Stonewort

"Now my dear," said the shapeshifting thing, mincing as she stepped, "I think it's time for you to take a nap."

Suddenly she was at Claire's side, pinching her nose and holding her head back until she'd gagged down a rotten concoction that smelled of mildew and tasted like chalk. Claire tried to resist, tried to kick and punch the thing that looked exactly like her, down to the chips in her fingernail polish, but it was to strong. A sudden pain arced through her body and she writhed on the floor, screaming for a few moments. She subsided into wracking sobs, and lie on the floor. A numbness welled up from her belly and began to take over her entire body. Claire panicked, trying to yell, trying to move, but a drowsiness had overcome her entire body.

The creature picked her up and steadied her on her feet, posing her like a mannequin. "Stonewort takes a few moments to work, deary, let me help you up." Still chuckling to herself, she explained in a conversational tone. "Changes flesh to stone for nine hours. This was how we got you here, you know. Wonderful stuff. Of course you need to be careful not to break anything," the creature said, popping one of Claire's fingers into place with a loud crack. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. Wouldn't want you losing a finger, after all."

It picked Claire up, swinging her over its shoulder, sauntering to a corner of the cave near the chests, away from the light. "I gave you a smaller dose this time. It'll wear off within the hour. By then that lovely boy and his friend will be mine." It spat out the last syllable. Taking Claire off of its shoulder, it gestured back to the rest of the cave. "There, you see, a great view for the entire proceedings. Wouldn't want you to get broken, hehehe. But I can't trust you to scream convincingly at the right moments."

The not-Claire began rummaging around the room, placing chests of treasure in one corner, piling up the useless weapons in another, clearing space on the floor. She revealed a simple pattern on the ground once it was cleared of debris, long lines racing each other from one side of the room to the other.

Claire's eyes were heavy-open, as if she couldn't close them, but she could still move them. Breathing came painful and slow, taking minutes to inhale and exhale. Still, she managed to form words through shear desperation. "Why ...... are.......you......do...ing.....this?"

"Oh my, she spoke?" The creature laughed in malicious delight. "I like this so much better. So near movement, and so far away! How it must ache to watch your friends trying so desperately to save you, only to have their corpses mangled by my son and their skins saved for my collection." She posed dramatically, one arm flung up, another over her eyes. "Oh no! Don't! Please! I can't bear it!"

Her chest heaved and its eyes flashed as she purred, "I will break you. You and all of the miserable vermin that have overrun this world. It should be ours by right. Built on the body of our great ancestors. You filthy creatures have no more right to life here than the cattle you slaughter. Flesh puppets are what you are. Toys. The gods have had their fun with you, and now it's our turn."The creature continued arranging the cave to her liking, talking mostly to herself as she continued, the habit of one often alone. "But they are selfish. Until I can break the brambles separating your world and mine, we are forced to slip through the cracks and hope they do not sense us. But your in your friends veins is the blood of the All-Father, diluted though it may be by generations of mortal kin. I smelt it the first time I saw him, the glorious one. The dark one has it too. The blood of the All-Father will break the floodgates, and my sisters and our children will finally be free to take this world that rightfully belongs to us."