Hyretic Curse

“I can’t go back. Don’t turn back. There’s no going back.”

 Melissa kept repeating this to herself as she darted through the woods painted bluish charcoal just like the night sky above. As she sprinted farther into the forest, she forgot what she was running from. She stopped and fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands. “Why did I have to be the one blessed with this curse?” 

In the distance, she heard rustling in the bushes. Lifting her head up from her hands, she looked around only to see blackness in the distance. It was so dark she couldn’t even see her hands that were right in front of her. The whispering of the wind grew louder and louder, its force movement becoming harsher. “Melissa.” 

She covered her ears looking around for a sign of someone else around her. “W-who’s there?” Her voice became shaky as her heartbeat raced.

Melissa stood up slowly speaking a bit more clearly and louder. “Whoever you are, reveal yourself.”

Tears still rested upon her lower eyelids. The night grew colder. She uncovered her ears and wrapped herself tightly into her cape. Amongst the ground, she could feel a soft vibration, the feeling escalated its way closer to her.  She took a step back, but the vibrations from the ground followed. The steps rustled hitting the grass and leaves laid across the ground. A growl could be heard. A creature was approaching.

The creature approaching her got faster and faster and faster with each step. Melissa began to tremble, not knowing what to do. She stepped backwards away from the animal until she ran into a tree, stopping her in her tracks. The growling crescendoed closer not giving her enough time to think of an escape plan. She sank to the bottom of the tree huddling inside her cape, shivering, frightened, and clenching her eyes closed. She’s accepted these last moments she had left.

Suddenly, she felt something softly scratch the side of her arm. Melissa was too afraid to move to see what was in her surroundings. Then, she heard something plop to the ground, softly lying next to her. Her eyelids lit up as if she were closing her eyes from the sun. When she opened them, she noticed a glowing bat standing in front of her and a polished wolf lying next to her as if she were its owner. 

Melissa cautiously wrapped her arm around the wolf feeling her arm sink into the wolf’s mountain of fur. The wolf looked at her showing its bright, big, glowing eyes tinted white. The bat jumped up flying and landing onto Melissa’s shoulder. It squeaked ever so annoying. Once it was done, it flew away, lighting a path with glowing flowers.

The wolf stood back up and walked towards the lit path. It peeked behind it staring at Melissa. Melissa stood up, following the wolf at a safe distance behind. The wolf began to speed up catching up to the bat. “H-hey, wait up!” She shouted sprinting towards the animals.

At the end of the path, Melissa could see a light blue glow at the end. The animals cleared the way giving her a bigger picture of up ahead showing a pond with the glowing flowers around it. Slowly, she crept forward. Looking down into the glowing pond, she saw her reflection suddenly change into another woman much older looking. Astonished, she kneeled down to the pond and spoke. “Is this why you two brought me here? What is this supposed to show me, my future?” Melissa asked disappointed.

The reflection in the water shook her head. “No miss, I’m one of the many spirits of this forest.” The lady smiled giving off a soft chuckle.

 Melissa’s eyes widened as she leaned back. “You can talk?!”

“Well, yeah. Didn’t you hear me? I’m a forest spirit.” She sighed. 

“I also see that you met squeaker and fido, the other two spirits here.”

“Are you the ones that cursed me with this power?”

“You don’t exactly have powers...yet. But yes, we’re the ones that made you the next hyretic.”

Melissa quietly gasped, her expression becoming more serious. She leaned closer to the pond going face to face with the reflection. “If you’re the ones who gave me the curse, then you can explain to me why I was the chosen one and why there’s no one else like me.”

The reflection nodded giving off a soft smile. “We could, but you’ll find out soon enough.”

Melissa looked into the pond. Her body began to heat up and she started to breathe heavily. Her thoughts and emotions were jumbling up. Without hesitation, she slammed both her hands into the water where the reflection lied. At the top of her lungs, she screamed loudly that it reached all the way back through the village and to her castle. “WHY WON’T ANYONE TELL MY ANYTHING?!”

Once again, footsteps could be heard in the distance with the help of leaves being crunched and the wolf growling into the dark abyss. Melissa slowly turned behind her only to get pinned down by her brother. “Alright, I got her!” He shouted into the distance.

From the darkness, two figures walked out only to reveal to be her mother and father. Her father leaned down pulling out a ring from his pocket. He put the ring up to Melissa’s face without hesitation. “Sorry honey, but this is for the better.”

Melissa struggled and struggled to try to free herself from her Brother’s grip. The ring began to glow developing a humming sound. Melissa closed her eyes and thought about everything that her family has done to her up to this point. The neglect, the strict rules, planning to get rid of her, and now this. With all the built-up anger, she let it out with a high screech. 

Her veins began to pop out seen from her hands to her neck to even her forehead. The ring’s glow grew, sucking in every mortal close to her. Melissa was breathing heavily as she started to relax. She looked around seeing that her family was gone. She sat back up and grabbed the ring. Looking into the gem, she saw three little streaks with initials of her family. She put the ring on, crawling back over to the pond where the talking reflection was. “Ma’am, are you still there?”

Through the trees in the forest, the glimpse of sunlight shined through. The bat stopped glowing and flew away. The wolf nudged Melissa before running into the depths of the forest disappearing from sight. The water began to ripple. The reflection of the lady slowly faded away. “You shall be the only royal hyretic until the curse breaks…”

Once the water stopped rippling, Melissa’s reflection was back. The water stopped glowing and the path was gone. Melissa stood up, staring at the ring holding her family. “I guess this curse brought out another side to me…”