This is Not My Obituary

A Ritual Like You've Never Seen

"Step back, let the grounds purge you." Mr. Guen leaned his head back as the ceremonial cloak wrapped seamlessly around his middle, Ren standing hand-in-hand with him and many more cloak clad men.

The elders all took a step backwards and timed their breaths to the second, each hand becoming a tab tighter. Pungent fragrances of sage and cedar permeated the round of men, the odor purging their very being. Lowness of light and the darkened canopy of the trees provided shade from the ivory moon. "No one speak." Mr. Guen said aloud, gripping Ren's fingers between his own clammy appendages.

"You've done wrong." A sweet voice vexed and twisted seductively through the air as it blew up from the earth's deep crevice, hitting each man in the face with its musk of dying greenery and the after scent of those who had already been claimed by the Cleansing. Their soul's grievance lingered at the crest of the cavern, slowly attaching themselves to anything they could. With years of observation, they latched to children, and often, fell deeply in love with the child they now bared to.

Ren shivered as he thought over the fact of his sons being two of the trailed children. That was their name. They had yet to find any other still living in their community, most having passed away from age.

Those boys had spent so much time back here when they were young, Ren wouldn't be surprised if yet another one of them was a trailed child.

"What have we done to dishonor you?" Guen asked as the grounds tranquilly traipsed a gentle, cold finger up his chin and slowly ported it in the man's open mouth.

"Taste my disappointment. My disgusted." The grounds rumbled, a rancid and dismembering taste being transferred across the mortal's tongue.

A sense of dread prick at everyone's heels as their leader grunted and groaned in discomfort, but they didn't dare open their eyes.

"Gou MingRui." The grounds whispered in the ear of each man around the crater. Ren stopped his breathing sudden like, the name peaking his interest.
"Shuyang, my sweet Shuyang-" the grounds began, making its way to Ren and tracing the man's jaw with a finger tip, deathly cold trail following.

"Don't hurt the young man. I love him dearly." The grounds said sharply in Ren's ear.

"I love all my children dearly, but he is very special to me. See that you don't disrupt him much." The grounds blew a cold breath into Ren's ear before stepping back and admiring the striking resemblance between his Shuyang and this man.

"Good night." The grounds said lightly l, as the lot of men opened their eyes, but Ren was hesitant.

He didn't want to open his eyes and admit to how he had mistreated his own son.

"What did he say?" The gaggle began to loudly ask those around them, eyes all falling on Ren with curious expressions.

Ren thought for a minute before shaking his head lightly. "Nothing."

"Well I wonder what he had on his mind then." Guen pressed both hands to his chest in exasperation.

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Shuyang sat up in the soft bed, Rui still fast asleep next to him, body covered in a comfy blanket so he wouldn't notice the absence of Shuyang's warmth.
   The waking male looked over the files he had carried out of his childhood home, eyes never seeming to widen enough with all of his surprise. There was a fan of papers spread across his lap and a few stacked in his hands. He had been reading the content since 3am and it was now serving 7.

Rituals, festivals, cleansings and blood sacrifices all blanketed his family history, along with most families in that heaven forsaken town. He shook his head and wondered how secrets such as these never made their way out of there. He shook his head, shifting around the mattress and stirring the older a bit, his eyes opening and recognizing the man sitting besides him. He smiled sleepily, sitting up from the bed and squeezing Pico once again. With a tired pout, Rui rested his head on Shuyang's shoulder, feeding into his always constant warmth.

   "What're you looking at?" He asked in a whispered as he kissed the man's jaw. "Just, records I guess." Shuyang answered, returning the small gesture.

MingRui nodded and rested his eyes on the papers, skimming over the contents of the files. None of it looked familiar, but the pictures shown of places he knew quite well.

"Is that my house?" He asked horsely. Shuyang slightly nodded, turning the page and reading a few more sentences. "Why is there a picture of my childhood home?" Rui looked up at Shuyang who was still glued to the document.

"It seems-" he closed the file and threw it along with the others, "they've had you picked out since high school."

"High school?" GouGou gulped as the pain of an air bubble burst in his throat.

High school? What did he do in high school for them to target him?

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