The Faithful

When Kira went to sleep, the guilt of her past would crush her. When she was awake it was easy to train herself to not think about it. She would focus on something, anything to not have to think about it. Why would she want to think about something like that, but when she started to slip into sleep her guard would drop. Those fuzzy moments when your breath slows and your eyes close and you begin to unwind your mind from the steady pace of the day. That was when the weight of it would press on her. She would squeeze her eyes shut to push out the pictures but it was no use. All the horrors would play before an unwilling audience.

               There was no way for Kira to know she was in anything but a loving a stable family. She lived with her family, her mother father and sister on a secluded compound on the coast. There were other families living there with them and together they called themselves the Faithful. On the surface life with the Faithful was a paradise. Being a kid she wasn’t made to work. She spent most of her time playing. There was school but it was never rigorous. The only thing that was ever very strictly enforced was everyone’s adherence to the Old Ways.

               The Old Ways were the main tenants of the Faithful. It was believed that man in his hubris had strayed too far from the true meaning of faith. Modern church leaders had made themselves god and dedicated their lives to profit. The Old Ways focused on dedication to the Old Gods. No bells, no whistles, just unyielding devotion. They were greater than all things. It was held that everything existed at their discretion and that in the end of things, all would return to the Old Gods.

               This wasn’t pressed into people forcefully like the rest of the world’s religion. It was a straight forward as it looked. People understood where they were with the Gods. They were worshippers nothing equal to or even deserving of thought. That’s not to say that their lives were pathetic and meaningless. Quite the opposite, people lived loved and worked for the glory of the Old Gods. All things were done in accordance to what was expected of them.

               The setting itself was idyllic. Beautiful seaside compound with small wooden huts arranged in a semi-circle that faced the ocean. In the center was a large long table where the Faithful would eat. There was a kitchen and in the kitchen there were cooks. There were small gardens that the men and women took care of together. Everything that was consumed by the Faithful was grown by the Faithful. There was livestock that was raised and regularly slaughtered for consumption. The primary diet was vegetarian with meat being saved for special occasions. No action was made for greed or self-interest. All actions were made with the Gods. This created a stable environment for children living in the Faithful. The atmosphere was never one of fear or anger so to Kira life was pleasant. The only changes came with every new moon.

On the night of a new moon there would be a noticeable shift in temperaments among the older members. No one was ever short or mean but they would always be more solemn in their daily duties. Every evening after supper when the sun disappeared behind the trees and the sky went dark the children would go to bed and the elders would go to the altar.

The altar was down by the sea. A massive thing carved from the dark black rock that lined the beach. While children weren’t discouraged from approaching the altar most avoided it for their own reasons. Most kids didn’t go because the constant spray of the sea made the stones slick and with the rocky coast it was a tragedy waiting to happen for the inexperienced. Kira didn’t go because it scared her. There was nothing familiar in the architecture of it; twisting spires met unnatural curves and round little balls that looked like eyes without pupils. She did her best to not even come close enough to look at it.

It was the day of a new moon and her family had been behaving more unusual than normal. She had caught her mother crying at one point but when she asked about it, her mother told her it was nothing. Even her sister was acting unusual. She seemed to go about the day as though she was preoccupied. Something was taking up her mind and she seemed to have moments where she was somewhere else entirely.

The strangeness continued after dinner and everyone returned to their own cabins. As she was walking in she noticed the sky darkening, a storm was coming. Her mother and father had Kari stay with them while Kira went to bed. This had never happened before. The children always went to bed before the adults. Kari was getting older, Kira thought, maybe she was considered an adult now and that’s why everyone was acting differently. It would certainly explain a lot.

When Kira got to bed she laid there in silence and tried to imagine what was happening. She had never done that before but things had changed. She listened but heard nothing. Then the door closed and she knew they had left. She got out of bed and went back to the main room of the cabin. As she suspected no one was there. She tiptoed over to the door and cracked it open.

