Sheep to be Slaughtered

~Chapter Twenty-One~

            Another unnerving howl sounded from close by. Instinctively, my head turned to the entrance of our cramped safe haven suddenly questioning whether it really was safe... sure it seemed well hidden but if the Venge determined we were in here, would we ever be able to get out?

           "I've never seen them about during daylight," Damien stated as he stoked the fire. "They should roam off by morning."

           I wasn't entirely convinced. "Even though they've been denied of food from the village for what will be two months?"

           "Hopefully," Damien replied.

            I tilted my head a bit. "But... surely, they cannot go two entire months without eating..." I thought aloud. "They have to be getting food from somewhere, right?"

             "Maybe... it they actually aren't the all-powerful, unnatural beings we thought," Damien shrugged.

              "Do you think they are?" I asked, curious now to hear just how far Damien's knowledge stretched... how much did he really know? Had he entirely given up the teachings of Founder Marco? Or did he still think the Venge were very much the beings we were taught they were? I wasn't sure how even I felt about them... yet, all the animals I had ever known would be dead if they ate only once a month... so, if the Venge weren't what we thought... there had to be food out there somewhere...

            ... and now that I had learned the village wasn't what I thought it to be, the possibility the Venge were simply just monsters that lurked about the woods seemed more plausible.

            "I don't know..." Damien admitted as he stared into the flames. "I don't know what they are anymore..."

            A brief quiet ensued between us as we both acknowledged the distress of having our entire lives... our entire religion... the platform that was our village just ripped viciously out from underneath our feet... to have lived with a blindfold over our eyes only to later learn of the cruel reality that we had been lied to all these years... that some of the people we know and even some of the ones we lost had known we were all living as blindly and obliviously as the sheep that follow each other to the axe...

            "We can save the others," I said. "Maybe they'll believe the both of us. We can all of us together begin mapping out the forest and trying to find the way out..."

           Damien looked at me, his face shrouded in shadow and his expression was one of utter incredulity. "Half of those villagers willingly followed Founder Marco to this place," Damien replied. "You can't be serious..."

            I felt embarrassed for but a moment. "But... but surely this isn't what they envisioned either! Maybe... maybe if just the two of us work together to find a way out, we can go back to them and... and maybe not all of them want to leave but enough of them do! How can Founder Marco say no to half the village if they want to leave?"

             Damien shook his head with a forced laugh. He wasn't taking me at all seriously. "You can't force them to see your side of things," he said disappointedly. "It's not worth risking yourself either trying to drag them with you..."

             "But my sister... Zander..." I stopped myself. Reality dawned on me as I recalled what Zander had done to me. He would rather have me sacrificed than risk opposing Founder Marco...

              Damien didn't notice my sudden change of mood, but at the mention of 'Zander,' he huffed. "Zander wouldn't know the truth if it hit him with a brick," he said bitterly.