Love your writing style. So glad you posted on this. What a surprise treat!

Oh wow so much potential to run with!! Love it!!!

Finally!

Omg what an ending. I was hoping for something like this! Thank you!

I don't know why this made me so happy but I love it! So well written! Wish I could write like you!

This is beautiful. Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for!

Love this, short and powerful. Well written.

Way to run with the prompt! Love your style and voice!

Haha, love this. Thank you!

I had been using the same memory palace for longer than I could imagine. I had my 3 toed monkeys in a tree. The 1 crystal clear lake with 4 koi swimming around.

All that was great, but my house, my house was special.

Walking inside I could find my one-of-a-kind 5-legged dinner table. Most importantly were the 6 windows looking out to my garden where my kids played.

Wait...was that a broken window? I didn't remember putting that there. I went to inspect and as I neared I saw 2 sets of bloody footprints. A sharp chill went through my body as I froze in place.

This wasn't right at all. This wasn't my doing! How though? How could this happen?

I thought about breaking out of my memory palace, pulling myself back...but curiosity drove me to follow the blood.

I followed the footprints to my 16-step staircase.

Step by step I followed the prints upward. Too in shock to make myself stop.

I reached the top of the steps and heard laughter coming from one of my kid's rooms.

Instinct took over and I ran to the door grabbing frantically at the handle and shoving the door open!

I wasn't ready for what I saw.

It was my ex-wife, barefooted, in the white sundress she loved so much...playing with my son.

"Oh, hi Charles." She said looking up at me. Her eyes were pitch black. "You know, I was always so jealous of you caring more about your work and this stupid memory palace than me and the kids. Now that I'm here I can see why you liked it so much. Why don't you come and play with us, Charles?"

"Yes daddy, come play with us." It was 8-year-old son Simon speaking. He looked up at me, with the same all-black eyes his mom had. No whites, just all inky, midnight black.

The car crash came bursting back into my mind. My ex had taken my son Charles without permission. There was a high-speed chase...they didn't make it.

"I'm so sorry, please, it was my fault...please forgive me!" I sobbed

"It's okay daddy, we can stay here forever now. Come play!"

I fell to my knees, grabbed my head, and started rocking. "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry..."

Chills! So good!

Haha thanks! Was a fun short piece to write up!

Great twist. Really enjoyed this one.

"Nobody will hear you scream!" The serial killer said to me.

"Please, don't do this...you don't have to. You could let me go! I won't tell anyone!" I begged him. I was just a 5'4 girl playing my part. Had to get this right...or it wouldn't be as fun.

"Sorry darling, too late to let you go. Maybe if you're a good girl I'll untie you for a bit though. Let you have a little pleasure before you die?" He breathed against my neck. His breath was rancid and he stank as if he didn't bathe for the last week.

"Please, no, I don't want to!" I screamed out. That should really get him going. Things were going too well!

He reached behind me and started cutting at my ropes. He knicked my skin a little. I could feel blood trickling down my wrist...I liked it.

"Okay, I promise to do whatever you want! Just let me go after, please! I promise to be good!" I had him! This was it!

"Let's see just how good you can be." He grinned with his crooked, black teeth. Oh, how I was going to enjoy watching him suffer!

"I don't think I can control myself! Kiss me!" I screamed out! It was probably too much too fast but I didn't care anymore! I needed him! I needed to feed!

My arms wrapped around him as he embraced me slamming his mouth into mine. Yes! Now! It was time! Finally!

I fed on his sexual energy, my body morphing, growing larger, my tail sprouting out, my claws extending, my wings burst out my back. He...was...mine!

He let out a scream as I bit into his face! A blood-curdling, succulent, scream. I moaned in ecstasy!

"Nobody will hear you scream!" I laughed and laughed and laughed as he fell back, face bloody and mauled. He was still screaming, not able to comprehend what was happening. The shock and terror in his eyes sent shivers of pleasure up and down my body.

Oh, how he would learn. I would give him the sexual pleasure he wanted, and so much more...then I would devour him!

Haha, literal chills. Love this. Great style and voice.

