Injection: Pulling Strings

Pulling Strings

Razia noticed that a fog was creeping in underneath her. She jumped to her feet and fell into the table behind her. A few books crashed to the floor. Startled, she turned and saw that the room had been consumed with the grey fog. "What is happening in here?" she cried. She whipped back around to the sound of cracking behind her. Narin had started to rise like a marionette. Her broken bones limply cracking against each other. "Narin, dear! Please stay down! You're injured!" She wanted to calm her, but couldn't bring herself to get any closer.

But Narin's body kept cracking in to place. Her arms hung at her side. She tried to raise them but the bones snapped and dangled. Her fingers writhed and twitched, as if trying to reach out for her. Her back lifted her up, but couldn't move any higher than a hunch; weighed down by the front of her torso. She dragged her feet along the ground at the end of her broken legs. Blood drained down her body and trailed on the floor as she limped along. Her skin had greyed, and the outline of her skeleton pushed through her skin, tearing through at her collarbone, and hips. Even her clothing had rotted and tore away, revealing more of her gaunt figure.

Razia backed away as the figure lurched towards her. She was on the verge of tears as she turned to face the wall of fog. She looked back once more and saw the figure advancing towards her. Razia took a whimpering breath and ran into the grey fog. She tried weaving her way through the tables, but they were rendered invisible by the fog. Books fell to the ground as she blindly stumbled into tables. The cracking of bone followed her as she tried to find the exit. She could hear every step the monstrosity took. But with every corner she turned, the cracking seemed to move to a different part of the room. The sound floated around her, surrounding her. It grew louder and closer and filled her ears. The cracking monster was everywhere, hiding at the edge of her vision. Waiting for her to turn the wrong corner and fall into its grasp.

She kept weaving her way through the tables, trying to escape the horrible sound. She rounded another corner and stopped dead in her tracks as a mangled hand reached out of the fog and grabbed her. She screamed and pushed away in the opposite direction. Her hijab pulled off her head, but she continued without it. She ran down another row. Turned left, then right, right again. She took another step and fell through the air for half a second. The stairs!

She groped through the fog for a handrail and dashed down the stairs. The fog thinned out as she reached the bottom. She could see again. She turned and looked up at the cloud of fog. A wave of relief washed over. But a mangled arm soon broke the surface of the fog. Panic gripped her once more as Narin's disfigured body emerged from the fog and rolled down the steps. She turned to the museum and ran down the row of displays.

She looked over her shoulder, and saw the figure crawl to its feet. It staggered along the ground moving faster than it did before. She turned back and saw the broken glass surrounding the pedestal. But... How could it be? The bracer sat on its pedestal again. She stepped through the sea of broken glass and grabbed the bracer. She slipped it over her hand and buckled it to her wrist. The monstrosity clawed its way through the glass, ignoring the shards that stabbed into its body.

With a flick of her wrist, a blade shot out the front of the bracer. "Stay back!" Razia shouted at it. But it kept cracking towards her. It's forearm started to rise at the end of its limp elbow; its wretched hands reached out for her. "Back!" she shouted again. But it kept advancing. Without wasting another second, Razia slashed the monster with her sword. But the blade passed harmlessly through the monster's arms. She slashed again; and it passed through. Panic and anxiety gripped her harder. "No!!" she screamed as her slashes passed through the monster again and again. She looked down at the bracer and flicked it in and out, trying to fix it. As she touched it, the bracer evaporated into a grey fog, and slithered away. "You are alone," the fog hissed, and the monster crashed down on top of her.