The Phenomenon In Manhattan

Submitted into Contest #37 in response to: Write a story about someone who keeps coming across the same stranger.... view prompt

6 comments

Mystery Thriller Suspense

It was just another morning, to be precise, just another Monday morning, irritating, lazy and drabby. One can not really imagine a happy and bustling,on-swing mornings can they? Life was the same and the Clarke household. It was the same breakfast consisting of milk, bacon, and cereal. Not to forget the squeals of Arabella’s sister trying to multitask watching a television show and finish a due assignment.

Arabella Clarke, the eldest child in the family,did not really want to go to school but, well, they were just the familiar Monday morning hues.

She started the car and the engine revved and stopped abruptly, luckily before she crossed the compound of the house.

“Now I have to walk all the way,” thought Arabella. “A perfect start to my day. They really should make Monday mornings cheerful and interesting”

Well Arabella definitely did not know what fate had in store for

Arabella strolled down the streets of Upper Manhattan when she noticed a rather peculiar phenomenon. A lady dressed in white with a striking pale face stood still on the pavement while the passers were in oblivion of the lady's existence. The pale lady flashed a small smile at her and motioned her to come forward. Being the curious 16 year old she was she went up to the lady who seemed to widen her smile as she approached.

"Do I know you ma'am?” she enquired in her strong Cambridge accent

"You will Arabella, do not worry. I’m Mors" she replied in a forget-me-not angelic voice

"H-How do you know my name? Who are you?" a shocked Arabella asked the lady.

“You will eventually figure that out.” The lady replied.

She remained expressionless and glanced at her watch which Arabella could swear wasn't there before.

 “I must go dear.Until next time Arabella. Have a good day “and saying so she walked away

************************************************************

There were shrieks everywhere. Little children, women, and the elderly, all of them fighting for tiny morsels of food. Arabella shrieked in horror seeing the bloodshed around her for obtaining food, it was too much to take in and the unpleasant scene of kids mistreating the elderly to obtain food was heartwrenching.

She walked around not knowing where to go and then saw an old woman sitting by the ruins of a cement structure, who looked in awe at Arabella, probably surprised by the fact that she didn't ask her for food.

"Do you recognize me?" asked that lady in a hoarse voice

"I am afraid not but ma'am can u tell me where I am? asked Arabella.

"Midtown, Manhattan" she replied.

************************************************************

She couldn't believe it.

This was Midtown? Midtown never had a shortage of food.

Her deep thoughts were interrupted by a gentle voice, which brought her back to the present.

 "Welcome child, how do you find this place? Warm is it not?" the lady spoke warmly

She realized she wasn't the only one looking around. There was a woman, an oddly familiar one, standing at a distance observing everything going around her.

 Arabella could immediately recognize the woman,-It was Mors

"Why are you doing this Mors? Stop it! ”Arabella begged. “Who are you?” she asked

"You will know it the end, Arabella. But let me tell you that you are doing this to yourself and allow me to introduce myself I'm Limos-the goddess of starvation. We shall, of course, meet again. This is it for now and remember to be ready at all times.”

And saying so she snapped her fingers really loud causing Arabella to wake up.

************************************************************

"It's just a dream" Arabella reassured herself.

She got up and stepped into the cold shower and thought about the dream and the lady's warnings. They were so realistic that she perplexed over the thought that it was real.

She was walking to a garage to get her car that was sent for repair as her mind drifted over to the dream, yet again no matter how hard she tried.

"I hope I never have another nightmare." she thought

"Uh uh no you have another to get through” came a voice that she could recognize anywhere.

Mors.

She had again changed her appearance and was now sporting white with bloodstains.

"You can read my mind." an awed Arabella asked her.

"I can do a lot of things but the list would be quite long and we definitely don't have all day. Every second lost is a second closer to destruction."

She held Arabella's hand and took her along with her.

This scene was even worse.

People were in unhealthy conditions; they were drinking polluted water, eating rotten food and wearing rags. The sight was too disturbing.

Again Arabella found the old woman and the same situation repeated itself.

But this time Arabella was purely agitated.

"Who are you? Who is that woman? And why are you doing this to me?"

Mors did not reply

Arabella repeated herself

Even this time no avail, Mors did not answer.

An irritated Arabella screamed at Mors, “You think it’s funny, doing all this to me? I know that you hear me don’t act like you can’t.” with tears in her eyes, her blood boiling and her knees shaking.

Only then did Mors reply-

"They call this form of me Kalma- the goddess of disease"

************************************************************

"But what is all this please tell me" requested Arabella cooling down a little as Mors aka Limos aka Kalma (her identity was too confusing.) lead her away from those drastic scenes.

"This is the doing of you and your generation. You've done this harm to yourself. If everyone does their part then your future will not be like this. Life will change. The world will become better.” Mors started talking in a dreamy voice.

"And the old woman you saw was none other than your future self."

***********************************************************" You have to be kidding this cannot happen in the future." said Arabella

"It will happen" Mors half-shouted with her fists clenched and eyes red with anger.

"Fine it might happen but who are you to tell that?" inquired Arabella.

"Put it all together you're an intelligent girl Arabella" acknowledged More and vanished but not before flashing a beautiful yet deadly smile.

And then Arabella started remembering Mors' words

"I'm the goddess of Starvation......I'm the goddess of Disease"

"Starvation....... Disease.......they lead to" Arabella muttered under her breath

And then it struck her. Mors was-

"Death"

April 18, 2020 03:03

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6 comments

Elle Clark
22:30 Jun 04, 2020

Hi! I enjoyed this! I really like the connection of the identity of Mors as the story progresses- it’s a nice reveal of her true nature but I also like how you’ve shown the sides of her as a way of building to her true identity. I have some notes of how you might improve in your next story but they’re intended as constructive criticism so I hope you take them as such! I was a little lost with the transitions between scenes. If you’re going to have different flashes of action - which I really liked as a vehicle for telling the story -...

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Anvita Bhogadi
06:34 Jun 29, 2020

thanks a lot

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Anvita Bhogadi
06:35 Jun 29, 2020

you made my day

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Elle Clark
06:39 Jun 29, 2020

Oh I’m glad! I enjoyed reading this 😊

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Anvita Bhogadi
05:27 Apr 28, 2020

I would love to read your feedback

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Anvita Bhogadi
05:26 Apr 28, 2020

HI guys please feel free to leave your comments here

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