Sndbox Summer Camp Writing - Task II. Darkness, a short story of fiction.

It had been 142 years. She had counted every single one of them. Every day, every second... She stood in an older, wooden building. The best room that could be offered was hers. Still, her nose was wrinkled like she smelled something disgusting. For her it was filth. All of it. The dark side. The light. The humans, the witches. All the same. And when she was alone it didn't matter if her face mirrored her feelings. The mask could be taken off. Her white dress could turn black in her mind.

It had been more than two centuries since she had stood here. But the day was still in her memory like it was just yesterday. It was her curse. To remember everything. But it also kept her from straying from the path that she had chosen. As she waited for an attack, her mind brought her back to that day. When she had been young, fresh and naive. When those traits had been taken from her.

---

''I bet you can't even play decent cards, you look like your mother nursed you just yesterday.'' an older witch of the light teased her as she stood at the end of the harsh wooden table. Her hand dared not to touch it, it seemed as splinters would take all of her palm if she tried.

''They do not need me in the hall anymore and I have nothing else to do. I know nothing of this place. Plus, I bet I can take you in one turn.'' It was a younger version of our disgusted sorceress. A little challenging, a little begging for a relief. Still, girl-like in her features. Her cheeks rounded, rosy pink. Her face untouched by lines of experience.

The three witches, sitting in the chairs around the old table, chuckled. They seemed to like an eager player so the girl was given a stool and the cards were dealt all over again. The room was darkly lit but the playing cards distributed light on their own. The living space had a low ceiling and it was completely different from what she had seen across the road, where the party was set to take place. In the huge hall, decorated with a million of white flowers, her friend would have her wedding. She had never been to this side of the country. Only the invitation had convinced her to come. Her youthful mind could not pass on an opportunity to observe a union of two. She was giddy and her whole body trembled invisibly. It was pure joy.

Most were the same. Most experienced the celebration identically to her. But most were not her. She was not cocky, she did win the cards the second she touched them. She had a raw quality to her. She knew the limits of her power. At least she thought that she did. In her life of twenty and one years, she had never encountered a serious obstacle or danger. She was sheltered and so she had no fear. No notion of it. She just sat there and when the room got darker than it already was, her hair did not prickle like it did on the other witches. Foolishly idle.

At first, they thought it was the shadows and the cold room. None of them were that keen on believing that they were in danger on such a wonderful day. Their joy had robbed them of intuition. But even they caught on to the wretched stench that carried through the door. It was too late though. The stairs creaked and the door blasted open less than a second later. As the naive sorceress was picking up her winning chips, three creatures, shrouded in a dark cloud, entered. Two more followed.

She was thrown on the floor by a sudden rush of power. The room was dark, the ground slimy, like it was covered in swamp water. She was sure it had not been like it just a moment ago. Her hands had been scraped by the rough wooden table as she had tried to hold on to it. But she did not notice that. All she could look at were the women in front of her. For the first time in her life, she saw witches of black. Or what looked like them. She could not know. They were not supposed to have such disfigured faces.

There were huge ulcers on their foreheads, cheeks, hands. Everywhere. There was that dark cloud of mist but now it was transparent. Their dresses were visible. Shredded, like they had fought a wild animal with their bare hands. Their eyes were... Normal. Kind of. They seemed unfocused. Like the witches were not seeing the others in front of them, on the ground. Their bodies dirty, like they had been rubbed in coal. Black, dripping on the ground that they did not touch.

The young sorceress in her white dress was frozen, her eyes wide. Not from fear. Shock. The others were trying to get up but she just lay there. Looking. Watching. Observing? Her three companions, that had played cards happily just seconds ago, were almost on their feet. From the ground, she noticed how the three front creatures were shielding the two behind. One chanting, the other moving her hands, fast. Skillfully. She wanted to warn the others but no sound came out of her mouth.

As the whites got back on their feet and started casting, the dark one from behind made a swinging motion. White witches stopped in mid cast and she, on the floor, was taken by a strong force. She covered her head, looking away for a second. Holding her face in her arms. Feeling like she was bruised on it, everywhere.

When she looked back up, she saw two things happen simultaneously. The three white witches had blood gushing from their throats. The ulcer-riddled front line of dark witches flew forward and hugged those necks with their palms. Then they leaned in, to drink blood. They looked like nothing more than wild animals. It seemed that they only cared to sate their hunger.

