21:58
We stood outside the church. At night it looked completely different. If in daylight, one said that it looked fake, as I did, at night, in moonlight, it looked more real than reality.
It was scary.
It was massive.
It towered upon us.
And the candles, giving us a hope of security, were very dim.
"It looks different." Rosemary said.
"It feels different too."
We stared at it, we looked at each other as if we both had the same thought.
It was eating us.
"Yo Oliver, howdy missy shadow. Eh – did I have a different nickname for ya? Oh well, I think this suits you better anyways. So why you guys standing around? You looked a lil scared Oliver."
It was him. Marrs wasn't wearing his black robes above the shirt. And he didn't look as scruffy. He had neatly tied his hair back, and was wearing Greek clothing. The ones you see in the ancient paintings. It was a large white robe, down to the knee. He also wore sandals that looked like they were a few centuries old. Sandals made of steel, or bronze.
The little details you could notice were fascinating. He had a little bit of facial hair around his Adam's apple, where his face wasn't burnt. It wasn't the type of thing you would notice while looking at the face of someone who looks like the definition of Hell, but he had shaved that little bit of facial hair off. His knees also looked newly shaved, but as we walked with him into the church, there was no unnatural smells coming off of him. He had either cut off everything with a scissor or bathed twice. He also had a black wing pin attached to his long hair, that flew back. The blonde hair was below shoulder height, and looked great on its own.
"So, you guys already got the gist, yeah? We'll just be summoning Erebus and asking him to cease her the contract he gave the shadow missy."
"Contract?" Rosemary, or the Shadow missy, asked.
"But of course, you made a wish, a prayer to a God. To you, it may have felt more like a desperate attempt, but to Gods, a called prayer means the difference between life and death."
And I butted in by then. "What do you mean?"
"Gods exist everywhere. They're always with us, they are a bit like what you thought missy shadow was. The way you explained her condition, it sounded like she existed and unexisted simultaneously, obviously I'll blame it down to your incompetent explanation, but Gods are like that. They exist around us, everywhere…kinda."
"Hang on! You just built all this explanation and destroyed it with a 'kinda'?"
"Calm your chickens, Oliver. Stop treating me like a supernatural entity and stuff. I'm just a human!"
"You don't look like one!"
Damn, I just said something quite offensive towards him. I got a sense of guilt.
"I guess I don't. But I can't help having all this. If I was you, I'd calm down, you don't want to be inflicted by Wrath just as you speak to a God." Then he smirked. "Or maybe that won't be an issue considering you, anyways."
"Huh…?"
"Nevermind, anyways…"
He had taken us several floors onto the Church. As we got higher, things felt more antique and deserted. Clearly people haven't been here in ages. But the floor we stopped on was miraculously clean. It had a clear view of the bottom of the Church and was lit by only one candle.
It might've been a detail I overlooked, but the Church was empty, and unlighted. This was the only light.
There was a tall, dark wooden table, at the centre of the room, or viewing area we were at. It had a scripture on it, alongside three tiny cups, with a red drink poured in them.
Blood?
It couldn't be…
"…Well you've already stepped on it. Please remain where you two already are."
We looked down to see we were stepping on a mat.
"What's going on? I can hardly believe you, Mr Marrs."
"Woah, calm you chickens, shadow missy. Unlike that fella next to you, you can be corrupted by Pride or Wrath quickly." Then his voice took a serious turn. "You should remain as pure as one can, right now."
Then he went behind the table and brought a cup forward.
"Drink this."
"What is it?" She asked.
"Wine."
"I see." She had a slight sarcastic edge to her voice. She slowly took the cup and drank with the cup around both of her hands.
"You too Oliver." He handed one to me.
"Why are we drinking this?"
"Alcohol is said to bring humans closer to God. A friend I met in Asia taught me that. Anyways, it won't be harmful."
I drank it too, but faster than Rosemary.
He then took the cups off of our hands and placed it back on the table. He drank the third cup, before beginning.
"Close your eyes, shadow missy. You can keep it open if you want Oliver."
Mhm.
I decided to also close my eyes.
Then, the dim light I could see with my eyes closed, disappeared.
"State your name." Marrs said, authoritatively.
"Rosemary Alexandra Wilson."
"State your age."
"I'm 15."
"What school do you attend?"
"Rosefield's Secondary School."
That was a tiny detail I had also left out. Our school was named Rosefield's Secondary.
"What was your first lover like?"
"Nasty. Looking back, I hate him."
That's news to me. I had never known she had a boyfriend.
"Continue."
"No."
"Who hurt you?"
"…"
I thought that was a weird question, but didn't speak my mind.
"Who hurt you?" He repeated.
"They all did. They all hurt me."
"…"
She continued. "The worst thing that ever happened to me was…" She started speaking irregularly, I could only assume she was crying. "…my mum. She left me. She hated me. Then my dad stopped talking to me… then everything went to hell."
She was squealing.
She was hurt.
I think I began to understand.
"I remember mum. She told me to die. She told me to leave her alone. Then…"
"That's enough. Both of you open your eyes."
What we saw.
Was.
Supernatural.
But
What
I
Saw
Were
Memories.
Nostalgic
Bitter
Sweet
Memories.
I remembered the vivid image of the angel that appeared before me as a child.
Then, I saw Erebus.
It was a giant, human void. It had no face. It's body was a tie of black paper.
It wasn't black.
It was a shadow.
Blacker than black, one might say.
The paper around its body ended around its neck. It had no feet either.
It looked like it was empty on the inside.
Like a suit you could jump into.
It was hollow.
No
Hands
No Legs. Nothing.
N
O
T
H
I
N
G
So that's what it means to be a God of Shadows.
It was above us, hovering in the air, as if the laws of Gravity didn't exist.
The thing, known as Erebus, the God, was beyond our imagination. It stood there, looking at Rosemary.
She looked frightened.
"Rosemary, give your offerings. And continue what you were saying."
She held out her hand, which showed a black jewel on it.
The body of Erebus took it.
There was no way to explain what I was seeing.
"Then… I was alone. Dad… he didn't want me because I didn't talk."
She stopped to cry, but then continued. "I stopped talking. I left the world – no, the world left me. I… heard of you, Erebus, when I locked myself in a room with Greek mythology. You were a God who was in the shadows. No one bothered you, no one hurt you. I wanted to be like you."
She fell on her knees. "That's why I wanted your help. Thank you, Erebus, I'll continue to pray to you. But you can end what you gave to me."
Then something happened.
It turned towards me.
I had brought no offerings, so I got on my knees.
But when I got up.
It happened.
My
Stomach
Became
Empty.
The thing known as its arm, had thrown itself into my body.
A
Massive
Hole
In
My
Body.
The last thing I saw before I died, was its face.