“You are here finally, good. We have waited for you for ages, waited patiently in hell, waiting for this time. WAKE UP NOW…..”
I opened my eyes in mind-numbing darkness. The back of my head throbbed with excruciating pain as I grumbled and fumbled to sit up, I really need to stop losing consciousness all the time. I touched the back of my head and felt crust, dried blood, Ah, great.
I tried to look around, rubbing my eyes attempting to flush out the darkness from it. The room seemed huge, I could see a series of faint light on the other side like a bunch of candles burning. However, the darkness was strange. It was almost engulfing whatever light the candles could provide, preventing it to reach far from the source. I couldn’t figure out much around me, my eyes couldn’t adjust to the vast gaping blackness surrounding me. I struggled back to my feet, battling the blinding pain at the back of my head. I’m going to hurt you so bad for this Jav. But first, I need to find a way out of here, wherever this is.
The light on the other side of the room seemed so alluring but I felt a heavy sense of something being really wrong with it. I didn’t want to get close to it, however, it was nearly impossible to find a way out in this darkness. I should maybe get one of those candles and try to find a door if I don’t want to bump around in the darkness for hours.
I started walking towards the light. Even though the room seemed huge, I felt like I was covering more distance with each step. The lights grew bigger and brighter, and then, I saw what was wrong.
The candles were arranged in a circle, a woman sat in the mid, her back towards me. She swayed slowly, her white long hair flowing with the rocking of her head to match the movement. I stopped in my tracks, my heart almost stopped with me, and then it started pounding as hard as it could without killing me.
I heard faint slurping noise, as if she was drinking something. Then suddenly she stopped swaying and ever so slowly turned her head to her left, and almost hissed, “Come child. Come come. Don’t be afraid. Come closer.” And then, she chuckled, that same cracking blood-curdling chuckle which made my soul shiver.
“Why are you afraid? Your friend wasn’t afraid.” She said, pointing towards her left and laughed again. My eyes darted from her long, sharp nails attached to a curled, scrawny finger towards where she pointed, and there lay the lifeless body of Jav. His throat was slit from ear to ear. As I looked back towards the old hag, shocked, she had completely turned and was now facing me. Her lips were smudged with blood and was holding a small bowl of some liquid. Blood, she was drinking blood! I panicked and tried to step back, but my legs betrayed me and I fell back on the floor on my bottoms. She chuckled again, revealing her blood-covered teeth. My eyes gaped in horror, blood froze in my veins, a streak of cold sweat rolled down my temple as I tried desperately to crawl away from her, but I couldn’t move a muscle. No word came out of my mouth. I could hear my heart screaming as her shrill laughter filled up the giant room.
“Ah, sorry child! I was just thirsty, so thirsty. And he didn’t seem to mind me taking some,” she said chuckling again, nodding in the direction of Jav, “don’t you get thirsty when you wake up from a long slumber? This town used to have so much blood to offer, but don’t you think it has changed a little bit?” She said mockingly. I was still lying on the floor, looking horrifically at her, my arms supporting the weight of my upper body as I half sat on the surprisingly warm but dusty floor.
“Why you so scared child? Haven’t you seen a witch before?” she paused, “Ahhh, you don’t remember, do you? I thought it will all come back to you once you return to this lovely town.”
“The last time we walked the roads of this town, decades ago, we walked it together. Don’t you recognise this room? You have been here before, ages ago, but of course I did some changes, hope you like it.” She hissed and chuckled again. As she spoke, foregone memories started flashing in my mind. I remembered playing out in the sun, being carried away by an old woman, crying and then getting shoved into a small room. I remembered lying on the floor of that room as I drifted slowly into sleep.. and then waking up in my bedroom surrounded by my mom and dad. But. Something happened here. I couldn’t remember, I just knew something wrong happened. I felt a phantom pain in my head and my chest, excruciating pain. What is it? Ah… This pain.. like getting stabbed…
“Now you remember? I brought you into this room that beautiful summer afternoon.”
“This room?” I asked, confused.