As the other white witches had their dresses soaked in their own blood, she was the only one left from the light side. She knew her eyes let her fear show now. She felt like they were popping out of their sockets. The terror had come. The two casters of spells, the witches in the back, observed her for what seemed like eternity. Suddenly, one was right next to her. Holding her throat. She felt breath on her face. And the next second, she didn't.

As she opened her eyes, she was laying across the street from where the shitstorm was taking place. The wedding planners were right next to her, they were talking garden arrangements when she landed. At first, they thought she was playing a prank on them but then most saw her face. There was blood soaking from her pores. It was like tiny needles had been cast in her skin and then pulled out.

''What happened?!" it was the bride, her friend from the academy. She had terror in her eyes. Fear, from the young sorceress or whatever had done harm to her. The young witch pointed at the wooden building over the street. She could not speak, she just held her hand in the air as blood dripped from it.

---

The thing that the sorceress remembered the clearest was the breath of that witch, hundreds of years ago. It did not stink. In fact, it reminded her of spring flowers. Her face hadn't been riddled with ulcers either. She was beautiful and powerful. She knew that now.

The teleporting out of the blood-filled building. It hadn't been her own doing. It would come to not be the last time she encountered the woman, either. When white witches had gone in, there were only three bodies laying on the ground, laying in slime and their own blood.

The woman, that had grabbed the young sorceress by her throat, would come to be her mother-in-law years later. A woman with all the gifts of witches. The sight of future, the movement of mist and the power of a goddess. And when she and her son were executed years later, she transferred her gifts to the white sorceress. Nobody knew to this day, even though it had happened a whole 142 years ago. She had kept her secret safe.

The white sorceress stood in that same room now, where she had met her mother-in-law. It had come full circle. She was not young anymore. She was not weak. She had executed enough witches to be an expert. In fact, it was the reason she was here. To kill. Find those three ulcerous wildlings and finally get rid of them. It was time. They had outlived their old mistresses by those hundred and almost fifty years.

Our witch was still wearing white. She was a widow now but nobody knew. They would banish her if they did find out. Or try to take her life, too. She had gone into a union with a black magician. True, he was dead now, but she had kept his ghost close.

She was one of the rare witches who did not need a partner to cast serious spells. Her mother-in-law had made sure it to be that way by transferring all of her power to the woman. At first, the magic had hurt her. It had almost eaten her alive. But the fact that her lover had just been executed by the white guardians kept her alive through it. She was going to bring him back and she was going to do so by taking all of the power, from darkness and light. She blamed both sides. For darks had not protected their queen and her son. And lights had swung the blade that took their lives.

So she did what she had to. She killed the dark ones and leeched the power of lights. Little by little, in such tiny quantities that they didn't even notice. The whites thought their children were born weaker because there were less dark ones to fight but she knew it was because her mist worked.

There was a knock on the door. A strong one. And a young witch in her teens burst in. She was the white queens' daughter. In apprenticeship under our white sorceress. Her power was also weak as it had mostly been drained prior to her birth.

''They are here, mistress they came answering to our happiness spell. They look ready to feed and they are but just a hundred of meters away.'' the girl was nervous, it was clear. Her speech trembled and her voice was high-pitched. It was going to be her first time to see the poisoned witches from the dark side. It was the three women that our white witch had faced as a girl on her transition into adulthood.

''You go in front. I want you to see their faces up close. You need to know what your kingdom is facing.'' there was another purpose behind it. Not just to let the princess see what the sorceress had seen a long time ago.

They walked out and she stopped at the top of the stairs as the other witches in the vicinity were scattered around not far away. The princess went downstairs and the sorceress, standing on top, looked in the distance. Very close, indeed. Slow. They were not scary for our powerful witch anymore. It may have been the years of experience or her vengeful soul but the dark wildlings looked pathetic to her.

She extended her hands, over the staircase and a cloud of what looked like mist, lifted from the ground. It was red, like clay sand. It was darker than the black cloud of the dark ones. It came fast. Much faster than the old hags with ulcers, but she made sure it would reach them just as they reached the princess. Her mist had the power to break every soul. It was feared by the darks and praised by the light ones. Little did they knew, it hurt both sides.

The dark witches with ulcers had no control. All they needed and knew was how to feed. Their only goal was to kill. They found their victims by sensing happiness. They did not think of the mist. Their only focus, flesh. So, before they could get the satisfaction, they were swallowed by the red and their bodies dissinegrated immediately, into tiny grains. They become part of the mist, screaming in agony with their last breaths. Not willing to join. The princess was touched, too, but the cloud swirled around her. It did not touch, at least not in a way that anybody could see.

