch as I grow from a baby to a toddler, then to a teenager, finally making it to my college life. Then, a new flashback appears, one where I see myself intoxicated like no one's seen before.

I watch as my delirious self enters a car and speeds off with someone I can't recognize. The flashback seems to come to an end, or at least the point of view of myself comes to an end.

I watch as the walls of darkness turn into chaos.

I see myself being hurried on a gurney into a hospital, watching as nurse's rush to my unconscious body. I walk close to myself and brush the hair in my face away, and finally, watch as doctor's take me away into a room where I figure is the place I will spend the last dying minutes of my life in.

The flashback comes to an end, and I once again stand upon inky darkness.

"I'm-I'm dead?" I question.

"Dead as a doorknob," it chuckles a raspy chuckle.

I smile, and announce to the voice, "So, I must be in hell then, right?"

Again, I listen as another deep, raspy chuckle comes from somewhere behind me.

I turn around and watch as I face the thing that's been watching me.

It isn't an it at all, and instead forms to be a young man, tall and slender. Although, there is no flashing characteristics nor handsome features, he draws me in, once again, tempting me out of the spot I still stand in.

"My dear, where else would you be? You couldn't be in heaven, for there is no such place," he announces. "The greatest trick I could've accomplished in the eternity I've been here was to trick Man into believing that there was such a place."

"I understand that centuries worth of people have come to an end, but why aren't I with the others who have died?" I ask.

"You'll understand soon," he answers. "But, to fulfill your curiosity, I shall provide you with enough detail. You were brought here because you are the one person out of billions of people who believes one thing. You were going to hell, and no matter what, you would enjoy the torture brought upon you. But you see, torture isn't always something brought upon someone, instead brought upon by another. You, my dear, will be the one to take the throne. Your duty, now, is to control the land of souls and woe. You my dear, will be the Queen of Death.

"As of now, you will take this throne, and until further notice, you will be the one who ensures death and pain is exactly what it sounds like."

And, so I did. I became what I was meant to be, The Queen of Death. I became what you despised and what you desired. I was what you longed for and what made you cry at night. But my greatest accomplishment was becoming what made you stay up at night. I created the feeling of fear. More accurately, the illusion of fear. A trick so great, it drives anyone mad.

So, I stay sitting on my throne, waiting for the next person to dethrone me. I wait for the next soul to make the next trick bring Man closer to madness. Alas, I sit on my throne, with death at my side, until the next soul who brings the world to chaos.