Lol. Just vague and I wrote a ton with hardly any climax so I could 110% understand people not really feeling that one. Either way I appreciate it.

Not the kind of reply I was hoping for but sometimes it's a swing and a miss. Maybe I'll do better on the next one 😁

(Part 2)

The guards were much more cautious in how they treated me but still did not act according to my station. They settled me in a room and sent some maids in to draw my bath for me. I noticed a standing mirror and walked up to it to see how pitiful I looked. Perhaps with the rags and bloody head, it may be understandable that the viscountess, what was her name again, Ruby, yes...no...Emerald...what a strange name, perhaps she couldn't recognize me in my state. As I looked in the mirror I felt a chill run all through my body. It became hard to breathe my chest hurt, and my eyes bulged. I was not myself! What had happened? Whose body was this? For it was not mine! How could this be possible? The shock was overwhelming. My legs gave out. I sat there by the mirror shaking and dazed.

Several weeks had passed. I had learned that I was at a great house in the kingdom of Alengore. How I got so far from my kingdom I could not fathom, but they had treated me well enough. Although, nobody believed my story. I couldn't blame them. I would not have believed myself. I tried explaining things but nothing made sense, to them, nor me. How could I tell them what had happened when I did not understand it myself?

There was a knock at my door. "Enter," I said. I still felt like a king, even if I didn't look it.

"Edward. We must talk." It was Emerald. For the first time, she was alone.

"Yes?" I wasn't sure how to respond but something about her demeanor was different. Emerald paused as if thinking hard about something. I chose to let her take her time. Several moments passed then she hesitantly said "I have come myself to help you escape. I don't understand what is going on but chaos is afoot. Instead of responding to my carrier pigeon a retinue from Darnian has come to my house. They are demanding to see you at once and escort you back to the kingdom for questioning. I am not saying I believe you, but something isn't right. I can help you escape...but we must move quickly.

"I thought about things for a moment. "If they are my people I should probably go with them. We have been at war and my kingdom needs me. I'm sure with enough time we can figure this out. While I appreciate your concern I assure you my people are loyal to me. Please take me to them." I began to head for the door.

"Wait..." Emerald looked heavy-hearted. "I have ordered everyone to not tell you anything, in case somehow you are who you say you are, but your kingdom has fallen. There is a new king now. A king not of your line. Please, we must go quickly, my servants can only stall for so long. To make matters worse...you are reported to be dead. I can't believe I'm saying what I'm saying, referring to you as the dead king Edward...but we must hurry!" As if summoning the chaos herself the clang of swords and screams rang in the distance.

(Not sure if I can pick up a part 3 cause this one got away from me. I guess I'll see if anyone wants one)

"Where am I?" I asked.

"Please just cover up! Bloody beggars have no decency! Here take these rags and go beg somewhere else!" An angry older man was yelling at me while throwing some rags at me.

Disorientated I looked down and gasped in shock, I had no clothes on! Feeling around in terror I confirmed my fears. Quickly grabbing the rags like a drowning animal trying to get air I put them on as fast as I could.

"I am so sorry! Listen, do you know who I am? Do you know how I got here? The coup! Did it succeed?" I was shaking the old man.

"Get off me, you filthy beggar! Guards, guards! Help! He's crazy! A right raving lunatic!" The old man knocked my hands away and ran off screaming for the guards.

What in the chaos was going on? I was still disorientated but I understood one thing without question. If I stayed around things wouldn't end well for me.

"You there! Halt!" 2 guards were running down the street at me.

Instinctually I reached for my broad sword...it wasn't there...of course not, I had just been naked a few moments ago. I decided my only option was to talk this out.

"I assure you there is a misunderstanding! Your uniforms, what house do you support? I don't recognize the colors." I said as I wondered why the guards had their swords out. Surely this was a bit of an overreaction. I just needed to...before I could finish my thought the lankier of the two guards smacked me on my head, hard, with the flat end of his sword. My knees buckled. I heard a loud ringing in my ears and everything started to go black. Was that my blood?

I woke up with a pounding headache. Where was I now, I wondered furiously. Looking around it seemed I was in a dungeon. I tried to steady myself as I felt like I may lose whatever food I had in me if I moved my head too fast.

