The Price We Pay

The thing I always dreamed about, wished for, longed for, turned out to be the worst thing that ever happened to me.

Unfortunately, I realized it too late. I don’t know how it happened, but in a split second I found myself standing in a church in front of the pulpit, trembling, sweat sliding down my spine.

The silence is killing me, heavy, suffocating, like a punishment from God. How dare I be in this state, in this place?

My hands are shaking, whether it’s fear or the lack of nourishment, I can’t tell. But the trembling makes the knife move back and forth in my grip. A knife I only now notice… covered in blood.

I look around. A pool of it spreads at my feet.

Oh God. Whose blood is this?

Is it mine… or someone else’s?

Who paid the price for my selfish desires?

This isn’t the power I longed for.

If everyone has it, then take it away, I don’t want it anymore.…but is it too late now?

With a fear so huge it feels like my heart wants to jump out of my chest, I raise my head for the first time since I arrived here, who knows how long it’s been. I look around. No one in sight.

A creaking sound comes from the door to my left, breaking the heavy silence.

‘Who’s there?’ My voice isn’t as loud as I want it to be, it’s barely a whisper.

No answer… oh, please, let this be a dream.

Suddenly, my veins start to bulge, as if someone is sending fireworks through them. Blood is supposed to be red, and veins under the skin look blue… so why are mine pitch black?

This power is consuming me, this isn’t what I wanted.

The door is fully open now, again who’s here.

I stepped out of this bloody pool and the more I approach the door the more my veins react.

“Come closer, you’ve done it, you can come with us” this voice is so creepy, sending a chill down my spine, whose is it?

And why do I feel myself being pulled, oh wait I didn’t step out, it’s not me walking, my veins are dragging me toward the door, like a magnetic force.

Like an angel descending from the sky, a memory hits me, my grandpa’s voice, calm and heartwarming “Listen, Alice. Everyone in this cursed town is fighting their demons. Some make it… others don’t. I know I can’t stop you, but if someday you get that stupid power everyone longs for, fight back. Fight so hard, because once you follow them, you’re doomed. Remember all your happy life, and you’ll be fine.”

A surge of strength hits me. I pause for a couple of seconds and let my childhood rush back, breakfast with my family, my cat purring on my lap, my mom yelling at my brother to finish his homework, and Dad’s amazing food.

Suddenly, my body calms, and my veins fade back to their natural color.

The door is closed now.

When did it close?

It’s time to get out of here. I need answers.

What happened?

Where is everyone?

James… Eva… Scarlet…We were all together.

What the hell happened?

I step outside, look around again no one is here.

It is my hometown but somehow, it’s not, something is off.

I head toward the diner, usually someone is always there.

I push the door open, aunt Vanessa is standing behind the counter. She is not supposed to be here.

“Welcome dear, how can I help you” her voice is warm just like always but she shouldn’t be here.

“Why are you here” I say firmly, this isn’t scaring me anymore, I wanted it, now I have to face everything that comes with it.

“What do you mean sweetie, it’s my diner, I run it” stop being so nice, stop it.

“You’re dead.”

She’s been dead for five months.

Her smile drops immediately, her eyes darken, her veins turn pitch black just like mine were earlier.

“And you aren’t supposed to be aware of that”

oh lord I am losing strength, my veins are reacting violently.

No, no, no Alice don’t lose it now, don’t weaken.

I once again try to remember my happy memories, but it’s harder this time, with aunt Vanessa staring at me with her dark empty eyes.

Come on Alice, you can do it. I try again yet it’s not working, why?

I stop and look at aunt Vanessa, her dark self now makes me want to vomit.

I remember her being the sweet aunt James and I used to go to whenever we fought.

She would make both of us apologize and she always said “Love needs two to make it work”.

Her pancakes were the best, she was a ray of sunshine living among us.

So why is she so terrifying now.

Oh look, my body calms instantly, I look back at aunt Vanessa and it’s no longer her, it wasn’t her in the beginning.

A demon is standing in front of me, black teeth, smokey body, I am in literal hell.

“What are you?” I whisper through my tears.

“I am what you always longed for” he says laughing, coldly.

“I don’t want it anymore” I can’t hold my tears anymore.

“What makes you think we will just take it back” that voice…that creepy voice.

I stumble and fall as he comes forward. He leans towards me, his face, if we can call that face, only few inches from mine.

I freeze, I can’t move, you were right grandpa, it is a stupid dangerous power, I should have listened.

The only thing keeping me conscious is my grandpa necklace, I hold it as if it’s the only thing keeping me alive.

It’s the only thing making me feel some sort of safety.

The demon reaches for my hand, the one holding my necklace

“Please don’t” I say as I cry and beg, pathetic.

suddenly, he starts to evaporate and fade like burning paper, I let go of my necklace and loosen my grip.

“Where did you get that stone..?” he says as he fades.

“What stone?” the feeling of being afraid is now replaced by confusion.

I look at my necklace and it is shining, like it’s been activated.

Without thinking, I run out of the diner and toward the cemetery where it all started.

I step through the gates. Still empty. Why is the whole town empty? Something is truly wrong.

I walk deeper. The deeper I go, the brighter the necklace shines.