Outside all the elders of the commune were gathering together in the center near the large communal table. She couldn’t make out who was who as they all were wearing long black hooded robes. Through the mass though she made out her sister. It was easy as she was the only one not wearing a robe, in fact she wasn’t wearing anything. Kira looked harder to make sure it wasn’t just her white slip clinging to her body in the slow rain but no, her sister was naked from head to toe.

The group moved as one towards the ocean. When their figures blurred to the point of unrecognition Kira gave into curiosity and opened the door and followed the group. Keeping back enough to avoid detection she followed them down to the altar. She kept behind an outcropping of rocks and watched bewildered.

The elders formed a circle around Kari and spoke in unison. The words became louder but never clear enough for Kira to make out what they were saying. They got louder and louder until it was almost a shout and with their hands raised in the air they all disrobed and were all standing naked as the circle broke and Kari left the fold and walked alone towards the altar.

She moved easily despite the slick rock. When she reached the crown of the altar she stopped and spread her arms wide. The storm had gathered strength and was showing it by tossing the waves at the rock hard and fast. An elder approached with a long natural horn and blew into it making a queer nasal sound. The short bleep was unanswered and the rocky waves continued as though nothing was happening. That’s when it emerged.

A beast exceeding all of her natural fears slithered out of the crashing waves and crawled its way over the black rock. It’s oily sheen the only thing that separated it from the black rock. Two pale yellow eyes glowed like topaz against the body which seemed to absorb all the light it took in. it moved with unnatural speed towards Kari. Her older sister staring blankly at the creature making no sound or motion to save herself. In the moment Kira too felt herself unable to speak or take her eyes away from the terror as it played before her. It wasn’t until the beast was upon Kari that Kira was able to even move, she forced herself lower to further avoid detection as she watched the scene.

The beast licked its face with a thick dark grey tongue before it moved to Kari. It licked up one side, across her chest and down the other side where it opened its tremendous maw revealing a rows of razor sharp teeth yellow with age. A quick snap and it had a sizable part of Kari’s thigh in its mouth. It was another two quick snaps and the leg was gone. A crimson ribbon of blood furrowing from her body and disappearing into the pitch black sea.

What made Kira more uneasy was Kari’s expressionless face as the monster tore at her. Her face seemed unaffected as her body was rocked back and forth by the beast eating its way through her. What had they told her? Had they given her some kind of drug to make her like this? Kari’s eyes were black and fixed as blood began coming from her mouth. The beast was at her naked chest ripping flesh away as it feasted. Soon there was nothing recognizable as the beast was sated and began licking its face to catch any missed blood and then as quick as it had come it slunk back to the sea and disappeared beneath the waves.

The elders of the village who had watched stoically from further inland collectively raised their arms to the ocean and then turned back towards the commune. Their naked bodies making a pale white line as it retreated. She saw her parents among them. They had made no attempt to stop the ritual. They had stood by like the rest. Her parents were like the rest of them.

Kira sat alone in behind the bush. She could feel her whole body shaking uncontrollably. Her heart was racing and she was having trouble finding her breath which came to her in short spastic bursts. Other than her breathing she made no noise. There was no way for her to process what she had just seen. The only thing she could feel besides the wetness all around her was the hot tears streaming from her eyes. Her sister was dead and her parents complicit. How long would it be before she was on the black altar?

For the first time in her life her whole mind was consumed by fear and the animalistic instinct to survive. She ran. Barefoot and with nothing more than a slip on, she ran as fast as she could beside the coastline. She could feel rocks and twigs nicking her feet but she ran through the pain. She would keep running until she couldn’t. She would run until her heart exploded if she needed to. She would get as far as she could as quick as she could. She would live.

In her bedroom a million years and a thousand miles later she laid in a cold sweat tears running down her face as the rain gently tapped on the window and took her back to that night. Her sisters last night on alive. The last time she ever saw her family. The last time she ever wanted to see them. The fear had chased her. The beast had chased her. And as long as she lived, the guilt would chase her.