The pain in John’s head was almost unbearable as he slowly came to. He found himself kneeling in the water with two people holding him upright. It baffled him when he realized his shirt was missing, but when he couldn’t move his hands behind his back he realized where it had gone.
Looking around groggily he saw that he wasn’t the only one tied up and being held in the water. On his right was an abused woman and some man he didn’t recognize separated from each other and him by about six feet. The woman was staring silently at the ground crying, her hands tied behind her by the pair of shorts she must have been wearing before.
“Good job rat.”
Turning to his left John found he was sitting six feet away from the bloodied man. The scabs on his face had been reopened and a few new wounds joined them. Now that he was missing his shirt John could see a startling number of scars across his back and chest.
“Had to be a hero and make guys like me look bad,” he said with a chuckle, “not once, but twice.”
Looking past the man John could see both Nel and Sasha. They were in their sports bras and had been bound with their shirts. Both seemed unconscious as their heads lolled forward.
The bloodied man looked where he was and turned back with a chuckle.
“How many women are you trying to impress?”
He was jostled by one of the people holding him, a man wearing a yellowed tank top and boxers.
“Oh what,” growled the bloodied man, “I’m making too much noise for you? Ruining your precious ceremony?”
With a dramatic sound he spat into the water in front of him.
“That’s what I think of your precious ceremony.”
John waited for the man to be harmed for his disrespect, but it never happened. Instead the bloodied man scoffed and turned back to John.
“Couldn’t ever stand these freaks.”
“You’re one to talk,” murmured John.
“Really? You’re going to say that to me while I’m being held down by a guy in rubber ducky underwear?”
“You’re as much of a monster as they are. At least they just kill the people they choose.”
The man was silent for a while as he searched John’s face. With a small laugh he turned to stare at the jagged opening in front of them.
“Eh you’re probably right. At least these people have the excuse they’re crazy. I just lost my soul taking the easy route.”
John frowned at the man but he didn’t respond.
“So what do you think they do to people in there?”
Looking over at the jagged opening in the wall John shook his head without answering.
“At first I thought maybe they eat them, but the creeps are chewing on the walls so I don’t think they need the food. I also don’t think they have baby making on their mind.”
The bloodied man turned to John.
“What do you think? Are they forcing people to keep digging for them? Maybe they’re sacrificing them to some new god they found in there? Or mayb-.”
“Would you shut up,” snapped John.
“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you while we’re waiting to die. I’d like to at least take my mind off the horrific things about to happen to us while I still can.”
John sighed in frustration.
“So what do you think rat? Are they forcing people to act as their furniture in there? I could use a chair to sit in after being in here all this time. I wonder if that fat woman you were with is going to act as their bean-.”
“Shut up! Talk again and I’ll rip your damn throat out!”
The bloodied man smiled and John felt his blood boil even hotter.
“Ok, hero has a dark side apparently. That or a soft spot for fat people.”
John closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of air. When he opened them he found the man was still smirking at him.
“Lighten up will you? We’re just talking here.”
“John?”
John craned his neck to see past the bloodied man. Someone behind him shoved his head down and he growled at them.
“Nel?”
“Yeah it’s me, are you alright?”
“Well the rat’s tied up and being held down like the rest of us. But I’d say you’re doing a lot better than the rest of us.”
John shook his head angrily as the man whistled.
“What’s your secret? Keto? Yoga? Bulimia? Whatever you’re doing keep doing it.”
Nel said something to the man under her breath causing him to laugh uproariously.
“Oooh I like her! I can see the appeal rat, she’s definitely a keeper.”
The man’s face darkened suddenly as he stared at something past John. Turning his head John could see over the crying woman the strange man shambling over, followed by a woman wearing a broken pair of glasses and a man in a filthy pair of what was once white underwear.
The man stood in front of the row and scratched at a scab under his arm that was bleeding. He grinned when his eyes landed on John.
“So unlucky, unlucky. Should have listened to me, could have been half as lucky.”
