Twisted Destiny : Endless nightmare

Edward.

His name echoed in my mind, sharp and unrelenting. And that eye… it lingered, vast and consuming, a memory that refused to fade. Then, another fragment surfaced, a poem etched deep into my subconscious.

When the sky is torn asunder,

And shadows stretch with growing thunder,

The Eye of Devour peers below,

Bringing forth eternal woe.

Beware the gaze that sees your soul,

For no mercy will it know.

Its hunger vast, its darkness deep,

In its stare, your end shall creep.

Turn away, do not defy,

For beneath its watch, all must die.

A fate far worse than death awaits,

Where hope is lost and time abates.

When the heavens break and tremble,

And the world begins to crumble,

Seek no answers in the skies-

The Eye devours, and never lies.

The words echoed in my skull, relentless and haunting. Each syllable pounded against my mind, a searing ache blooming behind my eyes and spreading like wildfire.

I clutched my head, fingers digging into my scalp as if I could claw the pain away. The agony was blinding, a relentless hammer driving nails into my skull with every pulse. My vision blurred, the edges darkening with each surge.

What the hell was that?

The poem—or was it a prophecy…

Did I know something would be happening to me….

The words dragged with them a creeping sense of dread. The Eye flashed in my memory—gazing down from the shattered sky, its unblinking stare filled with malice. My breath came in short, ragged gasps, and the pain intensified until I thought my skull might split open.

The questions churned, My breath came in short, ragged gasps as I clutched my head, the pain reaching a blinding crescendo.

Then it came—a sudden, icy chill radiating from my earring.

The cold seeped into my mind, soothing the fire and smothering the pain. My breathing steadied as the relentless pressure lifted, leaving only a dull ache behind. I exhaled, trembling, the haze clearing just enough for more fragments of memory to surface.

Flashes of her—my mother.

And a name: Pairah. It carried weight, heavy with meaning, but the details remained elusive, slipping through my fingers like smoke.

Then another memory broke through the fog.

"You should never have accepted it, Alexis. This… gift will cost you more than you realize."

Her voice was sharp with frustration, her expression a storm of worry and anger. She stood over me, hands clenched at her sides, trembling. The memory blurred at the edges, and I couldn't hold onto it.

What had I accepted? What gift worried her so much?

My fingers brushed against the earring—the small dragon-shaped ornament cold under my touch. Was this it? The "gift" she had warned me about? It seemed too insignificant to bear such weight. Yet the chill it emanated, the way it tugged at my memories, couldn't be coincidence.

I leaned back against the cold stone wall, closing my eyes. The faint green glow of moss painted shifting patterns on the inside of my lids.

I ..I.. I need answers….

The thought cut through me like a blade, sharp and clear.

What had happened to me? To my family? To Edward? And what was this… thing that had been done to me?

The names came to me again, weighted and familiar. Mom. Aunt Nora. Alice. Each one a tether to something I couldn't yet see but desperately needed to understand.

And one truth stood out amidst the chaos: I needed to get stronger.

Strong enough to stand beside my mother.

I may have forgotten nearly everything, but this - this I knew for certain. My mother was the strongest being on earth. She was powerful, far beyond what anyone else could dream of.

And I? I had been weak. Weak enough to watch the people I cared about die.

I have to grow stronger. Strong enough to not give a fuck about anything.

The thought burned in my mind. The flashes of Edward's death, of the Eye, of the monsters were all tangled up in that weakness.

Not anymore.

I pushed myself to my feet, every muscle screaming in protest. My legs trembled, barely able to hold my weight. The cave spun, jagged walls shifting like liquid, but I steadied myself with a hand against the stone.

Pathetic.

I sneered at my own frailty, my breath coming in slow, measured bursts. My body may have been weak, but my mind wasn't. Not anymore.

Focus, Lexi. What would Mom say if she saw you like this?

The thought steadied me. Another breath. Then another. The trembling eased, and I stood without leaning on the wall. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

I began to stretch, rolling my shoulders and neck, ignoring the sharp cracks and dull aches rippling through my body. Painful, but necessary. Next came light movements—squats, steps, anything to wake up my muscles. The soreness was unrelenting, but I kept going.

By the time I finished, my breathing was ragged, but my body felt alive again, if barely. I leaned against the wall, chuckling bitterly.

Leaning against the wall again, I chuckled to myself.

