The dark opened up and swallowed her whole.
An eerie silence followed. What could they do? Sharp teeth and jagged claws protruded from the darkness once more, slowly closing in.
Tick, tock.
The sound became louder and closer.
Tick, tock.
It was driving them crazy.
Tick, tock.
Suddenly Marla froze as she felt tiny pricks of a hand slowly rubbing along her spine. Beads of sweat ran down her face dripping onto a surface yet to be seen. Darkness surrounded them but all they knew was that they were in a small enclosed space like a broom closet. The slow rub gradually turned into a painful piercing of her skin by thousands of large needle-like objects. She screamed in agony.
Amanda turned to her friend, punching and screaming at the girl's attacker but felt nothing. The four teenage girls were in the darkness seemingly alone. It was obvious who would be next.
Marla, a voice whispered from everywhere but nowhere.
Marla continued to stand stock-still. Her heart pounded intensely against her ribcage.
Step outside, the strange voice said.
She was confused. There was no outside. They were trapped in an endless darkness.
Step outside, the voice taunted.
"Don't do it," Anna whispered trembling in fear.
STEP OUTSIDE, the voice boomed all around.
"I can't," was Marla's faint response.
Instantly, Marla was separated from her huddle of friends and knocked forward by an unknown force further into the darkness. She felt grimy, calloused hands clamp around her ankles then slowly, they dragged her downwards. She could feel herself being dragged over the edge, away from her friends.
"Help me!!!" she screamed.
"Ayudame!" she finally cried in desperation before being pulled under the cover of darkness.
With suddenly no sound, Amanda's fear finally took over. The fear and stress had moved past the point of overwhelming. Amanda collapsed onto a soft slime-like surface, dark as night. Her convulsing movements were slowed by the soft jelly substance underneath her. As she shook, she slowly sank into the darkness never to be seen again. Her screams became muffled as the dense fluid blocked her airways. If anyone were to see the space which the girl occupied only mere moments ago, they would see only a wriggling group of maggots on the now hardened floor. Unfortunately, due to the immense darkness, the remaining two friends were as blind as bats.
Their hands clung to each other as if their lives depended on it. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't. Nobody knew what was happening nor why it was happening. All they knew was that they were being picked off one by one.
The space was becoming even more unbearable as it suddenly felt like they were in an oven and someone had turned it on to bake them as dessert. Their palms became sweaty and slippery.
Tick, tock.
There was that sound again.
Tick, tock.
They knew that it meant someone would be taken now.
Tick, tock, the strange voice chimed in.
The sound started to come from every direction possible. It was driving them insane.
Still holding hands, they began to drop to the floor but halfway down, decided against it as they remembered how Amanda had disappeared after collapsing onto the pitch black "ground". Amidst the confusion of clocks, they heard a chant:
Look around
You have found
The birthplace of the darkness inside
Now open up
We'll fill your cup
Let the darkness overflow
At the end of the third chant, came a long screech that tore through the girls' eardrums.
"We're here," five women seductively said stepping out of the darkness and in clear view. Their eyes had a dark purple glow that would enchant you the minute that you beheld them. Their skin looked human but had brown scales all over and their nails were like the talons on a hawk.
"Welcome to our humble abode," the middle creature said while her eyes glinted dangerously.
"What are your names?" the creatures asked in unison eerily. The girls did not speak nor move a muscle. They were too afraid of these half-human, half-reptile creatures.
"Don't you have any manners?" the first one asked tilting her head. Her eyes widened to the size of tennis balls.
"Apparently, they're dumb," said the second.
"Well let's open them up then," smiled the third.
"Teach them-," started the fourth.
"-a lesson," finished the fifth.
Alisha felt an invisible hand clutch her throat tightly. A talon appeared at the base of her neck and slowly opened her up. Suddenly her hands went limp and her head lolled to the side. Her blood ran dark welcomed by the void below.
Then there was one.
"No," Sabrina cried in desperation. "Please don't kill me," she begged.
"I'll do anything," she pleaded.
"Sweet Sabrina," they croaked. "We're not here to kill you," they laughed maniacally.
"We're here to save you," the middle witch smiled darkly.
"This Infinite Box is our home and your test," they told her as one-by-one they disappeared into the dark leaving behind the foulest odor known to man.
Sabrina was now beyond confused. What did they mean? These creatures had killed her friends! How were they saving her? And what test were they talking about? Her mind reeled with these questions and so much more. Since the disappearance of the witches, everywhere had returned to its previous state of pure darkness but now she was completely alone. There was no one to hold hands with nor was there anyone to whisper to her, words of reassurance. As the moments passed, she wondered if she would ever find an end to the strange place where matter seemed to be easily distorted.
Lost in her thoughts, she was jolted by a sudden spark in her fingertips. She felt like magic was running through her veins and she was more powerful than ever. "What..." she began aloud. The words that came after were a complete surprise. She had spoken in, what sounded like an ancient language and she could understand it all. As she spoke, a sliver of silver burst forth from her fingertips and went off into the distance unseen.
After some time, minutes, or hours- she couldn't tell because she had lost track; there was a tug on the string. It urged her to pull on the thread and pull, she did. Curiosity had overwhelmed her fear until she realized what it was that she had brought out of the depths of the darkness. Marla's hand held on with her upper body, a dangling piece of meat for the creatures of the darkness.
Sabrina screamed in horror. It was a sight of nightmares. Marla's legs were, without a doubt, chewed off by some carnivorous animals that these witches were keeping as pets.
"Spirit...help," Marla whispered before she collapsed and disappeared into oblivion.
Sabrina was scared out of her mind. She was lost and had given up hope. What was this spirit? How could she help anyone when she couldn't even figure out where she was. Was this a dream? She closed her eyes wondering if the scenery would change and she would wake up in her room with her four best friends.
It did not work.
Instead, she heard a wail and drumming somewhere far away. Her nose began to bleed and her heart beat faster.
Tick, tock.
Tick, tock.
It's your last stop, the unknown voice whispered.
"No," Sabrina stated firmly. "I won't go down without a fight"
With all the determination that she could muster, she willed there to be light. Suddenly, a creak was heard and immediately a streak of light came hurtling towards her. As it approached, the darkness around began to recede and revealed her worst nightmares. Dead bodies lay all around with many creatures, swarming like locusts.
She screamed and darkness was released. Pandora's descendant had let it out once more- evil.
The box was no longer infinite. It had been broken by Sabrina, an unrealized witch descendant of Pandora.
Who had locked her away in the box? She had no idea but she now knew that she has power. A magical prowess lives within her waiting to be tapped once again.
Sabrina, the voice whispered now closer than before. She had been thrown from the darkness into a beautiful garden filled with luscious fruits and sweet flowers, the scent of which lulled you to sleep.
"Sabrina," came the voice again.
"Look behind you," the person tempted. Among the birds, flowers, and trees, the unknown voice sounded familiar.
"Who are you?" Sabrina questioned.
"Where am I and why am I here?"
The tall blonde stranger looked at her in awe and said, "I'm here to give you a gift, silly".
With that, Pandora swiftly stabbed Sabrina in the chest with a primordial knife, cutting out her heart, and said, "the gift of death".
"Allow me to box that for you," she smiled at the corpse on the garden floor as she placed the girl's heart into her box.
As she walked away, an elderly witch came to her and said, "she was the only one that could purify your box and destroy you. Now you are free".
"Good to hear," Pandora laughed and walked off with her plan to destroy humanity.
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