Short Stories

The Legend Of Gabrielle

Eerie silence engulfed me as I walked down the dusty path. I did not wish to be here, especially not alone, but here I was, walking around in the cemetery at 2 in the morning. I sighed for the millionth time as I cursed myself for placing that stupid bet with my friends. An owl hooting got me startled and I was brought out of my train of thoughts and back to earth where I stopped in my tracks to notice a grave in my way.

'This should work', I thought as I fished out my phone to take a quick selfie. Delighted to finally be able to leave the scary place, I got on my feet and turned to leave when I saw a woman at the grave in front of me, weeping as she clutched the bouquet of flowers tightly in her hands.

"Excuse me?", I called out. I definitely wasn't one to talk to a beautiful (and low-key scary) woman at the cemetery at night but something about her drew me in.

"Excuse me lady?", I repeated when I noticed no reactions. She suddenly dropped the bouquet, looking surprised as if she'd noticed me for the first time. She quickly wiped her cheeks with her handkerchief and added, "Hey, sorry didn't see you there. What're you doing here so late?"

"Lost a bet, you know how that goes", I tried to act nonchalant about it, she laughed; it was a pure, crystal clear sound. "Oh I definitely do!", she replied.

"I'm here visiting my late husband. I'm a busy woman and don't get a lot of time in the daylight.", she sighed, taking a seat on the bench next to me.

"That's perfectly fine Mrs.- ?"

"Wood", She completed, smiling at me.

I don't remember how long we sat there just making small talk, enjoying the other's silent company.

"Do you know any horror stories?", She suddenly questioned at which I laughed. How ironic she asks that at the place and time we were at. "Not really.", I replied and continued, "I did hear something called the legend of Gabrielle? Though I don't know the legend."

"I was about to mention the same thing.", She said, genuinely surprised that I brought it up.

"Hundreds of years back, there lived a princess named Gabrielle. Beautiful as a petal, skin white as snow itself, hair the epitome of gold. Eyes the color of the deepest oceans and voice as sweet as honey. She was beautiful inside out and fell in love with a man who wasn't suitable for marriage. He was a palace sweeper. But the princess, blinded by love, ran away with him. The king was furious, he asked his men to catch them and they did. They burnt her love alive and buried the remains in this very cemetery", she narrated looking at me with an unreadable expression.

"What happened to the princess?"

"The king had no mercy and locked her inside this cemetery to die of thirst and hunger, crying over the death of her lover... They say she's still here and every night she moans for revenge; but she cannot escape, cause she needs someone to take her place and set her free", The woman finished and I swear I saw a hint of sadness in her eyes.

It was silent for a while when I spoke up, the woman slightly creeping me out, "You're an amazing story teller you know? Anyways, it's very late and I need to leave. Hope to see you again ma'am!"

I stood up to walk away and was about to call one of my friends when I stopped dead in my tracks. I was suddenly breaking into a cold sweat, anxiety creeping into my system and was suddenly very conscious of my surroundings. I speed walked as I gave myself a calming pep talk, but the strange feeling continued to grow as I broke into a sprint, the fact that I could feel fast approaching footsteps behind me forced me to rush.

Before I could take another step, I tripped and fell face first into mud, which blocked my vision for a mere second in which I saw something that made me scream out in pure terror.

The beautiful and once elegant woman was now the personification of every person's nightmare. Her hair a mess, mouth covered in blood, teeth rotten and eyes as attractive as a dead rat. Her hands flew to pin me to the ground, one hand on my throat as she tried to choke me.

I flailed my arms around as dirt entered my mouth, hoping to find a way to save myself when suddenly all the pain stopped and all I could see was white. Her face slowly faded away and I almost felt euphoric when I was brought back down on earth.

'Something feels different', I thought as I stared at my arms and body. The woman in front of me looked somewhat more solid and real than before.

"You freed me", she said with a cunning smile. "After all these years.... I finally get to go out to the world and live a proper life."

"What are you talking about!?", I screamed, getting highly uncomfortable and confused about everything every second.

"You're dumb aren't you? Gabrielle is real, I AM Gabrielle.", she laughed making me even more uncomfortable. I wanted to run, far away; but something kept me bound to my spot. Maybe it was the fear of the now disturbing woman or the weirdness of the situation.

I looked at her in a trance, body parts numbing in pain as she dragged her claws up my torso. The smell of blood and burning flesh brought me back to reality as I screamed at the sight in front of me. She was running her lips over my neck, burning my flesh and when the pain stopped, I realized that irreversible damage had been done to my nerves.

She sunk her blackened teeth in my shoulder, sucking up all the blood, making me feel drowsy.

"Finally! I'm strong enough to escape this hell of a place.", she said as my blood spurted out of her mouth, which she wiped from the back of her hand.

I couldn't see clear, my eyes tried to adjust and focus on her but the world was spinning, my voice dead as I tried to groan. I saw her spin her torn dress as her bare feet took her to the gate of the cemetery.

I gathered all my energy to throw myself after her, away from the voices of the dead but was shocked when I was thrown back. And that's when I realized that I had taken her place and was trapped inside the cemetery.

Mortified, I stared at my hands as I realized that I'll have to do what she did, trap someone else if I wanted to free myself.

I don't know if it was her poison that was making me hallucinate or that I'd actually started rotting.

I felt like a monster and I knew I wasn't hallucinating when the thought crossed my mind that I shouldn't worry, after all, my friends would come looking for me....

THE END