Miraculous: Tales of the Unknown

by Krystal McLaughlin

  “It’ll be okay,” the green one speaks up. “We won’t let you fall.”

  I’m still unsure, but I slowly make my way over there. I stop before I can look over the railing. “What is this place?”

  “It’s almost like a lab,” the blue ones says, his crimson eyes sparkling.

  “I’m amazed you know anything about a lab.”

  “We’re not dumb,” a new voice says.

  I whirl around, my eyes finding a purple female. Her eyes were a pretty red, twirling from dark to light and back again. Her scales shines under the dim lighting. She almost looks like a diamond.

  “I never said you were.”

  “You implied it.”

  “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

  “You would never understand what it takes to be this,” she snaps.

  “What?” Her words leaves me confused. I try to make sense of them, but find I can’t.

  “She’ll learn,” the green one says, shooting her a glare. “She only just turned.”

  “She won’t know as much,” the blue adds.

  “I can tell.”

  “What do you mean? How was I turned?” I ask. Fear trembles within me, but I ignore it.

  “It’s complicated to explain,” the blue ones says to me.

  “Well, make it less complicated.”

  “We can’t,” the purple creature interjects.

  “Try.”

  Silence fills the space around us. I bite my lip, waiting for them to object, to call me crazy or something. But they don’t. Instead, neither one of the creatures speaks, but just stares at me. I begin to grow uncomfortable, my stomach flipping with nerves.

  Finally the blue one says, “Okay. Well, I guess it freezes your nerves, killing and transferring them to the DNA we have. It takes a few days-sometimes more, depending on who it is.”

  “Who it is?” I cut in.

  “Yes, some people’s bodies don’t understand what’s happening and rejects it.”

  “Meaning?” I prompt.

  “They’ll die.”

  It bothers me how calmly he spoke those words. It’s as if he doesn’t care if they die or not. Like humans are just their pawns. It’s sickening.

  And, yet, I’m one of them.

  I involuntarily shiver, goose bumps rising on my flesh. How can I be one of these creatures? I’m nothing like them-I don’t want to be anything even remotely close to them. They’re monsters. I didn’t want to hear another word, but the blue creature goes on, unaware of the hatred that’s sparking inside me.

  “The subject is then turned into one of us, scales sometimes growing on their flesh immediately or developing slowly. Their bodies takes time to develop everything we can do and the same looks as us, but it’s done.”

  “Humans are just you’re subjects?”

  “Usually, yes.”

  “That’s not right!” I exclaim.

  “We need to live, little one.”

  “Can’t you live in a different way?”

  “No,” the purple one says, bringing the worst blow. “We can’t nor won’t.”

  “We have to survive,” the green one adds.

  “I got that part,” I mutter.

  “Come see our lab.”

  I start to object, but he grabs a hold of me, making me stumble forward. I gasp as I quickly grab the railing, afraid I’ll fall off. I close my eyes briefly, only opening them when I feel a small jab in my rib cage.

  “Watch it next time,” I warn the green monster. “You promised I won’t fall off. You better keep it.”

  “Just look.”

  I did as he said, but only because I know I don’t have a choice. Small beeping machines line the walls, flashing all kinds of colors. A much bigger machine looms in the middle of the lab, with several of the monsters swarming around it, pushing buttons before moving off to a smaller one. I let my gaze roam upwards, taking in what’s directly across from me. Metal doors line the walls; more of the monsters move around over there, coming in and out of the rooms.

  “Can we move on?” I ask faintly.

  “If we must.”

  “We must,” I confirm.

  “Fine,” the blue one says. He pulls away from the railing and steps backward onto a black strip. He waits until we’re all on before pushing a red button and the black strip moves us along, farther into the room. I got to see new parts of the lab like metal tubes, and cots full with patents. I sigh as I jerk my gaze away, gluing it on the black under my feet.

  “Why are you showing me this?”

  “Because you need to see everything,” Blue replies.

  “What if I don’t want to see it all?”

  “That’s too bad. You have to in order to be able to save us.”

  “And if I don’t want to save you?”

  “You have no choice.”

  “Oh, I don’t?” I snap, raising my eyebrows.

  “Not at all. You’re the only one who can do this.”

  “Do what?” I ask before answering my own question. “Oh, right. To destroy humanity.”

  I shiver as those words left my lips. The full realization hits me and I stagger a few steps back. They want me to destroy humanity. They want me to help them take over the world. But I can’t. That’d mean killing my family and friends. I was already shaking my head as my breathing goes ragged. No, I don’t think I could.

  “Don’t even go there,” the blue one says, as if reading my thoughts. “This is really important.”

