I have a 48 hour extension! 1760 words Part 1: 345 words for my section, 151 words for the time jump of Moonlit’s part I wish I could have told you more about Bellmare, but I am afraid you arrived a few hours too late. You enter the misty town, sage-green slivers of steam slithering through the streets like sea snakes. In an attempt to read the worn-down signs, you squint, eyebrows furrowing to concentrate on the shapes of letters. I grab your leg, gasping for oxygen as I crawl from the doorway of an abandoned tavern. My fingernails dig into your linen pants, imprinting crescents into the fabric. You jump, almost ready to punt me until you realize I am only a little girl. “What are you doing here?” You try to shake me off, but I tighten my grip. “Please, help. My mother’s dying. My brother’s missing,” I whisper, my voice so quiet you may have mistaken the sounds as just wind. “The auroras—they’re leaking.” “The auroras?” You brush your hand through the gas, watching puffs disperse in an anti-gravity motion. “Okay, we’ll head inside. What’s your name?” My mouth opens to speak, but only spit particles fly out. You pause, waiting for an answer before realizing vocal weakness is a symptom of fatal aurora asphyxiation. Understanding I am too young to know this, you lift me into your arms. My skin is as brittle as peeling paint, and my eyes have evolved from a cashmere brown to an ink black. You know I am dying; I do not. My arm trembles, pointing at my necklace. You lift the charm to eye level, inspecting the metal for clues. #8765. “Is this… your name?” You tug on the tavern door, but it doesn’t budge. I nod. “No.” You try the door again, a confused expression plastered on your face. “What is it then?” With my remaining strength, I face towards the door and mouth the word again. No. “What do you mean?” As I watch you tug on the handle again, I wince. It’s too late to warn you now. The door explodes open. You drop me to the floor as you stand, petrified by the sight inside. ————————— The world is eerily quiet, now that all the students are dead. We have become ghosts, forever cursed to wander the halls of St. Woecliffe. It’s been years since the professors were either banished out of existence or transported to an alternate dimension. Regardless, we have been trapped in ghost form. I remember when I was a naive student, eager to jump into the world of gargoyles and magical spells. Now, I realize how wrong I was to be excited. I wonder how I died; it was nothing more than a quick flash. I don’t remember anything, only that there was a terrible accident at St. Woecliffe. Now, I am just another one of the many ghosts that haunt these halls. Sometimes I make small talk with the other ghosts and gargoyles, but these days, we find nothing to talk about. St. Woecliffe has been abandoned. Nobody stops by here anymore. —————————— Part 2: 201 words for first part, 208 words for the second part The green ring, half-buried in the sand, glistens in the dim moonlight. My metal detector beeps as it brushes over the metal jewelry. Turning off the machine, I fetch the ring out of the sand, washing it with river water. Despite the wear and tear from the grains of sand, the ring is perfectly polished with a shiny finish. I fidget it with the ring in my hands, wondering what to do with it. The waves must have washed it up; the original owner of this ring must terribly miss it. If there was an original owner; this ring could have very well never been worn before due to its peak condition. I place the ring in my pocket before changing my mind and donning it on one of my fingers instead. It fits perfectly. A nagging feeling questions why such a ring could have washed up on these shores on this particular night. Perhaps it was waiting to be found. Well, finders keepers. I turn on the metal detector machine and begin strolling down the shore again, whistling a joyful tune. This was the best find in weeks; it would be a great addition to my growing collection of treasures. ————————— The weather is angry on this particular night. I hold on for dear life to the railings; the ship is beginning to sink, and there are no signs of rescue. I run over to the captain. "What are we going to do? The ship is sinking!" I frantically press the emergency buttons, but the water and lightning have already short-circuited its functionality." Get on a lifeboat. Go without me," the captain yells, pointing at the last lifeboat on the ship. I sigh. The captain was going to go down with his ship. Understanding, I run over to the lifeboat and begin lowering it into the water. The remaining crew has likely already slipped overboard or escaped with the other lifeboats. I don the life jacket and climb into the lifeboat.