What would my gym buddies say if they saw me now? Taking this long just to warm up…

The faint glow of moss guided me as I began to explore the cave. My steps were cautious, deliberate, the jagged stones digging into my bare feet. The cavern wasn't large, but its distorted shadows made it feel like a labyrinth.

I found a narrow passage in the far wall—the only apparent way in or out.

A single passage? No other way… how the hell did I even end up here?

The thought gnawed at me as I scanned the walls for another exit. There was none. Someone—or something—had brought me here. Teleportation? Some kind of ability I didn't understand?

It was disorienting, the way the glowing moss cast everything in that sickly green hue, and before I knew it, I found myself back where I started, the monster's corpse.

The stench of decay hit me like a wall, and I grimaced. Its bloated, grotesque form lay twisted on the ground, parts of its flesh burned and festering.

Aunt Nora's voice echoed in my mind, calm and firm:

"Always analyze them, Lexi. A post-mortem is your best opportunity to identify their vulnerabilities. Examine their skeletal structure, and observe how their body fails. Understanding this will make you more efficient in future encounters."

"Even if that may be disgusting work and you may even stink but it may help you to survive"

I sighed, kneeling beside the corpse despite my revulsion. Reaching up, I tore a handful of glowing moss from the wall and fashioned it into a crude light source. The dim green glow illuminated the monster's massive, hulking frame.

The thing was massive. Around six or seven feet in length, bulky, with broad shoulders and thick limbs. I hovered my moss-light over it, revealing its full, grotesque form. It was an ugly monster that for sure. Rotting flesh clung to its body in patches not sure if that's natural. Parts of its skin looked burned, charred in some places, while others were cracked and festering.

I shook my head, trying to push the lingering nausea aside. I needed to focus.

Ignoring the stench, I traced my hand along the corpse's shoulder, feeling the leathery surface beneath my fingertips. It was firm, almost unnaturally so. Out of curiosity, I knocked my knuckles against it, expecting some give, but the skin didn't yield at all.

Damn. This thing's hide is tough, almost like armor only natural of course.

I moved my hands toward its limbs, and that's when I noticed something that made me pause. Extending from its elbows were long, dirty white blades bone-like, roughly 30 to 40 inches in length, curving slightly at the tip. I leaned in closer, running my index finger very lightly along the edge. Almost instantly, I felt a sharp sting as the blade sliced through the surface of my skin.

I jerked my hand back. Damn it is sharp.ahghh...

I inspected the blade again. Both of the creature's elbow joints had these weapons embedded in them. Taking a deep breath, I reached out and grabbed one of the blades, trying to pull it free.

It didn't budge. Figured.

Frustrated, I turned to the other elbow and noticed that the joint there was barely hanging together. Flesh and sinew dangled loosely, and with some effort, I managed to pull the entire right elbow free. The blade came out with a sickening squish, the flesh giving way in my hand.

uegh….aeuk

I exhaled and moved to the other side, gripping the second blade firmly before chopping it clean from the rest of the corpse.

I inspected the cleaner bone blade, turning it over in my hands. It was a little shorter than a longsword, but it would have to do. I hefted it, testing its weight, then gave it a few swings through the air. The balance was off.

Sighing, I muttered to myself, "These need work. The weight's horribly distributed… no pommel to counterbalance, and the grip's nonexistent."

Still, the blade's sharpness was impressive, dangerous even.

I shifted into a stabbing stance, the familiar motion coming back to me as muscle memory took over. With a quick thrust, I drove the tip of the blade into the monster's corpse. It pierced the leathery hide with surprising ease, sinking in deeper than I had expected.

"Yeah… with a few adjustments, I could make a decent weapon out of you," I murmured, pulling the blade free and staring at it with a strange sense of appreciation. There was potential here.

Satisfied for now, I moved to the second bone blade, cleaning off the remaining flesh stuck to it. Once both blades were set aside, I turned my attention back to the corpse. Kneeling down, I examined its face more closely. It had an elongated, almost reptilian shape, with slitted pupils that gave it a predatory look. Its maw, though, that was something else.

The mouth was full of teeth. Too many teeth. They jutted out at odd angles, sharp and twisted, mutation and it had gone horribly wrong. I grimaced, feeling a deep unease as I stared at the unnatural formation.

"Stuff from nightmare" I muttered.

Bracing myself, I tried to flip the corpse onto its back. It was heavier than it looked, the weight straining every muscle in my body. With a final grunt, I managed to roll it over, the impact echoing through the cave.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and stared at the grotesque creature.

This thing weighs a damn ton.