Contest Entries

Many Arms and Heads

She looked beautiful, her face was quite lovely. A single arm reached out to touch me. The joy of finally being able to meet her. Another arm appeared, then another. How many arms did she have? I looked in alarm at the growing number of arms. All I could see was one person out of the many arms and hands that grew in numbers.

"Yes, my dear?" an icy voice came out of her throat.

"I just- wanted to find out my future is all. Never would I have expected for you to have many arms," I said, having second thoughts about meeting her.

"Welcome to your future. Your fate is with me. If I don't have that necklace, you'll never make it out alive," the eerie voice said.

"Never will I give you the necklace or die in your presence. I know what you are really after and came to tell you that I have it and will freely give it to you. I ask for freedom in return," I said. As soon as I said that, I wondered if I'll regret it. She seemed as cold as she sounded.

"Oh, is that the Amulet of War I see? That is even better. Give it to me and your life will be spared," the many armed woman said. I could think of taking that in many ways. How will my life be spared? Will my family and friends rest in peace?

"Here you go," I said, handing over the amulet.

"Thank you. Because of this you shall serve me in pride. Oh, you don't need to do anything at all, but I may provide powers you would like to have. First, earthquakes. I shall grant you the power to summon earthquakes. It will happen naturally the more angry you are. Thanks to you I can summon war as I please. This amulet should not fall into the wrong hands," the woman said, sending a chill down my spine. What kind of a gift is that? I was terrified of earthquakes dand have been since I was young. She said my life would be spared yet I was going to have nightmares from this day forward. I get angry easily over little things and I knew that. Now my challenge was to not get angry at all or else a nightmare would happen. I didn't even know her name.

I walked outside and into a cafe to have a drink with my friend. My friend was slurping on an icee latte as I went up to greet him. He smiled back at me and then held out a different cup he had been holding in his hand.

"Try it. It's good," he said with a smile.

"Sure," I agreed when all of a sudden he jerked forward and dropped the drink. It made a mess all over my pants and I felt a surge of anger rose up in me. "Why did you do that?"

The earth began to shake and I didn't care. It felt good to be angry, so much so that I didn't care on what would happen to him. The building started to split into two and all around me people were diving for cover. I felt a new anger rise against them and it felt good to be angry at them. Suddenly the cafe ground split open and people, tables, and chairs fell into the deep hole. I laughed, not knowing why. Then I thought what a nightmare it would be to fall through the hole and pity rose. Why did I get so angry all of a sudden? Is it going to be like this to everyone I meet? I couldn't bear to think about losing my family and then felt angry at myself. Why did I agree to meet the woman in the first place? I needed things to be back to normal before it's too late. I couldn't hear any screams but felt certain that my friend was still alive, probably angry with me so much that he wasn't my friend anymore.

I closed my eyes as if I could bring him back to life. In my mind an image of that woman of many hands appeared. Only this time many dark faces appeared as well behind her. She held a book in her arms. The voices coming from the many faces sounded like they were beckoning me to come back and join her. I couldn't, just couldn't. I opened my eyes again and saw the waitress staring at me with her mouth gaped open. I didn't feel anger rise at her and felt glad about that. I needed to speak to someone, or something, and ask how could I solve my dilemma without getting angry at anyone again. Even the anger mood was a nightmare to face as it seemed unrealistic. Was this her anger? What is her name?

I ran out of the cafe and stopped in front of a building I had never seen before. Anger welled up from within me not remembering if that building had been there. Then the ground started to shake. The anger didn't last long and the earthquake stopped. For while this feeling and tremor haunted me I decided I will not stop until this is over. I should never have fell for her tricks. Then I decided to go into the building to see what I could find. Maybe someone or something could help me. I hoped I wasn't dealing with a goddess either. She had transferred powers to me I couldn't control. Once inside I was greeted by a variety of things along with a dragon statue. That statue suddenly moved its head and grinned at me.

"Welcome to the Rarity Shop where you pay not with currency," the dragon statue said.

"I'm in a dilemma. First off, if I get angry, an earthquake happens and this is because I spoke to a lady who has many hands and heads behind her. Also she holds a book. I gave her the Amulet of War and now who knows what may happen. Because of this anger I lost my friend. Do you have anyway to reverse this from going too far?" I asked.

"Death in the key of C! This flute will serve you well. Play it when you meet her again, I'm assuming the Goddess of Nightmares named Nightmare. Many arms and many heads describe her well and the book she holds is a book of spells," the dragon statue said. I picked up the flute and bowed.

"How will I pay for this flute you speak of and how will I find her?" I asked.

"Stop the nightmares from spreading by preventing war. You must get the Amulet of War back and I can keep it safe and sound. Though returning it to the War Master God Ares. That is what he goes by. How will you find her I don't know. Think of the very place that haunts you the most. You may have to jump through a hole to face your fears," the dragon statue said. Then I noticed there was a speaker in the dragon's mouth that could be easily connected to a microphone. So I was talking to somebody but through the dragon statue. How clever.

"Thank you very much."

"Have a good day and may the events be reversed in time."

I exited the building with the flute and looked down on it. I must get the Amulet of War back. I gave it to the wrong hands. Nightmare could rage a war in nightmares easily. Then I thought about what would haunt me the most. Going to a haunted house is pretty scary. But then I thought about my friend. Going to a haunted house would not work at all. The cafe I had gone to meet my friend would haunt me for life. Everything that had happened since I met Nightmare had been a nightmare. I wanted it to stop. Suddenly movement caught my eye and I looked up to see someone that looked exactly like my friend. Could it be him? Did he escape the earthquake?

"Hello," I said, then stopped. Something was wrong. His face didn't look quite right.

An amulet dropped and I recognized it to be the Amulet of War and the figure that looked like my friend turned into a lady with many arms and heads holding a book. The same lady I had met earlier. People started staring at her. Then I knew what to do. I held up the flute and started to play. She shrieked with her cold, icy voice and then melted into the ground. The Amulet of War lay intact on the ground. Before I could pick it up a bulky man stood there and then picked up the amulet. It was Ares. He smiled. Then he asked me what I wanted. I decided I wanted to go back in time and not ever meet Nightmare so that I could meet my friend at the cafe without getting angry and causing an earthquake.

Written for "Into The Darkness " .
Genre: Horror
Prompt: Picked a picture + the text "Death in the key of C"
Word Count: 1,519