“Well yes! I know I know, this looks bigger, I learnt few more tricks as I slept all this time waiting for you.” She said in a low haunting voice, slouching as she walked inside the circle of candles.
“Why.. why did you bring me here? What happened that day?” I asked, trying to hide my fear and be brave for a change.
“Tch tch, you’ll get all your answers.” She said sternly, maybe sensing my attempt to be strong and putting my fear back in its place.
“I am a servant of Gyll, the one who walks the depths of hell. I have been her servant for centuries, bringing her kids to devour. Blood sacrifice. It strengthens her in the hell and in return she gives me supernatural power. For centuries I have traversed from place to place, keeping hunts fresh. Few sacrifices every year was enough, but you couldn’t stay at a place for very long. People are superstitious and suspicious. And I like my head on my shoulders.”
Suddenly she stopped walking and looked towards me menacingly, ”But that year was different,” she said, almost hissing, “Gyll had other plans. She woke me up from my slumber and taught me a new ritual. Something I had only heard as myth, but there it was. It was a ritual that both scared me and amused me.” She spoke in a low voice, almost to herself, lost in her own thoughts. What’s going on Lord! Who is she!
Her eyes shot at me, looked at me for a second then smiled dreadfully, “Calling God now are we?” She laughed hysterically, sending shivers down my spine.
“Today is the day of Gyll. No one can interrupt this time, I won’t allow it!”
“What did you do to me that day? And why did you bring me back here?” I asked, still trying to be as brave as I could. I have to get a hold of myself. I can’t let her take control or I’ll lose everything.
“Yes yes. You are here because you are going to be the vessel for Gyll. She wants to walk this earth, and she has acquired enough power through all those blood sacrifices to finally do so. And I am going to aid her and win her trust forever and be her commander as we descend the darkness upon this earth!”
I looked at her, horror clutched my heart. Vessel? I knew what that meant. I’ll lose everything. I’ll lose myself. I’ll be a slave in my own body as some other entity use it for their own purpose.
“It’s time now child. Come. We should begin,” saying this, she walked back to the circle of the candles and sat down in the mid, her back towards me. She picked up another bowl filled with blood and placed it in front of her. “O mighty Gyll, I present this thee. Accept this blood for it bled for you. I, thy servant, implore thou,” she chanted, drawing some marks on the floor. Nothing happened. She chanted a few more times, “O mighty Gyll, I present this thee. Accept this gift. Accept this sacrifice. Accept this blood. I implore thou. Bless us. Bless us, O Gyll. For I, thy servant, calls on to you! Accept this! Accept me, O Gyll!” Her voice boomed in the empty room. I laid there on the floor, petrified. Nothing happened. For a moment I thought this all has been a very elaborate prank, a big hoax. I started to ease a bit when suddenly, something happened. There was a rumbling noise as the floor started vibrating. The candles flickered violently but didn’t go out somehow. The old witch let out a burst of shrieking laughter, “Here She is! Here she comes!”
The candles finally went out, the rumbling stopped, the floor went calm. There was a deafening silence. A moment passed, an eternity maybe. Then, all of a sudden, the candles burst into life, huge flames shot out from them reaching the ceiling. The circle and the sigil on the floor glowed in blinding light. I raised my arms to shield my eyes from the madness ensuing in front of me. There was another shrill shriek, my eardrums felt like bursting. I had to roll myself into a ball on the floor, covering my ears with my hands and shielding my eyes somehow. Few moments passed, everything was silent again. I opened my eyes and got up from the floor, shaken to the core. The candles were burning dimly now, my eyes still trying to adjust to the newly grown darkness. I saw the witch on the inner edge of the circle, prostrating. My eyes moved in the direction she was prostrating, and I saw her. I dense, black human-like figure. It seemed like a dense mist, floating in the air, still compact. Fear clutched my soul. I was sweating profusely. The figure whispered to the old hag, each word sending a chill down the spine, “Get up child. You have been a great servant to me. Get up now..”. The hag raised her head in an unnatural way, still in prostration, a child-like smile appeared on her ugly face. “Is it really you, O master? I have so longed to see you, so longed to be with you.”
