The Witch Hunt - Fiction Short Story

poetrybyjeremy (58)in #story • 6 years ago (edited)

@byn's Creative Writing Contest

@byn has reached 500 followers and organised a creative writing contest. I chose to write a fictional story, as I wanted to push my boundaries and start exploring something that I truly enjoy reading. The rules require that we choose one of the images and writing provided as a prompt. I chose the "Your very random and unique magic power" prompt, and after I finished, I realised it would also fit with another prompt (no spoilers). As an image, I chose to be inspired by @abyni's drawing:

Character Drawing

I hope you enjoy this short story. I have tried to fix and polish to the best of my abilities. The word count is circa 1200 words.

The Witch Hunt

I put the potion in my left pocket; the witch hunt is far from over. The moonlight guides me through the purple forest. Running towards the rolling fog to get lost from their sight. Shrouded; I lay my hands on the ground, focus my energy and summon a tree around me. A hollow tree – this will be my hiding spot for tonight.

***

This reminds me of the first time my parents realised I was special. I was only three years old. My father arrived from work and saw me playing with a stranger. He went to my mother and asked her who the other girl was. They both came rushing, their faces flushed red; panicked – they did not know her. Amanda, my friend, turned around and they screamed as they saw her ice-blue face. She was an alien. My father hurried towards me to pick me up, but both me and Amanda were baffled. She looked at me and nodded, and I remember this Lego wall building, separating us two from my parents. At that moment I was terrified, and I have no memories of they got the wall down. The rest of my childhood, I had to wear this bracelet that inhibited my powers, but as soon as I became a teenager, my parents allowed me to practice a few hours a day. I could create any object that I imagined through manipulation of space and time. Unfortunately, one requires profound knowledge of physics and mechanics to make things work as one wishes, and I still lack that knowledge.

Last week, I tried to test the limits of my abilities I managed to create a portal – I wanted to travel a couple of days to see if it time travel was possible. I am not sure how, but I ended up in a different realm. It did not occur to me that I could have conjured a space portal rather than a time portal. How could I tell the difference? I easily survived a couple of days, until I came across these creatures - hybrid between spiders and octopi. Strange, I know. They each had six legs that looked solid and bony, and they were agile. They also had two extendable arms, and these had octopi-like suction cups. I hypothesise that they can conduct electricity as well, since I saw sparks flying from these suction cups. I just need to come up with a plan on how to escape or defeat them. The only way to get back home is to create portals, and I need rest and regain my energy if I want to succeed.

***

Dawn arrives, and I wake up in the hollow tree. Nobody can think well on an empty stomach, so I conjure an apple. It had a red peel, but it tasted just like a green apple. At least it’s better than when I made it taste like garlic. I have to think back to those two days of being chased by around twenty spidopi. Yeah, that’s what I will call them. Spidopi. Have they shown any weakness? They might be agile, but they do not match to my speed, fortunately. I recall seeing a couple of them trying to jump and latch onto trees with their arms. Others stretched and flailed their arms, trying to hit something, possibly me. I did try to dismember a spidopi’s arm with a cleaver, but it grew back up almost immediately. Slicing is not an option. I need to buy some time and observe their predatory patterns.

I take the bottle out of my pocket and drink up the potion. Great! I am invisible for the next hour. That was my last invisibility potion, and if I had to make another one, I would be too scared that it turns out wrong. Little time, use it wisely Claire. I dispel the tree, and I see a swarm of spidopi resting. I close my eyes, and intently focus, conjuring an iron puppet that looks just like me. I shall call her Blair. Her back lays against the tree, which I bang to get their attention. Suddenly, they swarm around her and jump. Three of them latched onto her: one around her thigh, one around her chest… pervert, and one around her head. Blair starts to vibrate. I was right! They must be trying to shock her! Intriguing - they only latch on using their arms, while their bodies and legs float in the air. Is this going to be the Spidopi Yoga Pose? Oh right, I should dismantle her into parts. Yup, that should fool them into thinking they eliminated me.

The invisibility potion will remain active for some more minutes – I should get away as soon as possible. Except, my boots still echo when I take a step. And yeah, I have startled them. DAMN! They are following the sounds and I must come up with a plan before the invisibility runs out. I run quickly to gain some ground. Think Claire, think! What was their weakness while they electrocuted Blair? Why were their legs afloat and not resting on her body? Could it be? I think so!

It’s trap time, you damn spidopi! This better work – this might take so much energy I will be unable to cast any big-scale spells in a day or two. Look at them! They are jumping onto the seven copper puppets. I have made them bald; there was no time to decide on their hairstyles. The whole swarm covered them. Poor Bob had five spidopi latched onto him. The copper gives the puppets a Summer tan look. It doesn’t matter that they do not resemble my pale skin: all the spidopi will die!

I start to turn visible; ha! Just in time. They are locked up in a glass tank. Yup, I am a genius. WHOA! One of them nasty spidopi tried to jump onto me. I suppose they are not aware of what glass is. Its tentacle arms are getting stuck to the walls. Silly thing. I put my hands against the glass and summon a cloud inside it. At the top of my lungs, I scream: “Never ending rain!”. I always had a flair for the drama. You know, Claire’s Flair. It has a ring to it. Words are not necessary for my casting, but it is fun nonetheless. The tank slowly filled with sea water. Yeah, I heard sea water can conduct electricity, so I made sure that it was salty. As their bodies touch the water, they are becoming fried, one by one. Earlier, I realised that their bodies were floating away from Blair, since their bodies cannot handle the electricity that their suction cups produce. As soon as the electricity reaches their legs or their bodies, they were spasming. The water finally reached the last spidopi. I have done it. Oh, don’t look at me like that. I am against animal cruelty and I am not a murderer, just simply protecting myself, in an unknown realm. It is time to rest and regain some energy. Tomorrow, I will try to create the portal again, and I hope to be home again. Goodbye spidopi. Goodbye Blair.

Here are two sketches I drawn while writing to help me visualise my story:

One of the Spidopi:

The Glass Tank:

My new poetry collection, Welcome to the Sombre Days, is published as paperback on Amazon and ebook on Kindle. Each day, I am sharing another poem from the book on Steemit. Here are the available parts so far:

Announcement & Forward
Book Release

Chapter 1: Puppet Strings
#1 - Dancing Queen
#2 - Fruitcake
#3 - The Best of Both Worlds
#4 - Applause
#5 - Hush!
#6 - Inside Me (1)
#7 - Ink-chanted (1)
#8 - Overshadow
#9 - Archetypes