Macie's Plagues

• Charlee Rose Murtough-Coombes, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2020

Her heart was pounding, her palms were sweaty.
‘Deep breaths, Macie,’ She thought.
‘It’s ok, you’ll be ok. Just breathe.’ She was frozen, her silky blue gown flowing in the warm wind that shouldn’t exist. He kept coming towards her, his footsteps sending shivers down her spine. Macie’s breaths became short and her heart kept skipping beats as each footstep bought him closer, closer, closer. She couldn’t see his face, yet she felt as though she knew him her whole life.
Finally, he reached her. The wind stopped and her dress fell back at her ankles like magic. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into an embrace. Macie let out a sharp breath and butterflies in her stomach fluttered around aggressively. Finally, after all of her pain, after all of her heartbreak, she could feel alive again. The man held out his pale hand, beckoning Macie to accept it. Macie went to take her man's hand, desperately craving the happiness it will bring. But she hesitated. She still couldn't see the man's face in the dark of the room, and she had learnt from recent experiences that you couldn't trust straight away, no matter how desperate you are.
“Who are you?” Macie asked. The man stayed silent, now the only sound the returning warm wind. Macie felt her heart squeeze in her chest. This wasn't good.
'Oh, god, please not again.' She looked up at the mystery man, nervousness filling her mind. She retracted her hand and stepped back.
'Please just be shy, please just be shy.' She begged silently.
“Who are you?” She demanded, panicking as the wind turned cold and picked up around them. As if on cue a gentle light came through the ceiling and hit the man in the face.
Only it wasn’t a man.
It wasn’t a girl.
It wasn’t even human...
It was Plague.
Macie screamed and stumbled backwards. Plague cackled, her slit eyes smoking. and acid-like vines shot out of her filthy hands- heading straight for Macie. She shrieked and fought against them. They made their way into her open mouth. Macie’s mind spun, Fear gripped the girl as vomit made their way up her throat. ‘Please don’t let this be the end.’ She begged silently as if that was going to do anything. She lay there, struggling, screaming- dying. The dark world cracked like glass around them and cold winds whipped Macie’s hair against her face.
“Let me go, let me go!” She choked as the vines squeezed her aching heart. She felt her eyes vibrate, and felt her blood turn cold, and felt her very soul is pushed out of her own body, taken over by crazed fury. Screams of rage and pain shattered the sound of raging winds as Plague made her way to her prisoner.
“Bye Bye, Measle.” She turned on her killer heels and started. She stopped suddenly and turned.
“Die.”
And she did, a past trauma taking over once again.