Chapter 24- Anxious gasps

Rainbows,

follows storms.

~ Unknown.

***

 In the past, Medusa had never had to relent to anyone's will. She had never been weak. Nor vulnerable. Helpless. Fragile. All these were new to her. She is cursed. Everyone knew. But she had never obliged to any words, nor any request. Any command. Any order. But why now? Her body was strongly against her deep sense of refusal. Her pride wouldn't let her.

 She refused her vulnerability. She was nothing like the others who constantly needed help for the least little things. Her back ached. And she gasped.

 "Medusa, are you-"

 Medusa shot her a look as if to tell her to get out. Her eyes were red, and she turned her head to the side. The pain was eating her. Her fists were clenched. She was angry. She felt herself flush and her knees were weak to stand.

 "I mean no harm. Let me help you," Medusa heard Esther say while she was buried in pain.

 Medusa hesitated. But now was different. She knew she had no option. Her body was terribly in a broken state. With great reluctance and far greater iciness, she lay on her stomach. Medusa felt the lace that held her garment in place, loosened, exposing her back to Esther's view.

 "Christ!" A ripe curse escaped Esther's lips before she could prevent it. She spoke in anxious gasp. Her pretty face gleaming with a thin polish of sweat as her eyes gazed in horror. "T-this… this is h-horrible." She muttered the last word to herself.

 Medusa rolled her eyes and buried her face on the cold ground.

 Esther shook her head. Soaking the cloth into the warm water, she squeezed it and started cleaning her wounds.

 The wounds seemed deep enough to leave scars on her body. For someone to possess such fragile body like that of a human, the body wouldn't hold to such painful treat, and possibly cause severe damage due to the pressure of the whippings and immense torture.

 But this person was no ordinary person. She was a witch. A witch that endures pain to the extent of letting her demon run wild and rampage, destroying and killing anything or anyone dim her fit.

 Suddenly, Medusa felt something that was excruciating for her. A pain whip-wrapping around her back. It continued and settled on her chest. She breathed, biting down hard to muffle her pain.

 Esther who was still in daze treating her wounds stopped, when Medusa grabbed her wrist firmly.

 "I want to help," said Esther, but she could barely get out the last word. "Let me help." Slowly, the grip on her wrist loosened when Medusa let go, such that Esther felt she could now breathe. Esther massaged her wrist carefully to ease the pain.

 Was there more about witches she needed to know? It only confused her the most, with the thought of how strong one witch could be. For Christ sake, she was a lady and not a man to possess such strength!

 "You are running temperature," Esther observed with a frown. She was quite certain her temperature was normal to have increased this much. One moment, she was fine and the next, strange things happen.

 Esther looked closely to the wounds at her back. Was it-? It had worsened!

 It was as if an invisible knife was slicing her flesh, causing the wounds to expand. There were moving. Esther blinked twice, to ensure she was not dreaming. To her shock, the wounds began to fume in black vapor, like cold water poured on a hot burning metal.

 Esther's hand slowly retraced, as she watched the horrifying scene unfold before her eyes. Her mouth was hung open as she froze stiff. She could swear her eyes bulged out of its socket.

 The low growl resembling that of an animal silenced the room. The light in the lantern shivered, its flame moving sideways in an attempt to exhaust itself.

 In panic, Esther scrambled backwards. A sickening feeling invokes her, sending surge of electrons to every nerve in her body.

 Medusa curled her fingers unconsciously, to ease the painful rigidness in her chest and that of her back the most. Heavy beads of sweat formed her forehead, as her breath each passing seconds turned ravage, unlike the normal.

 The wounds escalated, spreading venomously through her skin and Medusa's face contorted in pain and anguish.

 Her body coiled closer, and she gasped harshly for air. She could feel the burn on her skin, worse than the dagger plunged to her chest.

 A silent cry escaped her lips, as the pain increased drastically. From squeezing to pulling, and tightening in such a suffocating manner that she coughed out blood.

 Esther's eyes widened at the sight of it.

 The pain blinded Medusa. It became too intense, even when she heaved for the air she inhaled with pressure.

 The dark vapor streaming from behind began to crawl like a snake to the solid bricks on the wall. Its movement was slow and steady yet rather trickiest. The unrestrained trails crawling endlessly to every nook and crook of the wall, domineering no room without being enclosed by it.

 The cell gate which had been slightly open, shut close with hard force that resounded in the room, and vibrated the ground.

 If there wasn't any sound barrier, people would have been alerted by its thunderous sound. But rather, the slaves slept soundly. Unknown to them what was happening, and abandoning the two in the dark.

 Meanwhile, Esther grabbed the lantern by its handle for the illumination to show how ghastly her appearance was. She rushed to the cell gate, pulling and pushing as hard as she could, but the gate was as good as locked.

 Slowly, she turned to face Medusa.

 Her situation varied from bad to worse, seeing her squeeze her eyes and curl in pain. Medusa's hands gripped tight and her harsh breaths echoed through the stillness of the night, under the profound atmosphere.

 "Me…du-sa," Esther whispered. Her legs were shaking from fear. The air was crisp and sharp, causing her to shiver in the cold. As Esther inhaled the cold air through her nostrils, it felt nothing compared to hot iron burning her nostrils.

 The lantern that was the only source of light exhausted, turning the cell room moderately dark with the low amount of light that passed through the single window in the darkness.

 The scene was entirely eerie. It was horrific. The only danger that made it known was the being that lay on the floor, motionless.

 Medusa's ragged breathing stopped just the moment the cell gate shut mysteriously. Esther looked around. She was trapped

***