Now one minute had passed. Six minutes overall.
"You know what, fuck it", he concluded, shooting a menacing glance at his TV, "fuck this, and fuck you."
Pressing the off button on the remote and turning over to face the window, Keante took one last look outside. The half-moon was partly visible in the cloudless sky, but still very bright for the season it currently was. For the late summer, it simply didn't feel like it.
Shrugging it off, and visibly annoyed nonetheless, Keante ignored the moon, the TV, and his own inhibitions, and closed his eyes and went to sleep. All the while, in the back of his mind he shivered as his thoughts wandered back to his dream. He thought about the images he saw, and of the vision of the alley, and of the chains. He wondered about their relations, and their importance therein, only to shrug them off and discard them like waste before the true meal of repose. More importantly however, he thought about the boy, and how beautiful he was, and how he realized deep down that secretly he wanted this boy, and only him.
Suddenly his eyes grew heavy, and seemingly intoxicated by the recent excursions of what felt like an eternity, his body was enveloped by the tiredness before sleep, and he then drifted off to the land of waking minds. But all the while, in his mind, and in his body, two words echoed throughout.
Two words he heard the first time, and stuck with him.
Two words that would come haunt him, and would soon echo in the darkness of his future bouts of fear and despair.
Two words...
Save me...
As the young man rested his head and slept, he never once noticed the smoking sea of shadows that began latching onto him and sticking to him as he sunk further into a miasma of darkness that lay in place of his bed. Several minutes passed, before the miasma, which originally swallowed his entire bed, began to shrink and dissipate, loosening its grip on the furniture before slinking out to the window. Flattening itself against the open pane, the shadow transformed into a tendril-like living creature—a caecilian—that looked about scanning the horizon. As it did so, it began to sound off a series of guttural clicks from an unknown orifice as its body vibrated and glowing red light ran the length of is sides back and forth.
It was searching for something, and for what, only this parasitic organism knew.
Outside the apartment complex several feet away, a black Lincoln sits parked on the street, its right-hand side facing the walkway into the complex. Its engine was quietly humming, indicating that it was occupied, with a handsome man at the wheel eyes closed and face astute and clean shaven. His eyes were closed, and his breathing slow and steady; hands gripping and re-gripping the leather steering wheel with leather driving gloves shaded a dark grey with silver studded callouses on the knuckles.
Opening his eyes, he sensed a surge of power and watched as tendrils of darkness and shadow wafted around like smoke and slithered like snakes into the lightless void of the backseat. Exhaling a shallow breath, he adjusted the mirror and out of curiosity peered into the glass.
Weightlessly overbearing, the pressure from the void was cold and the darkness ever reaching—ever engrossing.
It's terrifying, Wilhelm thought, it's practically feeding off of me.
A low tremor of the earth rumbled under the ground as the earth shook, causing some car alarms to go off, and cracks to appear on the streets and sidewalk. The light above the apartment door flickered, and as Wilhelm looked on, the miasma faded away to reveal a finely clothed elderly gentleman with long silver hair wrapped in a ponytail with a long scar covering his left eye. His eyes were invisible behind the sunken void of his eyebrows, and with every breath he exhaled a mist of black and foreboding encircled him. Another rumbling later, and the ancient man's lips curved upward into a content smile.
The light above of the apartment door grew brighter as the energy inside if the wiring starting sizzling, burning itself to extinction. The caecilian that was still on the window 4-stories above noticed the Lincoln and Wilhelm watched as the creature's lights shifted from bright red to a myriad of greens, yellows, and purples.
It's excited, it knows something of value.
Good, he mused, all the better for Master.
Letting out a shrill screech, the caecilian flatted itself into a tadpole-like shape and floated down on air currents it created using the darkness. As it descended, the air and everything around it it touched corroded and dissolved into a decaying mess, rotting away the earth, stone, and vegetation. Wilhelm grunted, his lips twitched in disgust. He never liked that accursed thing. It was always, there, thinking, plotting. Planning. Although he'd never openly admit to anyone, he hated the feeling the sense of hopelessness and fear that permeated his mind and body whenever that thing was around. He was very articulate in this, because of his centuries of training to control and hide his emotions and keep them in check at all times. It annoyed and insulted him, how miniscule and helpless he was against something like this simple-minded creature and its insidious nature. He never let it show, but his body would always shiver at the sound of those hideous clicks.
