Forces Beyond The Grave

Chapter Eleven

"He should be killed." "Sacrificed." "What are we to do with him?" "We should let Her decide for Herself." "And give Her the chance to recognise him?" "You stupid boy!" "We can't let this stop the course." "Do you have any idea what you've done?!" "What course? The girl has yet to consent." "And she will." "When?" "She is no longer pure, we have no idea what repercussions we face because of her recklessness." "Enough!" 

Jay gasped for air at the sound of the voice across the room. He was weak - weak enough that his gasping upon awakening was quiet enough to not disturb the collection of voices he could hear conversing in the dark. After flitting between memory and reality, he was able to differentiate between the events of the day before and the current mesh of sounds discussing whether he should burnt or stoned. Wherever he was, it was almost pitch black until he managed to turn over onto his other side, his eyes almost flinching at the two flamed torches adorning the two side walls of the space. It was almost like a cave - the walls were black, glistening with moisture, and there was no visible way out. There was a woman stood facing the wall across the space, she had dark hair, a dark jacket and denim jeans, but because of the blurriness effecting his vision, that was all Jay could make out.

"She will consent, spirits. I have been trusted with this, she is my daughter, I will complete my task, you must have faith." 

"In what? Ekaterina entrusted you with this task because of Her faith in you, and you have yet to deliver the recurrence to us." 

"Yes and we are still no further with the discussion regarding this boy's dismise." 

"We will get nowhere by threatening him. Things have changed, yes, but that does not mean there will be an effect on the ritual. She can still complete it, so long as he remains safe." 

"Why not just kill him now? If She comes to meet the boy she will be as doomed as he." 

"He is useful to us, for now. I know how to do this, it will be done." 

"Yes, it will be. We have spent hundreds of years giving ourselves to her strength, it will not be undone because of your incompetency or your daughter's insubordination. We have one chance Evelyn. Her birthday is in four days, if she has not agreed by then, we will be forced to take matters into our own hands. You can only protect her for so long." 

"I understand. I won't let you down."