~~~~
It was another failure, like last
night and every night before that. No matter how long they chanted, no matter
how much they sacrificed, the results were always nil. They were the Cult of
the Night's Eye. They were supposed to strike terror into the hearts of all who
would oppose them. Yet, they had no means to support this assertion. Abraham
wanted to believe they had such power. Yet, even after all this time, they have
achieved so very little.
Abraham was a long-term member of
the cult, he joined around ten years ago when he was fresh out of school. He
had lived among the cult ever since. He looked to his leader, the cult's
founder Lysander, and felt a pang of guilt. He entrusted his life to this man,
yet he had begun to doubt Lysander's words. Abraham shook his head, he refused
to let doubt claim him now.
"Let us continue
tomorrow," Lysander announced. The group disbanded as ordered and broke
their tight circle. Abraham could now see in full detail the mysterious symbol
inscribed in the floor. It certainly appeared demonic and evil, with intermixed
swirls and sharp edges. It felt as though some dark creature would emerge from
it at any moment. However, nothing of the sort occurred, not even after a
decade of attempts.
"Is something troubling you
Abraham?" Lysander approached him.
"Nothing," Abraham
answered, "I just thought tonight would be the night..." He trailed
off, unable to complete his thought.
"There is always next
time," Lysander stated, "failure is merely a stepping stone to
success."
'You always say that though,'
Abraham thought. "You're right," he agreed. Lysander nodded and left
him. Abraham remained behind a little longer, even as all the others left the
room.
Sometime later, Abraham emerged from
the basement where they conducted their ritual. He entered into the apartment
complex which stood above. It was an older and isolated building out in the
suburbs that creaked with age. On one side it was surrounded by a small grassy
field and a forest, on the other was a parking lot and the road. Most of the
nearby buildings and businesses were boarded up and abandoned. The nearest active
business was at least a ten-minute drive away. It was well past midnight, the
full moon hung high in the sky, and Abraham desired nothing but sleep.
He returned to his apartment, a
small single room with little furnishings. A bed, a desk, a dresser, a small
bookshelf, a couple of chairs and a nightstand with a lamp. Abraham passed by
everything and slumped right onto the bed. He didn't even bother to change out
of his clothes. Within minutes he drifted off to sleep and put the previous day
behind him.
~--~
It was another night of summoning
and again the Cult of the Night's Eye gathered in their basement. Again they
failed to summon anything and yet again Abraham felt the same pangs of guilt as
he sunk deeper into doubt. Except for this time, the others were not silent
about the failure.
"We have failed again?"
"Have we done something wrong?" "We have done nothing
wrong!" Their voices filled the room.
"Perhaps someone doubts the
process?" A random member declared.
"Who could possibly be filled
with so much doubt as to ruin the ritual?" Another member asked. The crowd
of cultists discussed the possibility amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Abraham
broke out into a cold sweat.
"I know who it is," a
larger member revealed, "It is Abraham!" The whole room turned toward
Abraham. He wished to defend himself, but he could not find his voice.
"Doubter!"
"Non-believer!" "Fool!" "Failure!" The room
chanted in unison as they fell upon Abraham. He wanted to flee, but his feet
refused to move. The other cultists crashed upon him in a wave and Abraham
finally woke up.
"No!" Abraham nearly
screamed as he shot up in bed. 'What a horrible nightmare,' he thought as he
sweated bullets. 'I knew I should have changed. That must have caused the
nightmare,' he quickly removed some of his clothing and laid back down. He
tried to return to sleep, but the rapture of insomnia kept him pinned to the
waking world.
'I need to clear my head,' he
decided as he got out of bed, but as he stood up he realized, he was not in his
room. The area was black, his bed was now gone and he could barely tell which
way was up. 'Am I still dreaming?' He realized, but despite the revelation, he
could not will himself awake.
He wandered the darkness for a long
time, he wasn't sure how long. Eventually, he emerged into another room. It was
a small apartment, different from his own. It reminded him of his old college
dorm room. The floor was littered with papers and books on a variety of
subjects. Everything from history, to math, computers and so on.
'I don't like this,' Abraham
thought, 'is this even a dream?' He felt sick in his stomach. The hair stood on
the back of his neck and the room made him uncomfortable in a way he couldn't
describe. He wanted to be away from this place, but a sensation nagged the back
of his mind. It felt like he had forgotten something. Something important that
he should not have forgotten. Abraham shook his head, 'This is just a dream, I
think?'
The room melted away and now he was
near the apartment complex again, except it was morning and he was outside. The
complex appeared surprisingly great now, in fact, it looked shy of brand new. The
surrounding businesses were no longer boarded up, and the grassy field appeared
lush and full of life. There was a summery, nostalgic smell in the air and the
sun was warm and pleasant. The only problem was the area was devoid of people,
there wasn't a soul in the area.
'I still want to say I'm dreaming,'
Abraham considered, 'but I don't know what to think.' He didn't want to move,
he actually liked the feeling here. Although, he couldn't shake the strange
sensation from the previous room off completely. 'Wait now I remember,' he
realized, 'this reminds me of the day I joined the cult. I moved right from my
dorm to the complex.' Abraham at first felt pride at his realization, but the
sensation was still not dispelled. He had thought whatever he had forgotten had
been the source of his the sickness in the pit of his stomach. Yet, that
feeling continued, and the hairs on his neck still tingled.
The once perfect atmosphere faded as
morning gave way to night. Abraham watched the sun sink into the horizon at an
incredible speed. As the night consumed the world the building in front of him
began to succumb to age. By the time the full moon reached the top of the sky,
the apartment complex deteriorated to its present appearance.
Abraham rushed inside, he wasn't
sure why, but he wanted to get out of the open. The sensation continued to
consume him and he felt sicker and sicker by the moment. The only thought in
his mind was, 'get home and lock the door.' As he rounded through a labyrinth
of hallways, none of which matched reality it slowly dawned on him. As Abraham
finally reached what he hoped was his door the reality of his situation finally
hit him like a sack of bricks. He was being watched.
This whole time he had faced forward
and never dared to look back. He knew he shouldn't, he knew he should walk
inside and shut the door, but he couldn't help it, he had to check. He looked
back slowly, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see it. This thing,
this monster, this demon. It was like a wooden doll if it had been carved by a
lunatic. Thin arms and legs, sharp teeth and illogically placed eyes. It was
perched on the railing behind him. It crawled along like a salamander but was
twisted like a poorly managed marionette. It's head tilted and rotated as it
noticed his gaze, and then it let out a mangled cackle.
"SwwEEEEEeeeetttt....dRRReeeeAAAmmmmssss..."
the creature chuckled before it leaped towards him. Abraham woke up screaming.
~~~~
Twelve nights remain, don't be quaking in your boots just yet.Until then, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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