“I’m here now child. You have served me well, and now you shall be rewarded.”
Hearing this, the witch’s eyes brightened up and she sat back in her place. A part of the mist protruded, like extending an invisible arm and engulfed the witch sitting on the floor. She shrieked, but her cries were muffled by the mist enveloping her. I watched it all in horror, as she struggled inside the mist, her muffled bloodcurdling cries lost in the empty room and the dark entity glowed very so dimly. An eternity passed and a contorted, lifeless body fell to the ground. “Ah, whatever soul she had left wasn’t enough to satisfy me, but it’ll do for now.”
“Won’t it, child?” The entity whispered as it started approaching me. It was a mist, but yet too dense and too intact. It floated like any human would have floated in the air. It made a vicious gurgling noise as it came near. I was petrified, didn’t know what to do, but soon, fight or flight instinct kicked in and I knew only one thing sane enough to do, Run! I quickly stumbled back to my feet, the whole room was still in darkness but my eyes had adjusted by now. I looked around frantically, trying to figure a way out of this hell. My eyes wandered across a door on the far side of the room. That’s my way out. I need to get out of here! I ran towards the door, my knees bumped into something in the darkness, pain shot through my legs, but the instinct to survive was too strong in me now. I kept on running.
Suddenly, I felt a strong push on my left shoulder, and I flew away from the door, crashing on the wall hard. “Tch tch, where do you think you are going?”
The entity stood there, near the candles. The light failing to illuminate even an inch of it. “You know how many years I have waited to walk this earth again? Do you know how much I have yearned to desecrate this creation of God? Oh, since my kind were shunned by Him and thrown into the pits of hell, I have always wanted to destroy your kind. It was you whose mere creation humiliated us. I and my siblings have waited far too long for this moment. I am here now, and soon they will all rise. It is time to show how pathetic humans are.”
The mist shot towards me with an incredible speed, a hand protruded from it and grabbed me by my throat, lifting me into the air. “You are going to be the one who will be the beginning of the end. We have waited for your birth; we have watched over you for awfully long. We groomed you and waited patiently to come back to us. And now, you are going to be mine.” She plunged her other hand deep into my chest, I could feel something grabbing my heart, I choked, sweat rolled down my head. I was blacking out when suddenly the entity cried out in pain. Her hand bolted out of my chest and something grabbed her from behind and pulled her away.
I dropped on the floor, trying to breathe as my heart pounded so very slightly in my chest. My eyes were blurred with tears, I coughed, rubbed my eyes. I heard that familiar voice, “Love, you okay? I told you to leave this town,” said a bright figure in a calm voice, kneeling before me.
“Sarah?”
“Yes, Junaid. It’s me. Now get up. You need to leave now!” She said frantically as the entity shrieked in the darkness away from us.
“But.. how are you here? You still alive?” I was excited and confused.
“No Junaid. You know the answer to that. But did you really think you’ll be made to fight this all alone?” She smiled at me; her radiance filled me with life again.
Suddenly she was pulled back, the dark entity had grabbed her by the shoulders and was pulling her away from me.
“Junaid! Run! You need to leave right now!” Sarah’s figure shouted at me as she was thrown to the opposite wall. The entity turned towards me, “YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!”
The dark figure started floating towards me, but was once again held back by Sarah as the entity let out a wail of annoyance. “Run Junaid. I’ll try to hold her as long as I can. Just hurry.” I could see the agony in her bright glowing eyes as she tried to keep a tight hold on the entity. The dark figure held Sarah’s one arm and swung her around, throwing her away to another wall. “Enough! I’m done with you all! He sent you to stop me? Really? Does God really think I’m this weak that I could be stopped by the likes of you? Pathetic! All of you! I am going to first take your lover’s soul, and then I’ll take away everyone you ever knew! And then I’m going to come for your soul girl! Mark my word!” She shouted in frustration, darting towards Sarah and grabbed her by her throat.