  “So are those lives,” I retort.

  “So are we,” the purple creature flings at me.

  “Can’t you live on a different planet?” I demand, my heart racing.

  “No planet is safe anymore except the earth.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Silence rings loud and clear, no one wanting to speak up. I glance at each of the monsters as the moment drags out.

  “Well?” I say once the silence gets to me. “What do you mean no planet is safe?”

  “I-”

  “We can’t tell her,” Purple cuts the blue one off.

  “Why not?” I interject.

  “We just can’t,” she says, shooting me a glare. “At least, not until we know you’re on our side.”

  “What would that have to do with anything?” I respond, rolling my eyes. “What’s so bad that you can’t tell me? It’s not like I’m an outsider. I’m your only chance, right? So why not tell me?”

  “She has a point,” Green says. “She needs to know everything.”

  “I disagree.”

  “Our planet was destroyed,” Blue tells me solemnly.

  “Destroyed?” This was bizarre. How could that happen?

  “Yes. Some of our weapons went off and we had to flee.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “What?”

  “That’s no reason to take over this planet,” I inform them. “So what if yours is destroyed? Find a different planet then this one.”

  “Fires also broke out,” Green adds, fueling my anger. “We couldn’t stop it so we had to leave immediately.”

  I wait for them to go on, but when they don’t, I sigh. “You can’t be serious.”

  “We most certainly are,” Purple answers me.

  “You’d rather kill off everyone else then? You could destroy this world too, and then what? You’ll have nowhere to go, right? I don’t see the point.”

  “You’re the only one that can do this,” Blue replies.

  “I don’t get why me.”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that it’s true.”

  Wonderful. I’m expected to kill off everyone I know and love. Even those I don’t know, I have to just heartlessly end their lives. Me. This is truly stupid.

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  The blue creature gazes into my eyes, his own red ones glimmering with hope. Anticipation. They’re really counting on me.

  “She’s so stubborn.” The purple one shakes her scaly
head, clenching her claws on her hips. “We can’t get nowhere like this. We have to make her.”

  “We can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to,” Green snaps, a growl threatening to explode. “You’ll do nothing but make her want to even less and less.”

  “Oh please. That’s the only way we’ll get anything from her.”

  “I never said I wouldn’t,” I suddenly interject.

  They jump in surprise, turning to stare at me. I shrug as if it’s no big deal, even though it is. What’s wrong with me?

  “You wouldn’t,” Purple says at last. “You keep saying you won’t.”

  “Yes, but I never ever said I wouldn’t. I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s right. But I guess if you’re not leaving my planet then I’ll help.”

  That’s too far.

  I bit the inside of my lip, forcing my hands to stay still. I make eye contact with each of them. My words rings in my ears, knowing full well they have some effect on the creatures. They had to have. But the monsters isn’t showing me anything-they’re as still as a statue, staring at me as if it was the first time they saw me. Their eyes are wide, mouths slightly open. It was comical, really, but I don’t say anything. I don’t move. If I do then the spell might break-this moment may be ruined.

  The moment stretches on, longer and longer. The quietness was beginning to get to me, driving me insane, but I wait for them to speak. I wait for them to do something. But when they don’t, I take a step back, my eyes never leaving them. Then the black belt jerks to a stop and I stumble, but the blue one reaches out to steady me. I nod at him slightly, shooting him a small smile.

  “Well then,” he says, his body language stiff. “That’s that. You’ll have to go to training right away.”

  “What?” I exclaim. “Right now?”

  “We can’t waste any more time, Chosen One.”

  “I haven’t seen everything though,” I protest.

  “You will later on, I promise. But for right now, we need to get you ready to go to battle.”

  “Battle? You never told me any of this.”

  “Didn’t we? Oh, my bad. Well, yes, of course. Though we’ve been working on a button that’ll destroy everything that’s connected to it in some way.”

  “What do you mean?” My throat begins to tighten and it gets hard for me to swallow or breathe.

  “Every house will be connected to it either through TV, computer, or anything else like that. It’ll be easy to wipe the world clean of them.”

  My mouth fell open at this. He has to be kidding me, right? Just one push of a button, and the entire world dies? At my expense? That’s cruel. Really cruel.

  “We don’t have time for any more questions. We have to get you trained.”

  “Yes, sir,” I whisper helplessly. All I could see were millions of people dying, screaming for each other, smoke choking them. Fire collapsing their houses, flames licking anything in its path. Everything ever known, gone. And all at a push of a button.

  This is crazy. What could I do to stop it?

