Thou Shalt Not Speak

"My lips are sealed, I promise." No longer did those words leave the safety of her tongue had she seen the fire sizzle within the gaze of her captor. Truly she wished she hadn't seen the actions before her, hoped even that what she saw had been a mirage of her own delusions brought on by the heat of the desert and dehydration, but such was a lost prayer as the person met her gaze.

In that moment she cursed her love for horror and science-fiction. If she had not seen the show on television about skinwalkers she wouldn't be out here walking through White Sands National Park trying to find one, and she sure as hell wouldn't have stumbled upon the man who was about three feet deep into digging a six-foot hole. Really, why did her mother always have to be right? She had clearly rambled off something about, 'You know they always use that desert for a burial ground, better be careful or you'll be the one buried'. The words made the girl shake her head in disbelief thinking her mother was just out to ward her of any fun she might have. It wasn't until now that she wished for once she would have just said 'Yes Mother' and gone about her way. 

The sound of the grumble across the room drew her attention back toward the man sitting in the chair, waving a combat knife left to right as though it were an object to hold her gaze. "They do not appear sealed to me. Not yet, at least."

His remark was soft, though the glint in his eyes betrayed that softness showing something more sinister that lay beneath even if the Roman Collar he wore discredited everything she was visualizing at the moment. "I know you wish you wouldn't have found me out there though I promise, I wish even more than you that you had kept walking and not turned my direction. Now not only do I need to bury one body, but I will also have a second to dispose of."

The sigh he made seemed exasperated, the man rolling his eyes as he pointed the tip of his blade in the direction of the crumbled canvas tote lain against the corner of the room. 

Following the motion, her eyes widened a soft whimper escaping the girl's lips in a gentle motion as she pressed backward in the chair nearly flipping the wooden seat over and causing her to tremble in terror as the man rose from his own position stalking across the floor towards her. The way he moved and the stride he took made him predator-like as though he were the mountain lion and she the jackrabbit trapped at the edge of the canyon. 

"If you touch me... I swear." The words that spilled from her lips were hostile seemingly, a sharp bite of anger and frustration as she jerked herself forward against the chains realizing the hold of them had been more secure than what she had thought. 

"You'll what? What will you do, sinner? Will you curse me? Feed me to the mythological beasts in the forest? Do you think those chains that have bound you so securely will magically fall away and give you access to do anything of the sort?" Scoffing his approach halted at the edge of her seat, right arm lifting so the blade of the bowie brushed along her jawline the sharpness nicking her flesh tenderly drawing sanguine essence to the surface coating her flesh which parted from the edge. "You'll do absolutely nothing because you no longer control your fate, I do. You worthless, spineless, piece of satanic filth."

The laceration hurt, the parting of her flesh from the pressure of the blade making her wince though she didn't dare move for fear of causing a deeper injury to her flesh. The way he spoke, and the manner he carried himself made the psycho seem as though he was an extreme catholic meaning to purge the world of any who didn't righteously follow the beliefs of his people. She had seen this before but never to this extent making her jerk backward immediately at the finality of his rebuttal. "If you do not let me go you sociopathic freak I will sacrifice you to the skinwalkers." 

Something she said made him smirk, the spread of lips coming across teeth so ivory they seemed unnatural but that was likely because each row of pearlescent enamel was pointed into sharpened fangs making the being before her now appear otherworldly as though he were a demon who stepped forth from the pages of a book. The more her sights studied him, the more he changed the alteration slow at first until the very disguise of the monster before her, became that of her own facade wore against its flesh. 

"I will sacrifice you to the skinwalkers.." the doppelganger before her seemed to mimic her down to the soft chime of her vocals, making her eyes widen at the replication of her visage standing before her. "She's figured it out class, the snarky mortal has discovered the truth of our nature meaning she really must be cast aside as though she is meaningless." 

Her copy clicked her tongue, shaking her head lightly before another ripple of such body faded the sight into the priest once more that had so effortlessly captured her. "You see, child. You found exactly what you came looking for, though it isn't all you thought it would be now is it?"

His hand moved lightly so his palm slipped beneath her chin cupping the softness lightly, his thumb laying against the opposing side of her jaw as his fingers a hold which tilted her head backward as he step to the backside of her chair towering over her. His right hand shifted so fingers brushed within her locks pressing the flat of his touch against the swell of her skull holding it there for a moment as his gaze settled to meet her own in soft motion. 

There was something about the depth of her viridian pools that caught his attention for a moment, something sinister that dared him to not dispose of her so needlessly, though such thoughts were shattered as her lips parted giving way to melodious vocals that beckoned words forth. 

"I know the issue, I am sleeping. I will wake up soon and tell Mom all about this crazy dream. I was foolish to ever think something such as a skinwalker would be real." The smile that fell over her pout made the monster cringe, his hold tightening upon her features.

In one solid sweep, his hold on her chin jerked her head towards the left, whilst the press against her skull shoved rightward causing a sickening crack of vertebrae and cartilage to resonate within the hollow room. The moment was quick, the action fleeting as the girl's frame immediately fell limp against her binds leaving the beast to articulate his final say. "Silence girl, thou shalt not speak."