The powerful sorceress stood on top of the stairs, feeling the additional strength flow through her. The princess was almost empty as well. Her mist now stood, unmoving, right at the landing of the steps. She waved her hand, dismissing, and it seemed to return to the ground as it had come. The princess turned around and looked at her, in awe. She was impressed, every time anew.

''Get your celebration dress on youngling. We are going out to mark this event. It is a full moon tonight and we have done our job at this end of the world. We can return home, now.'' the smile on the girls face grew wider. She looked to her left, at her lady in waiting and back at the white sorceress who nodded, approvingly. There was always more fun when more witches joined so she let the friend of the princess come.

The white witch touched a medallion on her neck and watched as the girls left for the next house, to get ready. She too went inside and pulled the best dress she possessed out of her traveling trunk. Indeed, it was time to celebrate. She was getting away from this wretched place.

When it struck midnight, three white witches got out of a carriage next to a cornfield full of dancers and wanderers. There was Ferris wheel on the side of the field. The two younger girls ran to wait in the line of humans that they were supposed to blend in with and the sorceress followed them, at a slow pace. She stopped at an electricity box and waved for the girls to get on without her. She would watch from afar.

Her medallion burned on her neck and she yanked it off. The white gold turned into a dark metal immediately. The writings on it changed. She looked at the full moon and threw the medallion on the electricity box. It melted a hole in the metal and fell through, to the ground. The lights in the meadow went out. The carousel, where the girls sat, stopped. They searched and found their mentor looking up. She was watching them intensely and smiling. It was an uneasy grin, not for her but for the girls.

Suddenly, the field was taken by a dark shadow. If night could get even blacker. But witches had a sight that noticed these things. The girls in the cart yelped as the shadow streaked all over the cornfield before landing right behind the sorceress who had her lips curled up in that poisonous smile. The princess had never seen it before. She started shaking the bar, pointing behind the sorceress. But her friend stopped her and made her look at the humans. All frozen, like statues. There was a complete silence and when the girls tried yelling, nothing came out of their mouth.

The dark figure got clearer by second and it put a hand on the shoulder of the sorceress. She then turned around and looked at the man in front of her. Her husband's ghost. It was time for him to come back, in flesh. They both had waited for too long. The electricity box next to them had melted now, the medallion was sitting in the middle of it. Her lover kneeled down and tried picking it up but his hands went right through it. She nodded at him, encouraging, and reached out her hands.

For the first time in a long time, she chanted. She had saved all her power for this one spell. Her mist, red and beautiful, stepped up, from the ground. It had all the power necessary to give life without consuming its master now. And, as it went higher and higher, the princess on top kicked louder and louder. The sorceress moved her hand and the girl was suddenly paralyzed. The chanting witch slowed down the mist, to prolong the torture. She then turned around once more, to face the girls.

''I want you to know that this is only slightly personal. And, I will take pleasure from taking your life as it will give me what your parents took from me. MY HUSBAND.'' the mist reached the feet of the princess first. This time, her body was affected. She screamed in agony as her whole body was slowly chopped away. Her friend joined her, adding much more power and screams to the mix. The sorceress kneeled, to the ground, and took the medallion that burned her palm. She closed her eyes and chanted as strongly as she could.

When the screaming stopped, a hand lay upon her palm. She knew it, her heart skipped a beat. Another palm wrapped around her waist and pulled her up. The medallion came with her. Their eyes met when he turned her around. For real this time. He was flesh and blood. With his long black hair and that mischievous grin. He didn't take his eyes off of her. Not even when his medallion was placed in his hands. It was his symbol, what had brought his ghost here when it was time, but all he looked at was his lover.

''You are still wearing white. You look just like the last time I saw you.'' his smile grew. His arm wandered into her black curls.

''How else did you want me to make sure both sides paid for what they did? I just destroyed the only heir to the white throne. And I cursed her medallion long before I decided to do that. There is no coming back for that girl...'' he interrupted her with a kiss. Passionate and cruel. Real. They were both too powerful to get hurt by it.

''Let us go, destroy them all and make this world ours.''

He, he. Amm, this was actually the dream I had tonight. Pretty traumatic seeing that my POV was from a killers side. But, regardless of that, the dream was fun for me to be in. Even the earlier part where the young sorceress escapes her death just because the mother of her future husband sees the events that are yet to come. Where her son and the witch love each other more than anything. She creates a monster! :D

Thank you for reading this story!

Have a great day. Today, tomorrow, and forever!
Linda.