"Calm yourself Wilhelm", said an illustrious voice from the backseat, "your fear is reeking so insensibly."
Snapped out of his confusion, Wilhelm's spine tingled as his senses sharpened at the tone of the voice. His back bolting upright, he cursed himself for this moment of weakness, before replying a sharp "yes Master". Looking back in the mirror, Wilhelm watched as the elderly gentleman opened his eyes, revealing the calm serenity that were his grey eyes. His lips twitched into a respective smirk, and opening the passenger window, stretched out his hand. The caecilian gliding on its own landed lightly on the Master's outstretched right hand, hopping about like a bird poking and pecking his skin as if looking for worms and other insects. As the Master's veins blackened with the actions of the caecilian, slowly crawling up the right side of his face and touching the corner of his eyes, the sclera of the right eye began to change from clear white to oily black as his pupils turned cherry wine. As his left began to the same, he exhaled through his nostrils, producing a charred smoke cloud that crumpled to dust as its ashy surface dissipated in the air.
Wilhelm watched him, breath stalled and nerves severely bent. He was anxious.
Whatever that damn thing's showing him, he thought, it must not be good.
As the seconds rolled by, the Master's gaze darkened more until Wilhelm could feel overwhelming pressure start to cave in his skull and cause his bones to rattle. Then relief washed over him as the pressure subsided and the Master's eyes returned to their normal grey. For a while, the Master said nothing, until a hmph signaled to Wilhelm to start the car; following dutifully, he shifted the gear to drive and without any prompt, softly guided the car out of the neighborhood and onto the empty street, driving towards their next destination.
"…"
"Speak your mind child", said the Master, "I know you wish to be heard."
"…"
Then.
"Is this boy truly the one to leads to the Ascendant?", asked Wilhelm.
"Perhaps, but then again perhaps not", replied the Master curtly.
"…"
He said nothing for what felt like an unbearable while.
"But Master", Wilhelm finally said, "what if this, human, is just a waste of time and resources? We already know about the Ascendant, should we not simply take the child now and be done with it?"
Now it was the Master's turn to fall silent. Wilhelm chewed on his cheek, the tips of his ears burning from embarrassment. He cursed himself in his head, scolding his impatience and lack of tack.
Dammit, he thought flustered; my mouth will cost me my life. I have no reason to neither question the Master nor go against him. I am nothing without him, and will be nothing beyond him.
Hmph. This boy certainly is faithful if not a fault, thought the Master, such a loyal, admirable creature he is.
The Master smirked, "you're apprehensive about your abilities to serve."
Wilhelm froze in his seat, twitching his neck in manner alerted the Master to his assertions being correct. The old man smiled, it was very easy to read Wilhelm. His likeness and mannerisms all translated his thoughts and impressions almost like a telegraph. It almost surprised the Master sometimes how eager and willful he was he was left alone compared to the silent and murderous efficient intent that he carried given orders to execute with extreme prejudice.
But no matter, there's far more important things to do.
After all.
Beware the eternal hunger. Beware the consummation of fear and despair
A cold, sinister smile graced the Master's lips, and he chuckled softly to himself.
A sacrificial lamb had indeed been chosen, to usher in the age of promise for the true bearers of the world. He shrugged, as flickering lights whooshed past the Master while he looked outward to see the Los Angeles skyline glittering above him in bright neons. He blinked and looked ahead, noting Wilhelm's quiet and thoughtful attention to the road, making sure to not upset the natural ambience the two shared in this confined space as he drove to their next destination.
The Ascendant is mine, the Master thought gleefully, and so is the Appropriant.
Yes, all of the pieces are in place, and all the actors have found their roles.
"Keante", quietly said the Master, "soon you shall have all that you desire. And in doing so, lose all that you are for the good of our world."
I hope you are prepared to embrace your sinful desires and wicked pleasures to the fullest extent.
*Chuckle* I think I'm going to enjoy particular Advent indeed.
Now. Let the games begin.