Alrighty! It’s that time again! Short story!
As before, this one is for a contest on figment.com in response to a prompt.
Fortunately, this one is not heart-based and all of them will be read, which is pretty great.
Prompt for [Sweetest Dark Realistic Magic Contest]: In 200 words or less, write a sketch about a character and his or her magical skills that come with a cost.
This was a good exercise for me since I don’t typically write first person. So here it is!
I cornered him in that dark alley. My electrokinetic magic crackled over my knuckles and arced between my bony, skeletal fingers. I knew how this would end all too well.
“Grace!” he backed into the red brick wall. “Grace!”
“You condemned yourself,” I said coldly, the electricity casting an eerie blue glow over my face. It created a prickly, tingling sensation as it ran over my skin, but I knew that would change all too soon. “Too little, too late,” I scolded. “But don’t worry. It won’t hurt a bit.”
Little did he know, I was actually telling the truth. For a moment, I hesitated. But then, raising my arm, I released a searing arc of electricity into his body. The blue beam slammed him back into the brick wall, but other than that I knew he felt nothing, which infuriated me even more.
Instead, a burning, blistering pain erupted all over my body. I could swear that my skin was melting off. I screamed until it was the only thing I could hear. I thought I would pass out, but when I let up, it was his body that was unrecognizable. Me? Unscathed.
“I told you it wouldn’t hurt.”
StoryCloset 