A flashlight in the shadows.

chapter 40: Kalima!

All I could taste was blood. Blood, and tape. I couldn't move my limbs, both because they were numb and because they were tapped together. Well, this should be interesting. I was afraid to open my eyes. I convinced myself that if I kept them closed, nothing would hurt me. But, sadly, I was mistaken. I could feel the warmth of a near by fire on my face. The smell was a little hard to work out. It smelled like rotting flesh and Windex. At first, the only sound was the crackle of the fire. But shortly after, voices followed. Deep, hoarse voices. I recognized one of them as Bennett's step dad. None of the others were familiar, though. I decided to pretend to still be asleep and listen in on their conversation. A voice that sounded like an old biker piped up,
"Are you sure she's pure?" A few other guys in the surrounding group chuckled. Another man that sounded like a human version of Mickey mouse piped in,
"C'mon, Chuck. Does she look like a whore to you?" More chuckled. I heard a pair of footsteps walk next to me. A hand reached down and wiped some hair from my face. Then I heard a male voice grunt and say,
"You should just let me take this one-"
"Fuck off, Joe." I heard Bennett's step dad say. The same voice that I assumed belonged to Joe replied,
"Oh, c'mon, Damien. I ain't had a fresh one in six months-"
"I said no, this one's mine." He said in an aggressive voice. 'Joe' didn't say anything else and got up, walking away from me. Then, I heard another set of footsteps inching toward me. Someone knelt down next to me and whispered,
"Sarah, I know you're not sleeping, get up." Bennett's step dad grabbed my arm and hoisted me up. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and made me stand up. They all dressed the same. Black cloaks with a red upside down cross on the front. All of them were white, but I didn't recognize anybody. One man stood on a podium made of sticks and bones. He wore a mask made from a freshly slaughtered cow. Bennett's step dad turned us so we were facing the man on the podium. All the others were laughing at me and sneering at my fear.
Now, not everyone might've been afraid in this situation, but I was. I was scared almost shitless.
The man on the podium took out a pair of silver symbols and clanged them together, earning instant silence. For a few moments, only the fire spoke. He finally broke it by asking,
"Brother Damien, who is this you bring?" He gripped me tighter, making me squirm to free myself. He answered,
"Sarah Appleton."
"Sarah Appleton?" He repeated. Damien nodded and tilted my face up.
"Yes, she is not quite 18." The man on the podium was silent for a minute. Then, he came down off the podium and walked towards me. I continued squirming. When he reached me, he reached his hand under my chin and whispered in a creepy voice,
"Are you pure?" I moved my head quickly and bit his middle finger. He flinched and jumped back.
"Fucking bitch!" He exclaimed, slapping me across the face. Some of the guys cheered while the rest just chuckled. I spit at his shoes, making Damian pull my head back in the direction it was never meant to go. Pain shot down my spine. The man lifted my head slightly towards him and asked in an agitated voice,
"I'm going to ask you one more time, then we pull out some teeth, are you pure?" I looked at him, then to the mob of guys behind him. After a minute of silence, I nodded slightly. He smiled and nodded.
"Good. Damien?" Bennett's step dad quickly grabbed my wrist and held it out in front of the man with the cow mask. I tried pulling it away, but it didn't work. He flung out a pocket knife and started a chant,
"C'tuka el rebianc ci Condon," he said it repeatedly waiting for the rest of them to join in. He didn't have to wait long, and soon everyone was chanting. The guy in the mask flung out a switch blade and gripped my hand. As if it weren't obvious, I asked,
"What are you doing?!?!" He looked at me in the face and said,
"We're offering your first born child as a vessel for a demon." This made my heart stop. And, like the idiot I was, I just had to pipe up,
"But, I'm not having kids for another ten years, at least." He smirked and replied,
"No, you'll have one in about nine months, I'll estimate." My heart was beating faster than a freaking rocket. I nervously said,
"But, how's that going to wo-" then it clicked. I turned slightly to see Bennett's step dad smiling with a wicked grin on his face. I shook my head,
"Oh hell no-" but the leader used the switch blade to cut open the middle of my Palm. I winced in pain and squirmed, but to no avail. He took my hand and made it bleed over the fire. They continued the chant while Damien handed me over to another guy and held his hands out for the leader to cut. After they did to him the same thing they did to me, they stopped chanting. Two of the guys picked me up by my legs and arms. I scrambled the best that I could, but it wasn't working. They brought me to a table sized stone slab and set me down. Then, two other guys came and tied my limbs to the sides with ropes. I half expected that one guy from Indiana Jones the temple of doom to step out of the shadows and scream, 'Kalima!' And rip out my heart, which was beating like a hammer in my chest.
They all formed a circle around me, Bennett's step dad standing in front of me. The man with the cow mask set a hand on my forehead and said,