“Can you spare us the rambling,” barked the bloodied man, “I’ve heard enough of your half baked speeches to know you’re full of shit.”
The strange man’s grin grew even wider and he gestured to the woman with broken glasses. She reached down and slowly pulled a filthy pair of stockings off one of her legs. The strange man snagged them from her and approached the bloodied man.
“Oh hell no, you are not-.”
The strange man quickly slipped them into the man’s mouth and tied them behind his head. The man gagged and heaved as he tried removing the stockings from his mouth but was unable to get them out.
Giggling the strange man patted his head and hopped back to where he had been standing. John could hear the bloodied man grunting and gagging next to him.
“You’ve been chosen by your own choosing. Whether you are chosen by the Children of the Unborn or the Unborn is not our choosing, but their choosing.”
The man grinned at John and shook his head almost sadly.
“So unlucky.”
Turning to the ragged opening he called out merrily.
“Come children, we bring more. Take them and whisper of our devotion to the Unborn.”
In the darkness of the jagged cavern John could see shadows moving. Slowly a few of the decrepit beings stepped into view, their tongues slithering in and out as they curiously approached.
“Yes my children,” said the strange man backing away behind the line, “more, here’s more.”
One of them locked its sunken eyes onto John. For a moment John wondered if it was the same one he saw when they first appeared.
It slowly stalked towards him, its purple tongue sliding over its blackened teeth. He could hear slight creaks and pops with every step it took as if its joints were protesting the movement. Even several feet away he could smell its meaty breath as the person, if it could be called that, panted heavily through its open mouth.
The being was only a foot or so away, its meaty breath warm on John’s face, when it suddenly froze. It tilted its head slightly and held its breath a moment.
The thing’s eyes suddenly widened and with a hiss it turned and ran back to the opening. The other decrepit individuals that were in the chamber similarly began panicking and joined it in the dark cavern.
“Is our offering not acceptable,” lamented the strange man somewhere behind John, “there are more, there’s always more.”
There were several more hisses followed by a strange squishing sound. Soon one of the Children appeared again at the entrance to the cavern holding a mass of lumpy red pulp. John briefly wondered if it was flesh, but it seemed different somehow.
“An offering,” giggled the strange man, “the Children are pleased with-.”
The thing slapped the pulpy mass onto the floor of the cavern and ran back into the darkness. Another individual appeared and it too smashed the pulp on the ground. Within seconds there was an almost steady stream of the Children smashing the pulp into the bottom of the cavern opening.
“What are they doing,” whispered one of the lunatics holding John down.
“My Children,” said the strange man in confusion, “please do not leave us.”
With surprising speed the entrance to the cave began to close as it was bricked off by the pulpy mass.
“Forgive us for whatever offense we caused,” blustered the man, “we need thy guidance, we need-.”
There was a loud thump at the other end of the chamber followed by startled screams. John craned his neck and saw the crowd rushing the center of the chamber behind him, slowly forming a large circle.
“The Unborn,” cooed the strange man, “it returns, the Children wish to let the future Father eat in peace. Yes of course.”
He caught John’s eye and giggled.
“Lucky, but also unlucky.”
Another thud sounded and the strange man began gesturing.
“Quickly, prepare them for the feast. They must be ready, quickly!”
John was promptly hauled to his feet and dragged towards the main opening of the chamber. John could hear cussing and shouting from the crazies as the bloodied man struggled against those dragging him. Taking his lead John tried fighting those pulling him along.
“Faster!”
Someone cracked John over the head with a fist and the throbbing that he’d been ignored flared into immense pain. He grunted as it washed over him and the lunatics took advantage of the moment to gain serious ground.
Reaching the desired spot in front of the closed opening he was thrown to the floor. Before he could rise up and try escaping their grubby hands were on him again, pinning him into a kneeling position.
“John what’s happening?”
The wall in front of them began undulating and the flesh slowly pulled back to create an opening. John stared in horror as it opened wider and wider, exposing the darkness within.
