“The Child”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

“Shh,” The Lady whispers. She beckons me forward. I creep up to join her, careful to stay as silent as possible. “Are you certain that this is the path you wish to take?”

I gulp down a deep breath. “Yes,” I say, trying unsuccessfully to stop my voice from shaking.

Luckily, only the word and not the tone of voice seems to matter to The Lady. “Very well,” she says, her voice echoing slightly in the darkness. “You may proceed.”

I turn toward the tunnel. I can’t see anything past the first two meters.

As I squint, trying to make out the outline of anything that might be inside the tunnel, a hand shoves my back. I stumble forward; apparently The Lady thought I was taking too long.

I stick my arms out in front of me and slowly start walking. Just one step in front of the next. Hopefully The Lady isn’t trying to trick me into walking off a cliff or something.

Finally, my hand hits a wall. No, not a wall; a door. I find the doorknob and twist it. An eerie creak echoes through the tunnel.

I push open the door. Light immediately blasts me in the face. My eyes eventually adjust, letting me see the circle of people standing in front of me.

“Welcome,” their voices say together. “Join us in the circle.”

I do as they ask. The door swings shut behind me. I turn to see The Lady standing in front of the door, slowly walking forward to push me into the middle of the circle.

As soon as I’m in the middle, everyone around me joins hands, trapping me inside.

“From this moment on, you shall be known as The Child,” the voices echo.

Final Comments: Again, I ran out of time to finish my idea for this one. I was going to put in that ‘The Child’ was sent there (or maybe he/she went for another reason) to infiltrate the group and assassinate them/one of them. I didn’t want to rush the ending though and just stick it in for no reason.

Overall Rating: 🙂