Wrath Unleashed

“Lanie, where are you?”

“I’m here, mommy. Look what I found,” the little girl said as she ran out of the basement entrance.

“We’ve been here only a minute and you’ve already gone into the basement?”

“It’s alright, Cathy, she just followed me inside.” Cathy’s husband, Tom, said as he stepped out from the entrance to the basement.

Cathy looked down at what Lanie was holding in her hands. “Is that a music box?”

“Yes, and there’s a fairy inside!”

“Oh, let me see,” Cathy said with a smile.

Lanie opened the music box and, to both Cathy’s and Tom’s surprise, there was truly a fairy inside. The fairy was clad in dark grey clothing, but was wrapped in a pale blue light. The fairy’s eyes furrowed as her cold eyes met Cathy’s; the expression sent chills down Cathy’s spine. She pushed the music box out of her daughter’s hand and pulled her into her arms.

The fairy yelled as the music box fell; her body rattled against what seemed to be invisible walls that covered the exact dimensions of the music box even when it was open. The fairy rose to her feet and looked at Cathy, her eyes seemingly slicing through the aura surrounding her. “Just close this box and put me where you found me without throwing me around.”

Tom took a step forward. “Are you stuck in there?”

“I was imprisoned here, by her vicious witch of a grandmother.” The fairy’s eyes turned to Cathy again.

“What? My grandmother was no witch!”

“She was, and she was cruel. She wore the mask of a kind old lady, but in the shadows, she tortured and killed my kind.”

Lanie clung to Cathy; she shivered and sobbed upon hearing the fairy’s words. “Tom, take her upstairs. Let me talk to the fairy,” Cathy said.

Tom nodded and carried Lanie away to her room. Once the two of them were out of sight, Cathy walked up to the fairy and knelt by her side, turning the toppled music box back upright before sitting on the floor. “Tell me what happened. How can I free you from this prison?”

“Take me to the sealed room.”

“Grandma never left a key for that.”

“It’s in a secret safe hidden under a floorboard in her bedroom. The combination is 6616.”

Cathy found the safe where the fairy said it would be, and inside it was a key made of a bone, with a little skull at its back. Cathy’s hand began to tremble as she reached out for it. “Is that…”

“Yes, that’s from a fairy.”

Cathy almost dropped the key the second she picked it up. She gulped and gripped it tight, swallowing a deep breath that almost choked her as she turned around and to leave the room. Cathy’s legs felt like anchors the closer she got to the door, and her heart began to pound so loud it was as if it were about to rattle against her ribcage.

The door creaked open with the echoes of lost souls. The room was engulfed in shadows, with cobwebs stretching across every corner and sheets of dust cloaking all the furniture. “The second drawer,” the fairy said, pointing at the desk that was beside the bed. Cathy walked up to the desk and opened the drawer. Inside it was a book. She turned to the page the fairy mentioned and read the chant she asked her to. However, the second the chant was read, Cathy found her entire body being pulled by an unseen force. She was soon hurtling through a vortex of grey and blue, spiralling into a dark funnel below her. Cathy fell onto a wooden surface, unharmed but out of breath. She looked around as she got back to her feet; she was in the music box.

“Thanks for releasing me,” the fairy said, bending down to pick the music box up. Her eyes were colder than before, and a haunting grin stretched across her face.

“You tricked me!” Cathy tried to run out of the box, but collided with the invisible force field that surrounded her.

“Make no mistake, your grandmother did the things I told you. She killed all my family and friends for her potions and experiments. But now it’s my turn.”

“No, wait! Please!” Cathy screamed as the fairy turned her back to her and walked out of the room. She paused at the door as she grabbed the handle, but turned around and smiled at Cathy, leaving without closing it. As the fairy’s shadow faded out of view, the screaming began.