The strange man was giggling with glee and he heard the excited grunts and laughs of those holding him and the others down. Looking over he saw the bloodied man was staring blankly at the opening making no effort to remove the stocking from his mouth or fight back. Both Sasha and Nel were staring apprehensively at the opening, aware something was wrong, but unaware of the horror they were about to witness.
“Lucky,” murmured the strange man, “you get to watch. Watch them get eaten or watch them watch you get eaten. So lucky.”
“Go to hell.”
The strange man cackled and shambled behind the row as the opening ceased undulating. Next to him the woman started sobbing and the man on her side began screaming for help. The crowd behind them was surprisingly quiet, no doubt they felt safe with six appetizers between them and the creature.
John’s hair stood on end as he heard the squelching of the thing in the shadows. Soon the darkness began writhing and contorting as the thing slowly drew closer to the chamber.
“Accept our offering Unborn. Feed upon these unlucky souls. So unlucky!”
With that the man splashed away from them, likely fleeing to the safety of the crowd. His underlings stayed behind to hold them down. Looking over he saw the man in rubber ducky boxers grinning from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling with mad delight as he held the bloody man down.
John’s eyes were torn back to the opening as the thing slowly undulated into the dim yellow light of the chamber. He heard Nel gasp and Sasha start cussing as the pile of sentient flesh oozed into the room. It’s eyes flickered across the row and the collection of teeth gnashed.
John struggled to stand up and the lunatics held him down giggling. The creature seemed to hesitate on the outskirts of the room before drifting towards the man on the far end.
The movement of the thing was both hypnotic and insanity inducing. It was like watching a bunch of liquified corpses congealed into gelatin slowly slide across the floor. He watched hands and feet near the floor help nudge the thing along through the water. In its wake was a cloudy white film as if the thing was leaking fat.
The thing was about ten feet from the man when it suddenly rushed forward with disturbing speed. The screams silenced almost immediately and the woman was caught in the excess of the creature. She sobbed as fingers touched her face and teeth nipped at her shoulder.
At this distance John could feel heat subtly radiating off the thing along with the horrendous smell of putrid meat and fish. The fear reached a breaking point and John growled as he tried to fight to his feet with the two crazies holding him.
The thing surged again and swallowed the woman before his eyes. One minute she was on the fringes of the thing and the next she was slowly sinking into its mass. One of her bruise rimmed eyes briefly met his before the gelatinous flesh drifted over the orb. He watched as it rolled up into her head and the pile of flesh morphed itself around her body.
In doing so the thing brushed against him. He cried out as crackling toes tried to grab his knee and an eye slowly spun near his face. Something tickled the back of his neck and he tried to lean away from it.
“John!”
The thing shifted quickly and John felt himself sinking into the creature’s mass. It briefly triggered a memory of him as a child sinking his hands into raw beef to make meatballs. But this meat was warm and it undulated across his body like little muscles were slowly pulling him in.
A pair of teeth clacked across his stomach and he gasped as they briefly bit him as he passed by. He looked over to see the bloodied man staring in horror as John was slowly enveloped by the thing.
As soon as the creature had fully encompassed his body everything felt like it caught fire. He screamed into the pile of flesh as every inch of his body burned. Just before passing out he could feel the clothes sloughing off his body and then his fingers and other extremities start disintegrating.
#
“John.”
John tried opening his eyes but found he had none. He tried moving other parts of his body but there was nothing to move. It was as if he was bodiless, floating in an empty void.
“John.”
“I hear you,” he either said or thought, unsure how he was communicating in whatever state this was.
“I thought I’d lost you.”
The voice was familiar, but John couldn’t place it. It was feminine and triggered feelings of happiness and comfort, though he wasn’t sure why.
“John?”
“Who are you?”
“You know who I am.”
“You…feel familiar.”
There was a sudden shift and John felt strange. It was as if thousands of tiny needles were trying to prick him, but there was no pain.
“I feel strange.”
“You need to focus John.”
“Focus on what? Where am I…what am I?”
“There isn’t much time, you need to remember.”
John felt frustration as another wave of painless needles penetrated him.
