➵ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓: 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒 [𝐊.𝐓𝐇]

"Time to do something stupid."

"You sure?" her voice sounded awfully unnatural now- a little too high and a little too rough to be truly there and present. Your backward steps increased in speed now, not wanting to look at the strange woman any longer but on the other hand also not wanting to turn your back on her. She continued to saunter forward leisurely, not walking like an old woman at all.

Your breathing speed turned up a notch as another spike of fear entered you. The woman just cocked her head and grinned wickedly at your nervous expression.

"I'm sorry, but I need to-" you began to turn away, trying to mask your fear, but in an instant, even while you wee still turning around, the woman was in front of you, leering, the sneer twisting her elegant face. Her bony hand lashed out, twisted fingers gripping your wrist and nails digging painfully into your skin. 

"Oh no," she chirped cheerfully, "You're not going anywhere, chickie."

"Please," you tried pulling away, but the woman's grip was ridiculously strong, and besides, you were already tired and weak. You didn't stand a chance. The woman's dark, dark red hair gleamed in the dim lights from the flickering streetlamps. At your weak plea, the woman just laughed. You looked down at the hand encircling your wrist.

The fingers were tipped with wickedly sharp black nails, filed to points. The skin was hard and grated almost painfully against your hand.

WhAT the freaky sh*t-

Your eyes snapped up to her face, to her strange cloak. She was close enough so that you could see what it was made of- dirty, dull, matted feathers. Her features were graceful, almost birdlike.

Alarms began to ring in your head. Maybe it was all the Greek myths you had been reading for the exhibit, maybe all the monsters were coming to life in your tired mind, maybe you were just seriously creeped out. But you didn't know what to do, how to get rid of this woman who was causing you to see monsters in her eyes, but you made a decision you would regret for the rest of your life.

Time to do something stupid.

You let the box in your arms crash to the ground, making the strange woman in front of you rear back in surprise. Without a second thought, you pulled the sword in it out, your hand fitting perfectly around the hilt. The humming, vibrating grew louder and stronger as you gripped it tighter, but you paid it no mind.

Holy HELL, this damn thing is heavy!

It took all you had to lift it up, and the instant you did, the woman fully let go of your wrist and staggered back, mouth gaping in fear. "What in Olympus-"

The sword shone a gorgeous bronze in the darkness of the street as you struggled to hold it up. And yes, it wasn't just the illusion of a glow you had seen before in the museum- now it was scientifically proven by you: the strange thing really DID glow. The light emitting from it was a beautiful, deep red-bronze. The diamonds that had previously winked crystal-clear on the blade now shone a blood-red tone.

There was something strange going on here, something wrong. But were you thinking about that right now?

No.

The only thing YOU were thinking was how you were possibly going to be able to even lift the sword for another MOMENT because it was so damn heavy you felt like your arm was going to fall off. And that wasn't even the end of it! With every second you held it, the weight of it seemed to increase, as if it was filling with stones. You let the tip of it fall on the ground. What exactly was this thing MADE of?

Every moment that passed, the glow grew brighter. The vibrating increased. The tension thickened in the air, as if lighting was about to come crashing down any moment.