Stepping onto the cobbled pavement, I stared up at the seemingly tiny store. Large, black letters hung over the top window, reading a very confusing 'INCONVENIENCE STORE'.

Apparently, nobody could ever buy anything from the shop. 10 years and not a single item bought. I scoffed at the idea, surely it can't be that bad. So, completely confident in the idea that I could easily beat this.

The doors swung open before I could even touch them as the short rows of different foods, drinks and newspapers expanded so far I couldn't even see the end. Hm.

"WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE STORE!" A shouting voice echoed, "IS THERE ANYTHING I COULD DO TO NOT HELP YOU?"

Once again, I scoffed. This was the best they'd got? Easy.

As if the store heard my thoughts, large speakers emerged from the ground and starting booming the worst possible music ever. The floors vibrated with the bass banging through the room and the walls shook with either excitement or cringe, I couldn't quite tell.

Steadily, I wondered through the endless aisles, trying to keep my footing as the music got louder and louder. My whole idea was to just grab whatever I could and make it to the cashier tills in the other corner of the store.

A packet of doritos. Easy. I reached out to grab them but just as my fingers grazed the plastic packet, the bag disappeared. Great. I went to get the coke bottle at the end but that disappeared too.

Sighing, I walked to the other side of the aisle, newspapers this time. I figured out I needed to do more than just take them. So I covered my ears as I walked towards the door and grabbed a carrier bag from the pile.

Then, I walked back over to the newspapers and tied the hair tie from around my wrist to the handles of the bag, leaving just a small gap for the newspaper to go in.

I then tried to get the bag over the newspaper without actually touching it, it took a few tries but eventually it caught. Smiling, I retied the tie to completely close the gap and walked towards the tills.

Emptying out the bag, I looked up at the cashier but all I saw was a cardboard cutout. Wonderful. "Hello?" I questioned, unsure if someone was here at all. No response. I decided to walk behind the till but before I could register the newspaper, the till began spinning.

"Might as well just give up.." "WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE STORE!" The same voice from earlier echoed. "YOU HAVE COMPLETED STAGE ONE. ARE YOU READY TO MOVE TO STAGE TWO? PLEASE STATE YES OR NO."

"Yes."

"TRANSPORT IN ACTION."

The room went black. Then a red flash. I blinked and then opened my eyes. It seemed like a basement, but creepier. All the aisles appeared again, I was back where I started.

"WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE STORE! WHAT CAN I DO TO NOT HELP YOU?"

It was different to last time, but only slightly. The lights were darker than before, the room seemed to be on an angle. This was when I began panicking.

A pale person appeared about six inches away from my face.

"WELCOME TO THE INCONVENIENCE ST-ST-ST-ST-STOoooOore." It yelled, yet the mouth did not move. It sounded like it was glitching, a robot perhaps. At this point, I was really scared.

A flash. Bang. Crack. The robot person transformed into a shadowed figure, looking very similar to my grandfather, although he had passed away years before.

"Josie..." the figure smiled, gleaming white teeth matching its glowing eyes. How did it know my name?

"Come to me..give me a hug, Jo.."

A tear slipped down my face, it seemed to hypnotise me. As I walked towards it, extending my arms to give him a hug, its arms also extended, but closer to my neck.

It began choking me, but as soon as I collapsed, I woke up again. This time outside the store. I walked up to the door again but this time it was locked and the old words of 'INCONVENIENCE STORE' had now become, 'YOU HAVE ALREADY ATTEMPTED THIS ONCE. PLEASE TRY AGAIN IN 72 HOURS."

I huffed and decided to just walk home. The store was left undefeated.

Darkness. Complete darkness. Then another bright white light. It was time again. I wondered what world I would be in this time. Dragons? Mermaids? Zombie apocalypse? I'd done them all.

"Zo! Zo! Zo, wake up!" A familiar voice called. Familiar. This hadn't happened before, I thought I had imagined it.

"Wh- What?" I mumbled, only just opening my eyes.

"You passed out, come on! We gotta go, and quick!"

Slowly, I pulled myself up and felt something rough on my back. My hand subconsciously moved behind me and clasped around what felt like stone. A stone.

"Are you coming or what?" "Yeah, yeah, gimme a minute."

Shaking, I stumbled to my feet and looked around. It was! My first life, the one I was cursed in. It still echoes in my ears but I push it away every time. A hand extended in front of my face as I finally looked at who it was. My old best friend, Clara, but more battered. Her usual spotless face covered in blood and bruises and her what was once long black hair had become a short, tangled mess with a substance that looked suspiciously like pink goo entangled in with it all.

A dark cloud rose above the two of us as it started to rain. It wasn't just any rain, but a golden, sharp rain that stung if it hit you. As it caught my shoulder, I looked down and saw a scorched patch in the sleeve that looked much older than this. Perhaps centuries, or millenia. I couldn't quite put a pin on the exact number. Fazed memories came back to me, being drowned by sirens, mutilated by zombies or eaten by vampires. As they all came flooding back I could feel a surge of sharp pain through my chest, causing me to grip it and collapse again.

