The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Every four years, there is a lottery.  If you are eighteen or older, you’re added to a list, and a name is drawn at random in November.  After the first of that month, they’ll be coming for someone.  It’s hard to predict the day or time, but the black vans will be seen driving across the roads.  And one poor soul will never be seen again, and that poor soul is me.

The black bag remained over my head until the vans came to a screeching halt.  Heavy, muscular arms grabbed hold of me, and I was dragged inside.  I heard metal doors screaming open and slamming shut.  Keys rattled, and then a smell.  A horrible smell that made me gag.  It smelled like something died, and I could imagine dead bodies surrounding me.  Nobody knew where they were taken to, and nobody talked about it.  And now it was my turn, and the black bag ripped off my head.  Footsteps hurried away, chased by a slamming door.

I stood before a brown wall.  The wall had strange markings, almost alien markings.  I reached for one carving, and as I did, an eye opened in the center of the wall.  The room disappeared, and I was floating in darkness.  A voice raced across my mind, and it asked only one question.  “Who do you want as a leader for this country,” and I imagined a hero, a man that would stand up against evil and save those in need.  We needed a hero.  We needed one badly, and the eye blinked in return.

“Let me show you the next four years as your hero becomes president of this country,” and images pierced my mind.  At first, it was like looking through a window of paradise, but then the window fogged up.  When the fog was wiped away, there were orange fires everywhere with bodies strewn across the streets.  The air was filled with harsh chants and heartbreaking screams.  Flags of hatred whipped across the air, and a child was shot dead for no reason except for being there.  As the rest of the four years came to a bloody end, my eyes turned white, and my hero that I thought would save us was instead my greatest enemy, born out of my darkness.  And that darkness bled into me, breaking skin and bone to claim what was left of my soul, and as the world burned, I disappeared into nothing.