I wasn't one to use my power for personal things, but being a king did have its advantages...and when I found out who these people were, there would be severe consequences!

"Hey! I need someone here now! You have no idea who you just threw in a dungeon! Someone come here, now!" The more I screamed the more my head pounded but I was in a rage and more concerned with getting out of this dungeon.

"Shut up!" A guard screamed from down the corridor.

"I am king Edward and demand to speak with whoever is in charge! Now!" Enough being diplomatic. Actually, considering I was in the middle of a war, maybe I should tread slightly more carefully. I still didn't know if my captive was an ally or foe.

"Ha! You hear that Bruth! King Edward! Dressed as a beggar! Oh, that's grand! Now shut up before I go over and give you a good smack!" the guard was laughing at me.

I needed to take a different approach. It was obvious threats had no power considering my circumstances "Have either of you ever studied the great houses?" I asked.

"A little, why?" One of the guards asked.

"I will show you. Come here...please." I said.

"If you are wasting my time you are going to regret it, beggar." It was the lanky guard that hit me speaking.

"Calm, Edward." I thought to myself as I felt my face getting red.

"Do you know the birthmark of the Darnian kingdom?" I asked plainly. Trying to hide my rage.

"Ha! Yeah, I do! It's the dragon-shaped thingy on their necks! All their rulers have one! What in chaos has that have to do with you though, beggar?" The guard asked angrily.

Without speaking I turned my head so he could see my neck better, to see the mark of the dragon.

"Bloody hells...I...I...bloody hell!" The guard ran off without another word.

"Finally, some results." I thought to myself. I wasn't out of the fire yet though, still had to figure out if this realm's ruler was friend or foe.

What seemed like several hours later a beautiful woman in her middle years dressed exquisitely came to my cell followed by a company of guards. She paused at the gate and looked me over.

"Strange, this is not king Edward...but he does bear the mark. Guards, open the cell and hold him." The woman said.

"I assure you...I'm sorry, I don't know how to refer to you, my lady." I said.

"Viscountess Emerald." She said. "Normally I would ask that you show better respect for my station but until I learn if that mark on your neck is real or not I shall restrain. You are no king Edward though. I have seen his pictures before in books, and he is not you nor you him." She sounded so confident.

The guards pulled me out of my cell and held me. I fought off the urge to push them away, once again controlling my rage. In all my years as a king, I had never been treated this way, it was humiliating and infuriating.

The viscountess took a handkerchief out and dabbed it on an old stone wall that had some water dripping from it. She then took it to my neck and scrubbed it rather harshly. I fought back the urge to grimace. I would show no more weakness to these people.

There was a slight gasp from her. Well, that was satisfying.

"Who are you, really?" She asked her eyes narrowing.

"I have told you, I am king Edward! Lord of all Darnian and its lesser parts! I demand to be released immediately and escorted back to my kingdom! We are in the middle of a war and I have no time for this!" I could hold my rage no longer.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. While you do bear the mark that only Darnian royalty bear you are not king Edward. Guards, escort him as a guest to my house. Keep him close, and allow him no weapons, and for all that is organized in the world get him a bath and clothes. We will talk further on this matter and I will learn who you are. I will be sending a carrier pigeon to Darnian as well." Emerald said as she spun on her heel and walked off.

(Part 2 to follow...this one got away from me)

"You mean to tell me you idiots worshipped some Gods you made up that literally did nothing for you and dedicated your entire lives to them?" The creator of all things had come to earth wondering why it was so far behind and was livid when he learned about religion.

"We agree that religion is bad, why we even outlawed most of it and killed people that wouldn't listen to reason, I'm not sure we even believe you that you are the creator of all things though." A man in an expensive suit said.

"Who are you again?' The creator asked...still furious.

"I am the leader of great China!" The man replied confidently.

"Well, not anymore." The creator snapped his fingers and the man disappeared.

"What have you done with him!" All the leaders of the world had gathered and were not used to this kind of treatment.

"I sent him to work on galaxy x59a. I heard they liked doing stuff like that to their people so figured why not let him know what it feels like? Now anyone else not think I'm the creator?" The creator looked around the room as if daring someone to say something. Nobody did, everyone was silent.

