I'm baaaaaaack

Chapter 11: Not So Safe and Sound

I approached the steps of the horrific mansion and looked at the door. It was propped open a few inches, so I wouldn't have to break open a window or anything. I stepped onto the first step, realizing how much noise my shoes made, and kicked the sparkly, little heels off. I took silent steps towards the door and then slowly propped it open and slid myself inside.

The inside of the house was creepier than the outside. Old paintings of harsh looking people and creatures were hung along the walls of ripped wallpaper. I could've sworn I saw the eyes of the paintings move, but then again this entire world was a crazy haze that could only be compared to a mixture of the most vile drugs and a terrible nightmare. Tables floated in the air and a green fog seemed to mask the floor. I kicked the fog out of the way to reveal bugs crawling with rats on old, rotting wood. I felt a terrified shiver run down my spine.

Looking around, I finally found the staircase and began to climb it. From the outside, I could tell that the building was about seven stories tall. The second floor seemed like a walk in a park compared to the first floor. There was literally nothing there except an old chair and a dresser. I ran up the next flight of stairs to the third floor. It was no walk in the park.

Skeletons and rotting bodies lined the floor. Some had open eyes, some had blood running out of their mouths, and some just looked distorted. I tried to step around them, but it was hard not to step on a random hand or leg. I was almost to the next flight of stairs when I was startled by the unpredictable.

A hand reached out and grabbed my ankle.

I forced myself not to yelp, but that was a difficult task in such a difficult situation. Looking down, I noticed a younger man looking up at me. He appeared to be melting, as I took noticed of his skin that boiled and bubbled. His eyes grew wide as I made eye contact with him.

"Help. Us," he could barely choke out the words to me, but his grip on my ankle grew stronger.

"Wh-What happened to you all?" I asked as he tried to breathe.

"Fitz. Fitz has cursed us all. We suffer days and nights as he takes our joy away and feasts on it himself. He enjoys watching us suffer. He loves the sounds of pain," the man said as he panted for air.

"How can I help?" I asked, terribly confused. He closed his eyes as he writhed in pain. All I wanted to do was to make it stop.

"If you kill him, our curses will be lifted," the man winced.

I took it into thought. How could I kill someone? I was too innocent for this! But I had to save all of these helpless folks, for I was to be their new queen one say. How could I let my people down?

"I'll do it," I swore, and the man released his grip from around my ankle. I ran to the wall where a collection of old swords were on the wall. I stared at them, for I didn't know how on earth I was to pick one. I knew nothing of swords! The voice returned.

The chair in the corner holds what you wish to hold

Lift the cushion to reveal the Vorpal Sword

I rushed to the chair and lifted the cushion to reveal a gleaming, silver sword. I lifted it up, surprised by how lightweight it was. I swung it once and then held it tightly as I ran up the next two flights of stairs. The fifth floor scared me to death.

Ghostly images of people that I knew throughout my life crowded the room. The first figure that confronted me was my sister, Darcy. I could see right through her, in her blue tank top and old blue jeans. She smirked as she looked me up and down.

"Hideous," she mumbled before vanishing from in front of me. I looked down at myself, on the verge of disgust.

The next figure that approached me was my mother. She crossed her arms and let her dagger eyes seek into my soul. She let out a snicker and then pointed towards me.

"Worthless," she said as she rested her hand on her temple before crumbling into a cloud of black dust that whooshed into my face.

My father then approached me with his hands in his pocket. A ghostly tear fell down his cheek and then rose into the air. "Disappointment," he said before he melted to the floor.

Jenna, from school, then approached me with an evil glare that could shatter a thousand souls. She grinned evilly and then let out a malicious and hardy laugh. "I can't believe K.C. even had the mind to stoop as low as to date you. What a fool he is! You're barely good enough to walk this earth," she spat before forming into a hundred black birds that flew out the cracks of the boarded windows.

K.C., himself, then approached me. He looked at his shoes and then smiled. "You thought I actually cared about you? Big mistake," he said shortly before a flame took him in.

I fell to the floor and sobbed into my dress's skirt. Was this the room of truth? I was worthless, hideous, and a disappointment, wasn't I? I couldn't believe I even thought for a second that I was barely half good enough to be the queen of anything. I wasn't good enough to be loved on earth, let alone in this world full of strangers.

The final figure approached me and I looked up at him. His figure was not as ghostly as the others. In fact, he looked almost completely solid. His green eyes seemed to glow just as the fog over the floor did. I looked up at him, hoping his words would contain good intent. His black, wispy hair seemed to blow lightly in the fearful wind of this mansion.

"I don't love you. I would never marry you. You're a hideous bitch who is in way over her head. I'm clearly too good for you. I can only hope that my beautiful girlfriend, Julia, was right when she said you would be killed soon," Eli spoke with a harsh tone as his nostrils flared with anger. His figure fell into a hundred white roses that oozed maroon blood from their stems. I lifted one into the air as I cried, but it fell to ashes.

I stood up, trying to convince myself that these were lies. That is such a hard task though! How can a human convince themselves that even fake words were, well, fake? We can't. We can find a gram of truth in even the most hideous lies. We have this ability to convince ourselves that we aren't good enough. I believe that is why the world has gone so glum, up above me and even down here in Underland. We spend so much of our energy making each other feel bad about themselves just so we can feel good. Everyone ends up hurt in the end. It's useless. How do I convince myself that these ghosts were lying? Maybe it was because part of me, and a dominant part at that, believed every word that left their mouths.

I forced myself to climb the second to last flight of stairs. I help my sword tightly as I made eye contact with no other than Fitz. He smirked devilishly towards me.

"So you came after your little lover-boy, didn't you? That was a mistake," he chuckled as he flung open two switchblades that fell into his hands out of the sleeves of his sweatshirt. I gasped and drew my sword, which I had no idea how to use.
Fitz lunged towards me with his right hand. I blocked it and then pushed hard enough to send that blade flying across the room. This lightweight sword had so much force behind it, I could hardly believe it. It practically guided me through the entire fight. We brawled until I finally knocked the left blade from his hand and sent it falling through a crack in the floor. He gasped.

I kicked him to the ground and then lifted my sword. He threw his hands over his face, leaving his chest perfectly exposed. I put all of the force that was in my body into jabbing the Vorpal Sword right into his heart. He let out a scream as I pulled my sword out from his chest, wiping off the blood on my dress, which was already tattered and torn. I left him to die as I sprinted up the last flight of stairs where Eli laid on the floor with his hands and feet bound with rope.

"Eli!" I cried out with glee as I ran to him. He grinned up at me, exposing his bright green eyes from behind the black curtain of hair that had covered them previously. I quickly untied him and he rose to his feet, pulling me into a long kiss. We parted and I pulled myself closely next to him, laying my head on his chest, just so I could hear his heartbeat. I was terrified five minutes ago that I'd never hear it again.

"You came for me," he muttered, still in shock.

"Of course I did. I love you, don't I?" I giggled as I hugged him closer.

"Bravo," a voice from the stairway said with a villainous chuckle. I gasped, turning around to face Fitz. Blood ran down his body from the gaping hole that I had made.

"But-But I killed you!" I stated in shock as Eli pulled me tighter to him.

Fitz merely grinned at me with a look that he must have learned from Satan himself, "That's funny. You see, Clare, you tried to kill me by stabbing me in the heart. The only issue in that little plan is that I don't have a heart."

Thank you for reading my story and I once again apologize for the long gap in between my postings. High school is rough, isn't it? Luckily it's summer vacation! I hope to post again later this week!

xoxo

MadameLivi