"A Game Gone Wrong" by Linda M. Crate

A Game Gone Wrong

by Linda M. Crate

Polly wondered where the tiara had come from. Even in the darkness of night, it glittered and sparkled with such elegance that it took her breath away. There was something in her that said to leave it; nothing good could come from grabbing it, but she couldn't resist it. 

Like it was calling to or for her, her fingers reached out and grabbed the pretty jewelled thing from the sidewalk. 

Polly turned when she thought she saw something shadowy following her, but after pausing for a few minutes and seeing nothing move, she wrote it off as her overactive imagination. She was fine, she was safe. That's what she told herself as she continued homeward.

A part of her whispered to drop the tiara, but she refused. 

What would happen if she didn't? It was silly to think a tiara could cause her any harm. Surely, it was only on the sidewalk because someone dropped it or overlooked it, somehow. It wasn't as if it were attached to some ancient evil. 

Yet Polly couldn't shake this feeling that everything would be okay if she just let it go.

"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped at herself. "You're just being irrational. Everything is fine."

She fumbled through her purse for her keys and unlocked her door. She didn't notice the shadow that followed after her, or she might've dropped the tiara immediately. 

Polly shook her head, setting her purse on the table. She locked the door behind her and shut off the kitchen light before heading upstairs. She walked into her room, wanting to examine the tiara more closely. She looked at the teal and purple gems glittering beautifully together.

How could anyone leave this behind without noticing?

"Some humans have the minds of magpies or crows, it seems. See something shiny, and they cannot resist picking it up."

Polly blinked, looking up. What was this voice? Who was it? What was it? Where was it coming from? It was the shadow she had noticed earlier on the sidewalk. It was quickly taking shape, where there had once stood a shadow, now stood a very tall woman. She knew that she was a woman because no child could give off an aura so sinister and sharp. It was then that she noticed the wings of the woman, which were purple as the jewels in the tiara. 

"My last gift from my husband before he passed," the woman murmured. She held out her hand as if demanding that Polly put it back.

There was something whispering in the back of Polly's mind, just telling her to give it back. But something defiant rose in her, too. "Surely you have other crowns and tiaras."

"As a faerie queen, I do," the woman answered. "But it's not kind to keep things that don't belong to you." 

"You wanted someone to grab it," Polly remarked. "Why?"

"I've always liked games," the fae queen smirked, with a slight toss of her shoulders. "But everyone else dropped it when it whispered to them. Not you, though. I didn't think anyone would bring it home. I was beginning to get bored." 

Polly looked at the inscription on the back of the tiara. It didn't make sense. As soon as she thought this, the words reassembled themselves into English: "If stolen, all become property of the faerie queen in any way she deems fit." What did that mean? 

The fae queen whisked her tiara away, placing it on her head. "This wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be, but I guess it's not completely fruitless." She licked her lips in a hungry way. "Goodbye, human."

Polly had no time to defend herself before she was swallowed whole by the creature that stood before her. All because she couldn't leave that wretched tiara alone.