The Pendant

It was a perfect day for a picnic, so no one expected anything to go wrong. After hours of dressing up, Susan quickly boarded the carriage and rode towards Swizz lake. “I wonder how long it would take to reach the lake,” Susan sighed quietly. Unlike the other noble ladies of the capital, Susan never liked bothersome tea parties and extravagant banquets. While the other girls learnt sewing and singing to woo men, Susan would dutifully take heirship lessons.

“We have arrived, my lady,” a knight announced while knocking on the carriage’s door. Susan jolted awake from her daydreams and prepared herself for battle. She took a few deep breaths, put on a charming smile and gracefully stepped out of the carriage. The vast stretch of lush greenery instantly brightened Susan’s mood. All the other ladies began arriving soon after.

Susan was always quick at understanding the room and thus guided the conversations spiritedly. Although she despised socializing, it was but a duty for aristocratic ladies her age. All the ladies soon started discussing the latest fashion trends in the capital, and Susan quickly joined in.

“That’s a beautiful pendant, Lady Susan,” someone complimented. Susan unconsciously touched the cold surface of her platinum pendant and ran her fingers around the roses carved on it.

Suddenly, the amber sky turned shades of blue, and the sun was covered in a blanket of thunderous clouds. A dense fog hung around the garden ominously. Howling winds whispered foreboding warnings every now and then. All the ladies searched for their knights, waiting to be escorted back.

“The weather sure switched suddenly, Miss Susan,” remarked Shannon.

” It was truly abrupt. Even the birds seemed to be taken by surprise,” Susan replied while observing the surroundings.

A piercing shriek from the forest alarmed everybody. The knights swiftly unsheathed their swords while the ladies huddled closely. The sounds of footsteps swelled nearer, and everybody nervously anticipated what might be coming their way. Tension hung in the air as the bushes rustled rapidly. The knights were ready to pounce any moment, but what came out of the bushes was a rabbit. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

A pungent, metallic odour lingered in the air like a longing desire. A pack of snarling vampires darted around the forest clearing. Before anybody could react, two of the knights had already been decapitated. The ladies began to escape as the clanging of the swords grew louder. It started pouring down, and Susan tumbled down a ditch in the forest. The snarls that echoed in the forest terrified her. Thorns of fear seized her feet. The vampires were nearing. She clutched a dagger in one hand and a necklace in another. The horses had long run away, and she knew she must do so too.

Susan had been stumbling as she sprinted across the forest, gasping and panting. She could not run any longer. She stood there, gripping her midriff, and listened closely for the vampires. They advanced in pulsating haste. Their mocking gnarls tore into the moaning wind. The vampires suddenly recovered and retreated as Susan squatted on her knees. Something restrained them.

She stretched out her wrist, and they withdrew menacingly. They reacted to the necklace in her hand. She began oscillating the chain like a pendulum in her hand. The vampires receded as they snapped and hissed, with their eyes blazing in spite. Jabbing the necklace in front of her, Susan jumped forth. The vampires shrunk and winced but did not leave. They firmly waited like vultures leaning on tall trees, for Susan to get fatigued.

Susan ran till her feet gave out, and she found herself at the edge of a cliff. The vampires cornered her as she flung the amulet around. The thumping of her heart swelled in her head as sharp fangs flashed before her. The soil was wet, and she slipped when she stepped back. The dagger pierced her wrist as she fell down, and her blood splattered on the amulet. The amulet shone brightly in her hand and the vampires were frenzied. Her legs were cemented to the ground. She could not move. She moaned in agony as she swallowed the burning pain in her throat. She shrieked menacingly and bared her newly obtained fangs at the pack.

An excrutiating pain slithered up her back and the smell of burning flesh soon become apparent. A huge tattoo with various incherent symbols appeared on her back. Her hair turned white and her eyes a ruby red. She flung herself on the leader of the pack and effortlessly tore him to shreds. The others were stupified. They glared at her tattoo and swiftly knelt down, for the true leader of their pack had been found. Susan realised the power she had, and soon become the strongest vampire to have ever existed.