The waves are rough. After a few minutes, the storm capsizes my lifeboat. I try to climb back on, but in the process, my green-tinted ring slides off my finger. I let go of the lifeboat and attempt to snatch the ring back, but it is too late. The currents have washed away the ring, forever lost in the ocean depths. My mouth filling with water, I search for the lifeboat, but it has floated out of reach. ————————— Part 3: 305 words I watch the walls of the castle begin to crumble; the Overseer has found our hiding place. The furniture in the room begins to disintegrate. I look at the exit. It is wide open. I make a run for it. My guards run after me. "Sir, we need to get out of here as fast as possible! The castle is crumbling!" I make a sharp turn, nearly tripping over the scarlet rug. "I know! But where do we run to?" "There are tunnels beneath this castle. We can try to enter into one of the secret passageways," a guard explains. The sound of crashing metal and the smell of rotting wood overwhelm the atmosphere. I quicken my pace, confused about where I should be heading. "Down this way!" A guard points to one of the doors. Another guard quickly opens the door, rushing us inside. I oblige, finding no better option. In the secret passageway, the guards begin lighting the torches in the tunnel to provide illumination. I shudder, wondering what ancient skeletons could be trapped in these tunnels. "Quicky! Let's go!" I hurry down the passageway, brushing away the gauzy cobwebs accumulating on my face. The scenery is a blur as we make more turns and twists, trying to navigate the underground castle system. Dirt begins to fall from the ceiling; the tunnels could collapse at any moment. Then, I see light. A bright glowing light. I hurry towards the bright pulse and jump out, just in time as the tunnel collapses behind me. It takes me a moment to realize I am falling. I scream, wondering if this will be the end, before crashing into the lucid water below. My clothes are all wet, but for now, I am alive. I breathe out a sigh of relief, treading water to keep myself afloat. Part 4: 502 words (I used pacing and passage of time) I knew there was a place somewhere in the forest where we could plant our saplings. But first, we needed to figure out where we could deposit the seeds unnoticed. In the haunted forest, not much grows here. The wind and spirits tend to blow the seeds away, leading to a lack of diversity when it comes to the flora. I wander through the forest, brushing past the canopies and ignoring the incessant chirping of birds in the background. There was a mission I had to complete, and right now, the forest noises were not helping. Going beneath a curtain of vines, I tiptoe past the boulders and rocks. In my pocket, the seed was waiting to be planted; if everything went according to plan, the forest would revert back to its beautiful state. The monsters would all be banished and life would return back to the forest. But for right now, the placement of the seed was the most important objective. My partner taps me on my shoulder. "I think I found a clearing this way. We should test it out." As we approach the aforementioned clearing, I notice that the ground here is different. While the other areas in the forest had dirt that was dull and lifeless, the ground here had a pinch of color remaining in it. "It looks promising," I mumble, trying to find the perfect patch of dirt. There was no room for error; if we messed up, the entire forest would forever be cursed with no hope of ever freeing it from its infestation. "How about right here?" My partner points to an area of soil that is shaded differently than its surrounding area. "It could work." I pull out a thermometer and stab it into the dirt. I examine the reading; it's warm, unlike the other spots of dirt we tested. "It looks promising." My partner takes out a trowel and begins to dig a pit. The deeper we dig, the less likely the spirits will blow the seed away. We had to ensure the integrity of this sapling, or else, there was no point in coming here. I place the seed in the pit. We quickly cover the seed. "I guess this is it." I sigh. "Time to see if this works." (10 years later) The forest has begun to rediscover its vitality. After a few years, the medicinal tree spread its chemicals throughout the land, lifting the forest from its curse. The monsters were finally gone, and life was beginning to return to the previously cursed forest. I step into the forest, trying to find the medicinal tree that was planted years prior. As I retrace my footsteps, I notice the vibrant glow coming from the trees and the lusciousness of the greenery. Grass finally covers the dirt that used to be inhabitable. I finally stumble to the spot where the tree was planted. The medicinal tree was still there, its branches wide and proud. I smile. The forest has been saved.
