The Cursed Priestess

Once again, I sat in my room with my legs crossed and my eyes closed. The candle flickered impatiently in front of me and I too grew more impatient myself. “Help me” I whispered as the horrible feeling began to grow deeper within me, the feeling that I was being watched by something, something evil. “Goddesses, please. Help me!” I begged and yet again I received no answer, just like every other time I had prayed and begged them to help me. They never did. I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t help me. Didn’t they care? Did they hate me? I took in a deep breath, attempting to sooth and centre myself but it was no use. The feeling of being watched unsettled me too much. I needed it to stop. No longer could I sleep with the feeling as it grew stronger every passing day and I had begun to struggle to eat. I just want it to stop! I thought to myself and yet again it was little use. Doesn’t anyone hear my cries? Doesn’t anyone want to help me? All I ask for is help! I just…. I just want it to stop! My thoughts continued to swirl around my mind. Why is this happening to me! My mind screamed. It was then I felt it. The sudden sharp pain in my shoulder began to grow deeply within me, slowly it began to cut across my back as though someone had stabbed me with a knife and was gradually ripping through the skin, muscle and bone leaving a destructive crater in its path. The pain hit my spinal column and tears flooded my eyes and poured down my cheeks. My cheeks began to burn painfully and my forehead began to sweat, even though I felt as though my skin would turn to ice at any moment. I was that cold. It were as though I had a fever. My entire body began to shake violently as the pain seemed to rip slowly through my spine. I tried to scream in pain but my voice wouldn’t work. My heart began to pound fiercely, and my breathing became shallower, yet quicker. What’s happening to me? Are the Goddesses punishing me? I thought to myself in a panic. Have I done something wrong? My voice seemed to croak as I attempted to scream in pain. There were many things I wished I could scream at that moment ‘someone help me!’ Was one of them, another was ‘I only asked for help!’ But it didn’t matter how much I wanted to scream, I couldn’t. All I could do was croak the words I wished to speak. Following the excruciating pain was the strange ice cold feeling that felt as though something were passing through me. My body fell forward, over my legs, making it even harder to breath. After this I could no longer move, all I could do was wait Wait for the agonising pain to stop completely. Voices soon filled my room as I lay there motionless, voices so faint they were like a whisper yet were clear enough to hear the words that were spoken. “Where are we? How’d we get here?” One of the whispers spoke lightly, sounding almost like a child. “I don’t know,” the second whisper replied, this whisper was clearly female, her voice had the echoes of wisdom that came with age yet the youth of one so much younger. Runes seemed to carve into the walls, wardrobes, doors, draws and the floors, runes that looked as though they were, from the great times of old. A pearly mist filled the room, emanating from nothing as it began to hover above the floor. I’m going to die I thought to myself, I see it now, I’m going to die. I began to hope for my death to be quick and as painless as it could possibly be now, even though at that moment I doubted any pain could have been worse than what I had just experienced. “Is this where all the lonely people go? Is this where I belong?” Another young voice that sounded like a child’s asked. The words rang in my ears as my temples began to throb and my throat began to burn, reminding me of when someone accidentally takes a breath of water. Slowly the world around me began to blur and I looked back at the candle, thankful that I hadn’t fallen on it. I tried to focus on it but a light breeze seemed to blow it out, leaving me in complete darkness. No! I thought to myself as tears began to fall down my face once again. In total darkness I closed my eyes attempting to block everything out. Not wanting my last thoughts to be on the terrifying outside world. Instead I focused on a world I’d created. Where it was warm and bright and never went cold yet the sun was never bright enough to hurt my eyes. My perfect world with a garden of red and black roses and one singular white rose in the centre, a beautiful fountain and so much more. The beauty of nature I thought to myself just as everything began to disappear and I stepped into the world of unconsciousness. *** I awoke in the night, the darkness surrounding me. My room had become incredibly cold, so cold that I could see my breath in the darkness before me and feel chills running down my spine. I shivered as I carefully climbed on to my bed, the reminiscence of the pain still lingering in my back. Strange glowing figures appeared in all four corners of my room and three glowing figures seemed to stand at the end of my bed. I threw my covers over my head and began to shake in fear. What are they? Why are they here? I questioned myself as I felt the covers begin to move like someone was about to pull them off me. I closed my eyes, blocking out the strange cluster of whispers that seemed to build in my room, becoming louder and louder. I attempted to block out everything around me as best as I could. Red roses… A water fall… A fountain I began to think of my happy place as a way to block out the world around me. Hear the water fall between the rocks, listen to the wind as it blows through the leaves of the trees. They cannot hurt you. They do not exist. Sleep is best, tomorrow I’ll see that there’s nothings there. Just wait, I’ll see that there’s nothing there my thoughts continued to spin around my mind as an attempt to comfort myself. Gently, I began to drift into the world of dreams, by using my calming technique I knew I could sleep and wake up once again in the morning, feeling calm and at peace.