To Become a Monster - ONC 2024

Prologue

The sun was shining the day the girl was condemned to die, and the feeling of warmth on her back still remained as she sat in the cell that was meant to be her saviour. She couldn't hurt anyone here, they had told her, and trapping a child was so much better than killing one. That, as she had found over the past years, was not much of a comfort when you hadn't had anything but the sticky, dead dampness of stone on your skin for an eternity. But it wasn't as if there was anyone to complain to about it, and those words were as much of a cage as the memory of that day itself. 

Sunlight had fallen in through her window like the blow of an executioner- blinding and beautiful. She rushed through getting ready, hastily pulling on some old dress or whatever was laid out for her, barely even brushing her hair before sprinting down the stairs. Time yawned forward, seemingly endless, as her empty schedule beckoned her outside, a siren song she would inevitably have to follow. And, so she did.  

The forest was alive with the sound of a thousand different creatures, scuttling and singing together in harmony. The rough bark of trees, the feather-soft petals of bright flowers, the gem-like green of the grass all blurred together, with a hazy feeling of joy that pervaded them all. But the girl had just rushed past all of that, running and running without ever considering stopping. Why would she? She had all the time in the world. 

That was until she saw the bird. 

Children are not often creatures unfamiliar with death, and this girl had seen enough of it to recognise that this little, vulnerable being was not far from it. Some beast had got to it, dyeing its brown feathers crimson with the blood that crawled out of the sharp wound of claws and teeth but leaving it under the shade of emerald leaves. What a pity that something so used to soaring above the clouds would have to die at the base of some gnarled tree, so far from the light that filtered down towards it. 

The girl slunk to her knees, scanning her surroundings swiftly before she began her work. Gold light and strings fell from smooth, short fingers, springing into flowers and intricate patterns as they touched the bird. The world around seemed to fall away, leaving just the girl and the injury and those golden threads. She pulled at each one with the calm and care of a practised seamstress, not satisfied until each inch of skin was weaved back together. And, when it was, it hopped up, with a small chirp and black eyes flashing with unspeakable gratitude, before darting away to join its friends. 

Her smile fell as a metal-covered hand grasped her shoulder, as a shiver snapped down her spine. The tears came as it gripped her, ripping her up from her spot where she had just knelt in the grass. And, finally, awfully, it brought sharp oblivion with a blunt blow on the back of her skull. 

Time, after that, was a fractured fog, filled with brief flashes, never stretching forward as before, only constricting like a serpentine noose around her future. Grotesque images of her father's rage, his pity, and ultimately his grief-filled resignation rushed through her mind and even now she could see every vein thrumming below his skin, the water in his eyes as he sentenced her to this, this fate worse than the death he could have gifted her. 

"It's for the best," he smiled, the final words she heard before he gave the nod that trapped her in this wretched cage. And that was it. That was her great awful crime that stripped her from sunlit fields and sweet joy as a whole. That was the end of her freedom. 

But it would not be forever. 

In the dark silence, five words screamed through her mind, growing louder and louder by the second. Even as years of stasis slipped from her skin, they remained constant and dependable - her only friend. 

And as the stone wall ground open and bright - beautiful, blinding, bright light caressed her skin, those words were the first that jumped out of her mouth. 

"I will have my revenge." 

A white, wolfish smile creeping out of the silhouette in the doorway was her only response.

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Word count - 740 ( according to Wattpad on my laptop) 

A/N- 

Hi! Thank you so much for reading :) I genuinely get so excited when I see the numbers of votes and comments and stuff increasing (yes this is a cry for validation and stuff but oh well). I (hopefully) will actually finish this project (hides last year's ONC project I said I'd return to behind my back). I was going to say something else here but I've been distracted by my overuse of parentheses in this little note so I guess I'll finish this up. I'll have the next chapter up soon (probably (here I go with the parentheses again)) so I hope I'll see you then (I promise it'll get better (I hope))

Thank you again,

- RJ :)