Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

It’s You, Not Me

The bolt rips through his chest and pins him to the ground. He twitches and screams in agony as she places a boot on his throat and pushes the heel deep in. He lets out a raspy, desperate breath as she laughs.

“Look at you, the saviour of mankind, struggling under the foot of a woman. How poetic,” she says with a smile.

“T-This isn’t you, Cordelia. FIGHT IT! I know you’re strong enough,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Face reality, Malcolm. This is the true me, this is who I was meant to be. Not some woman hiding in the shadow of the great hero Buchanan, but a holder of power, a queen.”

“I can’t believe it. I know you better than you know yourself. Can’t you see what the ring has done to you? Can’t you see it’s warped who you are, turned you into this thing?”

She pushes her boot down harder and twists it. He gasps for air. “This is me, you foolish man. The ring holds no power over me. It’s just a ring, it always has been,” she says, pulling the ring from her finger and throwing it at his face. It bounces off his cheek and tumbles to the ground. He looks at it and then back to her, his eyes wide. He can feel the sweat running down his forehead as her screwed-up face changes from rage to fear and sorrow. “Oh no, Malcolm, what have I done?” she says, pulling her boot away and kneeling beside him, cradling his head.

“It was the ring, it had a hold of you. Help pull this free from my chest, and we can stop Dalton together,” he says, placing a hand on her cheek. She rubs her face on it, grabs the bolt with one hand, and laughs.

“You pathetic fool,” she says, pushing his hand away and twisting the bolt. He screams in pain. “I told you the ring was nothing, but you could not accept that, could you? Can you now? Can you not see the real me, the one you kept locked away? Face it, Malcolm, face reality before you breathe your last,” she says, getting to her feet. “It was I who killed Ferro and Hellina. I did that long before this ring. It was I who freed Dalton from his cell. I did all that while you blindly chased after a ghost, an invisible enemy who never existed. You’re a fool, a weakling! Not worthy of this world’s accolades. Face your victor and be humble, man,” she says, kicking him in the side of the head.

“N-No, this can’t be true. What happened to you? W-What happened to the woman I called my friend, my partner, my soul mate?”

She laughs. “Soul mate? Stop trying to twist things your way, Malcolm. You did this. You used me, toyed with my emotions, led me on while you played house with that woman, a human of all things. When all along, I was the one you should’ve been with. I was the one you were meant to love!” she says, kicking him again.

“T-This is all because you’re jealous?”

She laughs again. “I’m not jealous, hero. I’m free from your hold, and I can see you for what you really are—a spoiled, chauvinistic bully who uses his good looks and winning smile to manipulate a world into believing he’s their hero. Well, lover boy, that time has ended. Your time is over. It’s my turn now, it’s a new world, and heroes like you…” she says, driving her boot into his head, impaling him on the heel, “…are not welcome!”