Ants&Humans

The reincarnation of a God (p.1)

As Gabriel kept walking towards the forest, he felt unsure if he would find the place his friends were talking about.He knew there was no "abandoned shrine" in this area and yet the rumor still peaked his interest. But deep down, he was scared for his life.
"Why did I choose this?" He asked himself as he took another step , this time crunching a leaf. "It's gonna be ok , it's just a shrine , it's not some restaurant with murderous robots in it."
It was mid-autumn at the time , the air - cold , but fresh , which was fulfilling Gabriel's adventurous self. He liked taking walks in that forest. Though it was lonely , the quietness made him feel at home.
"I have an article due tomorrow and yet I'm doing this..." He kept doubting his decision , unsure when to return. He passed thousands of trees by now , trying to stop his tracks , but the determination in his mind wanted its reward.
After all , curiosity kills the cat, doesn't it?
As he kept walking , something catched his attention. It was it. It was the thing that he was looking for - the shrine. He kept staring at it , not moving an inch. "No...It can't be." He thought , trying to stare at anything , but the shrine."Since when...?" But he didn't continue the question , he never knew the answer anyway. The excitement and fear were mixed into his mind , telling him to go , but also leave.
"I should just go home , this is enough." He thought as he entered the shrine's gates anyways. He was the kind of guy to get in trouble for going astray. Just like that time he got lost at the mall and his parents did...nothing.
He stared at the outer area , realizing how unwelcoming it was. There was rust on the iron ornaments that seemed to be flowers of some kind , the wooden floors were putrid due to time. And yet....he wanted to go inside. Just one step and he already felt like choking , the air was stale , like a corpse was in there , but this time , instead of doubting himself again, he just moved onward while covering his nose.
"Might as well end this and never come back." He thought to himself , smirking like he was some kind of genius for doing this. But deep down he knew....this was no act of bravery , this was just him being a moron and he will be repayed for it soon enough.
The shrine was really small with no extra rooms to explore , making Gabriel feel a little disappointed. Though there were still ornaments trying to make the building feel more lively , they all have catched rust , just like the ones outside. He felt empathy for the building somehow , wishing it wasn't left alone like this. Still , he knew he wasn't going to stay in here forever.
As he continued to look through the only area available to him , he realized there was no statue or picture to give offerings to , making him feel a bit uneasy. He wasn't the religious kind , but even then , he knew places like those contained paintings of the Gods they were worshipping.
"Guess this one is an exception , huh?" He thought to himself as he continued to look through the area , hoping he would find something interesting , but there was nothing. He sighed , finally giving up on his request. He wished he took his phone with him to photograph the shrine. Guess he could do that another time...
As he slowly went back to entrance of the shrine , he all of a sudden felt there was something alive present near him. He slowly turned his head back to the place he visited , expecting a killer to just stab him right there and yet...there was no one. He gulped , feeling paranoid that he was being stalked , but before he could say anything , an ominous voice called:
"My dear child , have you come to complete my prophecy?"
Gabriel tried to look at the person speaking the words , but there was nobody. Until...
An ant about 20 times larger than him appeared out of nowhere , glancing at him with cold , soulless eyes.
"H-hello...? Who are you...?" Gabriel asked , trying to gasp for air. He never believed in Gods , but seeing one surely was a weird experience.
"I am your Ant Lord , mortal." The ant spoke. There was no movement coming from it at all , no mouth opening to say those words , making Gabriel feel intimidated by it. "But you...you are a new one."
"W...W-what can I do for you...? You mentioned something about a...."prophecy" , right?" Gabriel asked , realizing really soon how dumb his question was , but it was only thing in his mind.The prophecy , a prophecy....what was a prophecy anyways? He didn't know.
"I require a sacrifice to be reincarnated as a human once more." The ant said indifferently while it was staring at him non-stop. "Would you sacrifice your soul or someone else's for my reincarnation?"
"I....I....." Gabriel mumbled as he squirmed around uncomfortably , unsure of how to answer. He didn't want to die nor he wanted to kill anyone for it either."Someone else's." He finally said , feeling a bit courageous all of a sudden.
"Someone else's shall be it then. If I do not receive a soul tomorrow at dawn, I will consume your body instead." The ant replied as it closed its eyes like it was feeling a bit of melancholy.
But he didn't say anything , he simply ran and ran through the forest like a predator catching its prey. He simply wanted to stay away from that thing.

As he locked the front door of his house , he soon realized what he has done. He knows who will help him.