Writing- Gothic Short Novel "Normal Days"

Normal Days 

 Fog clung to the village like a second skin, thick and oppressive. Children had vanished; men lay dead in the fields; crops withered as though cursed. The village murmured about these curses, deaths, disappearances, and the witchcraft behind it, where everyone eyed each other in silence. 

The girl kept her head down walking in the soaked earth and through the cold view of the village's people of fear, suspicion, and loathe, tainting her since her mother’s execution in witch-hunt 6 years ago. The witch-hunt was composed of absurd choices of suspects, executed by staking. The girl was ignoring the gossip until she sensed a familiar name- striking her in the cold: her closest friend was missing.

Her heart pounded with thoughts racing inside. She ran out and noticed the full-grown crops were all withered; this signaled a big incident. Sharply, she turned to the forest, where her friend had last been seen. As she pushed deeper into the forests. Shadow awaits.  The thickened fog agitated; it was daytime, but it seemed as if it were midnight. Autumn leaves crunching underfoot and the vibrant hues of the browns and grays wrapped her ears.  She relied on only the spot of light peeking in through the forest, which vanished without a knowing consent. She made a step into the forest, but each step seemed heavier as she was being held down. The silence was oppressive, and where the unseen creature hooted and rustled, fear grasped her heart. 

This forest seemed familiar, as if she had been here, must not be only once but multiple times, as new memories of her senses from this scene awoke. Unfortunately, in this dark, cold, and grotesque forest, her memories weren’t frankly pleasant; fear captured her. Her imagination and her sight seemed to collide with each other. The shadows seemed to swiftly chase her. The swamps seemed to be full of blood. At that moment, the paced steps of rustling leaves came closer and closer, and shadows grew and captured her. She felt cold, 5 long figures on her ankle.  She ran from her living nightmare. 

But who could have heard the squeal of a girl in a dreaded forest other than us? 

There existed a scream which became distant. At the end,  2 lifeless pants ripped their way out between the fraught silence. 

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The cold breeze had wrapped her bones, and the fog was now a blanket of darkness. The forest was unnatural - it was silent and calm. No stir of wind, no rustling of leaves, no creatures, no sign of movement anywhere. As if the whole world fell to sleep as she had done. 

In fear and panic, she made her way out of the darkened forest, guided only by the faint moonlight peaking in the forest. 

Time seemed to be distorted, as minutes felt like days in this forest, but she finally emerged from the woods and arrived at the place of safety, following the speck of light. She then realized that the faint glow of light wasn’t the moonlight but was the torches held by all of the villagers. Something was terribly wrong.

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She woke up. 

She was bound to a chair with tight ropes. She felt pain in her arms, feet, and cheeks. At that moment, she was slapped with ice-cold water, and her head fell to the ground.

“ You killed her?” a strong overwhelming voice yelled at her. 

Frightened, she realized the suspect in this witch hunt. 

Her head rose and saw a crumpled face. 

“I didn’t do anything!!”, she screamed. 

A metal stick was being heated. He held it and came toward her, in fear she squealed “I didn’t!” 

What a pity, even the smallest pigs would be heard better than her voice. 

Heat tucked her whole body and cried in pain.

He held a mirror in her face, and with satisfaction yelled “ Look! this is who you are!” and whispered in her face  “the horrible witch.” 

Staggering herself up, she saw her filthy face with a sneer smile reflected. 

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Suddenly she was in the public square and the tight ropes changed to tight ropes. 

The very man who tortured her apologized for the mistake. 

She immediately hissed “ Get away from me!” 

He told her to look in front, where a dejected woman(her-age) was tied by the stake. She was the victim of this witch-hunt. 

The town was filled with flourishing profanities of all kinds fired at her, however everyone was at ease, since this is the routine.

The dreadly hot flame was set. 

Something warm rolled down her cheek but it wasn’t the flames. 

The girl suddenly fled, crying out for God's mercy. 

Hecticly, she banged and locked the door in fear. There her eyes met with a sly smile on the face with tears in her reflection. She fell on her knees. This couldn’t be her. 

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She awoke. 

An overpowering stench of decay was sensed on her nose, in disgust she turned her gaze. Viewed the piles of bloodied remnants: severed fingers, decaying heads, bones.

Panic consumes her. A voice mocking her terror hissed. 

“Finally found out? Scream! Who would listen?”

In shock she cries “ Who are you!”

“ THINK! You should know!”, ringing inside. 

The candles were going off glimmering in red, like a warning sign, shining in red, as the crimson bloodshed. 

Memories are crammed in her mind, fragment by fragment, , where she first harmed animals, crops, and those around her, the moment she watched her mother die. She sees memories of cruel thoughts and murders, she barely recognizes them as her own. Faces flashed in her memory, where they are stabbed, chopped, pushed, all killed. The pile was of those people. The memories are relentless, each confirms her darkest fears. All the time, it was her. She herself was the madman who had been killing all those people. 

She screams” How could you kill all those people!” 

“ Oh, shut up and just think for once. It was SATISFYING! You wanted it.” echoed inside.

Her heart pounds in terror “No I never!” 

“Never? I’m acting on what you wanted, what you’ve always wished for, for all these years.”, hissed inside. 

Her face felt like it burst out from above and below. In fear she hecticly escaped to the stairs. 

Each step, the voice got louder. “ Tell me, when did the witch-hunt and everything even start?” 

She hesitated, but her memories pressed and fragments connected, whispering “ Six years ago… when my mother…” her voice cracks. 

The heavy dark fog had encaptured the whole house, the bloodshed red lights were the only light which guided her. 

“You killed her!” she cried. “My friends…everyone”, her voice was seized with tears. 

The voice grew stronger “ No, You did! You hated them, you always wanted to kill them. And your mother? She was the first one you hated! She held you behind and forced you to do all those things. I am the only one who really understands you and fulfills your wishes! I am you!” 

She stumbled back, feeling a sense of detachment. “ You aren’t me! You’re just …..some… evil..”

The voice mocked “ Evil? Pity thing, You fear and give all blame to me. The truth! The real you- the part you always wanted to hide behind your pathetic fake mask coated with sweet paint. You fear and lock yourself in the facade. I touched the hidden side of yours and fulfilled your darkest desires, while you play saint. ”

She stepped back, opening the pandora’s box, as the angels screamed her name of sin. The blame is on Satan. 

 She took a deep breath. The silence strangled her, every breath she panted devoured her soul. Her breath encaptured the house with the fog. 

She first felt as if she was Eve, decoyed into sin, but now she acknowledged that she was the serpent. She tore Eden apart, there was no sign of goodness to be sensed. 

The inner voice laughs louder, filling her mind with its cold presence. “ You can’t do anything, We’ve done everything, it was all what you wanted. You can’t fight me anymore. You can't run and you can’t hide. Now, the world has only the two of us, shall I say one?” 

She shook her head and gripped the desk. Her grip got colder, almost freezing, feeling a shiver run down her spine and come back.

“It’s obvious you deceived heaven and chose hell, you’re with the devil, sweetheart.” the voice advised satirical, with a sympathetic tone. 

 Staring into the mirror, her reflection was distorted, a sinister smile stretching wider and wider, with her eyes becoming cold and darker.

The voice yelled “ Face it! Look! ” 

She forcefully held her face forward. 

“ Do you see the monster! It's in your veins. LOOK! I Am You!” the inner voice echoed until it felt inescapable.

She felt something dark settle on her. And this time, she knew it was right. But she wasn't looking for the inner voice.

She was the Inner Voice. 

Citation

• Jekyll and hyde