I reach the place where James, Eva, Scarlet, and I came to seek power, like everyone else in this town eventually does.

We thought power meant freedom. We thought it would break the invisible wall that traps us here, the thing separating us from the rest of the world. But all it did was this terrifying nightmare.

Why did we ever believe this power was the key? Everyone who had it was miserable.

Yes, they were strong… supernatural… but miserable.

I chase the feeling of regret, it’s too late to feel this way.

Once I reached the exact spot, I almost gave out.

Myself is standing right in front of me, staring at my soul.

“You should have gone through the door earlier” is that my voice, did I always sound this awful.

I can’t say anything, my heart is about to explode.

“You shouldn’t have made it this far” oh my god is that me, did I always have this dark empty aura.

“You weren’t supposed to resist. You weren’t supposed to remember.” She scoffs.

“You were supposed to give in. Let the darkness swallow what you used to be.” My necklace is brighter than ever.

“Oh, that stupid necklace, that’s why you’ve made it this far, that old timer should have been killed long time before” my grandpa was killed?

I am scared, confused I want to run but I can’t.

“Relax, now that you’ve seen me, you won”

“What do you mean?” I whisper as I tremble.

“Well, I guess you deserve few answers since you fought your way here” she sounds a bit calmer, cold but calm.

“You, humans are greedy and stupid, you would give everything if it made you feel a little bit superior” she smirks coldly giving me chills all over my body.

“All we wanted was to get out” I try to say with confident but failed miserably.

“Did you ever bother to ask why are you being trapped” she smiles, and it might be the most horrifying smile I’ve ever seen.

I keep silent because she is quite right, why are we trapped.

“Only few people knew the truth, one of them was your old man, yet he couldn’t do anything” she pauses for few seconds, stepping closer to me “thankfully, he was murdered before trying anything, unfortunately he left you this necklace, ruining all of our plans”

“He died of old age” as I try to convince her, but deep inside I was convincing myself, not wanting to believe that he was killed and no one suspected it.

“Believe whatever you want” That voice….how can she sound calm, menacing and scary at the same time.

“Where is everyone?” I say as I try to hold my tears.

“Everyone is where you left them”

I look around, but there is no one.

“Quit playing games, no one is here, I looked around the whole town, nobody is here, I am all alone in this shit-hole” I snapped.

She laughs loudly and coldly making me take a step back.

“Oh dear, you’re asking the wrong questions and I don’t have much time” I look at her and it’s true she is disappearing like that demon from the diner.

“Tell me everything” I am not really sure what is ‘everything’ but I need to hear something.

“This power you’re all seeking, it’s not what you think it is, all these rituals are only making us stronger, you’re not trapped, we just took everything from you” she is calmer, the calmer she gets the more terrifying she sounds.

“What do you mean?” I don’t understand..

“You all begged for strength. For answers, for escape. And the power gives you exactly that, but it takes something in return.” She takes few steps toward me, making me feel small and intimidated.

“It consumes you, your whole life, until the loneliness kills you. In the end, we take every drop of who you are.”

“No..no you’re lying, we saw them, lived with them, we saw how the power gave them the freedom we all envied” l am shaking and my body is giving out, I don’t believe her.

“You saw what we wanted you to see, as time goes by you forget about them, tell me where is Frank?” who is Frank, who is she talking about.

I go back in time, search in my whole life for a certain Frank. I don't know anyone by that name.

Then it hits me, my old brother.

How can I forget him, he was my protector.

I cry hysterically, I can’t hold it anymore.

“It seems you remembered, this what we do, we give you the illusion of power and take everything else, you’re not trapped, we just take everything and leave you in a maze”

My necklace shines brighter as it drags me toward her, it’s not the same feeling as my veins it’s like my body wants to approach her with the necklace.

The closer I get, the more she fades.

“What do I do now? I need more answers” even though she was close but I was screaming as if she is thousands of miles away.

“Now you wake up” she says as she flickers my head and disappear.

Suddenly, I’m back in the same place, gasping for air like I’d been underwater.

I look around, James, Eva, and Scarlet are here, unconscious but here, right beside me.

I reach to them, slapping as hard as I can, it’s not working.

As I lean on them, my necklace falls forward toward them, bright again.

They start to wake up one by one, not understanding what happened.

All they remember is us doing the ritual.

I asked them to sit as I explain everything.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the right words, there aren’t any right words.

“You mean it was all a lie?” James whispers.

I nod, unable to explain more. “Just…believe what I say please.”

I run toward home as I leave them, understanding all of that.

When I reach home, Frank looks up from his meal.

I collapse into his arms, trembling. “You’re okay,” I whisper, more to myself.

“Why are you being weird?” he laughs, and I hug him more.

For me it was a journey, for them it was a couple of hours.

I go upstairs to my room, close the door, and let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Everything is back to normal.

I look at myself in the mirror, take off my shirt, immediately my veins bulge like they did at the church.

I step back, look at the mirror again.

Why am I smiling?

I feel tears, but in the mirror, I am smiling.

What’s going on, I reach my necklace to hold it.

It’s not there.

A deep voice inside me, my voice, speaks in a laughing cold way.

“We got her”

And I realize the truth.

I didn’t escape.

I just brought it home.