The Witch's Song

The Sword box

...nothing.

Maki held her breath.
She peeked around the box to check if they were still there.
Nope.
Maki took a sigh of relief.
"They're gone."

Drip. Drip.

Droplets hit Makira's hands.
She shakily looks up to find the performer standing over her with a strange liquid dripping from underneath their mask.
The masked performer cocks their head, almost curiously.

They grab Maki's wrists and pull her out and into the ring.
"Ah, thank you, Daisy."
Daisey bowed and went back in line with the other performers.
Ringmaster turned towards the shaking girl and extending his hand.
Maki accepts it and was dragged to a tall box.

"And now, I present the Sword Box!" The Ringmaster announced. "We will pierce the box one by one with these magnificent sabers! And to prove that they're real..." A performer brings a melon and places it on a pedestal
Maki's eyes widened. "W-What?"
He lifted the saber as high as he could and slammed it down splitting the melon in half. Maki's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat.
One of the performers shoved her in and slammed the door.
Click.

"Let me out! Let! Me! Out!" She screamed as she bangs on the locked door.
The voices outside the box were muffled.

Thunk.

A sword grazes her leg.
Her eyes widened as blood started to appear on her leg.
"There's got to be a way out." She claws at the door of the box some more.

Thunk. Thunk.

Two more swords impaled the box, coming inches away from her sides. Her breathing accelerated.
"Is this how I'm going to die?" She gasped.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

More swords impaled the box coming increasingly closer to her. The pale girl's body started shaking.
"There's no way out. I'm going to die, oh god I'm going to die."

Thunk.

"No, please, I want to live!" She screams. "Somebody, anybody, please help me! I don't want to die. I don't want to die!"

Thunk.

The last sword impales the box and stops inches from her eyes.
She breathed in shakily, still terrified for her life.

The swords were slowly retracted from the box, each one removed a giant weight from the terrified girl's shoulders. After the last blade was removed, Maki dropped to the ground and started to cry.

Click. The box's door swung open.
A small blade remained on the floor beside the Ringmaster's feet.
"What are you doing on the ground?" The Ringmaster crouched down and helped the crying girl onto her feet.
"And here we have it, folks!" He yelled, raising Maki's arm. "The girl who survived death itself!