"Satan, our true Lord, this pure soul volunteers her first born as a vessel. Let brother Damien's efforts be answered!" The man stepped back into the circle. Everyone joined hands and lowered their heads, humming in the lowest pitch humanly possible. I pulled my hands at the ends of the ropes. It made my wrists burn. Bennett's step dad flipped down his hood and smirked. He walked up to the table, climbing on top of me. The only thing I could do at this point was clench my legs together and hope for the best. He placed a hand on either side of my head so he was hovering over me. He smirked down and leaned in so his head was next to my ear. The humming from the men continued. I felt a tear stream down my face. He tilted my chin to the side so he could whisper in my ear,
"It doesn't hurt as much of you don't struggle." I screamed for help as loud as I could, but I was cut off by, you guessed it, his lips. He smiled at my distress and krept one of his calloused hands up my shirt to my left breast. I squealed and bit his bottom lip as hard as I could. He only groaned in response. The aweful humming continued while he pulled down my jeans and rubbed little circles inside my thigh area. Before anything else could happen, a bright light cut through the forest and a familiar voice called out,
"Freeze! Put your hands behind your head and lay on the ground, you're surrounded." I never thought I'd be so happy to hear sheriff Leroy's southern voice, but here I was. Everyone in the cult did as they were told. Bennett's step dad slowly got off of me and dropped to his knees while sheriff Leroy walked behind him and snapped a pair of handcuffs on him.
"You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attourney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you." Damien looked up at me with pure hatred. I never thought I'd be so glad to see Cassandra standing by me, but I was. She untied me and covered me up before anyone saw me. I looked at her with tears in my eyes. She stared back at me, unsure wether or not to smile. I smiled gently and whispered,
"Thank you." She smiled and nodded slightly. She set a hand on my cheek, wiping a tear away. I couldn't control myself, I collapsed shamelessly into her arms, crying. She hugged me tighter than anyone's ever hugged me and shushed me.
"It's ok, Sarah." Someone set a hand on my shoulder tentavly. When I spun around, I was happy to see dad standing there. I smiled and leapt off the stone slab to hug him. He sniffled a little and chocked up
"I'm glad you're alright." I sniffled and opened my eyes. There, standing behind my dad, was Bennett. Alive. He wore a pair of blue jeans with tennis shoes. But instead of a sweatshirt, he wore a plain red t-shirt. His wrists had those weird taped on cotton balls, and I could see every cut on his arm. They weren't hidden anymore, but exposed. Everyone at school would know soon. When I looked at them, they symbolized every hurt emotion he had ever felt. And I wanted to make the pain go away. I wanted to help him. When I looked at him, he stared back with equally red eyes as mine. But, despite their puffiness, they were still the most beautiful and memorizing I had ever seen. Dad pulled away from me and stood aside with mom. At first, we didn't say anything. We just stood in place, staring at each other. Two lost children, afraid of the dark. He finally said in a voice that was barely audible,
"Hi." I sniffled and whispered back,
"Hi." We stepped towards each other at the same time. Then another step. Then another. He held out both his hands for mine. When they connected, we continued walking to each other. My arm slowly krept up his. Soon, his head was grasped in between my hands and his hands rested on either side of my waist. Tears fell freely from his face and he whispered,
"I-I'm sorry Sarah..." He trailed off, trying to sniffle back the tears. I wiped a few of his tears away while crying my own. I leaned my forehead on his and whispered back,
"There's nothing to forgive." He let out a relief sighed and hugged me, digging his head into my shoulder. I hugged him as tight as I could and we cried openly together. In this moment, I didn't think of anything. Not Cassandra or Sabrina or Isaac. I was just glad to be in Bennett's arms, the most weathered arms I had ever known. His arms had seen some tough times, and they bared the scars. But I silently hoped that I could help them heal. Bennett whispered in my ear,
"Thank you, book thief." I giggled through my tears and patted his back.
"Cmon, let's go home." He nodded and replied,
"On one condition." I smiled and stared up at him.
"And what's that?" He smirked.
"I get to take you." I looked back at dad for permission. He smiled and nodded. I turned to Bennett and sighed.
"Deal. Let's get outta here." He smiled and reached down to my hand. It almost disappeared into his. My hands visibly shook, but he didn't acknowledge it. We pushed past the several cop cars and got in his car, starting up. My cell phone rang with 'love me like you do.' I smiled and answered,
"Articulate." I heard a giggled from the other end.
"Good to hear you're back to normal." I sighed and looked over to Bennett.
"You have no idea how my days been, Kendra."

_______________________________________

Hope it wasn't terrible and please enjoy the next one, bye:)