The Devil's Hand

the King and the Queen

I stared at the broken body of my clone. She was so weak. She was my clone but I didn’t care. She was too perfect, and perfection led to death.
        I collapsed on the ground, smiling and exhausted. I rubbed my head, trying to remember when Chloe had turned evil, when she became insane.
        Caught up in my own thoughts I didn’t hear the crackling of an overhead voice.
“Congratulations Klō! You are the winner!” The voice of the King echoed around the room.
Pride swelled up in my heart, soon to be replaced by anger and pain. I struggled to stand up, my legs shaking. When I got on my feet, I bowed and leaned against the wall for support.
“Well, what’s the prize?” I asked, shaking with the effort to stand.
“It’s a surprise!” the King replied with a giggle.
I growled as my eyes faded to black…


* * *

        When I woke up, I was standing a pitch black room, when I took a step forwards, I heard the crunching of bones. I stood there waiting for something to happen, squinting my eyes trying to see. The night swallowed me, a darkness unlike any I knew.
        Then, a spotlight appears in front of me. White ghostly light surrounded a throne of skulls. Covered in blood, it was empty, upon the seat were layers of dust.
Gold lay in my grip, forming the staff of a queen. Jewels danced upon my head like crown of death. Rubies hung from my ears like a shower of blood.

I stepped forward...