I Tried

Today I was idly rolling the false eye back and forth in my hands, thinking about recent events.

I thought about what I've done and how it's ruined my life. I want to die. Nothing will ever be the same.

I have no one to take care of me, no one to assuage my boredom.

And I still hate the Witch for what she's done to me.

Since Stephen cut the strings she hadn't returned. I wanted to find her, to confront her.

I thought of an idea and whispered aloud that I wished I could return to that city. Suddenly a door appeared in the room, like the ones she took me through before.

I placed the eye on my desk and walked toward the door, cautiously opening it to ensure it wasn't some trick on her part. No one was on the other side.

So I wandered inside, made my along the empty streets and eventually found what I was looking for: the building where that elevator was housed.

I went down. Without her aid, this time the sudden stop did cause me to reel forward. I was again in that weird, rundown lab-type place. I decided to wait for her there, since we had come here before and the Choir and worked with her at least once since.

Oh, yeah. One more thing: I brought a lighter and some kerosene I found in the garage.

I waited for several hours, but she finally showed up. With the school principal. I guess he was next in line for the position of General.

I hid around a corner and waited for her to walk by. As she did, I drenched her in kerosene and lit her up. She burned quickly, but showed no sign of pain. Instead, she just laughed, as she withered away to ashes.

The flames died down and there was silence. The principal opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, he was cut off. His skin began to harden. His limbs shook. Horror clouded his eyes.

The distinct texture of wood burst from his flesh, replacing the skin that was now falling to the floor. Soon he had become her, the Witch, but in the form I originally saw her with. She laughed at me.

"I cannot die." She tried out her new body. "Even if you get rid of any of us, we will eventually return. There is no stopping us."

I turned and dashed toward the elevator. I looked back and I saw the body of the man from before just lying there. The two people in the other cell were dead also.

As I watched, they began to rise, not as a human rises, but as a marionette is pulled to a standing position. They turned their faces toward me, leering with the smiles of death. I ran.

I got on the elevator, but it began going down instead of up.

The doors opened and I could see every floor we passed. There was level upon level of those glass cells, all filled with people and the gray fungus.

The Choir was capturing countless innocents. But for what purpose? The Witch seemed to have control of at least some of them now. But she could do that anyway. Why was the Choir needed?

I knew that soon this thing was gaining momentum and would not stop until it had smashed me to bits. I had to escape--but how?

I saw one of the doors in the ceiling and hurriedly climbed through. I was on one of the sidewalks next to one of the streets. A flock of birds were flying along, like some giant stormcould--the only life I'd seen on the surface. After a few minutes of catching my breath, however, I heard someone climbing up after me. I ran and hid in a nearby alleyway. I heard footsteps and then saw a man running after the birds. Another few moments, then silence.

I came out in time to see a humongous door disappear. I wandered aimlessly for awhile until I found another door of my own, regular size. I was back in my house. But was I safe? Am I safe?

I just realized--it's not Monday anymore. It was Monday morning when I went through the door, but now it's Tuesday afternoon!?