Contest Entries by Mouse

Witches' Bank

Witches' Bank

By Kim B

It was supposed to be an easy job. I had already checked out the place. There were no security cameras... not even a security guard. No tellers, no teller booths. Just three men sitting behind desks in front of what only could be described as a large closet where the money and valuables were stored. I couldn't believe it really. It was a small-town bank though. It wasn't like I was planning to rob the New York mint.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. I just didn't think I would end up running for my life.


I put on my ski mask as I got out of my car in the alley. As I walked up to the front of the bank I heard a voice.

"You don't want to do this."

I swung around but there was no one there.
I entered the bank and my gun in the air, firing one shot into the ceiling.

"Just stay calm and no one will get hurt," I said.
I made my way to a desk. I pointed the gun at the man behind it.
"In the safe, let's go."

No one moved or said anything unless I told them to. There were no patrons in the building.
We went inside the safe and all the valuables and money were sitting out on shelves. I grabbed a bag off the floor and just started shoving stuff in it. For some reason I was compelled to put on some of the jewelry. I donned a strange amulet and a matching set of bracelets.

I don't know why I didn't think anything was strange.

I ran out of the safe. As I passed through the vestibule and into the street the amulet and bracelets felt hot and glowed green. I felt a tingle go through my body. I thought little of it and kept running.

I got to the alley and my car was gone. I had to think quickly. I shoved the bag inside my coat and closed it tightly around me. I threw the mask into a dumpster. I straightened myself up and walked calmly out of the other end of the alley.

There was an old woman pushing a shopping cart down the sidewalk. AS she passed me, she looked at me with eyes as black as coal.
"Take it back," she said, "take it back now and there will be no consequences."

"It's mine," I blurted out. "It's not my fault they don't have security."

"There is more security than you know," she said. "You shouldn't have stolen from us."
Her eyes turned a glowing red and she reached for me. I felt the amulet get hot again. She pulled her hand away as if she had been injured. Her eyes glowed crimson.
"You knew," she screeched, "You knew what you were doing. You are still cursed. We will find a way and you will be dead before the bridge. You will not make it back to your home. You are cursed."

The street was vacant except for her and me. No one else was there to see as she grew three feet higher and turned into this grotesque beast with huge black wings. She took to the sky and then dove at me with outstretched talon-like claws. I ducked out of her reach and ran. I zig zagged through the street until I was drawn to a doorway. I slid in the door and the beast pulled up short and flew off.

I stood inside the door out of breath.
There was a little old oriental man puttering about the shop. The shelves were filled with glass jars filled with nondescript spices and herbs. Some of the jars looked like they held dried animal parts...

"You are in dire straits," said the old man. "You shouldn't have done it but now it cannot be undone. You were given your chance."

"Please, tell me what is going on here," I begged. "I must be having a nightmare."

"You are not dreaming. If you were, I could help you take control but there is no dreaming here. You are caught in this and there is little hope."

I moved more into the shop and almost dropped to my knees. I caught myself and took a deep breath. Once I gained my composure, I quickly reviewed what he had said in my mind.

"You say there is a little hope? What can I do?"

"You must make it across the bridge before they catch you."

I pulled the bag out of my coat. "I can give it to you to return."

The little old man backed up like I was offering him a poisonous snake.
"I survive here because I stay neutral. I don't bother them; they don't bother me. I provide them with things they need. I will not get involved."
"Who are they?"
"The people here are not what they seem. They come here to hide. They come here for protection. This land is very powerful. There are all kinds of things here. Your only hope is to make it off this land."
"You give me more questions than answers," I sighed.
"I will tell you this one thing. You will be hunted. You must think like prey."
"What can I do if I don't know what is hunting me?"
"Be prepared for anything. Trust your instincts. Your own intuition has already told you things that have protected you. Listen."
"I still think I should just leave this here and be done."
I tried to take off the amulet and bracelets to put them in the bag and they burned my hands.
The old man chuckled. "Things are never that easy. You are cursed and the only thing saving you from dropping dead on my floor is that jewelry. It knows that. It is meant to protect."
I dropped to my knees. "What do I do?"
"Go home. It's all that you can do."
The little old oriental man faded and disappeared into a mist. The shop itself then turned into wisps and soon I was standing on the street in front of a vacant lot.