  Nothing, a voice murmurs. There is nothing. The human race will be wiped off this planet, not to be seen again. And you’re the cause. Yet, that’s all you can do. You can’t stop yourself.

  Wasn’t there?

  Isn’t there always a way to stop something like this from happening? I don’t know how these creatures work, but I hope they can make a mistake. I hope I can reverse this.

  We go down several long hallways, deeper and deeper into the massive lab, moving stealthily. I’m ushered past several doors, through large rooms, until finally the blue one grabs me and stops.

  “Here we are,” he tells me. “Now, let’s make you unimaginable.”

  If all I’m going to do is push a button then I don’t really understand why I have to learn anything, but I do as they say. Soon, it feels like a dance, growing more and more complicated as we continue. I imagine I’m in my room, my music cranked, singing at the top of my lungs as I move about, swaying, jumping, twirling while a smile splits my face. I imagine I’m a famous dancer, doing a complicated dance to keep the audience guessing, to keep them engrossed. I find myself enjoying our training session, and it doesn’t matter when the minutes turn to hours. I’m still light on my feet, still able to keep going. I’m doing my dream.

  I always wanted to become a professional dancer, but now it seems that isn’t going to happen. Not with this latest development-or my change. I’m now a monster. My sickly green skin proves just that. I may not truly look like one, but I am.

  “Done!” Blue exclaims, his eyes shining.

  I stop what I was doing abruptly, the room spinning in circles and I close my eyes tightly shut. I’m breathless and dizzy from my training, but I don’t want it any other way. I honestly had a blast.

  “You did amazing!” Green calls to me, a smile turning his lips upwards.

  “You really were perfect,” Purple adds. “Now I see why you were picked.”

  Their praise makes pride swell up within me. I smile at them, my skin slick with sweat. It was a workout, but I don’t want it any other way. For once, I was living my dream-despite it being in my head. But I was dancing. And, as the creatures says, perfect. I have a feeling I was glowing from this workout.

  “I think you’re ready,” Blue says, coming over to me.

  “Really?” My emotions bubbles out then, and I’m unable to catch and hold any of them. They are slowly slipping out of my reach.

  “Yes,” he informs me. “Let’s get you to the spot. Follow me.”

  I do as he asks, hearing the other two follow us as well. I can’t decipher my emotions. I can’t grab on to one and keep it close to me. No matter how much I want to, I can’t. I sigh as we come to a huge machine. It has buttons of all kinds on it, beeping and flashing.

  “That red one,” Blue says, nodding at a button that’s separate from the others. “That should end it all.”

  “Great,” I mutter.

  “Indeed. Why don’t you go ahead and push it?”

  “Umm…can I do it by myself?” I ask hesitantly.

  “Of course.”

  He gestures to the other two, who doesn’t look too happy about this, and they leave without another word, which was shocking. Once I’m alone in the room, I begin to fiddle with the wires that hooks to the red button, removing and replacing, hoping I’m doing something good, that I’m not messing up big time. After several minutes, I stop and lean back, staring at my work. None of the cords are where they were before; they all have been moved to a new location. I smile to myself, glancing around, taking in the metal walls and floor.

  I bit my lip as I watch the red light flash on and off. I sit there for a few moments, unable to do anything but stare. I don’t know what I just did-or if it’ll help anything. Though, I do know I have to find out before they come back, wondering what’s taking me so long. So I shakily stand up and walk over to the machine. I then gently press a few of my fingers against the cool button, waiting for a split second before pressing it in.

  For a minute nothing happens, but then the machine explodes. A small scream tears out of me as I’m engulfed in a warm glow. It becomes harder to breathe, and I claw at my throat, but nothing is there. Sparks rains down all around, fire trapping me. I let my eyes slide close and, just like that, I feel my soul begin to lift from my body, soaring through the air, leaving me. I feel myself begin to fade into nothingness, slipping into darkness.

  The Tale of Brown Mist

  By: S.Cu ‘Anam Policar

  © 2013 by S.Cu ‘Anam Policar

  Chapter One

  My wings are tired. I feel as though I have been flying forever. Many moons have risen and fallen but I cannot allow myself to stop. Not while Master is missing. It was unlike him to be gone for any amount of time and already I miss the feel of the fabric of his robes beneath my talons.

  As if instinctual, I feel my talons curl before relaxing. I falter, my wings miss a break in the current. I need to r
est or I would die before finding him. Spying a field mouse trying in vain to outrun my wings, I quickly dive and pluck the morsel out of the grass, nearly killing myself as I roll and tumble into a tree. Yes, I need to rest, flying in this condition would do neither of us any good at all.