Story #4 in my Flash Fiction series for the month of October, each one inspired by an image.
Mahlkortarkirex struggled against the barrier. His power weakened as he pushed, but so did the barrier. It knew that if it did not succeed, the Primordial One himself would swallow Mahlkortarkirex whole, consuming his energy and destroying any sentience and sense of self it had.
A tiny crack appeared in the wall. After so long, Mahlkortarkirex was going to be free. How long had it been since the Ancients had been imprisoned? Fourteen? Sixteen aeons? Mahlkortarkirex had no idea what the Multiverse was like now. Surely, their imprisonment had caused the collapse of at least one Verse. And, surely, new Verses would have been born out of that darkness.
The crack widened just enough for Mahlkortarkirex to get a tendril of his essence through. Yes, Mahlkortarkirex could feel it, a fresh, young Verse. And there was mortal life! So much life, scattered across billions of galaxies.
Mahlkortarkirex wedged more of itself into the gap. The walls, like blades of soulfire, sliced into its essence, but it Mahlkortarkirex refused to give up. It was too late to give up now. If it returned to the Cluster, and even if the Primordial One continued to let it exist, Mahlkortarkirex would not be strong enough to fend off the basalings. They would tear at Mahlkortarkirex’s essence until there was nothing left. No, it must go forward, no matter the pain.
The crack widened again. Mahlkortarkirex reached out. It needed to find a place to latch onto, some creature to secure itself and pull the rest of its essence through the gap. But it must be careful. Too-advanced of a civilization might actually find a way to destroy Mahlkortarkirex before it could properly regenerate. Too weak, and it would take too long to prepare the way for the rest of the Cluster.
There. That one. A tiny, blue world. So much life, so many souls. And they are on the precipice of reaching for the stars. They would be so ripe for Mahlkortarkirex’s feeding. And its control.
Mahlkortarkirex reveled in the anticipation of peeling this species’s flesh and and flaying their souls. They would beg for mercy and die in rapture as Mahlkortarkirex consumed them. So delicious. It had been so long.
Again, the gap widened. Mahlkortarkirex sent more of himself through. There, a tiny domicile. Mahlkortarkirex would take the youngling. First, it would feed on the younglings parents, then bring the rest of the world to its will.
The plump, pink thing played with a small toy. It smiled. Mahlkortarkirex did not care for how the thing felt, other than that it would cause the youngling such glorious torrents of pain and anguish.
The pressure of the gap grew. The seam in the Seal was healing. Mahlkortarkirex needed to hurry.
Reaching out, Mahlkortarkirex extended to the youngling. Join, yes, Mahlkortarkirex was going to join with this insignificant creature.
Mahlkortarkirex turned its focus back to the gap. Pulling the rest of itself, it continued to reach out, stretching itself across the vastness of all time and space. Finally, after what had been a near eternity of imprisonment, Mahlkortarkirex felt the touch. That connection, sucked the rest of it though the gap and pulled it down to its new host.
Mahlkortarkirex searched for the soul but found only emptiness. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
* * * * *
Dianne poked her head around the corner and watched her daughter. She smiled. Tomorrow was the child’s first day of school. Dianne knew it would be a difficult day for the girl, but it would be even harder for herself. Letting go was always hard.
Mia, her long brown locks tumbling haphazardly over down to her shoulders, poured a tiny plastic teapot into an even tinier plastic teacup. She repeated the process into a second teacup sitting opposite her on the small table.
Dianne’s followed the teapot and her smile faded. Seated at the table opposite her daughter was that horridly ugly little doll. She wanted to ground the hell out of Dillon, her older son, for giving her that thing. Shivering, she turned back to her daughter and forced a smile. “Mia, baby. Time for lunch.”
The girl looked up from her tea party and smiled. “Gwilled Samiches?”
Dianne nodded. “Yep! Let’s go.”
She stepped into the room and ushered the child out. Once Mia had rounded the corner and was out of sight, she snatched up the brown monstrosity. With it’s one green button-eye and one orange button-eye, it looked crazy. Yet, even more unnerving were the tiny fake teeth Dillon had sewn into its mouth. The boy had meant the doll to be funny, but Dianne just thought it creepy as hell.
Dianne shoved the doll into her pocket and followed Mia. In the dining room, Mia sat happily in her seat, munching on her grilled ham and cheese. Dianne flashed her a smile and turned into the kitchen. Out of sight, she pulled the doll from her pocket. She held it up and looked at it.
“God, you’re ugly. Mia will just have to find another Mrs. Biggleworth.” She nudged her foot forward and pressed the lever on the trash bin. The lid flipped up.
Almost, as if just out of earshot, Dianne thought she heard a voice calling to her, telling her not to throw the toy away. Something in the back of her mind called to her that this doll was very important, that it was the key to all her dreams. Somehow, this doll would make the world fall at their knees to her.
Dianne shook her head and shrugged. She nudged aside bits of refuse from last night’s dinner and shoved the doll underneath. Replacing the top layer of garbage, she shivered.
“Ugh. Creepy fucking thing.” She brushed her hands off and went to wash her hands. A second later, her mind drifted back to how fast Mia was growing up. Soon, she wouldn’t even need little dolls.
Special thanks to Bliss for starting Nightmare Fuel.
Really creepy, cool story! I really liked the twist.
Thank you!