When you are presented with certain things, the ludicrous starts to sound sane. I stood there and looked down at the bracelets.
"Well, you're not ruby but it is worth a try."
I clicked the bracelets together calling out "there's no place like home."
I heard laughter all around me. Cackling, evil laughter.
"You are weak and alone," said a whisper. "You will not make it to the bridge."
I thought for a minute. I didn't remember crossing a bridge coming to this place. How was I supposed to get there if I didn't know where it was?
"You must think like prey," said the whisper of the old man.
Okay, I thought. If I am prey, I don't want to be here out in the open. I scanned the area. The whole little town seemed surrounded by woods that weren't there before. I still felt like I was in a nightmare and tried to wake myself. I slapped myself in the face and pinched myself. Again, came the cackling laughter.
"Well, I guess I have to finish whatever it is I've gotten myself into. Get out of the open."
I headed into the woods in the direction I thought was towards where I had entered the town.
The trees loomed evilly overhead and the deeper into the woods I got, the darker it got. I noticed something beginning to glow in the bag. I pulled it out and it was a large, teardrop shaped crystal. It gave off enough light for me to see what was around me.
The bag itself had turned deep and dark and I realized that as I had filled it more things fit inside then what the outside of it would have indicated. Even now, the bag was light weighted. Some things seemed to be trying to help me but I didn't know why.
Some of the trees seemed like they were reaching for me or trying to. They would reach into my circle of light and turn back to normal trees. The darkness seemed to give them their power.
Whispers went through the trees. "How does he know? It doesn't matter he does. We have to change strategy."
I heard a sinister growl coming up behind me. I stopped for a moment to listen. Around my circle of light appeared these black disfigured wolves. They had larger teeth and claws, and their bodies were twisted, and bones stuck out. They still looked very strong.
I swung the light around. I was surrounded. They snapped and lunged toward me but couldn't enter the light. Still my little circle did not let me move forward or back. It was if my legs were heavy, and I could barely lift them.
My hand went into the bag. All I felt in it was this powdery sand. I pulled out a handful and just let it run through my fingers. Instead of just falling to the ground it made a turn and seeped through the sides of the bag back into it.
"I don't understand," I called out.
My circle started to turn dim. The wolves were getting closer to me.
I threw the bag down and again tried to remove the jewelry. "Here, take it!" I screamed. "I don't want it anymore."
Again, the jewelry burned my hands.
The wolves stalked around the bag, and it gave off its own light, making two separate circles. My circle continued to shrink letting the wolves get closer.
I couldn't take much more. "You want me, take me!" I screamed.
I jumped toward the next wolf that tried to lunge. The bracelets glowed blue and made a blue shield between me and the wolf. We both were knocked off to the sides and I dropped the teardrop crystal.
For some reason I had rolled with my hands in the light circle around the bag. That circle was too small for me to hide in. I snatched up the bag and began to run. As I snatched the bag, the powdery sand flung into the air. As it touched the wolves they yelped and jumped back.
I didn't look back. I just scooped up the bag so nothing else would fall out and ran.
I ran until I was out of breath.
The teardrop crystal was left far behind, but the bag was giving off a faint light to allow me to see somewhat through the darkness. At least it kept me from tripping over the large roots that seemed to move up into my way. Some of the roots were large enough that I had to jump over them. I had to duck out of the way of the tree limbs that reached down for me. I had to keep moving to keep anything from snagging me.
Suddenly it loomed up in the distance. An old, covered bridge. My heart leapt and I broke into a run.
As I reached the edge of the woods, I tripped over a limb and went sprawling. The bag flew out in front of me and out of my reach. I scraped hard against the ground injuring my hands and tearing up my jeans and legs.
The limbs reached for me. When they tried to catch me near my neck or wrists they pulled back. A large limb wrapped around my waist and hoisted me into the air. It squeezed and I was having a harder time breathing.
I pounded against the limb with my fists. When the bracelets touched the limb, it created large cuts in the limb. It sounded like the wind howling through a hollow log. I cut at the limb with the bracelets until it dropped me.
I felt my ankle crunch when I hit the ground. There were deep bruises and green blood around my waist, but I had not been injured too badly there. I gasped for air. My ribs ached but I was able to take in a full breath.
I turned over and laid on my back holding my ribs. My hands, arms and legs burned. I looked over my head at the bridge. I didn't know how I was going to make it that far, but I had too somehow. I struggled to my feet. Searing pain shot through my ankle and up my leg to where I went down again. I got to my hands and knees and crawled toward the bridge.
"You don't know what you are doing." Said a voice. "All will be lost...."
I looked behind me. I somehow could see the town. The trees were getting denser, starting to fill the streets. There were humanoids and animals caught up in the branches.
I suddenly realized what was happening. I had to make it to the bridge.
I got up again and despite the searing pain I limped forward. I snatched up the bag. Wolves came and I threw the powdery sand at them. They yelped and ran away. I reached into the bag and somehow pulled out a sword.
When I got closer to the entrance to the bridge, I knew why I needed the sword. There was a giant spider-like creature dropped down from under the rafter and blocked my way.
I swung the sword at the creature. When it contacted one of its arms, it made a clank like metal against metal. I could see orangish-green liquid dripping out of the ends of the arms. Somehow, I knew that it was poison and that if it penetrated me all would be lost.
It pushed me back toward the woods as we fought. I ducked and struck but couldn't get past all the arms. When I got pushed back to the edge of the woods, one of the roots came out and tripped me. I quickly rolled to my back and stabbed upwards into the creature's abdomen.
I had to let go and roll out before the spider creature collapsed. It screeched and tried to move but each movement only drove the sword deeper into it. Finally, it collapsed for the last time.
I made my way to the bridge. At the entrance to it, I was able to remove the jewelry, and I put it in the bag and sat it on the ground before crossing the bridge.
Everything went back to the way it was when I first entered the town. My car was sitting next to me and there was no bridge and no woods.
"Thank you for seeing," said a voice. "The sword and the teardrop light are now lost to us. Your own abilities brought you here and saved you on your adventure. Come back to us if you need to."
What I had realized was that the jewelry I had taken was somehow strengthened by the building it had been in and had protected the town from some evil that had come to surround it.
True, there were things beyond this world that lived in the town, but they were essentially good and just wanted to be left alone.


I wondered what the voice had meant by my own abilities. I figure I will know when the time is right.


..... and it won't be easy.





word count 2567