Light scatters across the walls, a shade of scarlet, drenched in blood she stands, a roaring silence follows.
Her hands are steady, frantically plunging the knife over and over, raised above her head.
The Dark Mother coddled her cheek, fingers sliding down her back.
She stops her blade, hair on end, a shiver down her spine as a thought fills her head.
"Disgusting." The mother whispered, grabbing hold of her arm tenderly, soft skin meeting the mother's vaines.
"You really are a disappointment." Cold cling to every word, curling a hair behind her ear, "Are you really going to do nothing right your entire life?" The Dark Mother looks at her, red, boiling water, seeping from the stump of the mother's neck.
The water crackles and rumbles, spilling onto the floor, as the mother grabs ahold of her hand, plunging the knife into the man.
The gurgling. The desperate, frantic movements. Forcing the knife to stay, making her watch every second.
The Catacombs were silent,
every sound made would echo against the cold brick; the knife clattering against the floor.
It was all over; as quickly as it began. Her hands meet the wall of a well, as she struggled to breathe with a hoarse sound.
Mist leaves her lungs, and in that moment of silence, she slid her back against the wall.
She was almost struggling, a pained cough followed with wiping her nose. A twisting feeling as if punched.
She took a deep breath through her nose, exhaling a splatter of air.
Eyes dart across the pavement.
Watching bugs and looking at patterns, she looks, spotting the same webs as always.
They make interesting movements, small and large, and yet there was nothing there.
She pulls herself, digging her fingers into the well's side, peering down into the depths.
Every tug took all that her arms could muster.
She pulls the bucket out, wiping sweat, before pouring it away with the blood.
Water drips from her nose and chin.
She puts a hand up to wipe her eyes, moving hair from face.
She grabs ahold of her dress, rolling it up and squeezing.
Water is forced out of the cloth, hitting the floor with a speckled sound before leaving into the drain.
A tall shadow casts itself across her frame, looking almost uncomfortable to talk, the woman bends down, looking at her in the eyes.
"You doing alright?"
She had nothing to say.
"Mind if I sit with you?" The woman said with a smile, sitting down before she could answer.
She glanced over at her only for a second, bunching herself up on the floor.
"..I remember being your age here too.
It gets better, you'll be fine after a while." the woman was convinced, putting a hand on her shoulder, the fingers digging in.
"You won't even remember all of this in a few years."
Bones ripping from flesh, clawing and dragging. The whole body of an animal placed upon the table to feast.
The beast twitched ever so slightly, the mind kept in constant agony while it could feel every piercing pain in its body.
She stared down into the creature's eyes, as her sisters sliced flesh from bone, she was left to her thoughts.
By the time she realized someone was talking to her, the words didn't register in her head.
"..Are you not hungry?" The lady had a soft disappointment to the tone, must have been anger that was being pulled back.
She shook her head, and the lady prodded a tool into the creature's eye, pulling it out forcefully.
The eye was still connected to the brain, and the offering itself was considered to be special.
"Here," the lady carefully moved it towards her, "I give you this sacrifice, child, the pleasure of what would've been."
She opened her mouth, and bit into it. The beast shook ever so slightly, the muscles clenching as much as it could control.
The eye was soft, uncooked, but squished under her teeth. Cutting into the inner, before chewing slowly, over and over again, sucking up the veins and finally, cutting off the connected string of flesh behind it.
The woman grabbed hold of the creature's ankle, muscles strained with pulling the flesh from bone, dislocating it as painfully as possible. It was hard to tell if there was enjoyment.
Being given it, she took ahold the foot, cobbled and made rough by the heat. Streamed, fat and grease entering her taste buds, and she enjoyed every section of it.
"Bow your head." The lady whispered, looking fearfully at the door, placing a hand upon the face and sliding downwards.
A choking fog smothered the cold floor, boiled water hitting across the surface before exiting down into the iron below.
The Dark Mother didn't say anything. The sisters looked between their fingers, peeking at the holiness upon them.
The mother slid a hand past each one's shoulders, until getting to her. Putting both hands down, the heat grazing her back, causing her to flinch.
"I'm so proud of you." The mother whispered, the feeling of breath coming out from the stump, coddling her shoulders.
"Dining upon the creature I so carefully gave, this ripe and succulent feast.
Are you beginning to enjoy pain..?"
She nodded. She didn't understand what the mother was saying, but wanted her to be proud.
The Dark Mother leaned in to her ear, whispers of praise hit against her skin, the heat and air tickled ever so slightly
Mother left without another word, and the Sisters removing prayer, continuing their food.