I was at the door by this time, my heart was pounding as hard as it could. I grabbed the knob and pulled it with all my might. It didn’t budge. Damn you! Closed! Of course!
I turned towards Sarah, my eyes filled with pain and fear. She was struggling with the entity. Her eyes met mine and she gestured with one of her hands. The door flew open. “Go.” She moved her lips ever so slightly, tears rolled down my eyes, “now.”
I took a step out of the room, felt a weird sensation and then I flew back into it.
“Did you really think it would be that easy?” The entity said mockingly, throwing Sarah to the ground. “I’m not letting you leave. We didn’t wait for centuries just to fail once again. I’m going to get you. There is no escape!” She hissed, floating towards me.
My eyes gaped in horror, there was no escape. As far as my eyes could see, there was only one door out of this room and something was blocking it.
I looked at Sarah, she got back on her feet. “You think I am weak? You think I am pathetic? You are a fool to underestimate me demon. I might not be able to kill you or send you back to the pit, but I can slow you down, as long as it takes for Junaid to escape!” Her face glowed in fury, her eyes glowed even brighter. She ran to the entity, as the demon prepared herself for the fight. I stood there, watching in horror, not knowing what to do.
“Junaid, I’ll try to weaken her and slow her down. You look for another escape! There must be another way out!” She shouted, struggling to keep up with the entity. No matter how brave she was, how pure she was, I could see that she was no match for the entity that most probably was as ancient as the world itself. I need to figure a way out. I can’t let Sarah battle her for long, she might lose, and I don’t know what will happen once she is defeated by this maleficent being! The image of the witch getting devoured by the entity flashed in my mind. No! I can’t let her take Sarah’s soul too! I need to do something!
I frantically started looking around, looking for maybe a hidden door or even a small window to escape! My eyes fell upon the body of Jav. Something sparked in my mind. I am the vessel. She wants my body, but it’s nothing without the soul. There is an escape.
I ran towards Jav and started patting his body, trying to find something. And then my hands hit it, Ah, there it is. I pulled out the pistol from his jacket’s pocket. I looked at Sarah, entangled in a mortal fight. She looked at me as the entity choked her and she knew what I had in my mind.
“Sorry Sarah, but you know there is no other way. There is no other escape.” I whispered.
She smiled a painful smile. “I’ve got this Sarah. Go now.”
I raised the pistol to my head, as Sarah’s bright figure dulled and she vanished in the darkness. The entity turned towards me, confused perhaps as to what was going on. She saw the gun on my forehead. “NO!”
It was too late. Before she could do anything, the trigger was pulled, the bullet had ripped through my head. I fell to the ground, head hitting the floor. Whatever light was in the room, faded away.
“NO! You are not going away!” The entity stood by my body as my soul left.
There was a bright light where the door stood. I walked towards it, finally at peace. I felt nothing, only calmness. I could see that humongous, majestic tree on the other side of the door. Finally, I can step outside. I took a step on the other side, smiling, when something grabbed me from behind. Not again!
The entity stood there, “I said you are not leaving! I want your soul and I’m going to take it!”
I held to the outside of the door as the entity tried to pull me back. Her power was overcoming me and I felt my hands slip. I was once again getting thrown inside of the dark hell but Sarah grabbed me. “I’m here now.” She pulled me with all her might, the entity’s hold on me loosened and she let go.
“NO!” I heard a bloodcurdling wail on the dark side of the door as I was pulled away by Sarah. I turned around, the wail faded away as the door shut and vanished. I collapsed on my knees, exhausted. Is it over?
A hand fell on my shoulder, “Welcome home love.”
I looked up, Sarah smiled at me. My exhaustion drained away.
I stood up and embraced her. I kissed her lips. I held her tight in my arms.
“Is it, is it over?” I asked, hoping to hear yes.
She smiled again, radiantly. “Yes.”
I hugged her again and cried. I cried my heart out, cried all my pain away. She held me tight. Her scent filled my mind, her warmth calmed me down. I just stood there embracing her forever.
Antecedent Ink 
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