C5

As the two sat down enjoying their food, unbeknownst to them, a figure cloaked in black stood some distance away, watching them with a sinister glint in its dark red eyes. The figure’s breath came in short, unnatural rasps, and its outline flickered like smoke caught in a breeze that did not exist. The air grew heavier around it, a creeping stillness that didn’t belong to the warm, bustling village.

The two eventually went home, laughing and chatting, unaware of the presence that had stalked them. After they disappeared from view, the figure turned and made its way back into the forest, disappearing into the jagged mouth of a cave hidden by thick underbrush. But just as it approached the entrance, its path was halted. A shimmering, invisible force repelled it, an invincible transparent wall that hummed with ancient energy. It reached out, clawed fingers brushing the barrier, but the magic repelled it like oil rejecting water.

The figure smirked, a low growl rumbling from its throat.

"Interesting," it rasped, then vanished into the shadows.

When Pandora got home later that evening, the air felt... wrong. The moment she stepped through the door, an unnatural silence engulfed her, a silence too dense to be normal. Her home, always warm and welcoming, now felt tense on edge.

Her father was seated on a couch, shoulders rigid and eyes glazed with something between fury and fear. Her mother sat in front of the fireplace, sniffling with Ely lying across her lap. The flames cast long, flickering shadows that danced across the walls like grasping hands.

She dropped the firewood she had brought in with a thud, her heart lurching.

"Mama? Papa? What is the problem?"

Ely stirred slightly as she approached. He raised his head, his eyes half-lidded, his skin pale and clammy.

She scooped him up into her arms, even though he was ten years old. He was light, too light and Pandora always brushed it off with a half-joke. But tonight, he felt like a feather, fragile and too quiet.

"Mama, talk to me. What happened?"

Her mother's face twisted in grief, her voice a broken whisper.

"Sigh… It's Ely. He almost died today."

Pandora blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"His episode… it happened again. But this time… this time it was worse. So violent. The medicine, it almost didn’t work. He was gasping… choking. We thought we lost him."

Her voice broke completely, and tears streamed freely down her cheeks.

"W...What? But… but it wasn’t that bad before. How come it’s this much worse?"

Her father turned, voice hard and clipped.

"Child, stop asking your Ma questions. She needs rest. You too. We are going to the healer’s house come tomorrow morning."

"O...Okay, Pa."

He stood up, brushing his hand across Ely’s head and giving Pandora a pat on the back before approaching his wife. He took her trembling hand in his and guided her up.

"Let’s go in, Aurora. You need to rest."

"Okay. Ora, can you take Ely to his room for me, huh?"

"Of course, Mama. Go rest."

"Thank you, child."

She kissed them both on the forehead and turned. Her face was ashen. Her slender shoulders trembled beneath the weight of worry. Her husband held her close as they left the room. Something had shattered in her tonight.

Pandora carried her little brother to his room and laid him gently on his bed. She tucked the thin blanket around him.

"Sleep well, Ely."

"Pan?"

His voice was barely a whisper.

"Ely? You're awake? What is it?"

"Can you… sleep here tonight? I'm scared I won’t wake up."

Her heart cracked.

"Shhh. Don’t say that, Ely. You’re fine. Ma and Pa said we’ll see the healer tomorrow."

"Sure? He’ll treat me?"

"Yes. He gave you the medicine when others failed, remember? He will."

"Okay… but stay with me, please?"

"Okay. Anything for you, little brother."

They lay together in the dim glow of his lantern. But Pandora didn’t sleep deeply. In the middle of the night, she woke up. Hunger gnawed at her belly. She hadn't eaten since the encounter in the woods.

Padding quietly through the hall, she went to the dining room. The moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the table with a ghostly sheen. She grabbed a handful of apples and grapes and sat down.

"I’m really hungry,"

she mumbled.

She bit into an apple, savoring the crunch, when a sharp, icy wind brushed past her neck.

She froze.

Her eyes darted around the room. Nothing.

She shrugged and continued chewing.

Then it happened again this time colder, sharper. Like skeletal fingers dragging across her spine.

She stood, heart racing, and turned slowly. The air had changed. It was heavier. Oppressive. She tried to shake the feeling off and gathered her fruits.

Just as she turned to leave, something hit her.

A blur of black smoke slammed into her chest with supernatural force. Her body was thrown across the room like a ragdoll. She crashed into the wall, and the fruits and plates flew through the air but made no sound when they landed.

Pandora gasped, but no sound came out. She felt something gripping her throat. It lifted her off the ground, choking her, suspending her midair. Her feet dangled. Her lungs burned. Her eyes bulged.

The black smoke swirled around her, cold and suffocating.

Then she saw it.

Two blood-red eyes emerged from the darkness, piercing, ancient, merciless. They stared into her, not at her. Her fear magnified, becoming almost primal. A dread so complete it paralyzed her.

"Who are you?"

The thing’s voice rumbled like distant thunder echoing from the depths of a frozen cave. The walls themselves seemed to vibrate.

She tried to speak, to move anything. But the invisible hand kept her pinned.

"I won’t ask again."

She clawed at her throat, her vision fading into red and black. The veins in her forehead bulged. Just as she thought she might pass out, it released her.

She dropped like dead weight, coughing violently. Her lungs screamed for air. Her throat was raw. She looked around. Still, no sound. Her cough echoed inside her body but not through the room.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"So answer my question."

"Am... ahemmmm... am P... Pandora... ahemmm... from here..."

The thing drew closer, the swirling black mist condensing into a vaguely humanoid shape, though it flickered and shifted like fire.

"Pandora... Tell me. What are you? Are you human... or like me?"

What kind of question was that? Did she look like smoke and death? Her heart pounded. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity, but terror strangled her thoughts.

She shook her head, unable to form words.

The red eyes inched closer, boring into her very soul.

She felt her limbs freeze. Her breath stalled.

"No magic on her… or is there?"

It wasn’t asking her. It was speaking aloud. To itself? To someone else?

She still couldn’t respond. It had her bound, not physically, but spiritually. She was paralyzed by a force deeper than fear.

Then, just as suddenly, it stepped back. The black smoke began to dissipate. She collapsed to her knees, gasping.

But before she could even hope it was over, it surged.

The entire cloud of shadow slammed into her body. Her back arched violently. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as the cold invaded every corner of her being.

Her eyes rolled back. Her limbs jerked.

Then.....stillness.

Pandora slumped to the floor, unconscious.

The only sound in the house was the fire crackling softly in the hearth, unaware that something ancient had just found a new vessel.