The Mist of the Cursed

They say the ghosts you see are those who have unfinished business upon these lands. That they died without truly getting everything out of life that they desired. The rain fell upon the water heavily, creating a rhythmic pattern that sounded like one you would waltz to.

The mist that covered majority of the girl’s legs danced with the rain, waltzing across her skin, and running up her spine.

Alliana looked to Adonis softly, her features already soaked despite just arriving to the supposed haunted beach mere minutes ago. A grin appeared on her lips, her eyes glistening with adventure. “Do you think the legends are true? That the kingdom was really turned to stone because of the greediness that once spread throughout the lands?” She inquired.

Adonis took her hand and guided her forward, feeling as the harsh rain softened on them both. Their toes met with the water, the coldness and darkness of it already challenging the girl’s morals. The instant chills found their bones, weaving and wrapping itself around them; forcing the two to stand far straighter.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Adonis stated. Amusement on his tongue. It was a cliché answer, but it was the truth. The two hadn’t travelled all this way just to tip their toes in the water. No. They had come all this way to see if what they had spent all these years studying about was just all one big lie.

Alliana laughed at his response with a roll of her eyes, she looked out onto the water, her smile wavering ever so slightly as she found that she could not see any of the surface whatsoever. It was all covered by the heavy mist as they had suspected upon their arrival.

Adonis was too fixated on her face to notice. Her laugh was like a drug to him, one that he was over the moon to get addicted to. He watched her with gentle eyes, the browns of them looking as if they could melt at any given moment.

The rocks beneath them shook, her hand tightening in his. The ground shook, acting in a way that made her wonder if it was opening an entrance for them to dive through.

With a deep and cold breath that sent her lungs freezing, Alliana looked towards Adonis. “Shall we?” She asked, a challenge on her lips.

Adonis took that challenge eagerly, already guiding her through the mist before coming to an abrupt stop. They both looked to the other as they felt the cliff beneath the tip of their toes.

They were at the edge.

Adonis looked over at her with a charming and somewhat cocky grin. “Let me,” he spoke as he turned to fully face her. “Let me make sure that it is for you.”

With that, he turned the rest of the way on his feet and felt as the rocks from beneath him slip with him. The boy winked at the girl as he fell back and through the mist, leaving nothing but a splash in his absence.

Alliana stood tall; yet now alone, dragging one hand up the other arm as she anxiously gazed around. Feeling the hair on her arms stand on end, but not from the cold. The rain hadn’t given way, if anything it welcomed more; almost like a warning sign from the Gods themselves. Begging the two to listen to the signs that they had been presented with.

The whole carriage ride there she had half-listened to the male that accompanied them. Listening as he spoke and answered himself out of madness. He was muttering sentences over and over, occasionally switching them up. The fear filling every feature of his.

“Non ne uscirai mai vivo! L’acqua è stregata!” He bellowed at the end, trying with all his mite to keep the two trapped inside the small feeling carriage.

“Adonis?” Alliana whispered, the mist parting way in half to make room for the depths of her voice. The shakiness to them sending the mist shaking too.

Nothing answered her, only silence and the tune of rain sounding out.

A figure emerged from the darkness of the mist, their body floating along with the eeriness of it. They extended a hand out towards her, the hand taking shape of Adonis’s who she had originally presumed swam below. Their body looked like it was an optical illusion, like she was simply hallucinating the figure altogether.

“Adonis?” Her voice was a bare whisper now, like if it was any louder; it would scare the figure away. The question very much there; are you real? Or you just another ghost story?

She mirrored its actions subconsciously. Raising a hand up and only getting an inch away from it when a voice struck out; causing her to jolt and almost slip to her death in fear.

Hands from behind her gripped her waist, preventing her from falling over the edge. She was quick to move, looking over her shoulder and finding with great confusion; the boy she had just been presumably staring at seconds before.

“Yeah?” He had asked, his face going from something of amusement to swift fear. “Are you alright, love?” Adonis asked as Alliana looked him up and down, searching for the mist that had covered his body just seconds ago. “And from personal experience; I would much appreciate it if you were to inform me if there were those horrid things around.”

He peered over her shoulders, looking into the direction that she had been looking in. For a moment, a very small moment, he swore he saw something move. He could have sworn he saw the darkness of Alliana’s hair.

“What did you see?” The girl asked in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation away. “Down below I mean. Was anything there?”

The charming grin that managed to take her breath away each time reappeared on his lips. Adonis pulled her towards the cliff, stepping off of it with her. “Let me show you.”

Within a breath of air, the two were below water. The current so strong that the journey down for the first few meters was quite easy; barely having to kick at all.

Alliana followed Adonis, following him as he led her through the darkness; swimming down and down, past where any humans would physically survive.

His grip tightened on hers firmly, but not to the point where it would hurt her. But rather not allowing the harsh currents that wanted to pull them up; pull her up. Or not allowing any of the creatures that were said to roam below; get to her.

Large rocks were beginning to be seen by the two, and when they narrowed their eyes, they established the fact that they were anything but large rocks.

They were structures. Old, abandoned, and presumably cursed structures.