"Zo!" Clara called out, rushing to my side. "Are you alright!" I couldn't muster a response, the seething pain taking over my whole body. It felt like a heart attack turned to the max, like someone stabbed me for every year I had lived. Green beams erupted from the ground, sending dirt and rubble flying everywhere, then met by black shards of glass rising from the underworld, as big as mountains and needle-sharp.

I screamed. And screamed. It must've lasted at least an hour before falling to my knees, my heart racing and red tears streaming down my face. "Zo, can you hear me?" Clara asked, more concerned than ever. She was still here. After all that. She was such a great friend. "Yeah..yeah.. I'm good." I laughed, not feeling it at all.

This had never happened before. Every new life was just normal. I'd grow up from infancy and die a gruesome death. But this was different. Something was wrong.

"We need to go to the library." I sighed, looking up again. After finally standing up again, I held onto a purple branched tree to steady myself. "Of course- Of course. Let's go." Clara walked over and wrapped her arm around my neck, steadying me.

A long sword and bow appeared in my hand. Now this was really weird. Clara didn't seem to notice or care as she lead me away from the forest and towards the once-overpopulated village, now an abandoned wasteland.

In the centre of all the old buildings was a huge castle looking centre. The library. Back in this world, the library was almost like a holy temple, taken care of as if a God itself had blessed its walls. Nothing. Nobody was here. In a way it was peaceful, but also pretty terrifying.

Clara pulled me up the broken staircase, pushing open the double doors with seemingly no effort whatsoever. She smiled as I magically became able to walk steadily again, all my pain from earlier dissolved within the first few steps.

I took a moment to admire this place once more. It was beautiful. Long, tall rows of bookshelves and sitting chairs lined up in the same orderly way the last time I was here. Cautiously, I placed the weapons down on the floor and took a step closer. My heart was racing again.

"Hey, Clara, do you see that over there?" I pointed to a gap between rows C and D. All I got in response was a head shake. She seemed transfixed by something in the corner of the room.

I made a terrible decision and decided to look over where she was. A holograph-style illusion of the two of us appeared, however not how I remembered it at all.

Child-Me was running through the village, bumping into crowds of all different types of people, aliens, vampires, witches. It seemed to be a jump off point to other worlds. Then child-me stopped. A large storm cloud was rolling over the hills as a green glow appeared from the mist. It flew down to ground level, although not quite touching the floor. This is where my memory went blank, although it continued playing.

Child-Me looked up in wonder, amazement almost, as the green glow became human. Well, as close to human as a glowing orb could get. It was disfigured and slightly off putting, but still resembled a normal person.

I turned away from the vision after seeing the same dark hair and green eyes I so recognised. Clara. My whole mind was going crazy, so many questions.

Clara had entered the gap between the two rows I was staring at before, picking up a book and flicking through. When she stopped, she looked straight at me, right into my soul, and screamed. Such a loud, shrill scream that shattered all the windows in the library.

The same storm cloud appeared from the vision, except this time it was on the floor. Rising and rising, until the whole library was covered in grey clouds and mist. Then another scream. And another. Soon, all you could hear was screams, some higher than others. Finally, the cloud passed and I saw what was in front of me.

Thousands upon thousands of skeletons. All moving awkwardly with their mouths agape and eye sockets glowing green. "You! You! You!" They all chanted, coming closer and closer, pointing their boney fingers right at my chest, which began pulsating a green glow.

Clara appeared above them all, her whole body glowing. She smiled, but there was no teeth. She laughed, but there was no mouth. She cried, but there was no tears.

"All of this was YOU!" She screamed, causing the skeletons to go completely silent. "This is YOUR fault, Zophea!"

"What?" I looked up, eyebrows furrowed.

"That day I first came here. You killed her."

"Killed who?"

"You." Clara wailed, her cries booming through the halls.

I stared at her, utterly confused. But I was here?

"You died. But I brought you back. Until you weren't quite you. You went on a rampage and killed everyone. So I cursed you to live a thousand lives, each one dying as gruesome of a death as everyone you hurt."

All I could do was blink. I had no memory of any of this.

"Since the day you were born, you were destined for this. I just made it happen," Clara pulled out a sword and threw it at me, it barely missing by mere inches, "Read the transcript."

Nervously, I looked down at the sword. 'Be prepared. Be ready. For I will take my revenge.'

"Your revenge," Clara sighed, "Was us. This was always going to happen."

I moved my hand closer to the handle, almost instinctively, until it just grazed my fingertips. A bright light erupted the room. Darkness. Complete darkness. Then another bright white light. It was time again.

"Zo! Zo! Zo, wake up!" A familiar voice called.