“What do I need to remember?”
“I’m not sure John, only you can know that. I’m part of your mind after all.”
“What does that mean, I…”
Flashes of memories suddenly appeared to him. Images of a woman, someone he knew, someone he cared for filled his mind.
“Salem,” came the word along with more images of the woman laughing and smiling.”
“Yes John.”
“But you’re dead,” said John as more memories of her came back, memories of darkness and violence that both exhilarated and frightened him, “you’re not here anymore.”
“That’s right John.”
More needles and with them came a horrible memory. A memory of gnashing teeth, grasping hands, and sinking into putrid flesh.
“Am I dead?”
“Maybe…I’m not sure.”
“This can’t be heaven, is it hell?”
“I don’t think so John, or rather you don’t think so.”
“Purgatory then?”
“Something of you is still alive, something hasn’t died yet.”
“What does that mean,” thought John, even as he felt it too.
“But it will be, which is why you need to focus.”
Memories of immense pain, of his flesh dissolving before darkness filled his thoughts.
“But my body is gone.”
He suddenly felt something else. A cold presence that drifted near him. It was about to come into contact with whatever he was when it disappeared. A wave of pain, anguish, and more painless needles wafted over him as it vanished.
“What was that?”
“Focus John. You need to keep fighting.”
“What if I don’t want to,” thought John as more painful memories came back, “I don’t want to continue suffering. I don’t want more pain.”
Another cold presence, this one somewhere in the void flashed momentarily. A brief ember of sorrow and horror before it flickered out and numb needles washed over him.
“That’s your choice John, no one would judge you for letting yourself die.”
John didn’t like the way that sounded. It made it seem like he was giving up, taking the coward’s way out.
“You’re not a coward John,” said Salem as if reading his thoughts or perhaps his thoughts were his words now, “the last few days have proven that.”
“Then why does it feel wrong? Why does it seem like failure to die, to let it all end?”
“Perhaps there’s more for you to do. A reason to live.”
“What possible reason could there be?”
“To protect those you care about.”
“But there’s no-,” he paused as more memories entered his mind. Faces of individuals he recognized but couldn’t remember. Faces that made him feel warm, comforted, and calm.
But with that warmth came cold, horror, and fear.
“They’re still out there. Alone, facing the horrors of life.”
There was a small scoff that he either heard or felt.
“The horrors ‘in’ life you mean.”
“Losing you was a horror, living without you even more so. None of that would have happened if I was dead.”
“Then why should any of us bother living? Why is life granted to us if the ideal is death?”
“Because life is an abomination, an accident not meant to occur in the dark universe.”
Another cold presence appeared in the void, cried out in horror, and vanished.
Then suddenly there was another presence. One that was warm and didn’t vanish like the others. He instinctively sought it out, his being drifting towards it like pollen buffeted in the wind.
“There was life with Salem. There is life in others.”
Again the familiar faces appeared again. This time more memories surfaced of their kindness and companionship. Names like Dimitri, Nel, Sasha, Conrad, and others entered his mind or whatever controlled his thoughts at the moment.
“Seek out that life.”
“They aren’t you.”
“And no one ever will be. Life may not be the blazing bonfire you once had, but it could be a comfortable campfire to warm yourself with.”
Another cold presence went through the familiar cycle and he was blanketed with dull needles.
“Or maybe it won’t be,” mused the Salem of his mind, “maybe life will be mostly cold with only the occasional candlelight to offer meager warmth… But perhaps you could be the bonfire for someone else.”
John had no knowing how long he pondered in the void as cold presences evaporated around him. The needles were becoming more prevalent until they were a constant pressure on him. Like he was being smothered with a mound of blankets.
“How do I live?”
“Seek out the warmth. If you want to live badly enough, you’ll find a way.”
Focusing on his surroundings John found the warmth Salem was referring to. He drifted towards it blindly. Occasionally it would vanish, but with continued searching he’d find it again. As he sought it out the warmth grew and he felt himself begin to change.
Author’s Note:
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