"Okay, I don't have time for this. Let me be clear, there is no "God". I am the closest thing to a God and I'm not even as powerful as those idiots you made up. I do have powers though, enough to destroy you...and I have great resources...so I would highly recommend you stop being so damned stupid and shape up! Stop giving your lives to things you made up and flourish like the other galaxies out there!" With that, he vanished.

Several generations passed and a new religion took over like wildfire. They called themselves "The Creators People." The first thing they did was eliminate all other religions. It took a long time and was messy, but they did it. They then started taking over country by country until they had established 1 language and 1 currency for all.

The problem was they were so strict in their rules and had to do everything just right, at least how they saw "right", that the world was in shambles.

The economy was practically nonexistent. Currency was useless because they just kept pumping out more and more every time something went wrong. People were oppressed and therefore just did the bare minimum to get by.

Several more generations passed and the creator came back to check on their progress.

The leaders of his religion met with him as they were now the world leaders and he asked how progress had been going "We have given our lives to you oh mighty creator! It has been hard but so is life! Please, creator, tell us what to do!"

"Wait, you all created another religion?" The creator asked angrily.

"Yes, to worship you, master! The one true religion! We eliminated all other religions as you commanded!"

"You...are...all...beyond...help..." The creator vanished once more. Never to be seen again.

Earth was sanctioned off as a hazard planet due to the population's idiocracy. All galaxies were told to avoid them until they killed themselves off like so many earth populations did before them. Maybe it was just humans? Earth was the only planet with humans after all...they were also the only planet that had managed to kill themselves off and had to restart around 20x over now. It was a lost cause.

My limbs began to shrink. As I fell to the floor I started to bloat out. Warts and pus-filled pockets sprouted out all over the bubbly mass of flesh I had just become. My eyes bulged and expanded by at least 2 feet. I screamed as I looked around and saw all the others around me morphing into grotesque mounds of flesh around me.

I tried to run but found I had no legs. I could however move different parts of my lower body to simulate some sort of crawl. Sobbing but letting out some sort of horrid moan instead I oozed myself across the ground leaving a trail of pus behind me.

This was terrible! I don't know how it happened but I wanted it to end.

I came across a bridge over a dried-up river. Other blobs of flesh were already hurling themselves off it to their deaths. The strange modified screams were blood-curdling. I wasn't the only one so horrified the only option was death. Without much thought still making the horrid sound,

I plopped myself over the edge of the bridge and fell to meet my end. My horrible, pitiful, wretched end.

There was a loud squishing sound as I hit the ground. Pus burst out all around me. For some reason, I felt no pain.

Was I paralyzed and lived somehow? Cursed to finish my days laying here until I starved out or died of dehydration?

I tentatively moved around a bit. That was strange. I felt fine. As a matter of fact, my chronic back pain didn't even hurt anymore. I looked around and saw other mounds of flesh squirming around seeming to also not have died.

Looking farther out I saw some mounds up on the bridge on their way to end it. Surprised, I realized I had never been able to see so far before. I started to laugh. It came out as a gurgle and pus oozed out.

Well, maybe things weren't as good as they could be...but at least my pain was gone. Apparently, I was immortal also, not that I was jumping to test the theory out.

What should I do...splat. A large blob fell right on top of me squishing me into the ground. It rolled off gurgling. Was it trying to apologize?

Well, I guessed I really was immortal. The blob that splat on me rolled off, leaving a trail of pus behind it, my pus.

Several years passed and we mounds lived pretty good lives. We did not hunger, nor grow thirsty. We just kinda rolled, bounced, crawled, and slithered around.

We started developing a new language. Different gurgles meant different things.

I also met a woman...well, I thought she was a woman. I still hadn't figured out if I could reproduce or not. Not really sure I wanted to. We just kinda pushed up against each other like really slow fleshy bumper cars.

Life was good, I wasn't lonely, I needed nothing, I felt no pain, and I couldn't die, what more did I need in life?

A happy gurgle of pleasure came out of me as me and my new lady friend bumped our bodies into each other.