She could feel eyes piercing on her, sisters her own age with looks that told an entire story.
"Why does she get all of mother's attention?" harsh whispering, the child was loud enough that she heard clearly.
"Blood red, blessed hair."
"And yet, she can't take a life yet..?" It was blunt and matter of fact, confusion mixed with disgust.
She felt like she was falling, painful words hitting against her like a stab in the dark. Something inside her felt like it was right, which made everything worse.
She couldn't say anything, she wouldn't.
Cold stone against her bare feet, freezing the skin whilst a mist was carried along her breath.
The time oldened brick framed her entrance, and in front of her was a door built as a cage.
Opening with a creek, the sound startling her, a bowl to rattling against the floor.
"Is that you, child?" a voice like a thousand billowing rivers, splattering of water. The movement of feet under that long black gown.
She was silent at first, terror filling her as she stood, closing eyes to force it away, if only for a second.
She replied with a stutter, a wishful request when she held a bowl of meat for her mother.
The Dark Mother opened with a creek, just the sight made her jump.
The offering was placed high above her head, as high as she could stretch, and mother looked at the meat offered in front. Dead, but clearly cut off by herself.
It was only a piece of the leg, no pain could longer be gained from devouring this.
Mother ate it anyways.
Mother picked up the meat between those fingers, long yellow nails with brittle bones, putting the morsel into the water above her.
The meat jolted and steamed, being cooked and pushed back by the running water.
Mother prodded the meat down the stump, reaching into the water, before swallowing kicked in.
She was mesmerized by this. It seemed so strange to her, there were so many questions that she couldn't help but say with her eyes.
"The body is just a form sweet child, a reincarnation of living flesh.
My whispers are carried through the mist and cold, my body is a trick of the light. I am as real to you as an illusion, and as false as a stone wall."
The mother put a finger gently against her nose, before flicking it almost playfully.
She couldn't understand a thing the Dark Mother said.
"You'll understand when you're older." Mother bluntly replied.
She had a feeling that wouldn't be the case.
"Dark Mother!" called out a sister, "We have brought the offering!"
Bound and gagged, a large animal hung down by its legs is carried across the girls' backs. Squirming and jolting wildly, deep wounds across its entire body that stung rhythmically.
The mother turned, hands out and accepting, everyone felt like there was a smile across a non-existent face.
An ancient machine came into motion, clamping nails deep into the body of the beast. A muffled scream, all it could do was watch. Fear filling it's very being.
The mother stood above, the cauldron was large enough to fill several, but only one was needed.
A metal platform moved forward, clunking into motion with a squealing creak.
As she walked closer and closer, each step was as a drum. With every beat, the Sisters watched. Closer. Closer. And closer.
The red river, unending, ever burning. The smell was tinny and rough, tugging on the air with a disgusting sweetness.
And as mother looked down upon that victim, the river changed course. Flowing in with a deep, speckled sound.
Constant unending burns, cooked alive and losing control of its body. Every piece of pain was amplified, as the water level grew higher and higher, stopping right before the brain.
"Drain it." The mother ordered, sisters pushed against an enormous cog, the iron handles spun continuously.
She watched on, mesmerized. Inside was an animal barely clinging to life, she could see it staring right at her.
Hair rippled through the open wind, fluttering almost, flying out from her helmet and spilling onto the path behind her.
Light, bright and blinding hit her, sisters looking behind her as she donned her ceremonial headdress, covering bars across her eyes.
"High Priestess," called out a sister amongst the rest, "The creature is cornered."
She was lead out into the wilds, fauna covering her every step, she saw the outside world fully for the first moment in her life.
The group surrounding backed away, enough for her to be face to face with the animal. She was finally old enough to see such a life as her Sisters.
The creature squealed, hooves digging at the sand.
Desperate, frantic movements, with knife a clenched between her fingers.
Her eyes met, looking down upon high. She clutched it tight, before a sweat appeared on her brow.
She looked back at the family around her. Sisters with smiles reaching far beyond their mouths, holding the animal down. The others looked on, licking lips, wanting to feast on the blood that would burst.
She
didn't want this.
The knife made a sound against the floor, as she and the beast both ran for their lives. The sisters hadn't realised, before their Priestess' head start caught up in their minds.
"Traitor!"
A dreaded word, descriptive and painful.
She grit her teeth, shoving branches out the path.
Harsh movements. Feet pumping past the point of pain. Running for more than her life, her mind raced. Fears, futures, a knife between her fingers.