The Necklace [CW]

CW: Occultisms and body horror, among others, Latin especially.

In a dark, cramp, candlelit room, a young girl draws a pentagram onto the floor.

The old house creaks and moans, like a living, breathing organism... but it always did that; but that doesn't make her feel any less scared of the house, nor of this situation she found herself in.

She's always hated this house, and can't wait to leave it behind, if this wish fails, it'll all be for naught.

She lights a candle around said pentagram, then another, another, until finally, complete.

"I can't believe I am actually doing this...", she says before sighing, standing up, and dusting herself off.

She walks over to a nearby drawer, a book resting on top.

Picking the book off the table and opening it, then skimming to where she was meticulously told to, she begins a saying,

“O dark father, da mihi hoc votum, et debit in aeternum ero...”, wishing under her breath afterwards.

The ground shakes, the walls rattle, almost angry at the woman, who quickly drops the book down and the candles go out.. before everything comes to a brisk stop....

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...", she repeats in the darkness, "Please forgive me o Father..."

A glow appears in the pitch black.

The pentagram, of which, now glows a crimson hue.

She walks over, slowly, hesitantly.

A golden necklace lays in the center, she lifts it up and stares at it.

It isn't fool's gold, it feels and looks like gold.. although she can't be sure.

The "gold" necklace houses a ruby centerpiece, writing is inscribed onto the gold:

'A wish cannot be undone.'

"Hm... If this fucks up somehow, I can at least fetch a pretty penny for this somewhere...”, she says under her breath with a small smirk.

She doesn't hesitate putting it on, it's a bit tight around the neck, but she's too busy feeling proud that at least the ritual worked to notice anything wrong. Maybe money is next.
“If what the book said is true, which it has been so far.. I should be able to shapeshift now, I hope it works...”, she thinks to herself, albeit a bit worried still from before, plus, the noises of the house have only gotten worse.

The woman takes a deep sigh, before testing the necklace out, imagining herself with the perfect model body, ruby eyes to match the gem and the most beautiful brown hair one can ask for.

Enough to get anyone she could ever want.

In an instant, the once steady and sturdy bones suddenly, sharply snap in and out of place, correcting themselves, tossing her body to the floor with a violent thud.

She screams, begs, cries, but no one can hear her.

Not even the Father she called out to, she's been utterly abandoned, and even the house is eerily quiet now, as if disappointed in her.

The muscle on top of bone and flesh on top of muscle, all peeling away and coming back together, like a vivisection, only to be put together again, all without dying.

She tries to scream more but it's hopeless, there's no voice to scream any longer.

Her own soul and essence is crushed and then rebuilt, in a state of undying and unrest, her consciousness fading then coming back moments later, only to fade once more...

She wakes up in her bed in a cold sweat, gasping and clawing at her chest.
"W..Was it all a dream..?”, she asks herself.. realizing her voice is not her own.
She screams but it causes her pain and only more unease, looking down and realizing the perfect body she wanted is here... but at what cost.
She also realizes the necklace is still around her neck, immediately taking it off and throwing it across the room, holding her head in her hands and sobbing.
Her wails echo the halls and rooms, reverberating, the house is all quiet now.
After an eternity, she slowly stops, only due to this new voice giving out.

Trying to get up, she falls down immediately onto her face, crawling over to her dresser to help herself to her feet.

It's as if walking for the first time.

She starts slowly walking to the bathroom. Every step is a reminder of the sensation of her legs snapping and coming back together again.

She finally gets to the bathroom mirror, running the sink and rinsing her face,

“It's all just a dream, it's all just a dream Katherine”, she says to herself, wanting this cruel joke of a nightmare to end.
She looks at the mirror and sighs, slumping to the wall and down, holding her head in her hands, thinking.
"And.. I'm guessing, to go back, I'll have to use the necklace huh? ...fuck."
She slowly and weakly gets back to her feet, using the wall for support.
Someone knocks on the door, breaking the silence of the house.

   bang, 

                            bang, 

         bang, 

                                          bang.

A familiar voices comes from the other side, "Katherine? Is everything okay in there?", her roommate asks, he seems worried.
"I...", she coughs, unable to produce anything more from her throat, but the coughing only gets worse,

She leans over the sink, coughing up blood as her roomate yells for her, the house starts back up again, too.

She collapses onto the bathroom floor.

She wakes up.

Her roommate lies at her feet, crimson sweet blood pouring from his open chest, a beautiful vivisection not unlike hers. The scent of metallic blood fills her nose, a chill unlike any other shoots through her, she can't tell if it's good or bad any longer.

"What.. but... no.. I could never.."

She barely lets go, sounding as if someone was dying; unable to speak anymore let alone scream.

She just slowly kneels down and stares at the body before her, minutes, hours, days, years pass...

Before a voice echoes through her head, breaking her silence.

"He deserved it, every last second, didn't he? And you liked it, you utterly sadistic, pathetic fool."
A silence falls over the world.
"A wish cannot be undone.", the voice says.

She wakes up in her own body once again, the necklace on the nightstand, a knock on the door, as usual.