Structures, castles, and palaces. All made up of stone and gold that glistened throughout the water. It was a mystery to what light source that they reflected; but they reflected something beautiful.

The air left her lungs in a gasp as Alliana took in the view. Her face full of complete awe.

Castles surrounded the depths of the sea, covering the water in every direction that she looked. The structures were large, water holding no effect over how they had kept build over the millions of years.

Statues greeted them as their feet met the ground. Their steps cautious; hesitant to walk in without taking in everything that was around them. The statues looked so realistic; like people captured in time, turned to stone before they could run for their lives.

“Come on!” Adonis called out from ahead. He had already swum past the statues, not as eager as Alliana was to take in every moment. He was more ahead, swimming through the large doors. He disappeared through the darkness and Alliana moved quickly; not wanting to swim one more second alone in this haunted place.

“Do you think it's true?” Alliana queried in a hushed manner. “Do you really think the Gods cursed the citizens of this Kingdom to live as eternal statues?”

Adonis looked around in awe as he spoke. His mind wishing to paint a glorious large painting of the views before them. “I think the whole kingdom was.” He stated. “You’ve read the books; one person doesn’t just get cursed. They were greedy people, boasting about the fact that they were allowed to live forever.”

Alliana thought on that, running her fingers across the golden marble. “Yes, but the books also say that we are greedy for even being down here.”

“Relax.” Adonis spoke, taking her hands in his. “I wouldn’t take you anywhere where you could die. These are just myths.” He reasoned gently.

“All the other adventures we’ve been on had been myths too, and as I remember they were very dangerous.” She stated with a cock of her brow, crossing her arms over her chest as her dark hair rose around her, filling the water.

Adonis laughed. “Why don’t you stay here and search for something for us to take back, while I go search down the rest of the hallway. There should only be one more room and that’s right around there. After all we haven’t found something to bring home yet!” He offered while reaching forward, running her arms up and down with his gentle hands.

Alliana rested her stare on him. “Don’t say ‘we’, I would be more than happy if we didn’t have something to show for it. It’s the memories that count.”

Adonis moved his hands to hers, rubbing his thumbs across her bruised knuckles from their last adventure. “If you want to leave, just say the word.”

Alliana sighed at his sweetness and raised a hand, waving him off. “No. No. Go on, just be quick please.”

Adonis grinned sheepishly, leaning forward, and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be quick, I promise.” With the feeling of being watched creeping down the girl's back, she watched as the boy swam away; disappearing around the walls until no sign of his presence was left behind.

Minutes passed, and the only thing that had changed was the fact that the water seemed to be getting darker-far darker, and far colder too. It felt as if the sun that had never been around had left them, and that the water she was currently waiting in was suffering the eternal punishment.

Alliana looked over her shoulder uncomfortably, the weight of another’s gaze weighing heavily upon her. There was a flash of movement past where she could see, she took a step forward and bent down; looking up at the blurred figures that seemed to be swimming up.

Colour was returning to the grey of them. They were so far away that she could barely see who they were; but they were close enough so that she could recognize the colors. One looked like Adonis, the other seemed to look a touch too similar to her.

Realization dawned on her, and she instinctively screamed, one of the myths filling her mind to the point where she couldn’t think of anything else.

Adonis must have been near her because he was swimming quickly at her side within moments. “What?” His face was full of panic, his face completely flushed of any color. His eyes searched ahead; his jaw-dropping.

She didn’t have to answer him, because the color from his face had already drained all the way. “The myths are real…” He murmured to himself. The disbelief quite evident in his voice.

Alliana and Adonis swam as fast as they could. They swam with all their mite, holding onto their breaths as if the adrenaline and panic was enough to keep them going.

Her legs were tired.

His arms were tired.

The waters were bewitched, cursed by those who were far too greedy once upon a time; and they were about to be victims of it.

The surface came into view, the mist still evidentially there. The statues, however, they were gone. Gone from view and sight completely. Like they had been ghosts of the water, a pure optical illusion.

With two heavy and large gasps, their heads appeared out of the water. Alliana was first to reach the rocks, Adonis right behind her. Their steps were quick, kicking up the deathly still water as the shore came into view.

They ran to the edge breathlessly, practically throwing themselves over the edge. However, something stopped them, something was wrapped around their bodies and holding them back from reaching the dirt like sand.

Alliana looked down, a muffled gasp and scream emerging from her horrified quivering lips. The body beneath her was white, and not white in skin color white, but white in misty and cold white. Her body was no longer there. There was nothing physical about her whatsoever.

She looked to Adonis, finding her expression plastered onto his face as well.

She fell back, pushing herself back and away from the mist covered boy that stared down at her with wide eyes.

The mist parted completely and the two of them looked towards the tree; their eyes catching onto the movements of their moving bags.

Alliana’s eyes met Alliana’s eyes- but really, they were no longer hers. She had become the mist, her life taken away from her before she had the chance to fight back.

Her eyes moved back up to the boy as she rose to her feet; and when she looked back to the two teenagers standing and watching them, she could no longer remember what she had been so worked up about.